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“Yeah, I hear he’s an asshole with a short temper.” We smile at each other and I’m grateful she found a way to bring playfulness into our conversation.
“I wonder what’s up with that.” She pretends to admire a shop window, but I pull her back into the pedestrian traffic.
“I don’t know. It’s all the pressure of the engagement and wedding preparations.” I walk on, avoiding her eyes, focused on the sidewalk. But even without looking I sense she stopped. I turn and shrug. “What? We are not talking about Phillip?”
Blue bows her head and covers her face. Her shoulders tremble with suppressed laughter, but then she lets go and laughs, looking at me and shaking her head. The sound of it is poetry, moving me without completely uncovering the meaning.
The small lines around her eyes deepen a bit with her laugh, and I mourn all the years I didn’t witness her collecting them.
“Definitely not Phillip.” She is still chuckling.
We arrive at the Market and I navigate among other diners and shoppers, holding her hand like it’s a lifeline. She probably thinks it’s just to ensure we won’t get separated, but I’m enjoying it while it lasts, painfully aware it probably won’t.
“Massi.” The old fox greets me as we enter his watch shop in the corner of the Market.
“Alonso. Have you destroyed my favorite watch yet?” I shake his hand. “This is Gina.”
He drops his eyeglass and smiles at her before he turns and shuffles in one of his drawers. Alonso is one of the last honest watchmakers in the city. Most of the shops similar to his have disappeared. He’s too old for this fine work, but I appreciate his dedication.
“Here you go, and be more careful next time.” He pats my shoulder.
“I will, but you wouldn’t believe it. I need you to check this one as well.” I put another watch on the counter.
He gives me shit like every other time. I pay him and he returns to his passion.
“What a quaint little shop. What was wrong with your watch?” Gina asks as we walk around the stalls and stands in the building.
“It fell into water at work.” I don’t want to lie to her, but this is something between me and Alonso, and it’s a harmless lie anyway.
“I can’t believe you’d be that careless.” She stops and searches my face.
I shrug. “Okay, I bring him work because he’s been struggling. People no longer use his craft the way they used to.”
“So you deliberately damage your watches? Massi…” She breathes and stares at me wide-eyed. “I remember when you started your collection with your grandfather and your dad’s watches. You loved those. I can’t believe you would tinker with them just to—”
“Help someone? It’s not a big deal. My collection has grown.” I wink at her, grab her hand and start leading her to the other side of the Market. “I hope you’re starving.”
“Where are we going?”
“Just wait and see. You’re going to have the best burrito in New York, possibly in America. Hell, in the world.”
I’m trying to focus on the conversation and the task of getting her to Richie & Manuela’s, but my mind is swirling, analyzing what it means that she’s letting me hold her hand.
We get to the small bistro in the corner of the Market.
Manuela smiles at me. “Massi, Richie is busy in the kitchen, but I’ll tell him you’re here.”
We get our food and I choose a table in the back, granting us some privacy.
“This is amazing,” Blue says after her first bite. She is craning her neck, making sure the rice and beans don’t end up in her lap, and for some outlandish reason I find it incredibly sexy. Fuck, I need to get a grip.
“I told you.” I don’t take a bite, allowing myself a few more moments of perfection, sharing a meal with this woman. For a brief beat of time, we’re just two people having a casual dinner.
“How did you even find this place?”
“Richie, the chef, used to work for me.”
Manuela is wiping down the table beside us andtsks me. “And he helped us open this place, investing.” She beams. “We wouldn’t be here without him.”
