Cracks

19.9 Alejandro Gonzales

Spring 1998, Landgraab residence

Alejandro watched Nancy go over to the mirror to arrange her hair.

"Hurry", she said. "You have to leave now. Geoffrey should be here in about five minutes."

"How lame." He got up unwillingly.

Since they had met about a month ago, he had gone over to her house a few times, but never could stay more than a couple of hours. She still didn't care about him, and didn't even bother to hide it.

But she definitely knew how to kill his boredom.

"Nan? Are you home?", a male voice called from downstairs.
"Shit!", Nancy cursed.

She turned to Alejandro, who hadn't finished dressing up yet.
"Get out through the window!", she hissed at him. "Hurry!"
"What?!"

But she already pushed him out.

"Shut up!", she whispered sharply.

The night air was cold.

Nancy had turned around already, to pick up the rest of his clothes.

He put on his shirt and jacket on the balcony, and the same moment Nancy's husband entered their bedroom.
"Nan? Here you are!", Alejandro heard the male voice muffled through the glass.
Nancy meanwhile had managed to dress, too.

"Fuck my life...", he cursed inside, while trying to estimate the height of the balcony.

Cracks

19.3 Alejandro Gonzales

Winter 1998, The solar flare

The luck was not with Alejandro today. Like most of the days he went down to the Casino.

"Come on!..."

He cursed.

Today he was especially bored. His friends were busy, one with a kid, the other one with a new girlfriend. And he himself hadn't met any decent woman for a while.

Winter break was so dull.

He went over to the bar.

"One Long Island please", he waved at the bartender.

"Hey, pretty boy", he heard a deep female voice next to him. "Make that two."

Alejandro turned to his side and looked at the woman, that obviously checked him out. She had definitley passed her fourties.

She pulled one side of her mouth up into a crooked almost-smile, and shot a playful glare at him.

"What, you never played with a real woman?", she asked.

She must have seen his disapprovement, so Alejandro tried to somehow save his face.

"Sorry... I was caught by surprise - Miss...", he said, trying to smile.

"Oh - what a charmer", the woman said, as if she couldn't care less. "Nancy Landgraab, investor. And it's Mrs."

"I would never have guessed", he replied. He got his usual confidence back. "But I bet you know me...", he started, but she interrupted him.

"Nope, no idea."

She took her glass of Long Island Ice Tea that had arrived.

"Also, I don't care", she added, finishing her drink.

Alejandro was confused. Not only because usually most women actually did know him, but because this one apparently didn't give a fuck about him.

Why she even talked to him? She looked like she could pay her own drinks.

"Look, pretty boy", she said, and her voice talked business, "I'm bored, my husband is not home, why don't you come over to my house and we play a bit together."

Oh, so that was it.

Straight to the point.

And no polite chit chat.

He shrugged his sholders.

"Why not."

"Great", she said, threw a bill to the bartender, and got up.

This could be interesting.

And he was bored anyway.