by Molly Sloan
“Wow,” was all that Caleb could say.
“You like?”
Caleb walked further inside, looking up at the ceilings and at the crystal light fixture that hung from it. “Your home is incredible,” he said. Somehow he couldn’t imagine that Ramon had been able to afford a place like this when he was a young firefighter.
“Follow me, I’ll introduce you to Santiago and Mateo.” Ramon walked toward the kitchen, and Caleb was aware of the rubber soles of his shoes as they squeaked on the floor.
Caleb wasn’t surprised to see that the kitchen was all white, too. Maybe Santiago and Mateo are employees? he wondered as they crossed the kitchen into an office. Outside the sliding glass door sat two perfectly still Doberman Pinschers. They were frozen in position, as Ramon opened the door. “A gusto.” The two dogs relaxed and started licking his hands playfully. “These are Santiago and Mateo. My guard dogs.”
This whole thing was beyond weird to Caleb. Ramon was turning out to be completely different than he’d seemed at first. The house, the dogs, Bobo Flamingo’s. Caleb’s curiosity about his biological father was growing by the minute.
The dogs ran in the house, and Ramon asked Caleb if he wanted anything to drink. “Water, if you have it, thank you.” Ramon went back into the kitchen, leaving Caleb in the office.
The walls were covered in photographs. Some were of the fire station. One had a very young-looking Marco in it. Caleb’s heart stopped when he saw a framed photograph of a young woman holding a baby. Looking closer, his eyes confirmed what his heart already knew. The photo was his mother. And, she was holding him.
Fighting back tears, Caleb moved down to see the other photos. There were several photos featuring classic cars, and in one, there were three men toasting the camera with shots of rum. Ramon was one of them, and Caleb was shocked when he recognized the military uniform, wide forehead, green hat, and beard. It was Fidel Castro! The third man was not one Caleb recognized.
“Here you are.” Ramon handed Caleb a glass of cold water.
“You knew Fidel Castro?” Caleb asked in a shocked voice.
Sighing deeply, the older man gestured at a loveseat. “Have a seat, mijo. I have a story to tell you.”
“The year was 1990. I had just finished college and was getting ready to start working for the fire department. Your mother was working as a waitress at a café I used to go to all the time. She was so beautiful, but I was afraid to ask her out. It took weeks, but finally, I asked. She said no.”
Caleb leaned back on the loveseat, eager to hear more.
“It became kind of a joke. Every day I would ask her out in a different way. One day I’d write it on the bill. Another day I made a heart out of coins and wrote a note and left it in the middle. After a couple of weeks, she said yes. One thing led to another, we fell in love and were married in 1992.”
Caleb could see Ramon smile as he drifted back in time.
“She was so lovely, your mother. When I found out she was with child, I felt like the luckiest man in the world. Unfortunately, that feeling was short-lived.”
Caleb frowned, and leaned forward, taking another sip of water.
“You see, at the time, thousands of Cubans were fleeing to the US. At first, Castro was seen as a hero. He helped our country become independent, and the socialist government was supposed to make sure that everyone had a fair share of our country’s wealth. But by 1994, the year you were born, more and more people were leaving because of human rights abuses. I had a wife and a baby, and I was working for the enemy, so to speak.”
Caleb didn’t want to say a word. He just listened.
“There was a firefighter in our company named Luis Martinez. We were good friends, because his wife Maria had a baby at the same time as your mother and I had you. Her name was Ava. Ava Martinez.”
A lightbulb went off in Caleb’s mind. Ava! That’s how she knew Ramon. She wasn’t his child, she was the child of one of his friends.
“One night, someone set fire to Luis and Maria’s house when they were asleep. I was on call that night. Luis came running out with baby Ava, and handed her to me. He then ran back inside to save Maria. He wasn’t in his gear, he was in sleeping clothes. He never made it out, and both he and Maria perished in the fire.”
Caleb’s eyes stung with tears.
“Ava was raised by her tia. Her aunt just took her in and did the best she could. But, money was tight.”
“Who set the fire?” Caleb asked.
“It was someone who was angry with the Castro regime. The fire department is part of the government, as you know. So, the person who set fire to their house was lashing out at Castro.”
Caleb shook his head. “I can’t imagine what that was like.”
“Your mother became very scared that the same thing would happen to us. So, when Cuba signed an agreement with the US to allow twenty thousand people to be admitted to the US if Cuba would stop the exodus of people, I wanted to make sure that Gabriella and Ramon… you… were part of that group. I made my way into the inner circle of Castro, and was able to get you and your mother safely out of Cuba.”
“But Ava wasn’t so lucky.”
“Right. That’s why I made sure that she and her tia always had money. When Ava graduated college, I became an angel investor in Bobo Flamingo’s. And you know the rest of the story from there.”
Both men sat there in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Caleb sat in tears, sad for Ava, who lost her parents. Sad for Ramon, who’d lost his friend, and ultimately his life with his wife and son. His sacrifice to make sure that Caleb had been safe was beyond anything he could have imagined.
It was some time before either man spoke. It was Caleb who broke the silence. “I have one question left.”
