Bertram is on vacation in Cabo San Lucas. Tall and gangly with a mop of graying red hair, Bertram works for a large Internet Technology company in Cupertino and spends eight hours a day writing code to solve problems presented to him on a large computer screen. Most of the code he writes will soon be written by artificial intelligence apps, but for now Bertram makes his living solving problems this way.
“I’m forty-four,” says Bertram, answering a question from the woman he’s having a drink with on the terrace of the luxury hotel where Bertram is spending his five-day vacation. “May I ask how old you are?”
Cecily, a striking brunette wearing short shorts and a bikini top, is staying at a nearby luxury hotel for her seven-day vacation. She works for a media company in Sunnyvale specializing in staging Internet Technology conferences around the world.
“I’m thirty-seven,” she says, wishing she hadn’t tapped YES on the get-together app she sometimes uses when she gets lonely while traveling. “Your first time in Cabo?”
“No,” says Bertram, sipping his margarita. “I’ve come here every year for the last ten years.”
“Wow,” says Cecily, who thinks she is much too beautiful and hip for Bertram. “You must really know your way around.”
“Not really,” he says with a self-effacing shrug. “I mostly play pickleball when I’m here. Cabo is a pickleball hotspot. And I love swimming in the ocean and I love Mexican food. So… never a dull moment.”
“I never knew Cabo was a pickleball hotspot,” says Cecily, feigning interest. “I’m going fishing tomorrow. For marlin.”
“Wow,” says Bertram, thinking Cecily is by far the most beautiful woman he’s ever connected with. “Exciting.”
“I love being out on the water,” she says, sipping her piña colada. “The fishing is just a fun excuse for a boat ride. Even if I do catch a marlin, we’ll let it go. They’re kind of endangered. This will be my third time. I just love it.”
Silence falls.
Bertram remembers his mother telling him before his first date in high school, “If silence falls when you’re talking, don’t feel you have to say something right away. And then say something complimentary. Works wonders. Believe me.”
“I love your earrings,” says Bertram, smiling as he thinks of his mother who lives in Arizona with her third husband and is a pickleball fanatic. In fact, it was Bertram’s mother who got him playing pickleball.
“Oh thanks,” says Cecily, touching one of her earrings. “Turquoise is my favorite color.”
“Mine, too,” says Bertram, who never had a favorite color until now.
“Really?” says Cecily, warming to him. “What’s your favorite kind of music?”
“I listen to classical music, mostly Bach, when I’m writing code,” he says, growing serious. “And Latin jazz for pleasure. How about you?”
Cecily frowns in surprise. “I love Latin jazz. Like who do you like?”
Bertram reels off a dozen names of Latin jazz artists he admires and Cecily seems pleasantly impressed.
They talk for a few more minutes, finish their drinks, and Bertram knows Cecily thinks she is too beautiful and hip for him.
“Another drink?” he asks politely, knowing she’ll say No.
“I’d love one,” she says, sighing as if disappointed, “but I have to be at the boat at seven in the morning.”
“Understood,” says Bertram, beckoning the waitress to bring the bill. “It was wonderful meeting you, Cecily. You’re by far the most beautiful woman who ever met me for a drink. My lucky night. Have a great rest of your time in Cabo.”
“Enjoy your pickleball,” says Cecily, rising to go.
“Oh,” says Bertram before Cecily can walk away. “Could I get the name of the company you use for marlin fishing? I think I’d like to try that.”
Cecily gets out her phone and brings up the web site of the sport fishing company she uses. Bertram holds out his phone to her. She taps his phone with hers and the information is transferred.
“Ask for Roberto,” says Cecily, smiling at Bertram. “He’s great.”
“Thanks I will,” says Bertram, watching her walk away and admiring everything about her.
*
Alone in his room, Bertram puts in his ear-buds, cues up The Girl From Ipanema, closes his eyes, and imagines Cecily is dancing with him.
fin