The Dulce Vendor | La Dulcera
"A woman selling dulces de leche on the beach finds sweetness in an unexpected encounter"
The Dulce Vendor
La Dulcera
I sold dulce de leche by the beach in Mar del Plata. It wasn't glamorous, but it was mine.
"How much for everything?" she asked, gesturing at my tray.
"Everything? Why would you want everything?"
"Because I'm heartbroken and sugar helps."
Her name was Valentina. She'd come to the beach to escape Buenos Aires, a failed relationship, and whatever else she was running from.
"Dulce de leche won't fix heartbreak," I said.
"It won't make it worse."
"Fair point."
She bought everything. Sat on the sand. Ate through half my inventory while crying.
"Can I sit?" I asked.
"Won't you lose sales?"
"Most tourists are gone. You're my last customer."
She told me her story. Five years with someone who didn't love her enough. A ring that never came. A future that evaporated.
"Why are you telling me this?" she asked suddenly.
"You're the one telling me."
"But you're listening. Why?"
"Because you bought all my dulces. That deserves attention."
She laughed—the first real laugh she'd had in weeks, she said.
"You're strange," she observed.
"You're eating your feelings on a public beach. We're both strange."
"I like you."
"That's the sugar talking."
She came back the next day. And the next. I started saving dulces for her.
"This is becoming a habit," she said.
"Is that bad?"
"I thought I came here to be alone."
"You can be alone with me."
She kissed me on the seventh day. Tasting like caramel and sea salt.
"I wasn't expecting this," she admitted.
"Neither was I."
"Is this a vacation thing? Something I'll leave behind?"
"That depends on whether you leave."
She extended her stay. Then extended it again. Eventually stopped pretending she was leaving.
"I gave up everything for this," she said.
"You gave up pain. That's not everything."
"What did I gain?"
"Dulce de leche. A beach. Me."
We sell together now. Two women on the sand, trays of sweetness, hearts full.
"To heartbreak," we joke.
"To what comes after," the better toast.
The dulce vendor—where sweetness heals, beaches comfort, and love is the best thing sold.