Un dia en Buenos Aires

It gave Brad a different view of Argentina than he had seen before —­ either in the dry, cold desert of Patagonia, with its glaciers, the Andes, and millions of migratory birds, or with the sophisticated, European feel of the Capital, Buenos Aires, with its broad avenues and chic shops.

At the end of his first additional week in Argentina, they returned to the city, to Josefina's apartment; which by then had begun to feel like a home away from home to Brad.

At breakfast the following morning, Brad had an idea.

"Josefina, we have to talk," he said, smiling at the thought of how those words implied negative outcomes. His thoughts, through, were all positive.

~~*~~

LAX was in its normal state of chaos when Amy grabbed her large bag and hefted it into the back seat of her mother's Cadillac SUV. She closed the read door and opened the front door and hopped into the shotgun seat next to her mother, who blew a quick air kiss at her before she swung from the curb back into the driving lanes.

"Hello, Mom," Amy said easing into her seatbelt and adjusting the seat. "Thanks for picking me up."

Monica turned and smiled briefly at her daughter.

"So where have you been, and what have you been up to? Visiting friends in Miami?"

"Oh no, Mom. Miami was just the last stop before L.A.," a sly smile appeared on Amy's face as she prepared to reveal what she hoped would be an admission, painful to her mother.

"My flight started in Buenos Aires, and Miami was the U.S. connection."

"Really?" exclaimed her mother, "What in the world were you doing in Argentina? Was it some sort of study abroad thing?"

"No. It was the last stop on a tour of the southern parts of South America. It started in Santiago, Chile and took us down to Tierra del Fuego, the Straits of Magellan, a cruise in the glaciers of the Chilean fjords, then to Patagonia, ending in Buenos Aires."

Monica was taken aback.

"I can't believe it! I always dreamed of do that very thing. Going to the far reaches of South America. How could you afford it? And did you go with someone? A friend?"

"I got it for free," Amy explained, "You see, Dad had bought this trip last year and was going to surprise you with it. But you surprised him first. Obviously YOU weren't going with him.

"So rather than lose a lot of money by cancelling the trip, or paying for two people and going by himself, Dad asked me if I would like to go. Which I did. And it was really cool."

Amy started describing the trip in detail, gleefully noting the sad look on her Mother's face as she regaled her with tales of her adventures with her Dad.

Finally Monica spoke.

"That was a fantasy trip that I described to your Father years ago," she said, a tear dripping down her face, "I guess that it is one dream on my bucket list that I've missed."

Amy looked at her Mom, "Why can't you go? You got Mr. "$Billions" now. He could fly you down in his own private jet anytime you wanted to go."

Monica looked back at her daughter, "That is something else we have to talk about. But the fantasy was about having a great adventure with your father, and I doubt that will ever happen now."

Amy looked at her mother as she drove towards her Dad's house.

"I don't mean to seem nosy, but you said that we needed to talk about Mr. "$Billions"?"

Monica hesitated. She knew she had to let her daughter know, but first, she was ashamed of her behavior, and embarrassed at the ultimate outcome.

"Okay, Amy. I'm not with George anymore. I discovered that I was just arm candy for him, and when some younger, prettier, and frankly, very successful actress made her move, I was out the door."

"Oh god, Mother! That's horrible. Do you need Dad to help you out? I'm sure he would."

"No, no. I may have been easy, but I wasn't cheap," Monica replied with a bit of a smirk.

"Really, Mom, that's kind of disgusting!" popped out of Amy's mouth before she could stop it.

"Yeah, I suppose it is. But it is the only consolation I can think of.

"Let me tell you about my fall from grace — maybe you can learn from my experience.

"First, George, even though he is older, is still a very handsome man. Now that I know how vain and self-centered he is, I suspect that he's had more than a little cosmetic surgery to help him keep his looks.

"He can be very charming, especially when he is pursuing you. And he comes with all of the trimmings of the very rich; his own private jet, mega-yachts, houses in all of the right places all over the world.

"He offered me a life style that was going to be parties, fun, travel and excitement to hear him talk. God knows, looking back on it, I sound like some sort of idiot teenage girl letting her head be turned by the college guy who has a nice car.

