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Sparkle (1)
Astrid y Gastón, the crown jewel of Gastón Acurio's gastronomic empire in Lima, Peru. The year is 2006. The dress I'm wearing is red, the sky is clear –- the seasons are inverted in South America.
We’re greeted warmly at the door and are escorted to our table, in a private section removed from the main area of the Miraflores casona-turned-restaurant. Alfonso, the maitre d’, walks over and warmly greets Richard, my then-boyfriend, before introducing himself to me.
We're seated. Like magic, waiters materialize on both sides with an Americano for me and a Red Bull for Richard. I look at Richard with delight; he has a little smug smile on his face.
“Darling, did you set this up?”
“What did you think I was doing all day today?”
Before I can reply, the hors d'œuvres are on the table -- shots of chupe de concha y zapallo loche, sanguchínes de cochinillo Limeño, uñitas de cangrejo rellenas de almendras Nikkei, and tartaletas de huevo de codorniz y salchicha criolla.
“Tell me, where did you learn to seduce a woman?” I ask him, finishing off the crab.
“You bring it out of me,” he replies. “This isn’t about romancing you. You make me want to do everything and give you everything. I've never felt this way. Remember that time we were driving and you asked me whether I’d been in love before and I said yes and you said something like, ‘Love like you would kill and steal and do crazy things because you have no logic?’ I thought you were so dysfunctional, but I get it. I am crazy. I’m so crazy.”
"New Year's Eve Kiss" via Shutterstock.
We make our selections for the first course: foie gras anticuchos for me and shrimp in crujiente de Chancay for him.
“Foie gras is one of those acquired tastes I never acquired,” Richard says when I offer some to him. “It tastes like…”
“Wet cat?”
“How do you -- no, I’m not even going to ask.” He laughs.
I giggle, “Well, it’s just as well you don’t like it. It’s inappropriate to crave the ultimate delicacy of despair in California.”
“There’s a lot about California you don’t like, isn’t there?”
“Well, there’s also a lot I do like.”
“I really was looking forward to having you there with me.”
“I want to be with you. But I feel that at this time, it is very important to discover this side of me I’ve been denying all my life. You know, I used to think of myself as an American. That was who I was and it didn’t really fit, but it fit better than anything else. Now, I’ve found this other half of me, and when balanced with the American aspect, it makes sense to me. I make sense to me. That’s a huge deal. I know you think of home as California, but you know that you have a little bit of Peru in there, too. You knew this, though, you always understood that about yourself. I didn’t.”
“I realize how important it is to you, that’s why I came. I don’t expect to whisk you away. I want you to come to California when you want, on your terms. I want it to be your choice because I know that otherwise, you will never be happy.”
The waiters retrieve our dishes, and Alfonso saunters over. “And how is it?”
“Perfect,” I reply. “Exactly like I want it.”
“Good! Have you considered your entrées?”
Richard orders the lobster en jugo de sudado Mancoreño, and I get the fish in a glaze of maíz morado.
“Your happiness is the only thing that matters to me, so no, I am not going to ask you to come. But what I need to know is whether you have any intention of ever coming.”
“I do. I do not just say this because of you; realistically, I could never have a career doing what I love here. I don’t know the Peruvian system enough to be a journalist. My grip on Spanish is nothing compared to my ability with English. So, yes, I see myself going back and flourishing there.”
The waiters come around us, setting the dishes down. Alfonso’s right behind them; “It’s getting closer and closer!” he says, a finger lightly tapping his watch. “Enjoy, enjoy!”
“I’ll wait however long I have to in order to be with you,” Richard starts again. “I don’t like the long-distance thing, but I need you in my life. And I need to know whether that’s something you want. Do you want to be with me? Do you
