Chapter 19 Matías
Matías
Nine Months Ago
A giant red monster stuck his face in front of Matías.
“Agh!” He staggered backward, where he bumped into a life-size Donald Duck.
Times Square was famous in movies, and Matías had looked forward to visiting it since he was a boy. He’d been prepared for the Broadway marquees, the buzzing energy of the tourists, the iconic bright lights and screens of the billboards…but not for being accosted by Elmo and Donald Duck.
Elmo came at him again with his furry red arms outstretched. “Hug? Only twenty dollars!”
“Er, no, thank you,” Matías said.
Donald Duck advanced on him and quacked. “Selfie? Twenty-five dollars!”
“I don’t think that’s a worthwhile way to spend my money…”
“But Elmo loves you!”
“And Donald, too!”
“He’s good, thanks, boys,” Claire said, swooping in from behind Matías and deftly steering him out from between Elmo and Donald. She was so beautiful when she took charge; it felt like you could leave anything in her hands and know for certain that all would be well.
When they were safely away, Claire fake-chided Matías. “You can’t let them get too close or they’ll take advantage of you.”
“I never knew that Disney characters could grow up to be thugs,” he said, and Claire laughed.
“Okay, now that I’ve rescued you from the clutches of Elmo’s evil twin, let’s go see what they have at the TDF booth.”
The TDF booth, Claire had explained during their last date, was where they could buy theater tickets for 50 percent off. The catch was that you wouldn’t know what shows were available until the day of the performance, since the tickets were whatever hadn’t previously sold. But Matías had never had a problem with flexibility.
They walked up to a glass pavilion with a red overhang that was a lot bigger than he expected, with twelve ticket windows and people swarming all around it. He and Claire got in line, and she stood on her tiptoes, trying to see to the signs at the front that listed what shows they could buy tickets for. But she was too short, and besides, the signs were too far away to read.
A man joined his partner in line right in front of Matías and Claire. He’d just returned from the sign and started listing off what was available.
“Ooh, they’re all so good,” Claire said. “It’s a hard choice. I don’t know which you’d like most.”
“What are they about?” Matías asked, and Claire and the other couple started rattling off synopses of the plots for him.
“ Lion King is a classic,” one of the men—Jordan—said. “If this is your first Broadway show, I highly recommend that as an entry point.”
“Personally,” his partner—Riley—said, “I like exploring the newer shows. New York, New York is supposed to be excellent.”
“Or you might like Sweeney Todd or Hadestown, ” Claire said as the line moved forward. “Or Life of Pi ! It’s based on one of my favorite books ever. I think you might enjoy that one, too.”
“Are you a Michael Jackson fan?” Jordan asked.
“Or what about the Wizard of Oz ?” Riley asked. “Have you seen Wicked ?”
“ Hamilton is so, so good, too,” Claire said. They were getting closer to the ticket window, and her fingers had started fluttering, something Matías had noticed she did when she was about to have to make a decision. Like on Coney Island, when it was almost their turn to order hot dogs and she hadn’t decided yet which drink she’d wanted. Or in Central Park at the ice cream cart—even though she’d probably known she was going to order vanilla, her fingers still fluttered until she was right up at the register making the actual decision.
He smiled. He didn’t think she was aware how her fingertips betrayed her, but it was helpful for Matías to know when Claire was feeling unsettled, because sometimes he could help.
“Maybe we should look up the reviews,” she was saying, beginning to reach for her phone.
“Hey.” Matías smiled, brought his hands to her shoulders, and turned her toward him, then slid his hands slowly down her arms until her fingers were clasped gently in his. The anxious fluttering stopped.
“It doesn’t matter what we see,” Matías said.
“B-but I want to make sure you love it. And if we look at reviews—”
“They are all new to me, so don’t worry, churri. It will be great.”
“ Churri? ” Claire looked up at him with wide eyes. “What does that mean?”
Matías felt his cheeks flush. Churri was a term of endearment meant for serious girlfriends…He hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but things just felt so right with Claire. They were complements in a lot of ways—where she was nervous, he was calm; where he was forgetful, she had mental checklists for everything. They both went out of their way to make sure the other was having a good time on their dates. And most of all, she made him laugh. Claire was, he thought, the kind of woman he could build a life with.
“Churri is like sweetheart or…beloved.” Matías’s cheeks got even hotter.
A soft smile crept across her face. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Matías said.
She stood up on her tiptoes again, but this time not to look at a Broadway sign. Just at him.
He could fall forever into the depths of her eyes.
“I don’t care what show we see,” he said. “Nothing else matters, as long as I’m with you.”