“It’s only a few minutes away.”
“OK.” And Kim founding himself sitting down beside the younger man.
“You seem to be ticking off the tourist to-dos: having a paella on the Ramblas, watching the sun go down at the Carmel Bunkers. What’s next?”
“Is this a tourist spot? I just kind of found it by accident. I was taking a walk from my hotel. Why are you here if it’s such a tourist spot?”
“It’s one of the few places where not many locals come any more. I'm known in Catalonia but not abroad. I can just sit and be myself, and no one recognizes me. In quite a few public places nowadays, I get people coming up, telling me they like my work, even asking for autographs.”
Realizing he was still wearing them, Dídac removed his sunnies, stowing them in a breast pocket. Then turning his intense green eyes on Kim oncemore, he went on:
“Which is endearing, I admit, but it can get a bit wearisome. I’m not much known overseas, so where there are tourists, I can just blend in, go unnoticed. And I live nearby.”
“I get it. I did a year on one of Australia’s soaps a few years back, just a small part, but the public attention I got ended up being quite annoying. I was glad to return to theater after it and get forgotten again.”
“I didn’t know you had done TV.”
“It was the last job I did, just before the Pandemic. After that I focused solely on directing, and that’s what I’ve been doing since.”
The light changed subtly, becoming more red-golden. Dídac gestured at the horizon:
“There it goes.”
The bottom of the sun’s disc was just starting to scrape the forested ridge over to their right. They were both silent as they watched the golden disc dip lower and then appear to melt, its liquid gold spreading out through the trees like butter dissolving in a hot pan. In just a few minutes, half of the disc had dropped below the ridge, then three quarters until finally just a sliver remained, while the sky turned a range of flaming colors from golds and oranges to mauves and deep purples. Then, as Dídac and Kim, sitting side by side, watched, that final sliver of brightest gold winked out and the two of them were left together in the dusk.
14
With the sun’s going, the twilight became immediately darker. Kim looked at Dídac, whose face was now dimly lit. Barcelona’s twinkling lights spread out below them were beginning to shine brighter and in the lowering dark it felt easier to confess secrets.
“I’m sorry about… Tuesday,” Kim began, “I don’t know what came—“
“Don’t!” Dídac’s voice was hard and sharp. “Disown it if you like, but don’t speak of it as if it were a mistake. We both knew what we were doing.”
“Yes, I know, but what I mean is I hadn’t planned—“
“Do you plan everything in your life?”
“Yes, of course, I—“
“I couldn’t live like that. So this was unplanned, and therefore you didn’t—don’t—want it.”
“No, I don’t mean like that. Look, I don’t want to hurt you…”
“Don’t go overboard. It was just a kiss. I’m not such a delicate plant.”
Dídac’slaughter in the darkness was meant to impart bravado, but Kim felt only a wounded hurt.
“Yes, but I don’t want you to hate me… for stopping… I mean it was for the best, for the production…”
“Hate you? You’re my boss. If I did hate you… and there might be justifiable reason, it wouldn’t be in my interests to tell you, obviously. As you say, we have to think of the show.”
“OK, can we stop there? I know I haven’t been the warmest since we’ve met. I’m not always like this, but I can tell you that it’sThe Swanthat’s been uppermost on my mind. I wanted—“
“Always the show.”
“Yes!” Kim snapped. Dídac had finally managed to get him annoyed. “That’s my priority. It always has been, always will be! That’s why I’m here in Spain!”
“Catalonia.”
