Sapphire Moonlight

Chapter 26

Chapter 26

The large house in colonial style, painted light blue and flooded outside in a bluish light that had a purple tinge, appeared out of his car windscreen as he drove down Governador Jose Bento Avenue. That was the restaurant where he had eaten the week before. Very tall double doors gave entrance to a wooden-floored space with lofty ceilings. Large windows left and right overlooked an alley and a patio. The food there was quite good.  

Joao Caio ordered spaghetti in tomato sauce sprinkled with grated cheese. As a complement he ordered a steak, thin and well done. He didn't want to drink anything alcoholic as he was driving. So for a drink he ordered a bottle of sparkling mineral water.  

At quarter to nine Joao Caio arrived at Arbela. He chose a table on the sidewalk in the open air, close to the wall, near a window.  

Arbela's sidewalk was well lit. At that time almost all the tables were free. Through the window the inside of the bar could be seen, still empty. In the sidewalk part, a couple was sitting at a table. Two boys and three girls were at two other tables respectively. The boys talked merrily. They cast unfurtive glances at the girls. The girls talked calmly, parsimoniously. They were intent upon a task of importance, namely to appreciate the evening with great perception. Cars passed in the street at long intervals in between them in the light traffic of the hour. Sometimes two or three of them chanced to run close together, one upon the other. A pickup truck passed and then a car and then no vehicles went by for a time. Quietness pervaded in the street until it was broken by a red car that drove by, reduced from third to second gear to approach the corner, and turned right into Maria Sebastiana Isadora Alves Street. Its rear window, gleaming bodywork, tail lights, back bumper, and exhaust pipe, all swaying beautifully over its suspension system, swung past in slow motion. Then two pickups passed, brand-new. He realized for the first time that the sky at night wasn't really black. It was almost black. It was opaque Prussian blue. It was starry with stars that twinkled a silent nocturne that told of romance. The full moon seemed stopped behind a tree top, almost entangled in the branches as if someone had left it there and then forgotten about it. It didn't shine platinum yet. It looked more like a champagne glass seen from above, on New Year's Eve. Tall palm trees made you think of the beach.  

As time passed, another couple arrived, later two other more, then a few young men, then some girls. The flow of people on the sidewalk surged. Little by little the place was starting to get crowded.  

She might not come after all. She might not come tonight. Or if she came she might not even notice him, not even shoot him a glance. He had seen it happen in the past on similar circumstances, not infrequently. Women were like that. 

But that's a shame, he said to himself. Gee, I blundered. Or perhaps not. Let's hope for the best, he said again to himself.  

From his vantage point close to the wall he took one look at the bar next door on the left. It was called The Seagull. At Arbela, a girl arrived, but no, it wasn't her. He saw another one come and she wasn't either.  

He found he'd felt as though he had a date with her. But that was not the case. He had looked on the affair from a misguided angle. He tried to figure what his chances were. The more he thought about it the more he got convinced there were none. So he quit thinking about it. His training at the stock told him to hold out and not to sell in a panic.  

At the entrance way to the bar at the sidewalk, she stepped in, dressed in a white dress with a pattern of very light blue lines in a double line at wide spaces. Very unpretentious, and for this very reason, very stunningly elegant. She was a dream and she was with a friend, a girl.  

As soon as she saw him she stopped - openly, with undisguised intent. One of the three girls that had been there from the start couldn't avoid gazing at her as she stalled a while to make up her mind what to do next. Juliana Dantas's eyes lingered on his. Then she said something to the girl at her side, in a low voice. She had a serious expression as she did so. She didn't look at him any longer. Joao Caio stood up and went up to them.