I cringed. “Okay, how about…a puppy gentleman?”
“Still kind of weird, but better. I hope you fulfil your dream of becoming a puppy gentleman, Edwin.”
It was the most innocuous statement in the world, but I felt my cheeks warm.
“Thank you,” I said. “What about you? What’s your dream?”
He blinked a few times. “Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever been asked that.”
“Seriously?”
He shrugged. “I don’t think I have any lofty dreams like yours. I don’t know, to be honest.”
“Maybe something to do with architecture?” I asked.
“Yeah. Maybe.” He flashed a small smile, but it faded quickly. “I haven’t really thought about it, to be honest. I reckon I want an ordinary life with a family and a house and…” he trailed off. “It would be nice to visit the Sagrada Familia.”
“The what?”
“Sagrada Familia,” he repeated. “It’s a church in Barcelona.”
“Are you religious?”
“No, not at all,” he said. “My parents sent me to a Catholic boy's school, and that’s put me off for life.”
My parents paid for me to go to a private high school because, as they always said, education is the number one priority. It was mixed, but I wonder what going to a boys’ school would be like. In my imagination, it would be full of boyfriends and furtive kisses behind the science building.
I ran an eye over Leo. What did he get up to? Did he make out with a boy in the school chapel? Maybe he did stuff in the confession booth thingy—
“The Sagrada Familia is a famous church because of its architecture,” Leo continued. “It’s unfinished, actually, even though it was started in the nineteenth century.”
“And they haven’t even finished building it?” I asked.
“Well, there’s lots of reasons why,” Leo said, leaning forward. “There was the Spanish Civil War. The original plans were burned. Back when construction started, one of the architects was hit by a tram, and people thought he was a beggar, so they just left him there.”
“They left him there on the street?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he replied, eyes wide. “Eventually, he was taken to the hospital, but by the time he was recognised, it was too late for him, and he died soon after. He’s buried in the church, actually. Originally, they wanted to complete the building by the century anniversary of Gaudi’s — the architect’s — death, but it looks like it’ll be pushed back.”
“Why does it take so long to build one church?” I asked.
“If you look at it, you’ll see.” Leo quickly pulled out his phone and typed, then showed me the screen.
“Oh, I have seen this building before,” I said. “I didn’t realise it was a church, though.” I’d always assumed it was a strange building, reminding me of something made out of chocolate or biscuit that was starting to melt.
“These are the spires,” Leo said and moved his chair so he was beside rather than across from me, pointing at his screen. “There’s meant to be eighteen, but only eight have been completed so far.”
He told me about what each of the spires were meant to represent and pointed out other details in the photos, once againclose enough for me to inhale his clean scent. Soon, he was showing me pictures of other places on his bucket list.
“So let me get this straight,” I asked after Leo had finished talking. At this point, a Pomeranian had come to sit by my feet, and I was stroking the back of its long ears. “You want to go to Istanbul, Petra and the Taj Mahal in India, and you say you don’t have dreams.”
He played with the straw of his drink. He’d drank all the coffee, so only the ice cubes were left. “They’re just ideas.”
“Still, all of those places sound so cool. I’ve never even heard of the — what was it? Sophia—”
“Hagia Sophia,” Leo said.
“Right. Anyway, there’s no harm in saying you want to visit those places. It can’t be more crazy than me saying I want to be a dog lord.”
