Chapter 23: we are always open to connect

Rocío Smith: I will go to Caracas to buy the plane ticket

For God's sake I would come to Caracas! I would see her again! I wanted to jump on the bed, so I brushed my hair and tucked a strand behind my ear as if she could see me before texting her back.

Musa Berhnhardt: That's great, when are you coming? So can I accompany you to buy it?

Rocío Smith: I hope so, because I don't know Caracas, I haven't been there in years.

Musa Berhnhardt: In that case I will be your tour guide.

Rocío Smith: I like the sound of that.

Musa Berhnhardt: When are you coming?

Rocío Smith: Tomorrow morning.

Musa Berhnhardt: Okay, then I'll see you tomorrow. Tomorrow I have literature classes all afternoon, but what better excuse than to lose literature to escape with my romantic lyrics?

Rocío Smith: I can't wait.

How lucky to see you again… with rain on your eyelashes.

I had no idea what to wear, I was going to go crazy. That morning I had pancakes, toast with jam and yogurt for breakfast, in a confused attempt to overcome the nerves that were twisting in my gut from hunger. I brushed my teeth three times to check that I had molten mint breath, and after being able to decide between a dress and a skirt, since pants were not an option for the first date; especially if I was talking about a woman who exploited my imagination just by remembering her ways of touching me on a dance floor. I decided to wear a brown strapless dress and combined it with some cowboy boots, they were my lucky boots and that dress was beautiful. I let my hair fall in a cascade over my shoulders and I put on golden eye makeup. It looked like it would be a sunny day, I felt really pretty.

Musa just hoped she wouldn't act like a fool, or be too angelic for Rocíono to want to sleep with her. He left home early and went to the pharmacy to buy his heart medications. When Rocío wrote to him telling him that her bus to Caracas was about to arrive, Musa was still at her father's labor insurance department picking up the order for the medicines. “Damn my first date and I would be late”, “I can't be late, she told me she didn't know Caracas and I will also make a terrible impression on her and in the worst case scenario she will panic and hate me forever for having left her on board.” . I felt a kick in the stomach at the thought of disappointing her and that she might think I wouldn't make it.

I hurried to the subway station, I walked as fast as I could keep from sweating, it would be a tragedy if he saw me all sweaty when the last time he saw me I was a mess dancing in a nightclub. Before entering the station I managed to read her latest messages, I noticed that she was already stressed.

RocioSmith: Skinny, I'm here.

RocioSmith: Skinny, I'm already at the subway station, where are you coming from?

RocioSmith: Look, are you coming?

Before he left, leaving me in a self-inflicted situation, I typed him.

Musa Berhnhardt: I'm on my way, wait for me.

That would be enough to hold her over while she arrived. I bought him a chocolate at a kiosk in front of the station to apologize for the delay. I took the subway and began to watch through the window as the stations burst and they brought me closer to her. We moved like two pieces of precious metal, attracted by a magnetic entity that was formed in the pure friction of our skin. The seasons passed like gusts through the window, I looked back into those anxious eyes again and again. They shone like a star that winds its tips with excitement and fear. Butterflies fluttered inside my stomach, making me nauseous. He would see her soon. It was incredible, I thought I would never see her again after that night. Finally I arrived at La Bandera station, I slipped through the people without being disturbed, I took out my cell phone.Musa Berhnhardt: I'm here, where are you?

I sent it off and started going up the escalator. In a matter of seconds I would see her. I was watching the people coming down the other end to enter the subway, and there she was going down among the people. Lesbian in The L Word style, with sunglasses, a salmon-colored jacket, and straight hair at shoulder level, my goodness she looked beautiful. Beautiful and extremely sexy. He recognized me, and turned his neck upwards smiling at me. At that moment I didn't have time to think about how beautiful she looked, I just knew it, I knew that I would treasure that image of her descending the stairs forever in my mind. I left the subway and took the stairs back to go to their reunion. Then I turned to the other end of the stairs and there she was again. Now she was going up towards the exit of the station. It was like we were playing catch. I signaled to her that I would wait for her downstairs while she went back down.I got to the other floor and looked at myself in the glass of the fire lighter, I fixed my hair. I tried to look natural and relaxed, I waited for the escalator to bring her back, I looked up and there she was. All the light coming in from above went out when he heard me. That day I discovered that Rocío had her own light. A smile that seemed to have been practiced all his life. It was one of those smiles you'd remember when people told you the world sucked. It was impossible not to look at her, even though your eyes might hurt, and you would cry when you saw her and you wanted to cry when you couldn't see her. She gave me a big hug and broke all the immense distance that had existed since that night when I lost her without knowing her name. Caught off guard, my hands clumsily returned it to him.