They sat quietly after the last notes had faded. Fernando put his guitar aside, took a sip of his brandy and stood up.
“Where’s the music department?” He scanned the room.
Jade looked at him, puzzled. Since the night her husband Mark disappeared, she’d been suffering from brain fog.
She pointed at the antique mahogany cabinet. “There’s a vintage record player in the cupboard, if that’s what you mean.”
She gave Fernando a scrutinizing glance.
“Our vinyls are still in a moving box in Mark’s study. That tells you something about us, doesn’t it,” she said, creasing her forehead. “Are you going to psycho-analyse us based on our music collection?”
Fernando beamed when he carefully pulled the stunning record player out. “Get those records. I’ve got Rumba on my mind.”
This was the first time in weeks that Jade laughed out loud. She laughed so hard that she wondered if Fernando’s brother, who was at work in the shop below, could hear it. Alejandro would probably think she’d lost her mind for good.
Fernando exuded confidence when she handed him her favourite vinyl.
“La danza cura. That’s how we fix things here in Havana,” he said, winking at her.
Jade hesitated when Fernando beckoned her closer.
Her first movements were shy, subdued. But as she let the music carry her forward, her hips began to sway as her feet obeyed his lead.
“I give you my waist. And my lips for whenever you want to kiss them. I give you my craziness, and the few braincells I have left…” Shakira sang.
Jade blushed at how accurate those words seemed.
“You’re a natural!” Fernando exclaimed.
She smiled at the mix of surprise and admiration on his face. If Mark could see her now, wearing Fernando’s shanty shirt, dancing barefoot and her hair in a girly braid, wet with sweat… he’d curse her.
Eyes closed, arms loosely over Fernando’s shoulder, she started humming to the rhythm.
“The power of my voice, the feet with which I walk. That’s you, my love…”
Just as Fernando wanted to pull her closer, Jade chuckled, making an expected move. He bumped into the table and tipped the brandy off.
“Crazy girl, take it easy,” he mumbled in her ear.
She steadied him when he almost slipped on the sticky liquid that now spread across the floor.
“You are, love, my will to laugh,” Jade sang as she put her hands on Fernando’s chest, “the goodbye I won’t know how to say, because I’ll never be able to live without you.”
***
On the bench in front of the shop sat Alejandro, smoking a cigar while scratching his head over Jades’ high pitched giggles and the loud music that floated through the open balcony doors.
Mi hermano, what’s going on?
Shoppers passing by looked up in amusement: Party, ey?
Alejandro shrugged and smiled in return.
