Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
“Hey boys,” she screamed above the loud music. “Long time, no see. Are you here for
a while?”
“Not really,” Michael said. “But we bought a house here, so you'll be seeing a lot more
of us.”
“Fab!” she enthused. “Where's the new place?”
“Los Chivos,” I answered.
She gulped. “Oh my God, that's where Charlie's house is,” she replied, pointing to a
middle-aged guy sitting at the bar staring morosely at his laptop. He was wearing a sweat-
shirt (which struck me as somewhat unorthodox garb for eighty-five degree weather) and
drinking a beer.
Although he couldn't possibly have avoided hearing her he didn't deign to look up.
“Charlie's a regular,” she went on. “Hey, Charlie, have you met your new neighbors?”
Reluctantly, he tore his gaze from his screen and favored us with a wintry smile.
“Don't think I've had the pleasure.”
Without exactly being invited, we sauntered over to where Charlie sat and introduced
ourselves. He motioned half-heartedly for us to join him.
“What's your story?” he asked, though it was pretty obvious from his tone that he
wasn't exactly consumed with curiosity about our little saga.
“Nothing special,” Michael said. “Like everybody else, we fell in love with the island.
And on our second visit we bought a place.”
“You came, you saw, you bought,” Charlie commented smirkingly.
“Pretty much.”
“Near me?”
“Not sure,” I piped in, hoping to liven up the conversation. “We're in Los Chivos, near
the top of the hill.”
“I live on the opposite side of the crest.”
“So we
are
neighbors,” I said, still trying to inject a note of warmth into the proceed-
ings.
“Distant,” he replied.
You could say that again. A damp silence followed. I glanced at Michael, who was fid-
geting in his chair. Time to go.
“So who takes care of your house when you're not around?” Charlie asked through a
haze of indifference.
“Jane Compton.”
He took a sip of beer.
“Never heard of her. Any good?”
“She's great,” I said, looking at Michael, who was squirming again. I picked up my cof-
fee, ready to make our goodbyes. Then suddenly it occurred to me how we could get this
guy's attention.
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