His creased brow told Carla otherwise.
“Your name is...um, it is...” He floundered.
To save them both the embarrassment, she said, “It’s Carla.”
“Sí, of course.” Pedro grinned, flashing a ruby set in his molar. “It is very good to see you again.” He cut her hair swiftly and the blast of the hairdryer made it difficult to spark up further conversation.
After the haircut, Carla saw Pedro had trimmed her bangs too short, so they only just skimmed her eyebrows, but she smiled and took out forty euros anyway.
He paused as she handed the notes to him, his fingers lingering close to hers. “The haircut is half price if I can take you out this evening,” he offered. “We could catch up.”
Carla pricked up her ears, a sense of déjà vu washing over her. Had he used this line on her before? It certainly sounded familiar, and the words take you out sounded a bit too much like a date. Pedro had never been a big love in her life, so how could he possibly be significant to her future? She wished there could be a neon arrow flashing above his head, so she could know for sure. Her only way to find out was to spend more time with him. “I’d prefer to pay you in full and have the choice.”
Oh no. Did that sound too flirty?
Pedro threw his head back and laughed. “This is a good deal. We can meet here at six thirty?”
Carla gulped, hesitated and then nodded.
It was easy to occupy a few hours in the city, even when her head was spinning. She made her way to the majestic statue of Christopher Columbus pointing out to sea, flanked by lions and winged women at the base of his plinth, and then toured the surrounding streets.
As the time ticked by, her heart rate gathered pace until she thought it might crack her rib cage. Her stomach felt hollow as she retraced her steps to Pedro’s salon.
The hairdresser stood waiting for her, one leg crooked against the wall while he scrolled on his phone. She eyed him for a while, doubting she was his usual type and wondering if he made a habit of inviting his clients out.
Pedro took her to see the geese that lived in the Gothic Quarter cathedral and pointed out Casa Batlló, a building with skull-shaped balconies and a roof with iridescent tiles that reminded Carla of a dragon’s scales. They took a taxi to Parc Güell, a pretty park at the top of the city. It featured a giant lizard covered in a patchwork of mosaics, a petal-pink house and spiky black wrought-iron gates, fairy-tale architecture in an urban setting. Benches covered in multicolored tiles curled like snakes, giving a bird’s-eye view of the city rooftops and the sea beyond.
They made small talk and meandered along narrow pathways together, until Carla was acutely aware that the chatter and laughter of tourists had fallen away. They entered a shaded walkway where the walls slanted at an angle, giving it an off-kilter feel. Pedro’s pace slowed and he moved closer to her as she admired the mosaic discs that decorated the ceiling. She sensed his eyes were upon her rather than the architecture and felt the atmosphere between them shifting.
“This place is stunning,” she said, avoiding eye contact with him.
“Sí, so are you.”
Carla’s throat tightened and she stepped away. The area suddenly felt too secluded. “I’m thirsty and I need something to eat.”
“Of course. I will take you to a bar that sells the best paella in the city.”
When Pedro smiled, Carla saw a glimpse of the young man she’d once been attracted to. She tentatively nodded in response.
Barcelona was vast and Carla didn’t know its layout well, plus she was dehydrated and ravenously hungry. She strolled with Pedro to a nearby small bar with rickety tables dotted across the pavement. Now that they were out in the open, she found his attention less intense. A family was playing in a nearby park and there were plenty of diners around them.
Pedro drank beer from the bottle while she sipped a glass of Tempranillo. He asked all about her gap-year travels, not giving any hint of remembering the time they’d spent together.
Carla’s memories were hazy, too. She’d been on maybe three or four dates with Pedro and they definitely hadn’t slept together. Even though she’d found him exotic and worldly-wise, the opposite of boys she’d dated at school, falling into bed with people she hardly knew wasn’t her thing.
She showed Pedro a photo of Tom on her phone and told him about their wedding, noticing he was looking at her like a lion circling a wounded antelope. Again.
When he traced his finger across the back of her hand, Carla snatched it to her chest. “I paid in full for my haircut, remember.” She laughed uncomfortably, trying to lighten the mood.
“You are here and I am here,” he said with a suggestive curl to his lips. “We are attracted to each other.”
“I’m engaged.”
Pedro shrugged. “We only get one lifetime.”
Carla shivered and glanced at her watch. Perhaps she’d nicknamed him Mr. Passionate because of his pushy nature? Surely, he couldn’t be the man Myrtle had mentioned. “I should go,” she said, starting to stand up from her seat.
“So soon?” Pedro moved his chair closer and she could smell something sweet and smoky on his breath, very different from Tom’s citrusy scent. “The night is early. We could go dancing, or back to my place to listen to music. I can show you how to salsa.”
Carla felt foolish for coming here, especially without Babs knowing exactly where she was. She was a long way away from home and longed for the comfort of Tom’s sofa. “Sorry, no,” she said, more firmly this time.
There was a flare of annoyance in Pedro’s eyes and he gripped his beer bottle. “This is why you came to find me, no? You liked me in the past, and now...?”
Carla picked up her handbag and thrust her hand inside it, rummaging around for her purse. Instead, she located her list of Logical Love questions and a pen and pulled them out. She cleared her throat as she glanced over them, feeling Pedro’s eyes still boring into her.
“What is the most important thing to you in a relationship?” She read from her piece of paper, meeting Pedro’s gaze head-on as she waited for his response.
“Huh?” he said, one of his eyebrows shooting upward. “What?”
His confused expression made Carla feel more in control and she ignored her gran’s suggestion of asking one question max. Straightening her back, she asked him another. “What do you look for in a partner?”
The hunger in Pedro’s eyes fell away, replaced by a touch of fear. “Partner?” he muttered and swigged his beer. “We are only just friends.”
“Do you put your own happiness first or your partner’s?” Carla continued with her pen poised. “Do you like to please someone through gifts, a show of affection or by doing thoughtful things for them?”
Pedro quickly looked over his shoulder and motioned to the waiter for the bill.
“On a scale of one to ten, how important is trust to you?”
