CLEVELANDER
She was walking, thinking, “I am tired of this. I am bored. I will not continue dancing with people who do not even attract me. I will sit here, and order a beer”.
She had gone with friends, but she separated from the group and left them dancing. Very like her; the masses of people, disturb her.
She was in a dark and open environment, which at the same time sparkled with colored lights.
There were lights everywhere, and they shone even brighter, on the water of the small ponds with palm trees, and other plants, that adorned the Clevelander.
The bar was located in the middle, and on one side there was a small band, with a dance floor, small too.
The main dance floor was in a larger place. This was a closed space and it was further inside the property of that club, on a second floor.
People were dancing to slow music, others were, eating light food and drinking, then, he approached the bar.
He ordered something to drink and said, "Hi, are you drinking your beer, with a straw?"
She was generally very conscientious of the health of the planet, but that night, she decided that recycling was something that was not going to bother her.
He laughed and told her: “I have never seen anyone who drinks her beer from a bottle, with a straw”
She also laughed and replied: "Well, it is very cold"
A dancing song, was starting. What a loud noise!
Next act, both of them, formally introduced themselves, shouting.
Then, seeing how she raised her bottle, he told her: "YOU HAVE NICE HANDS, I LIKE YOUR NAILS ".
She looked at him: "THANK YOU!".
He was flattering her, and she liked that.
One, because it was the compliment of a mature, but young and attractive, man, not one of an inexperienced youngster.
Two, he didn't say, anything, like “how beautiful is your hair!”. If she had heard that, one more time….
A woman likes, when a man, pays attention to the details. She knew, that he knew, the kinds of compliments that a woman likes to hear.
Although they leaned closer, one to another, to be able to listen and speak, they still raised their voices.
The sound of the music was very loud, and the band did not rest even for five minutes.
Well, after all, that was a place where you eat, drink and dance. Miami, Latin country.
He told her: “I AM AMERICAN, FROM COLORADO, LIKE YOUR BEER!”
She asked, “HOW?!”
He then borrowed her bottle of beer, and showed her, “SEE?!”
The label said, Coors Light, made in Colorado.
She was surprised and said smiling: "AAAH YES!"
Next step, he asked her: “AND YOU, WHERE ARE YOU FROM?!”
“PERUVIAN!” she said.
He exclaimed, “AH! AND WHAT KIND OF MUSIC IS PLAYED IN PERÙ?!
Then, the volume of the music dropped a bit, and sitting there, she listened to a song that sounded familiar to her. "That one! That's Peruvian!" she said.
She was excited and surprised at the same time, it was rare to hear music like that out there.
Not because it was a Peruvian song (although a little, Miami Beach is generally synonymous with Caribbean music), but because, as in many other places, the varied repertoire in Peru. Because that song, though was nice, rhythmic, danceable, was not one of the greatest representatives of Peruvians abroad.
However, at that time, it was, and she felt happy and proud, non-Peruvian people in that club liked it and was dancing to it.
She was happy because, not all Latinos and Spanish speakers are the same, and listening to that song, despite not being one of her favorites, made her feel a bit of Peru.
He liked the song and asked her if she wanted to dance (just being a gentleman, because it was clear that the dance floor was not calling him). She told him “no, thanks” (she had just come from dancing, she had left her friends, and she was tired too; he was very handsome, but his appearance wasn't enough to take away her tiredness either).
Also, she noticed, he didn't drink.
He had been sitting next to her for a while, chatting animatedly, and had ordered a glass of tonic water, not a strong drink.
She thought: "nice! but, why? It was that, he doesn't like to drink?, or was that, he has a history with Alcoholics Anonymous?"
Did I mention how suspicious, she was?
Conversing a little more relaxed, the volume of the music had lowered, they talked about what each one was doing.
She was studying at the University (a doctorate in Philosophy) and he was an airline pilot.
She thought "Pilot!, now I understand, why he doesn't drink; maybe he has a flight tomorrow early"
They continued talking about unimportant things for a while and suddenly he asked her "do you want to go to a quieter place? It's very noisy here"
She looked at him and smiled, but told him no.
She told him that she had come with some friends and was waiting for them.
Actually, it wasn't that precisely, it was that as cute as he was, she didn't want to go with a stranger.
Besides, let's just say he was completely harmless, she had just sat at that bar to have a beer. She wasn't in the mood for a sneaky, one-night stand; it may sound prejudiced, but, what else could that be? He told her that he lived in Denver (the capital of Colorado) and that is a very distant city from Miami.
A Colorado pilot, who reminded her, to the sailors. 'A love in every port’?
Yes, he was handsome, and he invested time in her. But she didn't feel bad telling him she wasn't going with him, at least not that bad, she was exhausted from some chores she'd had to do the day before.
On the other hand, she gave him no reason to think otherwise, she was so exhausted that she didn't even flirt subtly with him, as she often did.
She had come to relax, to get away from her problems at the university and at work.
Like I said before, he was very good-looking, tall, blond and blue-eyed, he wouldn't have any problem finding someone else, she thought.
He seemed like a kind, correct, funny person and from the way he dressed, he didn't look dirty or poor.
But he wasn't the type of man to look for something that would outlast his time in Miami.
Also, tall, handsome, strong, and single?
Still, she was flattered, after all, he had chosen her first.
He said goodbye with a smile, and a friendly gesture.
As he walked away, she thought: “you will find the person you are looking for, but she is not me”.
Ana L. Maldonado was born in the district of Jesús María, city of Lima, Peru. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University, Ricardo Palma of the same district, in Lima, Peru. Today, Ana. lives in Lima, Peru, but from the early 90s she lived in the U.S. until 2014, with intervals outside Peru of more or less 4 years.