Chapter 16 Matías
Matías
Ten Months Ago
In his early days in New York, Matías often felt that the city was an entirely different world from anything he’d known before, even though he’d come from just across the ocean. Madrid was a bustling metropolis, too, but New York’s personality couldn’t have been more opposite. There was the attitude toward food, of course. Matías was still figuring out New Yorkers’ habit of eating straight from takeout containers while in front of their computers. But there was also the rush—Madrile?os took their time with everything, from reading a book under a tree in the middle of the afternoon to catching up with a friend to barhopping. New Yorkers, on the other hand, always seemed to have an endpoint, a goal.
He liked the people of New York a lot; he was just adjusting to their differences. Like when Matías met the chair of the fine arts department of the academy for coffee, the first thing she said after she sat down was, “I’m so glad we could get together. Never fear—I won’t take much of your time, because I’ve got a thing I have to leave for in half an hour. But I just wanted to have a chance to welcome you in person before the academic year begins.” Matías had been momentarily confused because he hadn’t been concerned at all about her taking up his time. Wasn’t that the point of meeting up?
Yet none of this bothered him. To anyone else, the brusqueness of this city and the people’s insistence on not making eye contact or saying hello when walking past each other might have been off-putting, but to Matías—with his insatiable curiosity—it was fascinating.
“It’s like I’m inside a nature documentary,” he said to Claire on their next date, a mid-Saturday stroll through Central Park.
“So we’re the animals and you’re David Attenborough?” she said with a smirk.
Matías laughed. “In the most innocuous, inoffensive way.”
She took him on a long loop around the park. Claire walked fast—another New York characteristic, he’d noticed—but on her, it was charming. She was so determined in everything she did, whether it was the hours she worked at the office or the desire to show him all the best of her adopted city. He knew she’d researched and made itineraries for both the Coney Island date and this one, and Matías smiled as he watched her take charge, flattered by how much she cared about his having a good time.
First, Claire took him to Gapstow Bridge for a beautiful view of the pond, where he couldn’t resist taking some pictures of her (much to her blushing embarrassment). Then they walked to a carousel, which Matías insisted on riding, even though Claire initially protested, saying it was an attraction for kids.
They went to Strawberry Fields—which Matías learned was named after the Beatles song, not the other way around—and then to Bethesda Terrace Arcade, with its gorgeous columns and arches and the yellow-and-blue patterned tiles on the ceiling that sort of reminded him of home.
There was another beautiful bridge, and then the Shakespeare Garden.
A Disney-like castle, with a viewing pavilion at the top of a winding staircase.
An Egyptian obelisk called Cleopatra’s Needle.
After several hours of exploring, Matías’s stomach growled. There was a concession cart not too far away, so he asked Claire, “Would you like some ice cream?”
“I’m always up for ice cream.”
He smiled as they ordered because Claire immediately asked for vanilla, and even though this was only their third date, Matías had already known that was what she would want. He, on the other hand, took a while chatting with the vendor and exploring all the available flavor options in the freezer case before settling on a chocolate-dipped pistachio toffee ice cream bar.
When he took out his wallet to pay, though, Matías frowned.
“Is everything okay?” Claire asked.
“Yes…it’s just that your bills all look the same. They’re uniformly a faded green—not a color I would have chosen—and also the exact same size. Euros have different colors and sizes for each denomination.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll help you,” Claire said.
“You will?”
“Of course.”
Matías could have done it on his own. It’s not as if it was difficult; he just would have been slower than with Euros. But he loved that Claire wanted to help, that she offered it immediately. She gave pieces of herself freely, and that was rarer than most people might think.
When she’d paid, they found a spot of grass under a tree with great, arcing branches and settled in to eat their ice cream. Matías devoured his in five bites, then watched, amused, at how slowly and carefully Claire licked her cone.
She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “Why are you staring at me like I’m another animal in the wild?”
Matías shook his head and tried not to smile.
“I see your dimples. What’re you laughing at me about?”
“Nothing. You’re cute, that’s all.”
She arched a brow.
He gave up and let the smile crack across his face. “You rotate your ice cream when you’re eating. It’s completely symmetrical now.”
She looked down at her cone and scrunched up her nose. “Huh. I had no idea I did that. I just didn’t want it to drip on me.”
“Looks like you’re succeeding. But would it make you mad if I did this ?” Matías darted in and stole a quick bite.
“Hey!” She swatted him away.
Now there was a distinctly unsymmetrical chunk of her ice cream missing. Claire squirmed a little on the grass.
“You hate it, don’t you?” Matías couldn’t stop grinning. “The fact that it’s uneven.”
She faked a pout. “It’s kind of ugly now.”
“I can help with that. I’ll just take another big bite…” He pretended to come in again.
“No!” Claire stuffed the ice cream into her mouth to save it from him, vanilla everywhere as she laughed and tried to eat at the same time.
She was a mess.
She was beautiful.
And he wanted her, perfect imperfections and all.