"I thought that I was in love. I'd found my soul mate. Instead it was a just a case of 'the grass always looks greener'. HA!

"The reality was, that once I left your father and joined George full time, it was very different than what I had expected. Yes, there were 'glamorous' parties, but it was usually with other very rich people, who it turns out can be just as shallow as anyone else. Trophy wives and girlfriends who can't or won't talk about anything of substance. Men who see you as nothing more than 'this week's bimbo'.

"Even worse, George is actually something of a workaholic who expected me to stay in the house or at the country club amusing myself while he was out doing his thing, but to be prepared on a moments notice to be paraded in front of his friends or business associates. And you're expected to remember to keep your mouth shut, thank you!

"To top off everything — and don't you repeat a word of this to ANYONE, including your father — George's performance in bed was marginal before I moved in with him, and abominable afterwards. I think at first for me it was the naughtiness of the cheating that was the exciting part. I think that George was more attracted to screwing someone else's wife, in order to display his dominance and alpha-maleness, than the sex.

"Marriage was never in the cards. Lord knows! The man already had four ex-wives and had no intention of having a number five, something I didn't understand until after I was living with him.

"In short, it didn't take me long to understand I had made a HUGE mistake. I had given up a man who truly loved me, for a wealthy narcissist who, frankly, I doubt even has the capacity to love anyone other than himself."

Amy looked at her mother, "So what happened?"

Her mom thought silently for a moment.

"I told him that I was not happy being left on my own all of the time. That my life was not turning out the way that he had promised, and that he had become a different person than the man who I had abandoned my family for," Monica confessed.

"And?" Amy asked.

"I was told to be out and gone by the next day."

Amy was shocked at the revelation, "That was cold of him!"

"Oh, it was worse. He didn't even bother to tell me himself; he just turned and left the room. He had one of his lawyers do it for him the next day. I guess that he was a coward on top of everything else.

"That was when I was hit with a case of the smarts. I refused to just up and leave until I had some sort of settlement and indicated that I too could get a lawyer, and even worse, I could use the court of public opinion to judge how fairly he had treated me. Think: National Enquirer©, People Magazine©, TMZ©, Facebook©, that sorts of stuff.

"His lawyer was smooth, I'll give him that. He actually seemed like a pretty nice guy who was slightly embarrassed by the situation. So we started negotiations. And that is how I ended up sadder but much richer than I would have expected.

"An NDA was a must for George. So within reason, money and other 'compensations' weren't his concern. Heck, when you have $Billions a couple $Millions isn't even a blip on your quarterly earnings."

"$Millions?" Amy queried, her eyes practically popping out from her head.

"Well, according to the NDA I can't tell you," Monica said with a serious look on her face, while at the same time flashing five fingers at Amy.

"Five Million dollars?"

"After taxes, dear. Plus this Caddy SUV. Plus some other trifles. A lot of jewelry. Would you like to see my new condo sometime? He paid for the new furnishings, too. I needed a place to stay, after all."

Amy was shaking her head, "So what now?"

Monica looked sad again, "Well, I was hoping to crawl back to your father and beg him to take me back. Chastened and ashamed. Ask him to beat me if he wanted; have an affair to get even with me. But take me back. Try and reclaim him before some other bitch —I mean woman — gets her claws in him."

Amy was suddenly and uncharacteristically quiet. She had averted

"What?" Monica snapped.

"Well Mom, have you ever heard the saying, 'a day late and a dollar short'?"

"WHAT!" Monica shouted, while jamming on the brakes. Fortunately, there wasn't any other traffic behind her.

About 30 seconds later a shriek could be heard for a block in either direction,

"Some Argentine slut who he only knew for a couple of days!"

Alas, by the time Monica discovered that Josefina was not just some Argentine slut, instead she was an educated, beautiful, younger (ouch, that hurt) woman, a widow who played musical duets with Brad. Monica had been completely displaced from Brad's life.

They even sounded good together. They were perfectly in sync, a team in ways she had never been with Brad.

Worse, was after she had met and gotten to know Josefina and Juanita better, she liked them and got on well with them. She couldn't even hate Josefina for having good taste.

