The flight was leaving at nine and I could barely get up from my bed at eight. The airport, a small private one outside of Brooklyn, was half an hour away and I was not in the near of ready. Richard called me and urged me to get going, "otherwise you will look quite stupid when the plane leaves without you" as he nicely put it. I put on full speed and fifteen minutes later, jumped in a cab to the airport.

The plane or the jet was small and very…clean. A flight attendant with that perfect hair I would never have welcomed me inside and I saw that Daniel had already made himself comfortable with a glass of wine. He smiled at me and patted at the large seat next to him.

"Hey Katey! Come, sit next to me. I suppose Richard had told you the peculiars?"

"Yes," said I while I sat down. "A car will be waiting for us and take us to the hotel where our guide will be."

"Correct." He smiled approvingly like a proud father. "What he didn't tell you is that the "guide" is a double agent. He is part of a group that want to end the Cold war and make Cuba cooperate with US again."

"Can we trust him? Not many Cubans would agree with him."

Daniel smiled approvingly again.

"That is true. They don't have any choice but to trust us, they know that if they do anything, they will have the CIA chasing them and the Cuban government, who are much worse than the American government. They have everything to gain by helping us."

"Good then."

"Don't worry sweetheart. Everything will work out fine. After all, I am only taking pictures and kissing asses. You are the one with the brain."

I have decided to like Daniel.

Havana radiated under the sunshine and I could not help smiling. I was back! It has only taken me ten years. Daniel and I watched how the city came closer and closer until we hit the ground and the only thing visible was a big building, larger than any building I had ever seen. The plane went slowly closer to it until it stopped completely and the flight attendant told us we could rise. She looked tired even though she was smiling and I felt bad, because Daniel and I had made fun of her perfect look. I gave her a smile I hoped looked apologetic and went outside to retrieve the rest of our bags. The warm and the sun hit me both like a wall and I was glad that I had remembered to bring my sunglasses. It was winter in New York but here in Cuba, it never went cold. A car was already waiting and the driver came out, in a shining uniform and carried our bags back to the car. Service!

We drove through the city and even if I was so tired that I could sleep standing, the city was as beautiful as I remembered. I must have fallen asleep because when Daniel caressed my arm, I managed to smash my head against the window. We had stopped and the driver opened the door. I stepped out with a terrible headache and looked around. We stood in front of a small white building, with blue windows and a big wooden door as entrance. Two men were standing in front of it, a tall large man with an impressive moustache who looked like he could be the hotel manager and a smaller one, with short brown hair and a nice tan face. The later radiated confidence and openness while the earlier was only correctness and pride. He was not a man to be messed with.

The man with the moustache introduced himself as Ernesto Vasquez and the hotel manager. He was very proud to have a Russian couple living in his hotel. It was clear since he pressed our hands with a firm handshake and a wide smile. I could swear he could have given us a hug if that was allowed. The man with the nice face presented himself as Andrés and would be our guide for our visit. He didn't look at all like a double agent but since I had never met one, I could not tell. A little boy, not older than thirteen perhaps, took our bags and brought them inside. I should have guessed there was child work. This was something I had to write on too. We were welcomed into a large reception with a chandelier. Ernesto showed us the restaurant, the "living room" I can assume from the book shelves and big sofas, another room with a large table and chairs, probably a conference room, before giving us the key to our room. We took it eagerly and walked up the stairs with suppressed hurry and when the room was found, walked in without stopping a pace and threw ourselves on the bed.

"I thought he would never finish!" Daniel laughed.

"Yes," agreed I. "Did you see that smile? Exactly like that Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland!"

"Hey Katey, look at our room!"

I looked.

It was quite small; our bed took up most of the space. A wooden desk was pushed against the windows and from our bed we could see the bathroom through a glass door (really?) on the left. The walls were painted in light blue and the windows had the ugliest curtains I had ever seen. They were green, but I would rather say colour vomit. It was odd to have this colour when the rest of the room matched so well although the bed was really soft though. I watched Daniel next to me who had his eyes closed and it hit me. There was only one bed! Of course!

"Don't worry sweetie. I can sleep on the floor. I am an experienced floor sleeper. Whatever that meant." Daniel must have read my thoughts. My horrified face made him laughed.

"Why are you complaining? You'll have the big bed."

"It's not a problem, really. You can sleep next to me." Why did I say it?

"Great! We could play games under the cover like when we were kids. It will be cosy. But now, I am starving. Should we get some food?"

Someone knocked at the door. Daniel jumped up to open. It was Andrés.

"You were very quick, I didn't have time to talk to you," said he in perfect English.

"Sorry," responded we in unison.

Andrés laughed.

"It doesn't matter. Do you want to discuss matters over lunch?"