The end of dreams

26

"When are you going to leave?" asked Mark, hesitant.

Now that he had met Michelle again he felt the strong desire to stay by her side forever. That feeling was completely new to him. The company of that enchantig creature, who had just come back from his remote past, made him feel as comfortable as if he was covering himself with a warm blanket during a frosty winter night. 

"We'll stay here till tomorrow evening, then we'll spend some days in Varadero" answered Michelle without the slightest hesitation.

"It's a pity you'll stay for so short a time in Havana" Carlos stepped in.

"I'll try to show you something of this city." 

Therefore he took them to see the most attractive places of Havana: they visited the old town, then the Great Theater and finally the majestic Cathedral Square. He was good at selecting the sites which used to strike the European tourists; that was actually his job.

The last attraction he showed to the girls was the typical fish market. 

"Tonight I'll be honored to cook for you" 

At dusk they reached Carlos' place on the seashore. 

Actually it was an illegal cabin on a heavenly beach. He lit a little fire outdoors. He prepared what he used to call the most famous lobster of Havana while the girls were incredulously admiring the breath-taking sunset of Cuba. He enriched that delicious dish with the best white wine he had in his cabin, that is to say a French wine he had been given by a French tourist who had thanked him that way in return for his kind attentions. 

"Why were we so convinced that we were teetotallers?" slurred Silvia after she had gulped another draught of that sparkling wine.

Mark sat down close to Michelle to make things clear and her pleased gaze convinced Carlos he would have not a chance with that girl. So he devoted himself to courting Silvia, who, for her part, seemed to appreciate Carlos' initiative. None the less the color of Silvia's eyes unsettled him a little: her eyes actually seemed to belong raher to a wild animal than to a human being.
For that reason Carlos lost part of his typical verve but, apart from that, Silvia was a real smahing girl in his eyes. But for his untimely cousin he would have spent an unforgettable night or rather a ménage à trois with those two beautiful chicks. 

"The sun and the moon... and I would have been the sky..." he muttered, without making himself understood.

Then all of them took a seat at the table; actually they were two couples sitting in front of
one another. At first they managed to chat together as one single group, then each couple kept up its own conversation. At that point they were no longer four friends but they had indeed turned into four sweethearts. 

"Where have you been all this time?" asked Mark of Michelle; he was a little tipsy.

"Tell me where you have been..." answered Michelle, while he touched her skirt and attempted timidly to lift it, so that he could stroke her legs.

"If only we could rewind the time... you can't even imagine how many things we would do, you and I... " he whispered to her in a conspiratorial voice. 

"If I had had you so close to me ten years ago... you would not even have had the time to talk to me..." replied Michelle quite frankly; she didn't feel inhibited any more thanks to Carlos' French wine.

"So you used to consider me a cool guy..." said Mark, feeling flattered.

"All of the girls used to like you."