Olga Dies Dreaming

Prieto picks Olga up from the party and notices that she has been crying. She lies, saying that she smoked weed with some of the valets and put Visine in her eyes. She did not expect to cry, but was shocked that Dick thought he could talk to her like he had.

Prieto thanks her for helping with Reggie. He worries that no one in the Hamptons cares about Puerto Rico. When Olga mentions Nick Selby and Dick’s investment there, Prieto tells her to stay away from Selby. Growing suspicious, she asks why he cancelled the PROMESA hearing. Prieto reiterates what he said at the party—that PROMESA was a compromise between Democrats and Republicans when it appeared that Puerto Rico’s government would default on its debt. Prieto knows that PROMESA is a mess and makes it seem like the island can’t handle itself.

Olga notices that Prieto does not take his eyes off the road while he justifies himself and decides to change the subject. She suggests Prieto rent Mabel’s former apartment to Christian, since she will move out after her wedding. Olga describes Jan’s funeral. No one in Jan’s family admitted to knowing he was gay, but Olga posits that they probably did know but never talked about it. She is alluding to Prieto’s situation without saying it aloud.

When Prieto is reluctant to let Christian rent the apartment, Olga is uncomfortable because she fears she will need to remind Prieto that she technically owns the house—Abuelita left it to her. When Tía Lola had read the will, she told the rest of the family that it belonged to “the Estate,” but then pulled Olga and Prieto aside and told them the truth. Olga told Prieto that his family could use it for whatever they needed. Now, Olga doesn’t bring up the house ownership, but she is angry at Prieto’s refusal to allow Christian to move in. She asks if Prieto doesn’t want him there because he’s afraid of what he’ll want to do. Prieto turns the music up.

Olga realizes that she doesn’t have any actual friends. She has always been closest with family, especially her brother. For high school, she attended a special photography program in Manhattan, alienating her from many in her neighborhood. In college, she hoped to reinvent herself but was shocked at how wealthy her college classmates were. She bonded with international students over feeling out of place. After college, Olga moved between the world of her cousin Mabel and the world of her college peers. Reggie was part of Mabel’s world; when Olga and Reggie broke up, Mabel felt distant from Olga, putting a permanent wedge between them.

In the present, Prieto and Olga make up, agreeing that they hate fighting. He admits that it’s her house, and she points out that she wouldn’t have offered the apartment to Christian if he didn’t need it.

Olga tells Matteo about her father and how he passed away. She went to the hospital to visit him, but Prieto never did. Before, Olga assumed it was because of their mother, who likely thought that their father had not lived up to his Puerto Rican heritage. But now, Olga thinks it’s because Prieto was afraid.

Olga asks Matteo if he’s ever had a conversation that inexplicably changed his perspective. He felt that way when he learned that his mother was dying. At this, Olga unburdens herself, telling Matteo that Prieto has always wanted to be liked, which might prevent him from coming out. Olga believes their conversation about Christian confirmed that Prieto is gay—it’s the first time she’s ever seen Prieto not want to help someone. She now realizes that this is why Prieto never went to see their father in the hospital: He was afraid that if their family saw him around people who were gay, they would know that he is too. Now, Olga is afraid: If this secret caused Prieto to not visit his father’s deathbed, what else might he do to protect it? Matteo points out that many politicians face the same dilemma.

Olga has to go to the bathroom. Matteo is hesitant to let her in since he has admitted that he’s a hoarder, but after she begs him to let her in, he goes inside briefly to adjust things and then allows her to enter. One room is full of furniture, while another is filled with vinyl, CDs, and other musical items. Part of Matteo’s mental illness is categorizing rooms like this. Olga is the first person who has been in the house, besides him, in eight years. She thanks him for letting her use the restroom, and he understands that she is thanking him for letting her in.

Matteo puts on a record, and they dance. Olga destroyed all of her father’s records after he died, so Matteo offers to bring a record player and all of the records he has in common with her father’s collection to her home. Olga says that the room is a nice place to listen to music. For the rest of the night, they listen together. She asks him to come to Mabel’s wedding with her.