Cuban Paradise

With the security check point in front of us and me with no boarding pass, it was time to say goodbye.

"I know that we haven't known each other for long, but I feel like I've known you all my life. Vous allez me manquer, Gabrielle." Gabby lowered her head to my chest and tried to laugh through her sobs.

"I'll miss you too. When we meet again, we'll work on your French. You sound too American." She kissed both of my cheeks and then my lips.

Releasing a hug that I wanted to continue into the next century, Gabby turned and walked through the security gates, never looking back.

Doing schoolwork under a palapa a few feet from the ocean isn't the worst thing in the world, it helped me to pass the time as I spent my final day in Cuba. With no distractions and only taking short breaks for a swim and a drink, had me caught up to where I figured I should be by weeks end.

Stopping to pickup a hamburger for my dinner, I headed back to my room for the night. Doing some packing in preparation for my morning departure I pickup the t-shirt that Gabby had worn for two nights and held it to my nose. The soft scents of her perfume and body filled my nose and I could easily envision her dancing around the room.

Gathering up all of my electronics, I picked up my phone and for the first time on my trip I checked my messages. There were a number of messages from friends that didn't know that I was away, 18 from Megan and one from Gabby. It was the only one that I opened. It was short and sweet.

"Home safe." With a broken heart emoji. There were a million things that I wanted to say, but that I couldn't convey through a text, so a simple "Miss you", would have to do.

The sound of a hand curled into a fist was pounding at my door, and it woke me from a sound sleep. Megan was standing outside and had no problem waking anyone around so that she could get in.

"Hey Adam. I need my passport and my stuff out of the safe."

"You could have waited until morning."

"The thing is that Alex called and there's a few empty seats on his flight to Montreal, and I don't have any classes until Wednesday, so I'm, well I'm going to fly there with him and he's going to show me around. Hope you're not too mad."

"Why would I be mad."

"Well I know that you were cool with the whole swapping thing, but I wasn't so sure that you'd be okay with your girlfriend taking off to another country with some guy that she only met a few days ago."

"Megan, you stopped being my girlfriend the minute you left the lobby with Alex. But thank you for that, I had a great week." Megan's mouth was wide open, and her chin was dragging along the tiled floor.

"Oh really? What are you, all high and mighty now? You didn't seem to be to upset that you got to be with Gabby, did you? By the way, where is Miss Fake Tits?"

"She left yesterday and not that you need to know, but they're real."

"Adam, listen, don't fuck things up between us because you're a little jealous. I just want to have some fun and spend some of his money. God knows with your current financial situation we don't go out a lot or do anything cool. So, lighten up, I mean the guy won't even go down on me. He thinks it gross. Can you fucking believe that?"

"Yes, I can. It sounds like someone I once knew. And as far as doing anything cool, wasn't this trip enough for you?" The irony was lost on her. It flew right over her head.

"Listen, I'll be back sometime on Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning. You can pick me up at the airport and we'll work things out from there. Maybe we'll look at some of the job offers you got and pick out the one that pays the most or is in the coolest city." With a quick kiss on the cheek and a, "Love ya", she was gone.

My flight was uneventful, no issues with the declared cigars and rum, and the transfer to campus was smooth. The vacation was over, but the jury was still deliberating. I couldn't wait to hear the verdict on how good the trip was. I had lost a girlfriend of eighteen months and a girlfriend of not much longer than forty-eight hours in the same week. I went down to Cuba with a girlfriend and a game plan, but all I came back with was some booze, cigars and a sunburn.

The stone campus dorm was the same as it was a week ago when I left, damp and cold from the winter months, but it felt good to be back home.

"Hey Adam, buddy, someday we want to hear the whole story about your trip." It was Jordan from a floor lower and he was smiling ear to ear. We had a couple of classes together and a few mutual friends, but we weren't close enough that I thought that he would be interested in my trip. Maybe Megan had text some of her friends.

My tip off that something was wrong should have been the light coming underneath my door, but I didn't second guess it.

"Gabby?" I was shocked to be seeing her sitting on my bed doing homework, with a textbook in her hand.

"Please don't be angry. Somebody who said that he was your friend, let me in. A Wheezer."

