When they returned to her apartment, Catalina had pointed Sully in the direction of her bathroom – a slow stream of blood was trickling from a gash near his eye and from the bridge of his nose, along with other smaller cuts and bruises that he would need to clean up. About ten minutes later he appeared through the doorway with his face cleaned up and an unlit cigar between his fingers.
'Mind if I light this?' he asked the young woman. Catalina glanced at the cigar.
'Go ahead,' she replied. She turned to open the fridge. He took a seat on the sofa, with a contented sigh and lit the cigar. Finally, he could take a breather. Of course, he enjoyed the occasional hit of adrenalin from all the adventure, but a comfortable seat and a cigar were just as good. He inhaled deeply, revelling in the smell of tobacco before exhaling.
Something cold and heavy landed in his lap. Sully looked down to see a beer bottle, glistening with condensation, along with a bottle opener. Catalina sauntered behind him and took up a seat in the armchair just across from the sofa with her own bottle. She passed him a charming smile.
'It's like you read my mind,' Sully smirked, opening the bottle.
'De nada.' Catalina crossed her legs, rearranging her skirt to cover them completely and took a sip from her beer. Sully could see the tiredness in her eyes, as they drifted to look at the bottle in her hand. She chewed absently on the edge of her lip in thought
Sully took a gulp from his drink, considering whether he should break the silence. His eyes kept wandering from his cigar, to his drink, to Catalina and back again.
Just when the lull was beginning to turn uncomfortable, Catalina's eyes focused on him, her lips parted to speak. 'I was five.'
Sully raised a questioning brow. 'What?'
'In that photo you asked about earlier.'
Admittedly, he had forgotten all about it. He decided then that he would tread carefully and let her drive wherever this was going.
Catalina took a sip of her beer, pursing her lips in thought. 'And she died a year later.' Sully couldn't detect any grief in her voice. Admittedly, he couldn't entirely relate and instead offered a weak attempt at passing on his condolences.
'Sorry to hear that,' he said quietly, cigar gripped between his teeth.
Catalina smiled; it was small, but Sully couldn't help but reciprocate it. 'Gracias, but it does not upset me anymore,' she noted. 'She was sick for a long time. Everyone kept saying it was "only a matter of time". Her work made her sick, some sort of disease.' Sully hesitated. Catalina was trusting him with personal information.
'Must have been tough.'
'It was not too bad,' Catalina assured him. She blushed suddenly. 'I am so sorry! I have made everything so sad!' Sully huffed, partially in humour at her realisation, but also at how tame this was in comparison to some conversations on death he had had.
'Trust me,' he began, removing his cigar from between his lips, 'I've sat through worse.'
'That is not surprising,' she responded, her eyebrow cocked and the corner of her mouth turned upwards in a smirk.
'Yeah, well…' A lopsided smile came to Sully's face.
'Come on then,' Catalina prompted him, with a swish of her hand. Her expression was both expectant and faintly teasing. It was women with faces like hers that had got him into some very tricky situations. 'Tell me a story of yours. Clearly you have had more days such as today.'
Sully hesitated. Of course he had plenty of tales; he could brag about many of them. But he had only just got Catalina back on side. And he liked her. The last thing he wanted to do was put her off him. He could start with something where he might not look like the bad guy. You're a criminal. You're always gonna look like the bad guy!
'So I wasn't lying when I said people pay me to get the things they can't.' Realising he had started Catalina leaned in closer, her face keen with interest. Sully went on to tell her one of his first jobs. There had been an altercation with the household's chef, which had ended with Sully's hand firmly planted on a very hot flat top and with the chef ending up with a pot of boiling soup in his face. Catalina couldn't contain her laughter.
'It wasn't funny at the time I tell ya',' Sully grumbled, despite Catalina continuing to laugh.
'Lo siento, but it sounds like one of your American comedy films,' she managed as her giggling subsided. 'What is the word…?'
'Slapstick?'
'Yes!' Her eyes were glistening from where tears had threatened to trickle. Sully tried to maintain his composure but a short chuckle escaped him as he thought back. It was quite funny in hindsight.
Having controlled herself, Catalina rose from her seat and retrieved two more bottles of beer from the fridge. 'Otro?' she asked, extending one to him.
'Gracias.'
Instead of resuming her original seat across from him, Catalina instead perched on the arm of the sofa Sully was occupying. As he lit another cigar he coyly watched her neck arch when she took a sip or her own drink.
'I think you should tell me another story.'
Sully raised his eyebrows. 'If you keep providing the drinks.'
'Deal.'
x
About five bottles and two cigars later, Catalina finally concluded that it was time she got some sleep. She was still on the arm of the sofa, however, her legs had gradually stretched further across the cushions, to the point where her toes were now brushing Sully's left thigh.
'It is late,' she said. 'I will have to say good night.' She smiled drowsily, as she made to rise from her seat. Sully instantly felt the cold on his leg where her feet had been.
'Yeah, have to agree with you there.'
Catalina didn't head to her room straight away. Causing great surprise on Sully's part, she leant down over him. Her right hand pressed gently against his torso, causing his skin to tremble. She kissed him softly on the cheek, withdrawing before he could say anything. She was in her bedroom with the door shut before Sully could blink twice.
Sully picked up the half burnt cigar from the plate he was using as an ashtray and clenched it between his teeth. The rush of tobacco brought his thoughts back. She certainly knew how to surprise him.
Translations:
Otro - another?