She did cry and feel sorry for herself at night alone in her bed in her luxury condo, but at least she wasn't living on skid row. Ultimately though, she couldn't kid herself; Brad was a hunk who she dumped. How could she be surprised that some other woman moved in aggressively and now was desperately in love with her ex. That made two of them.

The money from George helped her fill her physical needs, but it couldn't replace Brad in her heart or her bed.

At least, these days Brad was being civil, if not especially warm, towards her. She figured that was Josefina's doing.

Yes, civil, but actually worse from Monica's perspective; he was indifferent towards her now.

~~*~~

"Josefina, we have to talk," Brad said, smiling at the thought of how those words were often harbingers of negative news. Brad, though, had nothing but positive, wonderful plans to make with his new love.

"Josefina," he told her as she sat down with him in her apartment, "You have to return to the U.S. with me. Can you arrange the time off? Do you have a passport?"

"Yes, yes of course, if you think it is necessary. But what are you planning?"

"I want us to live together, but split our time; half the time in my house in Los Angeles, and half in your apartment in Buenos Aires. And that means you have to be able to work as a physician in the U.S., and I have to have a business base of operations here in Argentina," he explained.

At the end of the week Brad, Josefina and Juanita were all sitting together in the first class cabin on the flights back to Miami and Los Angeles. The cabin attendants were fairly certain that they were newlyweds, which they weren't yet, and smiled at them while presenting them with Champaign and other treats.

Brad's plan involved establishing an Internet presence in Argentina, focused on the arts, music (classical, Latin, and modern South American Jazz and Rock), dancing (tango, of course) as well as other art forms. All funded and managed from the U.S. That let him travel back and forth between L.A. and Argentina as a business expense, and he fully expected his venture there to be successful, since the finance aspects of it were out of the reach of the Argentina government. The performers and artists would be paid in dollars not pesos, to their great advantage.

Back in Los Angeles, he went into his office and got back up to date with his existing business — that took about a week. He had good people who could take up the slack while he got his new business venture running.

Then he began to set up U.S. corporate structures that could handle Josefina's family's businesses. They would sell hunts and agricultural products from the estancia — but the transactions would take place in the U.S., and in dollars. The only money converted back into Argentine pesos was the amount necessary to continue the operations of the ranch.

He had started the process where a certain restaurant chain in the U.S. would have exclusive access to the high quality beef raised on Josefina's family's ranch.

The result was that they minimized the currency risk associated with having large amounts of pesos at any given time. And in Argentina, if they accumulated too many pesos, they converted them to U.S. dollars ASAP and transferred them up to bank accounts in the U.S. that Brad had opened on their behalf. This included not only Josefina's parents, but Ernesto's as well. Their financial well being was protected.

Juanita was able to gain admission to USC. That not only allowed her to continue her education but to get a student visa as well. Plus, since her mother was being hired to be on staff at the USC Medical center by then, she got a discounted tuition.

Another big plus was now, she and Amy were roommates in an off-campus apartment.

A month later...

Josefina was sitting next to Brad as they shared a Chinese take out dinner.

"So I can get my green card to work here, and even do surgery at the hospital, so long as it is a teaching facility like the USC hospital. Technically, I am being 'supervised' by senior medical staff; the reality is, they know of my work and I operate independently. That way I don't have to stop practicing while I take the tests and get approved to practice on my own here in the U.S." she explained to Brad.

"That's great!" agreed Brad. "This way you can continue practicing in Argentina, but also become certified in the U.S. The best of both worlds."

"Brad, I can't thank you enough, my love, for all that you have done for me as well as my family."

It had been a busy month — with its share of little satisfactions.

When, six months later, Brad and Josefina got married in Argentina, her 'baby bump' was clearly visible. No one seemed to care; indeed, the men seemed to regard it as a mark of Brad's machismo. The women were all delighted that a new grandchild would soon join them.

The wedding was a joyous event. It took place at Josefina's apartment and the number of attendees was limited by the space available. Josefina, as a widow, wore an ivory colored gown, and had Juanita and Amy as her bridesmaids. Brad wore his tuxedo, and he had his brother fly in from Texas, who, along with Ernesto's father, acted as his groomsmen.

