Two small children, siblings it seemed, trying to race and outpace the other, bumped into the two women, giggling as they did, their mother yelling at them in Spanish from a few yards away. The moment between them was lost, but Cosima would remember it, tuck it away so she could recall the look on the blonde's face as she traced her lips. A small seed of hope was blossoming by the moment.
They both dipped their heads, shaking them slightly, not embarrassed, only warm from the exchange and lightly, humorously cursing the small kids, still running around and between them.
"Shall we make our way to La Sagrada Familia, then, as our next destination? I believe it is maybe a 20 minute walk from here."
Cosima nodded slowly, deeply dipping her head. "Yeah, dude, sure, that sounds great. It's, what, 4:30 … or 16h30 to you, Frenchie," smiling at the tall woman.
"Oui, 16h30, Cosima. We have arrived in Barcelona at a time when nothing is open. Cafés and bistros won't open until later, and the bars much later. But the basilica is open, and maybe some places serving tourists. We can see guitar and drink some," she coughed loudly, suggestively, "Spanish wine, later, since you insist - French is always better, mon amie. I am starting to question your taste."
"When in Catalonia … right!? Maybe you can expose me to some expensive French vintage some other time." It slipped out before she realized, wondering if there would ever be another time.
The blonde just nodded and smiled, heading toward the stairs.
They walked down a busy avenue toward La Sagrada Familia. It wasn't the most pleasant walk, ringed by traffic, a reminder that they were in a large, urban city. But off in the distance, Cosima could see another expanse of green, and they were walking toward it.
"What is that, another park?"
"Yes, that is Parc de les Aigües, the Water Park, I believe. It isn't much of a park, but has some interesting, rare trees, or at least trees that don't really belong here."
"How do you know so much about Barcelona? Didn't you grow up in Paris?"
"Non, well, I grew up in Lille mostly, north of Paris near the border with Belgium. Many people call it an industrial town, but it has a beautiful downtown square, the old town is filled with cobblestone streets, fromageries, caves à vin– ah, cheese and wine shops, sorry – just as an American would expect. But also old family bakeries, cloth shops, and cafés. It is really lovely, actually. I moved to Paris for University nearly ten years ago. But I know Barcelona because my uncle and cousins live in the area, that's why my grand-mére moved here. My cousin Thomas lives here in Barcelona, actually. Maybe we can meet up with him tonight. He tends bar in Barri Gotic, but he is sometimes hard to find."
"Oh, cool, cool. I ended up with, like, the perfect guide. I want Spanish wine, you know a Spanish bartender. Why's he hard to find? A bit wild?"
"French-Spanish," she corrected. "Non, he is actually a very sweet guy, but his boyfriend owns a restaurant in the area too that is very popular, they just have a lot going on all the time, Thomas is never quite sure when he will be around. I used to spend a lot of my breaks from school with Thomas and his family, he is like a little brother to me. Now that I think about it, we need to find him tonight. You two should meet. He's also very cheeky."
Cosima was continually surprised by the revelations from this woman, at least this latest information indicated she was open-minded, maybe more. She was confused, but unsure how to broach the subject.
They walked in companionable silence down the wide avenue, the spires of La Sagrada Familia just barely visible. Cosima was so excited about seeing this basilica – still under construction since ground broke in 1882 – loaded with geometric, mathematic imagery in addition to the unique architectural construct.
"You are so … bouncy. You look like a little kid at a fête."
"Yeah, this place has been on my list for a while," she said simply, smiling at the blonde.
As they neared the entrance at the Nativity façade, they noted the rather dramatic crowd of tourists still milling all around the unfinished structure.
"I believe we have found the tourists," she said, emphasizing the last few syllables.
"I think that includes me too. I'm gonna be dorking out on you in here if that's okay?" She turned her back on the blonde to look up.
Delphine nodded and chuckled lightly. "I believe there are 18 spires. For the apostles, the evangelists, Mary, and then the tallest, of course, for Christ," Delphine said matter-of-factly from behind Cosima, who looked up at the spires, squinting against the afternoon light.
"How do you do that …" Cosima said as she spun around to look at the blonde, laughing hard when she saw a smirk on her face as she held up a pamphlet guide, in French. "You! You got me. What else does that thing say? Don't they have one in English?"
"Non, mon amie," as she snatched the pamphlet just out of the smaller woman's reach, "I am your tour guide."
"Ohh, I see, you're in control. Mmmkay," hands up in mock surrender.
The Christian iconography was the strongest at this facade, depicting the birth of Christ, highlighting the apostles in pastoral, naturalist scenes, intricate details and flourishes of leaves and trees carved into the stone. The symbols for Alpha and Omega were carved at the arched entrance. They walked around, taking in the odd curve of the buttresses, the traditional archways.
"Cosima, do you believe …" she trailed off, waved vaguely at the façade.
"Well, I'm not really into labels, but I think I'd have to say, no, not really, not in the specifics of the story, definitely not the dogma." Unsure of her companion's beliefs, she was careful, "But I can see how it would be comforting. I wanted to come here because of how purposeful and exacting the design is, this weird architectural ... dichotomy ... and of course there are all these call-outs to geometry. It's like a mind trip. Do ... you?"
