miss barcelona


The week was a hot one, every day sunny, clear and blue. People sat around the swimming pool and absorbed the sunshine, something that always seemed insane to me. I was looking forward to Friday because we had a boat cruise party and I had never been out onto the water of the Boston Harbour. I was also looking forward to seeing the scientists and doctors that I occasional went out with. I’d been invited to this particular event by the first person I knew in Boston, a lady from Barcelona whom I had met through the doctors I knew in Madrid. This is because the wife of my best Spanish friend was a doctor and so I socialized with them frequently.
            Friday came and I boarded the train after work to take the short trip down to South Station close to the harbor. It had been raining heavily as I walked from my apartment to the station but I was hopeful it would subside by the time I arrived at South Station. On the contrary, when I stepped out of the station it was raining so furiously heavily that it physically hurt my head and was soaking through my raincoat instantly. On the journey I’d exchanged some messages with Miss Barcelona and she had said that she was on her way, too, but was not really feeling enthusiastic considering the weather. I informed her that I felt the same way and she said ‘shall we forget it?’ I said ‘I think so’… but neither of us were sure. When I felt that rain attacking my head, my mind was made instantly. I had a fifteen minute, or more, walk to the pier and the rain was simply too aggressive to allow me to do so and retain any hope of enjoying the evening. Miss Barcelona and I messaged back and forth and both laughed and felt relieved to have made the decision.
            I walked back inside and boarded the Red Line T to head back to Alewife station and suddenly an inescapable sadness crept into my system. It was a like a gentle and poisonous smoke that filled the train carriage but I knew that it was affecting only me as I watched happy lovers laughing, holding hands, kissing, joking and generally feeling the excitement of Friday night and the arrival of the weekend. I felt sad that I would not see Miss Barcelona but I felt even more sad in the knowledge that she didn’t really care about seeing me… we had tickets for a group of four and the other two in our group were guys that she had invited. It was only that night that I had discovered all the others were going and yet not one had asked me if I was coming along or had spoken to me. My friends in Europe would be asleep… there was no one to contact. I went into a bar and ordered a beer and messaged Miss Barcelona. She still hasn’t responded.
           

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

San Diego & Las Vegas

Image
  The flight to San Diego was delayed, but only after we were in the plane. At first, there’d been a terminal change that I almost failed to notice, but I made it easily to the correct gate just as boarding was beginning. Upon boarding, I couldn’t get the arm to retreat into my bag, so I couldn’t get it into the overhead locker the way it was supposed to go. After much fuss and, finally, a guy somehow hitting it back in, we were told there was a delay due to a maintenance issue. After 45 minutes, the issue was resolved and the very same second of the announcement we had a lightning strike. The captain informed us that each lighting strike triggers a fifteen-minute wait period to ensure the sky is clear. In total, we sat on the runway for just over two and a half  hours before finally taking off. The morning had been one of joy, for I was on vacation and my ear infection had almost entirely disappeared. I could hear for the first time in seven days. I made breakfast and then a sandwich
Read more

no reply

Image
  You come to me in my dreams at night. It is frequent, and I don’t understand it. It was precisely 11 years ago that we met. It only took me two weeks to fall in love. 11 years have passed, and there has not been a day that I have not thought about you. I think it has been 7 years since we last met. In the dream last night, we sensed each other on a sports field, then we embraced. We were suddenly in an aquarium with others… we escaped to a secret room that started to drop like a faulty elevator. I was certain we would be crushed, like the scene in Star Wars where Luke, Leia, and Chewy are caught in the trash shoot with the closing walls. Crushed by walls and by desire. We kissed… it became heated and sexual. Then I awoke to a deep longing and a sense of despair. I sent a message to wish France well for their game in the Euros that day, but mostly to make contact. There was no reply.
Read more

winter

Image
  The winter wind howls outside. It explores the windows, looking for gaps and fragilities. The temperature drops and I find myself thinking of the stray cat who has become my friend. Where does he hide? Why will he not come inside? What has he been through? We spend a few moments together each day and I feed him. Then it is time for some human interaction… but, you see, most of them are not listening. Most of them don’t care at all. It’s seven weeks since my mother passed away, I miss her each and every day. For others, it seems to be forgotten history. And, I suppose, it is not reasonable for me to expect more than that. I remember the day that my grandmother, my mother’s mother, died. We made it just in time to her bedside. We’d driven from the south of England, where I lived, up to the north, to the town I was born in (the town all of my family had been born in). I walked into the ward first and saw a lady lying in a bed with nurses nearby. I asked the nurses where Winnie was and o
Read more