Havana Best Friends Read Free

stylish in a quiet way. Sean wore a maroon-and-white fine-striped dress shirt, its cuffs folded up to his elbows, khakis, and cordovan loafers. They glanced at each other and Sean pulled a face at Marina. She grinned and crossed her legs.
    Pablo returned to the living room carrying a tray with three tumblers filled to the brim with the cocktail. He handed thedrinks to his guests and clinked his glass to theirs before easing himself into a club chair.
    “Salud.”
    “Salud,”
concurred Marina and Sean.
He didn’t mix one for Elena
, Marina observed as she extracted a sprig of mint before sipping.
    “Great,” Sean said, lifting his eyebrows in admiration.
    “You like it?” Pablo asked, obviously pleased.
    “Best I’ve ever had,” Sean replied.
    “And you, Mrs.…”
    “Marina, please. It’s superb.”
    “I’m glad you like it. Now, I tell you about this place I’m taking you to. Would you please interpret for Sean, Marina?”
    “But you don’t need it. Your English is very good.”
    “You think so? Not very good, I know. But it’ll improve with time. I’m studying hard.”
    From the TV set’s speaker came a fanfare of trumpets.
    “Oh, the news. Ugh!” Pablo fumed. “Always the same. Everything in Cuba is perfect, the rest of the world is a mess. Just a moment.”
    Marina translated the bald man’s blanket contempt of the Cuban newscast as he turned the TV set off and returned to his seat. Sean seemed amused.
    “Please, Marina, interpret for your husband. For many years, the government didn’t allow private businesses in Cuba. Now, some are allowed. They are heavily taxed, can’t expand beyond a certain point, have to comply with many regulations. It’s why some are … clandestine. In fact, all the best are clandestine. I’m taking you to what Cubans call a
paladar
, a private restaurant. How would you translate
paladar
, Marina?”
    “Sense of taste?”
    “I’ll remember that. Now, few foreigners dine at a clandestine
paladar
. You need a sponsor to get in, someone whom the management trusts and can make a reservation. We’ll be the only customers there tonight. The food is excellent, the service great, fine entertainment …”
    “Good evening,” Elena said with a pleased smile on entering the living room. Sean stood up. Fresh out of the shower, with just a touch of makeup, she was even more attractive than twelve hours earlier, Sean observed. Her thick dark-blond hair fell past her shoulders gracefully and her black, long-sleeved silk blouse embroidered with multicoloured butterflies was exquisite.
    “What a beautiful blouse!” Marina said with sincere admiration.
    “You like it? It belonged to my grandmother, my mother inherited it, then she gave it to me a few years ago.”
    “It’s lovely. Your brother mixes excellent mojitos. Would you like one?”
    “Yes, I would.”
    Pablo was nonplussed for a moment, but he recovered fast. “Sure,” he said, before getting to his feet and marching into the kitchen. Marina zeroed in on Elena and girl talk prevailed for a couple of minutes. Pablo returned with the cocktail and handed it to his sister. “Drink it quickly,” he snapped. “We are late because of you.”
    “I wouldn’t have been late had my dear brother helped me to tidy up a little,” Elena remarked wryly to Marina. “But he never does, you know, never.”
    “Oh, it’s only ten past eight,” Marina said, glancing at herwatch and pretending not to notice the intense antagonism. “And these mojitos merit slow appreciation. Tell me more about your grandmother’s Spanish fans …”
    After a minute of feathers and sticks inlaid with mother-of-pearl, when the topic became so esoteric that the men were effectively excluded, Pablo moved away from the two women, closer to Sean. “You said ‘wild night’ and, in this
paladar
, two girls, beautiful, incredible, one black, the other blond,” he said in a low, conspiratorial tone, “but you are with