"Non, I went to Catholic school, but I have always put more faith in things I can touch, feel, observe. Faith in the unseen has not been kind to me. We are both scientists, no? Evidence-based theory, that's what I believe."
Cosima's look turned briefly to concern, taking in the taller woman's words, but she wanted to keep things light, not press. "Of course, yeah, show don't tell, right? I think I would describe myself as a spiritual Humanist, you know. I think there's too much out there, and in here," she lightly placed her hand at the top of the other woman's chest, "that we still don't understand to rely on science alone to explain everything, or at least science as it stands now. I make decisions based on logic - most of the time - but I make room for belief in things we don't yet understand." She smiled up at the blonde who reached up to cover the small woman's hand with her own.
"Oui, a Humanist, I think that would describe me as well," She gave Cosima's hand a light squeeze and moved away. "This building is an example of the humanist principle, is it not? Collective human agency to build something magnificent, a feat of engineering for an expression of art, an ideal."
"Delphine, you are a little bit of a poet, aren't you?" she said in a teasing tone.
She groaned a little, a small smile on her face, shaking her head at the brunette. Cosima moved forward, closing the space between them as Delphine leaned into the stone at her back, looking down into Cosima's eyes. Then Cosima realized where they were, what she knew and didn't know, and pulled back with a slightly frantic look.
"Ugh, let's, let's go inside. I want to see these famous pillars."
Exhaling light and long, Delphine said, "Oui, Cosima, the interior is stunning."
They walked into the stone structure, which was lit up with the most extraordinary rainbow of colors, yellows, oranges streaming in from the west façade, a smattering of blues, greens, soft white speckling the marble floor, the stone archways and buttresses coming in from all other angles.
Cosima let out a loud gasp, slowly spinning around, looking up. She shook her head in wonder, dreads swaying with her. When she came to a stop, her head was still tilted back, looking at the ceiling, eyes darting this way and that.
Delphine didn't look about the cavernous room, she was instead focused intently on the compact form of her new friend, her whole body lit by a rainbow of color, her dreads purple and green and blue, and the features of her face alight with joy.
Cosima dropped her head, now looking about the space, the intricate pillars all radiating out from the center of the room in slight variations of size and color of pale marble. She was mumbling, almost whispering to herself, "Ah, I totally see it now, these pillars, they are trees, he's created a pillar forest, arching out at the top to create a stone canopy. Damn, it's so much better in person." She walked a little away from Delphine, lost in her exploration. She ran her hand up and down a column, noting its changing form. "Wow. These columns, they spring from a star-shaped base, then flare out into these sixteen-sided forms, and then collapse back down into a cylinder." She shook her head just slightly as she ran her finger down the center, leaning down, bringing her eyes closer. "I think these are different kinds of stone too, no doubt some symbolism in that."
She sighed, then turned in a slow full circle, looking for the blonde, wondering if she'd been talking to herself. She saw Delphine then, walking toward her with a soft smile on her beautiful face, lit orange as if by a dying sunset. Cosima grinned back, tongue pressing fully against her teeth. "Heyyy, I was looking for you. I think I've been talking to myself … this is so wonderful. It's like we're lost in a magical stone forest, look," She pointed up to the canopy.
Cosima looked back at the blonde who had become quiet, seeing an expression she couldn't place, Delphine looked distracted, her mind somewhere else. She looped her arm through Delphine's, wanting the contact, friendly, nothing more. "Hey," cocking her head to the side, "where'd you go? Everything okay?"
"Cosima, do you think perfect moments exist?" The blonde's voice was low, a little rough.
"Well, I guess, what do you mean by perfect? Like the clouds part, angels sing, a symphony of strings?" Waving her hands at the sky, eyes quirking up.
"Ohh," she lightly groaned, not sure if the small woman was poking fun at her. "Well, like, when something is just what you need, whether you knew you needed it or not. Or, when one single moment has others curled up inside it, like its timeless? Do I sound … nonsensical? My English is failing me."
"No you don't at all. I think time is a fallible, flimsy thing, a human construction … some moments are heavier than others, you know, and have ripple effects throughout our lives." Cosima hands were spinning, playing out a thought experiment in her mind, drawing conclusions, completely missing the look the blonde was giving her, the longing there clearly evident, darkening her features. "If I follow you, I guess I would say a perfect moment would be one that you can recall with perfect clarity, if not the details, how it made you feel. Yes, I think I believe in perfect moments." A quick nod, as if making up her mind. Then she looked at the blonde, curious.
"Cosima, you, spinning in this room, the light dancing around you," she closed her eyes, exhaled "this is a perfect moment."
Cosima's mouth dropped open, her eyes wide, shock and desire pulsed through her. Forgetting the crowd, the unknowns, she moved in again to close the distance between them, this time without hesitating. She leaned up on her toes, placing the flat of her palm on the blonde's neck, who leaned into her instinctively. Cosima pulled her down for a light kiss, all soft lips, not tentative, but not pressing.
She pulled away, Delphine's lovely hazel eyes looking down at her, but also up through long lashes, her teeth worrying at her bottom lip.
"Oh, Delphine, um, I …" Cosima shook her head and quietly freaked out, hoping she hadn't misread those signs. But she couldn't have, they were too loud to ignore. Her whole body thrummed, wanting to kiss the beautiful woman in front of her again, who looked so vulnerable.