“Boracay?” I asked.
“I hear it’s gorgeous there,” he said.
“I can’t take this.”
“My treat,” he said.
“Thanks, but-”
“It’s too late,” he said, cutting me off. “Not refundable. The hotel’s paid for, too.”
I wasn’t really sure how to react. Did I want to go? Hell, yes. And the fact I didn’t have to pay was a definite bonus. “Why?”
“Larry said it’s because you are always so nice to me,” Isabel said.
“I don’t treat you any different than the rest of the girls.”
I heard Cathy exhale, exasperated. “Just say thank you.”
I looked at Larry, the tension that had been knotted between my shoulders easing slightly. “Thank you.”
“There is a catch,” Larry said.
I looked at him, waiting for the hammer to fall.
“Isabel and I are going, too,” he said. “But you don’t have to hang out with us. Well, maybe me sometimes when she gets sick of me.” He paused. “Is that all right?”
“Sure,” I said. The thing about going on vacation by yourself, the first day was fine, but then it got boring. Having a friend along to do things with might not be so bad.
“Larry said I could bring a friend, too,” Isabel said.
“Really?” I said, suddenly knowing where this was going. I turned and looked at Cathy. “Any idea who that might be?”
“Don’t you get any funny ideas, Doc. I’m going along to hang out with Isabel.”
Another glass of champagne and I was almost feeling my normal self again. Did it bother me that Cathy was coming, too? A little, I guess, but not much. Sexual tension had been building between us for a long time. I guess I was a little annoyed it was Larry’s actions that would make me face it.
A second bottle of champagne was ordered. Around us, the bar was filling up with other customers looking for a fun evening.
I didn’t see Mariella come in, so I didn’t know how long she had been there, but suddenly I looked up and she was standing just outside our little circle.
“So, is this a celebration?” she asked, her smile showing more teeth than you would have thought possible.
“Mariella!” Isabel said happily, her voice full of affection.
As the two cousins hugged, Mariella glanced over at Cathy. To her credit, Cathy hadn’t disappeared this time.
“I tried to find you last night,” Mariella said, as she and Isabel parted. “Did Papa Jay tell you?”
“Hadn’t had the chance yet,” I said.
“That’s okay, that’s okay,” Mariella said in that way she had that always seemed to mean the opposite. She turned her attention to Larry. “So, Isabel, is this him?”
Isabel leaned into Larry, her smile genuine and joyful. “This is Larry,” she said, and then to Larry, “This is my cousin Mariella. I told you about her, remember?”
“Sure,” Larry said. He stood up and held out his hand. “It’s great to meet you.”
Mariella bypassed the hand and went straight for a hug and a kiss on each cheek. To me, her hug seemed to linger a bit longer than was necessary, and was a bit tighter than a first greeting should have been. By the look on Larry’s face, I got the feeling he was thinking the same thing.
“Isabel talks about you all the time,” Mariella said. “Why you wait so long before you come back?” She slapped him lightly on his arm. Again, her hand seemed to linger there a moment too long.
Larry laughed. “I came as soon as I could.” He put an arm around Isabel and pulled her close. “But I agree, I wish it could have been sooner.”
“She tells me you have a very successful business. That’s great.”
“I do okay,” Larry said. I could tell it was not a topic he was comfortable talking about.
“Oh, more than okay, I think,” Mariella said. “Can I have a glass of champagne, too? Or is this a private party?” She laughed.
“Of course,” Isabel said. “Cathy, are there any more glasses?”
Cathy, her pasted-on smile unchanged, went and got another glass without a word. Larry filled it and handed it to Mariella.
“Are we celebrating something?” Mariella asked before taking a drink.
“We’re going on a trip,” Isabel told her.
There was the slightest hesitation before Mariella spoke again. “Really? Where is he taking you?”
“Boracay,” Isabel said. “I’ve never been there. I can’t believe it.”
“That’s great, that’s great.” There was another one of those split-second pauses. “You’ll have a great time. Of course, I’ve been there many times, so if you want any tips, just ask.”
“That would be wonderful,” Isabel said.
“Well, then, to the happy couple’s first trip together,” Mariella said raising her glass.
“Actually,” Isabel said in all innocence, “Larry’s taking all four of us.”
Mariella’s smile faltered. I could see her struggling to maintain her composure. “That’s great, that’s great,” she said, looking at each of us, her smile now larger than it had been when she first joined us. Then, as if to emphasize how she really felt, she added through clenched teeth, “That’s great.”
Mariella didn’t stay much longer that evening. Though Isabel begged her to remain, she said she had friends she was meeting. Isabel was the only one not relieved to see her go. Even Larry appeared to understand what Mariella was. It was in the way his eyes narrowed as he watched her walk out, like he was scrutinizing her. But Larry wasn’t dumb. He could see the admiration Isabel had for her cousin, so he said nothing.
For Cathy, it was almost like she had been holding her breath during Mariella’s entire visit. I knew how much willpower it took her to stand her ground. It wasn’t fear that had driven her out of sight the night before, it was hatred that had been held in check only by her respect for Isabel. Otherwise, there would have been a good chance of Cathy diving across the bar and strangling Mariella the minute she saw her. If I were her, I probably would have.
I think I’d been a papasan for only a month when it all went down. Cathy had been working as a bartender for three years already, starting not long after her eighteenth birthday. At some point during those years before I arrived on the scene, like Isabel, she had become involved with a foreigner. As I’ve said, Angeles is cyclical. Everything has happened before, and it’ll all happen again. Cathy’s guy’s name was Manus and he was from Stockholm, Sweden. He was a nice guy, maybe not quite the caliber of a Larry, but still worthy of Cathy’s affections. He made several trips a year, and each time would spend most of his stay with her.
With Cathy and Manus, there was never talk of the future. If he had asked her to go back with him, she would have jumped at the chance. She didn’t love him, but she did care for him. She told me once he was too old for her to fall in love with. He was somewhere just south of sixty at the time, with grown kids back home older than Cathy.
But love was not a prerequisite of marriage for the Filipinas who worked on Fields. It was enough for them if the guy loved them, and seemed like he would take care of them no matter what. That was another one of those fun Angeles contradictions-disgrace yourself in the eyes of your country as a whore, and maybe find someone who would take you away and provide you with more status than you could have ever achieved any other way. So there was no room for the girls to let their own feelings of love or lack of love get in the way.
The mistake Cathy made was confiding everything to Mariella.
Mariella had this way of making the girls feel like she was their best friend, that if they had any problems, they should go to her. But then, if the opportunity presented itself and she was in the mood, she’d sell them out. Usually it was to get something for herself, but not always. If a girl appeared to be getting more than she was, such as a decent guy and relationship that was working-like Cathy had achieved-Mariella wouldn’t wait for an opportunity. She’d make it happen.
Manus hadn’t seen through Mariella. Because he knew Cathy trusted her, he decided he could trust her, too. He told her Cathy had become very special to him, and he had decided to ask her to come live with him in Sweden. Mariella had no doubt sounded supportive, but at some point, whether in that first conversation or soon after, she let it slip that Cathy had told her only a few weeks earlier that she didn’t really love him. He didn’t believe it at first, but I’m sure as the hours passed, doubt began to set in. After all, this was Angeles, and as a seasoned veteran, he knew deep down it was all illusion.