"I not angry. I'm happy and surprised. What did you tell him so that he would let you in?"

"The truth. That I'm your girlfriend. Ne suis-je pas?"

"Yes. Yes, you are."

"Good, c'est bon. Can I stay here with you for a while?"

"Absolutely."

"I have to fly home on Friday for an exam, but I can come back that night or Saturday morning if it's okay." I wondered what all these flights might cost, but again I said, "absolutely".

We spent every second of the next three days together. Showering, eating and going to classes, we couldn't get enough of each other. It seemed odd to have Gabby sitting next to me in school while she was doing work for a completely different class, from a different country, but there she was.

Wednesday after class we grabbed some Chinese take-out and headed back to my dorm room. With everything that I wanted sitting right beside me, I had no need to carry or check my phone. In retrospect it may have been a bad idea.

The pounding on my locked door could only be one person. With nothing to hide I opened it wide.

"What the fuck Adam? I thought that you were going to borrow Wheezer's car and come get me at the airport. It cost me eighty goddamn bucks to get home you prick."

"Nice to see you too Megan, but not once did I tell you that I was picking you up at the airport."

"You didn't have to say you were doing it. I'm your fucking girlfriend, you should just do it." Megan was seeing red.

"Correction, you were my girlfriend. Since our trip, you are my ex-girlfriend and you have to get that through your head, or did you forget our conversation in Cuba and the part where I told you that we were done? The part where you told me that you were leaving me for Alex?" With the door wide open, everything that we said could be heard down the corridor and sure enough heads from other dorm rooms started to pop out to watch the spectacle.

"Oh bullshit. You'll have to get over the Alex thing. Better yet, you have to get over yourself. It didn't mean anything. It was just sex and having fun. If it makes you feel any better, he had a small dick and he lied about all the money. He's broke as fuck. He doesn't own any cars or motorcycles or anything. He was living off his precious Gabby, and that big fucking yacht that be bragged about belongs to her father. The asshole's apartment is smaller than your dorm room." With a wave of her hand to put some emphasis behind her statement, she looked around the room and for the first time, noticed Gabby sitting cross legged on my bed eating chow mein.

"What in the fuck is she doing here?" If I thought for one second that Megan was seeing red before, she now looked like she was about ready to explode.

"Not that it's any of your business, but she's my girlfriend, and she's staying here."

"Nice. Really fucking nice. What the fuck am I supposed to do? Are you telling me that I wasted the last year and a half with you? Is it because I wouldn't suck your dick? Is that it? So now you're dropping me for some French cunt, you, you fucking asshole." I looked over at Gabby. She had put down the chow mein and had moved on to the spicy beef and Szechuan noodles. She appeared to be smiling and enjoying her dinner and the show.

Most of the guys and many of the girls that lived in my dorm knew Megan, they had warned me about her and her act right from the start, but I didn't listen to any of them. Now they lined the halls to watch Megan get what they thought was coming to her, but I took the high road. Megan was beautiful and for the right guy, she would be a catch. With her looks and body, it wouldn't take her long to find a guy with what she wanted, cash.

"You're right Megan, I'm an asshole. It's all my fault and it always has been. I'm sorry that I've hurt you. You certainly deserve better than me and I hope that you find it." I laid it on thick, but it made me feel better when I closed the door. We could hear the catcalls, claps and jeers coming from the gauntlet as Megan exited the building.

"Hey, are you saving any of that for me?" Gabby smiled and patted the bed next to her.

"You sure that you don't want to change your major? Maybe you should become a lawyer, you handled yourself very well."

"Merci mademoiselle. But no. Considering that it's my last year of school and I have a new girlfriend, it's probably a little late to be changing anything like that."

Gabby and I snuggled tight in my double bed. We had the glow of two people in love. "Aren't you going to ask?"

"Ask what?"

"About the money? It's not mine. It's my father's. All Alex ever cared about was the money. He only used me to try and get close to the money. I plan to have lots of money, but I want to earn my own" Well we both knew how smart Alex is, but I didn't want to say anything bad about him, because if it wasn't for his stupidity, I would have never met Gabby.

"I can promise you this. I don't care about your father's money. We have each other and when we start new jobs, we'll make enough to get by, I promise."