The Holiday
Mariana spent the holiday with her friend Manuela, she had returned to resume classes.
It rained overnight, the sun came in the morning; it was a beautiful day, fresh. They were having lunch at Juvenal’s.
Juvenal was born there, in Santa Genova, he worked for a while in a fancy restaurant, Barbecue, in Rio Preto. He returned full of nine hours, manners, special cuts, Angus beef here, Angus beef there, anyway, the city finally had a restaurant.
Juvenal rented a small house at the central square, in front of the church. He took out almost all the walls, a few tables on the sidewalk, others in the yard, under the shade of a mango tree. He received the girls with style.
– What an honor! City's most beautiful ladies in my establishment! Where would the ladies like to sit down, please?
Manuela and Mariana greet the guys, the same from the Ball, they’ve already had lunch and were still drinking beer in a table at the sidewalk.
– Here, on the sidewalk? – Juvenal asks. – Ok, under the tree! Sure, I’m coming back in a minute with our menu.
The girls saluted a few more people, and finally chosen a table near the wall, watching the shaded patio.
– Gee, how nice! – Manuela speaks. – I’m glad you came to see me.
Mariana looked at her friend blushingly; she was a little shy with displays of affection.
Manuela’s hair was shiny, smooth, tied and meticulously messy. She used a flowery dress more for short than for long, yet elegant. She wore low heel shoes and stood almost as tall as Mariana, who was wearing a ballerina, light skinny jeans and a tight white shirt highlighting her shoulders and her slim waist; today she had a clip on her short hair.
– Ladies, please excuse the delay, the holiday surprised me, but we are already here to answer all your desires! Soon it will be calmer, here are the menus and here is our welcome drink, on the house.
Without asking, he took out two shots from a tray, cachaça and honey and put them on the table.
– Light and delightful! – says Juvenal – Try it. We were about to close the kitchen for lunch, but of course we will serve you first. The today’s special, as you can see, is "entrecote", grilled over real wood coal. Served with cabbage, purple and white, and Japanese sauce.
– I’m not sure Juvenal, rib? This is a first world kind of thing. Here, meat, if we are not talking about rump coat or tenderloin, only on pressure cooker. I don’t want a steak reminding me the sole of my boots!
– Trust me ladies, the meat is nice. I’ll be back in a minute, make your choice please.
– Wow, Mariana! You know everything.
Again embarrassed by the compliment, Mariana changes the subject.
– Did you like the drink?
– I loved it – Manuela agree and insists – I have no talent for those man’s subjects, but when you're talking about that, I kind of like, you speak in a way that I understand.
– Silly! So, what do we eat? This menu is a trip around the world, pizza, hamburgers, pasta, kebab, it has everything.
– I don’t know, too many things to read. What are you going to eat?
– Today’s special, I think.
– For me the same – Manuela decides – I get mad when I ask for something and someone’s dish is prettier than mine. Do you mind if I ask the steak well done? I almost faint if I see blood.
– No problem, at all!
Juvenal is back with a bowl, cucumbers and carrots cut into sticks, in a very cold and salty water.
– The appetizer and another drink, sorry about the delay. Are you ready to order?
– Let's try the entrecote, one rare and the other well done – Mariana says naturally.
– Excellent choice – Juvenal says, spins rapidly and leaves the scene.
– Juvenal is funny – Mariana comments. These vegetables are really crisp.
– You know, he bothers me – Manuela confess – I came here with the mayor. He brought me to lunch, to show the city big gratitude because I have accepted the position; and then tried to bang me. I couldn’t believe, I think he’s married, has children.
– Three.
– Asshole! At this time, Juvenal, to flatter the mayor, spent the lunch offering me a lot of things I didn’t know, snubbing his "great" knowledge.
– Oh! Really?
– So, I liked how you answered him, firmly. You’ve made intelligent questions, chose the dish and told him that I wanted the meat well done; he didn’t wrinkle his nose like he did with me before. I felt good.
– You are mocking me!
Everything was really good. The last customer left, the evening was calm, quiet, the garden scent.
Of course a few sips don’t eliminate the major problems, but dissolve the small ones. That delicious feeling of togetherness, the lazy afternoon.
– Ladies, well done to the teacher, au point to Mariana. Our Japanese salad. The original recipe had sesame oil and soy sauce. I added grated ginger and chili pepper. I hope you enjoy the meal. Something to drink, a glass of Carmenere, beer, rafraichissement, mineral water? One sparkling and one still, perfectly.
The turn and the triumphant exit.
The girls laughed at him.
– Liked the salad? – Mariana questions.
– Cabbage is always Cabbage, but the mix of colors is beautiful, enhanced the dish, the taste is really different. And you, did you like it?
– I'm amazed, the salad is delicious and the meat, oh boy! I don’t know where Juvenal got this meat, soft, juicy, perfect, I regret by not having accepted that glass of wine.
– Ask for it, I’ll take a sip, is it too dry?
Eating together, this is intimacy...
– Girls, how's everything?
– Juvenal, my dear, you really know what are you doing. Manuela, who is not carnivore, ate everything. Accept this as our best compliment.
– Oh God, thank you – the cook raises his hands, theatrically – my talent recognized by people who really matters, it was my dream. A dessert? No? Coffee? No, of course. No, no, no, no check, this is the first time that you give me the honor of your visit, I owe a lot to your father, Mr. Juvencio.
He came back with the tray.
– My dears, I am offering a last drink, a homemade Jabuticaba liqueur. This is a tiny cup, I'll leave the bottle here and I'll go back inside. I have to work on Sunday’s menu. There is nobody else in the restaurant, but if you need me, just call. I loooved you liked – almost a pirouette and there goes Juvenal.
– Ma! – Manuela joins her hands like clapping and continues. – This guy is hilarious, I’ve never had so much fun, that's great.
Mariana, so good facing situations, blushes and serves the liqueur into Manuela’s glass.
They drink a sip and breathe. The alcohol evaporates and spreads that warm and comfortable feeling into their bodies.
– Cheers to Juvenal, our host, wizard of steaks and liqueurs – Manuela toasts.
Mariana takes a sip, fills the glasses again, smiles at Manu. In her head a thousand things, spinning at the same time. Her mother, who died too soon, her life as an only child, a father who needed a son. Everything so hard, every day was a fight, a conquest. Now she's here. Who knows why, suddenly, it all made sense, no doubt. Her heart beats strong, heat rises through her body.
– Hey, Ma! Wake up, are you okay?
– Oh baby! Sure, I'm sorry, this week was complicated, a cow died on the farm, I think her spirit passed here.
– That is crazy, I think this is only the jabuticaba doing effect.
– No. It's true. Cowboi, do you remember her?
– Of course, poor cow!
– We all loved her, now I don’t know, I think she is inside of me.
– Ave Maria!
Mariana is purple, everything is turning around her and she says, speaking with difficulty.
– I'm about to attack you!
– Really?
!!!
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