“Yes, mijo?”
“May I call you papa?”
Chapter Twelve: Flowers in the Rain
It was Monday again and Ava sat alone at the club doing paperwork. So far, Jupiter Rising was proving to be almost as popular as Michele had been. Patrons were lining up around the block waiting to get in.
She hadn’t really had any interactions with Humberto since the day of the dumpster fire. They’d never figured out what caused the fire, and as was common, the gossip shifted after a few days back to who was sleeping with whom.
Rubbing her eyes, Ava began to fantasize about laying on a beach in a bikini with a fruity drink in hand, kissing a handsome man. I seriously need to take a holiday after Carnaval is over, she thought.
Just then, her phone rang. It was the office line. “Bobo Flamingo’s, this is Ava.”
It was a man’s voice. He had an American accent. “Hello, Ava. This is Caleb Elliott. Ramon’s son?”
“Oh yes! Hi. How are you?”
“Well, I’m wet.”
Confused for a moment she said, “You’re wet?”
“Yes. I’m wet because I’m standing outside Bobo Flamingo’s in the rain.”
“You’re what?” She looked out the window. It was indeed raining. “You’re here?”
She stood up. “Hang on, I’ll let you in. I mean, don’t hang on. Hang up. I’ll be right there.”
Walking across the darkened club, Ava felt a sense of excitement. Why was Caleb here? What did he want?
Unlocking the side door, she saw him. Standing in the pouring rain, holding a bouquet of flowers over his head like an umbrella, his brown hair was plastered to his head. He looked so pitiful that she had to laugh.
“They didn’t warn me about the sudden rainstorms that get you as wet as standing in front of a fire hose.”
Still laughing, she said, “I’d tell you to come in quickly, but I don’t think it would make any difference. You’re soaked.” Holding the door open for him, she stood aside as he squished his way in the club.
“I don’t want to come in too far. I’ll get the floors wet.”
“This is a nightclub in Havana. We are used to wet floors.” She headed toward the office. Looking back at him
, she smiled and said, “Come on. Let’s get you dried off a bit.”
He followed her, with his clothes and the flowers making little puddles across the dance floor.
Opening the door to her office, Ava waved Caleb in. “Are you delivering flowers in the area, or what…” she asked, nodding to the soggy bouquet.
“No, they were supposed to be for you.” He handed her the drenched flowers. “Sorry?”
Laughing, she said, “That’s very thoughtful of you. Not sure what I did to deserve flowers, but thank you.”
Handing him the towel she kept hanging on a hook behind her door for the very event of being drenched by a sudden rainstorm, she said: “Here you go.”
As she watched him rub himself dry with the towel, she couldn’t help but wonder what he would look like shirtless.
Setting the towel down on the office chair before he sat down on it, he said, “Thank you. I feel slightly better now.”
Smiling, she sat down too. “It happens to all of us at one time or another in Havana.”
“The reason I came with flowers is, well, there are two reasons.”
Raising her eyebrows, she said, “Oh?”
“First, I just got back from my father, Ramon’s house. He told me how you know each other.”
Looking down at her desk and then back up at him, she said, “I see.” The compassion she saw in his eyes was unnerving. There weren’t very many people who knew the story of the fire, her parents and Ramon’s investment in Bobo Flamingo’s. Sharing such an intimate secret with someone she just met felt a little strange.
“I realized that if I hadn’t been adopted away, we probably would have been raised together.”
She looked at his face, and tried to imagine what it would have been like to know him her whole life. Oddly, it didn’t feel that far-fetched.
“So you gave me flowers?”
He grinned. “Well, I wasn’t planning on giving you flowers. But on my way over here there was this boy standing on the corner selling them.”
She nodded. “Ah, yes. That’s Gil the Flower Boy.”
“They were so beautiful, and he looked so sad. I just had to. And then, the rain started, and well. Here I am.”
“They are lovely. I really appreciate the gesture. So, what’s the second reason you’re here?”
“I wanted to ask you to dinner.”
Ava blinked in surprise. “Dinner? Like a date?”
“Am I being too forward?”
“No, no. I’m just not used to being asked out on a date.” She couldn’t remember the last time, actually.
“Well, that seems impossible to me. Will you come to dinner with me, Ava?”
The way he said her name sent shivers down her spine.
“Yes, I’d like that. But the thing is…”
“You work nights. Yes. But, who says dinner has to be at night?”
My my, he is creative, isn’t he, she thought. “True. What do you have in mind?”
“It’s a surprise. I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning at the time of your choosing. Will that work?” Caleb ran his hand through his drying hair, and smiled hopefully.
“Okay. You’re on. How about ten am? That will give us a couple of hours before I have to come to work. I’ll text you my address?”
Standing, he actually bowed slightly and said, “Perfect. Until tomorrow, then.” Turning and walking out the door, his shoes made a squishing sound as he made a soggy exit.
“That’s the most romantic thing I have ever heard!” Salima was practically squealing on the phone. “Of course we can cancel the gym tomorrow.”
“Thank you. I feel bad about missing a workout.”
