Spanish Bombs

Mi Amor

That night when he went to sleep he dreamt of her innocent attentive gaze behind the parlor window. Of her careless slouch and her acting of reading when he could tell she was really daydreaming. She reminded him of Aphrodite, he thought if Aphrodite existed her name would be Cándida.
He woke up then in the middle of the night with cold drips of sweat running down his temples, his cheeks warm like the bed he laid on. He reproached his male intuition and silently told himself she was nothing but a dream. A dream that is meant to be kept away, locked under a pillow.

Monday

Yesterday father mentioned to Joseph that he ought to get a haircut and clothes of his own so I, being the lovely person that I am, offered to take him to the plaza. Dad thought about it a bit before complying but then he agreed. I could hardly fall asleep last night thinking about today, and today I kept counting the hours till noon.

We walk down the cobblestone road with the sun and dancing clouds above us, the wind caressing our faces as we made our way to the plaza not too far from home. We don't talk until we've reached the end of the street, as we continue walking he slightly turns towards me to thank me for going with him.
"It's nothing, I'll do anything to leave the house."
"Are you there all week?"
"Not all week long, but mostly."
"Is it tedious?"
"Hmm, It's not necessarily exciting."
"Is that the reason you're so intrigued by me then?" He jokes.
I scoff, "what makes you think I'm intrigued?"
"So you're not?"
I smile blushing, "you're too clever, Sir."
"As are you."
"No, I'm" my mind had gone blank by his flirtatious advances, "I'm just a girl."
"Just a girl? You know four languages, are a great painter and play Mozart better than Mozart himself. You're not just a girl."
I let out a small flattered laugh, "you don't mean that."
"But I do. You're brilliant, don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
My heart feels elated as I look into his eyes to say, "thank you Joe."
His brows raise a little, "Joe?"
"Yeah, short for Joseph, you know like, Candy is short for Cándida? Unless you don't like it then..."
"No, no, I like it. You can call me anything you'd like."

We smile at each other again as I think I'd like to call him "mi amor."