Cristelle

Chapter 1

Cristelle

The woman checked the time on her cell phone and quickened her pace. She had agreed to meet the boy at six o'clock in the evening on a street corner of that neighborhood in Congreso and it was already six twenty. It was simply not right to arrive so late on the first date, although in this Saturday afternoon there was not a lot of people walking around the area, so crowded on weekdays. The girl vaguely remembered the photo of the young man named Federico, his light eyes and red hair. The appointment had been made by telephone, after an exchange of mails through one of the dating sites that infested Internet. She remembered that the man had also said he was one meter eighty-five centimeters tall and slender so that she figured he would be readily recognizable as she crossed him on the street, but above these considerations Cristelle was sure the boy would immediately recognize her. Born in Cameroon thirty years earlier her black skin stood out in Buenos Aires, as well as her silhouette with generous curves.

"I have to stick to that diet again. I gained about four kilos lately." She mused as she arrived at the appointed corner.

The woman did not see him because he was leaning on a wall looking at the opposite direction from which she came, no doubt expecting to see her come from there.

"Hello Cristelle." Said he. "I'm Federico."

She looked at him and could not conceal a gesture of satisfaction; everything that the photo and the description on the dating site showed corresponded to reality. The tall and somewhat gawky boy and his face with regular features pleased her from the beginning. Cristelle was happy to have agreed to the appointment.

They were sitting in a cafe near the house where the girl lived. They had been talking with no fixed topic for a while and the woman decided to ask for some further details. With her soft French accent she asked.

"Well, tell me more about yourself, starting with your name and where you are from. That ridiculous nickname you use on the dating site is obviously not true."

"My complete name is Federico Colombo, and I was born in Pergamino."

"Excuse my ignorance about geography. Where is that place?"

"In the province of Buenos Aires, about 220 kilometers from the capital."

"And why did you come to live here?"

"To finish my studies."

"And don't you have universities in your hometown?"

"There are two, but they do not have the career that interests me."

"What career is that?"

"Graphic design."

"Did you live in Pergamino with your family?"

"Yes, my parents own a small farm there."

"Do you have any brothers and sisters? Rural families tend to be large."

"Yes, my two brothers are still finishing high school and help my father in the fields. My older sister is married and is a teacher at a kindergarten in the city."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-five, as I wrote in the profile of the site you've seen. Except for the name, everything else is true."

"Do you have a girlfriend in your hometown?"

The boy hesitated a moment.

"No a fiancée or a formal girlfriend. Her name is Vanessa. A girl I have gone out with sometimes."

"Have you slept with her?"

New hesitation.

"A couple of times."