“Well, if the date goes well, maybe you’ll be getting a different kind of workout. God knows it’s been long enough for you.”
“Selima! It’s a date, not sex.”
“Porque no los dos?”
“Because I don’t want it to be both!” Laughing, the friends got off the phone.
Chapter Thirteen: Dinner in the Day
“So, what are you going to do for your big date this morning?” Gina was calling him on her way to work. “You’ve already done the flowers in the rain thing.”
“Hopefully today will be a little more romantic than that.” Caleb was getting dressed. “I found a company nearby that does horse-drawn carriage rides. We’ll take that down to a local park, and I’m having a whole picnic thing set up.”
“Wow. You’re really going all out for this chick.”
“Yeah. I really like her, Gina. It feels like I should have known her my whole life or something.”
“I’m happy for you, man. I really am. Just be careful.”
“Of what?”
“You’re there to develop The Plan, not fall in love.”
“Maybe my brother was right. Maybe I’ll come home with a Cuban bride.”
“Oh, now you’re going to marry her? Dude. Have your first date first.”
Laughing, he finished buttoning his shirt and said, “Okay, okay. I’ll call you later.”
The horse-drawn carriage arrived at Ava’s apartment at exactly 10:00 am. Caleb had never been in a horse-drawn carriage before, and was very grateful that he hadn’t been expected to drive it. As soon as they stopped, Caleb texted Ava, “Your chariot has arrived.”
The look of surprise on Ava’s face when she opened the door to the building was priceless. But he was the one who was surprised when she greeted the driver by name. “Hola Stefan! Como estas?”
As she climbed in the carriage, Caleb asked, “You know him?”
“Yes. My best friend owns the company. Stefan was one of her first hires.”
Shaking his head, he said, “I should have known. Is there anyone in Havana you don’t know?”
Looking at him with a twinkle in her eye, she said, “Ramon always said, ‘Strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet.’”
Stefan made a clicking sound and the carriage made its way down the street. It was a lovely morning, as the heat hadn’t risen yet. Looking around, she said, “I haven’t taken one of these in the daytime. It’s such a different experience!”
The city moved by them slowly, as Caleb got a sense of the country’s history. Ava gave him a bit of a guided tour, as she pointed out landmarks and shared personal stories about the places they passed.
They made a right turn and approached the park where they were going to have “dinner.” Ava’s breath was taken away as they approached their destination. “Caleb! Did you do all this?”
He had. Under the large Jacaranda tree, atop the fragrant purple flower petals, there was a table and two chairs. A white tablecloth covered the table and there was a vase with a single rose in it. A uniformed waiter stood by, with a white towel draped over one arm. Next to him was a cart with silver domes, apparently with plates of food under them.
“I literally feel like a princess,” Ava said as Stefan helped her out of the carriage.
“You should. You are as beautiful as one.” Caleb took Ava’s arm and pulled her chair out for her.”
“Champagne?” the waiter asked.
“I don’t normally drink before work, but okay. A couple of glasses won’t hurt.”
Pouring two glasses, the waiter put the bottle in an ice bucket next to the table. There was a gentle breeze and there were birds singing in the tree over their head. Caleb silently prayed that there would be no embarrassing bird accidents during their meal.
Caleb raised his glass in a toast. “To strangers who should have been friends, and to friends who could still be so much more.” They touched glasses and then drank.
Over their salads, they talked and got to know each other better. Ava made him laugh as she shared stories of the funny things that had happened at the club. He wanted to know every single thing about her. It was as if he wanted to catch up on their whole lives in one day.
Caleb told her about Gordon and Susie and his brothers. He shared that he’d come to Havana to develop T
he Plan, and how he wanted to make a difference in the lives of the firefighters by updating the equipment and other resources.
Ava got tears in her eyes, and reached her hand across the table. “As one whose life was forever changed by fire, I appreciate what you are doing. My life might have been completely different if they had been able to put out the fire.”
The waiter refilled their glasses and served them their main course - pasta primavera with freshly grated parmesan cheese and black pepper.
“I can’t believe you don’t get asked out all the time,” Caleb confessed. “In America, men would be hitting on you all the time.”
“Oh, I get the jerks. But, the men who I meet are usually the party boys from the club or delivery men. I work too much to go anywhere else.”
As they finished dinner and the bottle of champagne, Ava told Caleb about the plans for Carnaval. It was going to be a huge party. “You should come.”
“I’d love to. Watching you work is like seeing a force of nature up close. You are a really remarkable woman.”
Ava blushed as she leaned back so that the waiter could take her plate. “Thank you.” The last course was flan with some hot coffee.
Watching Ava lick the silky, creamy custard off the spoon, Caleb had an overwhelming urge to kiss her. But, the time wasn’t quite right. He’d wait…
Chapter Fourteen: Que Sera, Sera
As the horse’s hooves clickety-clacked their way down the street toward Bobo Flamingo’s, Ava realized it had probably been a mistake to have Caleb drop her off here instead of at home. The date had gone so well that she’d spent more time than planned with him, and now she had to get to a 1:00 meeting in her office with Joey and Ramon to go over security for Carnaval.