“A cappuccino, please. With a slice of torta tres leches?”
“Very good choice, Elly. I just made it this morning. Fresh as can be. But some…” At this Maria pointed a thumb over her shoulder in my direction. “…never respect me enough to eat my creations.”
“Maria…”
“Ah! No excuses! It will do you good. You and all those abs are not welcome here if this continues!” Maria pretended to look offended.
“Well,” Elly shot me a quick smile. “How about we change that? Shall we have two pieces, then?”
Maria’s eyes were on me. Hard. “You keep this one, ah? She’s going to save your soul from yourself.”
And with that, Maria left to fetch our orders.
“You didn’t have to…” I started to say, but Elly raised her hand.
“I’m returning the favor, Sebastian. You saved me from another accident and so I’m saving your soul.” And we laughed.
* * *
“So, shall we go through the story one more time?” I asked, taking the last sip of my now cold coffee. The mood between Elly and I had changed dramatically from the joking and teasing of an hour ago. It was hard not to have changed into the more somber with the contract laid out between us. Two copies. Two blank spaces waiting for our signatures.
It was full-blown business mode. Where I needed to be with the entire scheme.
“Sure,” Elly said. She had grown quiet as soon as I had brought out the contracts, and even quieter when we went through each aspect. It might have been silly of me to think so…but it felt like she was resigning herself to some form of punishment. Rather than an opportunity.
“Treat it like a job,” I’d said. “With flexible time and more money. It’s like all those pyramid schemes are always trying to sell you. Great opportunity. Work from abroad in luxury.” I had put on my best sales voice. She hadn’t fallen for it, though.
“The best thing to do is to keep the story as close to the truth as possible,” I went on. “We met a few months ago when I was on a business trip in the US…”
“Florida,” Elly interjected.
“I was in California.”
“Then California.”
“You could have had a tennis match there. Anyway, we’ve been keeping things under wraps and you surprised me with your arrival at the hotel. And then we arranged to meet again at the bar. I came to your match, and then we bonded over the next few days at the hospital…”
“Love at first sight,” Elly murmured.
“Yeah.” I looked at her uneasily. Her tone was ironic. But she was still listening. “Love at first sight. And then…then I proposed.”
We both looked at each other. Awkwardly.
“Shall I tell you how I proposed? Knowing my mom and my cousins, you will be interrogated about it.” I chuckled but Elly looked worried.
“I didn’t meaninterrogated. But you know, they like their gossip.”
I wasn’t sounding too convincing.
“So, is there anywhere from our tour today that you particularly liked?” I asked.
“Is that why you gave me the tour? All for the purpose of choosing my fake proposal spot?” A question answered with a question. Was that a bitter tone I detected?
“I wanted you to experience my city. To be honest, I hadn’t even thought of this question until now. I was going to go traditional and say the church of San Pedro Claver, but I’m happy to hear of any suggestions. You know, since we’re partners in this…work.” I paused, waiting for her to respond.
Elly furrowed her eyebrows as if thinking deeply. “I quite liked the mural with the…what was the bird’s name?”
“Maria Mulata.”