Brad entertained the gathered family and friends, prior to the wedding march, by playing Lizst's famous Liebestraum (Loves Dream)#3. After he finished one of the Argentine musicians who he had met through his search for potential internet stars, played the traditional Wedding March as well as the Recessional music.

The Wedding reception was held in a restaurant just down the street from Josefina's apartment. It was large enough to have the entire group in a single room; and the open bar didn't insult anyone's feelings. But fortunately, no one over indulged either.

Brad and Josefina actually took Juanita and Amy along with them for their Luna de Miel (the 'moon of honey') at Iguazu Falls, the massive waterfall system that borders Argentina's northern border and Brazil's southern border. They crossed over into Brazil to see that side of the falls as well, and even spent some time shopping in adjacent Paraguay,

Brad reflected often on how the trip that he took, despite his ex abandoning him, and how a day in Buenos Aires had restored his life for the better.

As Brad and Josefina sat in a swinging bench out on the veranda of the Casa on the estancia, watching the sunrise over the Pampas, they were content. All was at peace in their world.

"Brad," Josefina finally said, "You know that in a few months you and I will not be able to make love for some period of time? It is the price we pay for your filling me with your son."

Brad nodded, "Yes, dear heart, I can remember that from after Amy was born."

"Well," Josefina continued, "Then aren't we wasting valuable time sitting out here when we could be making love in the bedroom?"

Brad smiled as he rose and swept Josefina up in his arms, "Darling, you have a point there. Time's a wasting. Vamos!" he exclaimed as he carried her back into the hacienda.

Sí, la vida es sueño!

El Fin.

~~*~~

This story was originally conceived to be submitted as part of the 'One Night In?' event. I didn't get it finished in time, plus it didn't really follow the 'story all takes place in a single night' rule, either.

Then cher Randi l'Noir announced an 'On the Road' event that this story would fit as well.

It was about a year ago when my wife and I did a tour, very similar to the one described in this story, but which started in Rio de Janeiro, and Iguazu Falls in Brazil, then on the Buenos Aires, Patagonia and ending in Santiago, Chile. So I had a lot of details of the trip still in mind.

We did see a mountain lioness standing over the carcass of a guanaco, guarding it from the condors (and other carrion eaters, as well.) We did spend time cruising in the Chilean fjords, taking small boats to shore to walk up and see the glaciers close up. We did have dinner with an Argentine family, and talked about how the inflation in Argentina has created chaos (as it always does) for the common man trying to survive. It was an amazing journey.

I also listed various pieces of classical music in the story.

Often people will write about Country Western, or Rock music in their stories and I often check them out on the various music web sites. Most of the pieces that I mention are available on YouTube, and often there are many wonderful recordings up there.

Two of them that I think are really special. One is Sergei Rachmanonov's 'Elegie', recorded from a piano roll that was made with Rachmaninov playing — suburb. The second, that I think of as a real find, and a real pleasure is "Après un rêve", sung by (of all people) Barbra Streisand! In the mid-1970's, she recorded an entire album titled 'Classical', and there are a number of songs there that I've purchased because she did such a fine interpretation of them. (She did, in should be noted, have the piece transposed lower by 2 ½ steps and had a lush orchestration played by the CBS Orchestra to back her up!)

A runner up in the music category is 'Meditation' by Jules Massenet. On YouTube there are many fine performances of this piece, including by Cellists Yo Yo Ma and Stephan Hauser. I also recorded a version of it that can be found at the beginning of part five of my story 'Condemnation and Redemption.'

Many thanks to my readers for finding flaws and giving me feedback and suggestions on my stories. And a special thanks to the folks who reviewed my use of Spanish in this story. I am usually fairly confident that what I am saying is correct, but not being a native Spanish speaker, I am uncertain of the colloquial way of saying certain phrases. Argentines have their own unique ways of saying things as well.

Finally the question: loving wives or romance? Flip a coin. I don't BTB in this story, but I think that living a good life is the best revenge, and a life of regret filled with 'what ifs' is a significant punishment. But I prefer to think of this story, on the whole, as a romance. A man and a woman whose futures are made brighter because it is suddenly filled with a mutual love.