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We had settled into a long lunch with several courses served by a waiter who was no longer young. The tables had those worn linen tablecloths that you hardly see in Canada anymore. It´s obviously been a tourist attraction for decades. And I was here. In 1981. Or 1982. As a young management trainee for a bank on a temporary posting to the Buenos Aires office. I had spent Christmas at Punta del Este in Uruguay and New Year´s in Mar del Plata. So it was likely the first week of 1982. I had sat over there at the northern side if you will; by myself ( ¨estas solito?¨ the waiter had asked with raised eyebrows ) and I had eaten a pasta and clam or scallops dish. I don´t think the decor has changed much since then but my memory is, of course, selective. Cagnazzo filled Jans in on the politics in Cordoba with me volunteering the occasional addendum. Doctora Mazz flooded Jans with data but he quickly cut through her jargon and she realized he´d be making up his own mind based on his own geologists´ assesment. With the cognac and flamed crepes ( a little too seventies for my liking ) it was decided that Jans would fly up and take a look this week. So he is interested. Then Jans turned to me and said clearly enough for all to hear,

Allard, I need to talk to you.

Eyebrows were raised but I smiled as casually as I could and answered quickly,

Of course. Let´s take a walk down the coast.

Cagnazzo called the waiter over but Jans scooped up the tab and paid with his card. We both stood but everyone else did as well and it looks like we´d have to explicitly ask for some time apart. I wait till we´ve filed through the door with it´s port hole opening and are outside. Waving a hand carefully at Jans I say,

Vamos a hablar un toquecito y despues nos juntamos todos. Les parece?
Y ... dale.

It´s Cagnazzo who answers and everyone is smiling suspiciously. Even Isa. For God´s sake honey, trust me I say with my eyes as I look quickly at her. We head quickly down the wharf with the rest of them following us at a distance but Jans seems in a good mood. We chat a little about the World Cup and Bloemfontein, where he´s from. At the sidewalk we turn away from the Casino and Jans says,

Allard, you really have to relax. The report is good and I think we can do something. Tell me man, how long have you been here?
Ah ... a couple of years.
So, how do you like it?
It´s complicated, tricky I mean but me and Isa ...
Yes of course. So you´ll be here for a while longer?
It´s my home Jans.

He pauses and I glance back at the rest of them.

Good. Listen. I´ll give you one hundred thousand shares and the rest of them can divy up say a million shares. If it gets to market of course ... Plus I can advance you fifty thousand.
Uh ... yes. But we should ...
Allard. I´m going to trust you. I know it´s been a while since you worked in an office but I need someone to keep me up to date. Diego, it´s his land. Mazz knows her stuff but Cagnazzo ... I´ve met his type before. You, we, need him on the team. I know how things work here. But you´ll be my point man. Can you do it?

I´m trying not to imagine what 100,000 shares would be worth at say 65 cents or say 1.20 ... I breath deeply and look right at him.

I´ll do what it fucking takes to get it right Jans. I´m in face first.

He laughs and slaps my shoulder gratefully. I have to assume he means it. He´s the one who´ll raise the money in Toronto and Vancouver and elsewhere. He has no need or reason to scam me. And the rest of them ... over there pretending to talk to each other ... it´s in their interest to keep Jans happy so a deal gets done. We turn back along the sidewalk and head towards the rest of them.

You´ve had a tough time haven´t you? Some deals that weren´t quite ...

Jans is looking carefully at me as he speaks. He wants to know that I´m not a fugitive or something like that. I shrug and nod my head. He nods satisfied. He doesn´t need to know any more. We reach them and Jans shakes hands again and Cagnazzo looks pleased but I´ll have to fill him in on all the details. Jans herds Caganzzo and Dra Mazz off to one side for a brief moment and chats quickly with them. They look like cats who´ve eaten a cage full of canaries. I guess he made his stock offer to them as well. And perhaps cash up front. Diego´s bored look is a little fake if you ask me and Isa is holding my hand rather tightly as well. Jans returns and announces that he has got to get back to the hotel and catch a flight to Buenos Aires.

I´ll see you there.

Damn he´s talking to me. Once he´s some distance away near Plaza Colon and we´re heading the other way to where the vehicles are parked I turn to Cagnazzo.

Cuanto?
Un millon de acciones y setenta y cinco mil dolares. Vos??
Cien mil de acciones y cincuenta mil.
Bien pibe. Entonces habra que laburar un toque para sacar tu guita. Te vere en Cordoba parece.

But Isa needs to digest things. Back at the apartment she complains about having to move to Cruz del Eje so late in her pregnancy. I have to convince her.

Mañana salimos con Diego en su Ford.
Aja ... y que hago con esta barriguita? Y las citas con la ginecologa??
Cagnazzo nos pagara una clinica privada. Nos los debe.
Aseguraste eso??
Lo voy a concretar carajo! Te lo juro!!

The cordless rings and it´s Pipo. He mentions a clinic in Cruz del Eje to me. I pause and catch my breath. Ok. It´s not magic. Cagnazzo likely had him arrange that a few days ago and as soon as he drove off he phoned Pipo and told him it´s on. So Scarmiglione is paying for Isa´s pregnancy at a private clinic in Cruz del Eje. Likely with some of Pranav´s cash. I talk loudly ( too loudly, Isa flinches ) so she can hear it all and then as soon as I hang up I head to the computer and google the clinic. Yes, it´s there. Good. It takes all my strength just to get through the smallest details with her sometimes. Let´s hope we can all make it to Cruz del Eje. Will Oriana want to come as well? Or will Diego let her stay in their shared house? I stare at the screen a little dazed as I start to come down from the high of the deal. And it´s not signed yet. Isa´s hand on my shoulder startles me. I take her fingers and squeeze them and turn to face her. She´s softer now and seems to have decided it´s good to go on this trip.

Falta ver Cruz del Eje. Es cierto.

I breath out slowly, relieved. I gently take her onto my lap despite her protests about how heavy she is and hold her in my arms in the fading light in our living room. The setting sun is a fuzzy red orb behind a thin layer of gray clouds. It slips down into a patch of turquoise sky just before disappearing behind the tiled roofs and the sweeping pampa beyond. Somewhere way out there ( more to the right actually - not straight ahead ) is Cruz del Eje - Diego´s home town where a barren, rocky 100 hectare property shimmers seductively. Our own little El Dorado. I wonder what exactly in Dra Mazz´s study interested Jans enough to bite? Or is it just that the credit markets are flowing nicely again and the terrain is plausible enough to raise the cash on the TSX Venture Exchange? Isa strokes my head as we wait for the sun to disappear completely from the blue-green purple sky.