LAST CUBA LIBRE

LEO

I call for Jessica at nine and we go to McDonald's for a snack before the film. We line up at the cash desk and when it's our turn I order a Big Mac Menu and Jessica a McChicken and a small Coca-Cola. Jessica is wearing purple leggings by Cavalli, a yellow stretch jumper and a silver goose-down jacket.

"It stinks so much in here that it puts you off your food," I observe as we sit down.

"You're always complaining," says Jessica.

"What time does the film start?"

"Half ten."

"Where is it on?"

"At the Emiro." The Emiro is the multi-cinema in Rubiera, on the road to Modena.

"OK," I say biting into my hamburger.

"Leo, I have to tell you something," says Jessica seriously.

"Shoot."

"I might be pregnant."

I choke on my hamburger. I put the Big Mac on the tray and start coughing.

"The other night the condom burst," continues Jessica tonelessly. "Do you remember?"

"Didn't you say you'd go to a gynaecologist and get the day-after pill?"

"Yes, I know..." says Jessica. "But then..."

"Then?"

"I forgot," she says, shrugging.

"You forgot!"

"Yeah."

"Well, I mean... great!"

"And anyway the day-after pill is shit," says Jessica with a tone that tends towards self-justification. "A friend of mine took it... She said she was out of sorts for a week."

"Do you prefer being pregnant?"

"No, but..."

"The fact is that my period should have started today," says Jessica glumly. "You know, I'm usually as punctual as a Swiss watch."

"Maybe you're just a bit late," I say.

"It's never happened before."

"What do you mean, never?"

"Never."

I look at the Big Mac on the tray. I've lost my appetite.

"Can you imagine what would happen if I was pregnant."

"There'd be all hell to pay."

"It's one of those things that changes your life, you know?"

"What a discovery."

"I don't want to have a baby, Leo."

"I do, of course."

"If I decided to have an abortion, would you try to stop me?"

"I don't know."

We sit in silence for a while.

"Shall we go?" asks Jessica.

"Yes."

We get up and I smoke a cigarette in silence in front of McDonalds, then I throw the stub on the ground.

We arrive at the multi-cinema and I park. We buy our tickets at the cash desk, walk into the dark cinema, we sit next to each other and we watch the trailers of other films showing during the holidays.