Intermission // Van McCann

14. I Think You Know What For

We arrived at the nearest hardware and electronic store in search of the items Van needed to build his robotic arm. Iván took the list out and began reading.

"We need to buy one Arduino UNO," he said slowly. I pulled the paper towards me to get a closer look.

"What on earth is that?" I questioned, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Is it like UNO the game?"

I began laughing and read the description Van wrote. "According to Van, it's a microcontroller board based on ATmega328P." I stared straight ahead, confused. "His description makes no sense at all."

There is no doubt that Van is very intelligent. He's very logical and loves analyzing complex problems. He likes to understand the theory behind everything and he likes figuring out how things work. I admit I find it attractive when he talks about something he's passionate about, but most of the things he talks about goes over my head. I sometimes wonder how it is that we ended up together. We're very different.

"I see someone," Iván spoke up, eyeing an employee restocking supplies. "Excuse me! Can you help us find something?"

The employee stood up to his full height. "Sure thing! What do you need help finding?"

"We're trying to find UNO."

"UNO? Like the game?" the employee asked, confused.

"No," I corrected, grabbing the paper from Iván. "We're looking for an Arduino UNO."

"Ah, yes! The microcontroller board."

"Yeah. The UNO," Iván said in a serious tone and the employee laughed.

"Right this way," he said, walking further down. "It's on aisle 12 with all the other control boards. You can't miss it."

"Gracias," Iván thanked him and we both made our way to aisle 12.

Iván scanned one side of the aisle while I scanned the other and it didn't take long before we found it. Once we found out what it was, we felt silly. It looked like a circuit board. We grabbed one and placed it in the basket.

"Next on the list is a PS2 Joystick 2 axis module. So he wants to play some PlayStation, huh?" Iván joked. "First UNO and now a PlayStation."

"If Van was here, he'll never go to the store with you again," I replied, grinning.

We only had to buy five items but it took a lot longer than it should've. Finding the microcontroller was the easiest because an employee helped us find it, but he was the only one we saw working so we were too embarrassed to ask him for help finding the rest of the items. He'd see us eyeing him and we'd quickly run away, giggling. We were being childish but it was fun looking at all the items they sold. I paid for all the items and we boarded the bus to our next destination. I glanced at the time on my watch.

"Iván, it's almost 11 AM! Are we gonna make it back on time? He's going to wonder what's taking us so long."

"We'll be quick," Iván replied, waving me off.

"I don't think so! I don't even know what I want."

"I can help you decide."

We finally made it to Iván's favorite store and immediately made our way towards the fabric. I couldn't help but touch the lace once again.

"The upper part of your wedding dress will be made of lace," Iván explained. "Look at all the designs they have and pick the one you like best."