WISH
By Suzie de Aguado

She celebrates her birthday every November with presents and dinner and a party with balloons bobbing in the air. She is likable and has lots of friends whom she has known since she was just a small girl dressed in pigtails and ribbons. They would be there, along with her close relatives, to celebrate the anniversary of her birth. And together they would sing for she’s a jolly good fellow just after she blew out the candles and cut the cake.

What did you wish for, they’d ask her. Yeah, right, like I’m gonna go and ruin it by telling all of you, she’d smile and giggle.

Last year, she turned 25. Before she blew out the candles on top of her frosted cake, she wished a wish in her mind. I want to have an exciting year full of new beginnings and oh yes please I’d like a husband too.
A few weeks later, when her boss told her that he was relocating to Puerto Vallarta as the Director of Human Resources for a new hotel that was opening, he asked if she would like to relocate there, as well. She didn’t hesitate and said absolutely certainly unquestionably yes. He laughed at her candor and told her to pack her bags, go to a medic for shots of this kind and that one, and be ready to leave within 30 days.

Damn, that was some cake, she thought, I better get the recipe before I leave.

At home, she is known as the nice girl. Even though her name is Patricia, mommy calls her Suzie homemaker and daddy calls her baby girl. She finished top 20% in her class in high school, was a member of the French club and was accepted by every college she applied to. She went to San Diego State, 20 minutes from home, where she majored in Business. She has had one boyfriend in her lifetime and has kissed no other man but him. He broke up with her last year because, he said, she was a terrible bore. Daddy told her that Charlie was a schmuck and couldn’t see a good thing coming, even if it pissed on his shoe. Her friends comforted her with outings on the town and reassured her once and again, that her daddy wasn’t comparing her to a pissing dog. She works from nine to five as assistant to head honcho of Human Resources, is five feet, two inches tall and weighs 125 pounds. She is an average girl.

She doesn’t like to admit it, but Charlie broke her heart.

Before she knew him, her life was fine. Each day came and went. Charlie made her life exciting, the first kind of exciting she had ever experienced. She had no other desire but to be by his side and laugh at his jokes and hold his hand. But when Charlie broke her heart, life never quite returned to normal. It was then that she began to wish for a new, thrilling existence. Full of laughs and adventures. Perhaps such a life would be better than the one she had shared with Charlie.

She knew it would be hard finding such a life at home, where she was known as the nice girl. I gotta get outta here and live my life, she’d say to herself. She began searching job listings on the Internet for career opportunities in L.A. and San Francisco. But she wished her wish and it came true. Puerto Vallarta is even better than I had imagined. A whole new world for a whole new me oh yes sirree.

The plane ride was smooth. She gazed out the small window and envisioned the life that awaited her. She fantasized about going out and meeting new people, especially handsome men, one of which, she knew, would be the one to place a diamond on her finger and marry her. She wouldn’t say this to anyone, but she knew that wishes are worth their weight in gold and the relocation to Puerto Vallarta was just the beginning of a much-desired, much-needed wish come true.

Mommy wasn’t happy to see her Suzie homemaker go off and leave. Don’t drink the water, she said, and for goodness sake, don’t trust anyone you meet until you get to know them after a while. And sweetie, call me at least once a week and remember, don’t forget, please please please don’t drink the water.

Daddy told her to watch out for schmucks who can’t see a good thing coming even if it pisses on their shoes.
Her friends sobbed and told her how much they were going to miss her. You lucky girl, they said with a wink, you’ll probably end up turning into a party fiend and find lots of new friends to hang out with.

Her boss said that the workload would be fierce because the hotel was in pre-opening stages. We’re going to have a lot of long days and weekends, Patty, but it’ll be worth it, he reassured her. You couldn’t buy that kind of experience and just the pre-opening alone will be a gem on your resume.

She listened to their words half-heartedly. It was hard to pay attention to what they said when visions of a dark, handsome stranger placing a diamond solitaire on her finger played in her mind.

When the plane landed an hour or so after it had taken off, she took her bags, plump with things from home, and walked into her future.

She likes Puerto Vallarta. At least she likes to think she does. The weather is nice when it is not rainy and humid and the people are warm and treat her kindly. She is learning bits and pieces of Spanish and blushes with pride when she receives calls from home and they tell her what an exciting life she must have. She giggles and says, well, it sure is different than home. That’s for sure.

She doesn’t tell them what has happened, what has really happened, during the past six months of her future. She doesn’t tell them that the hotel opened with all sorts of glitches, the furnished apartment she moved into is too expensive for her wages and she has only made a handful of friends. She doesn’t open her mouth and spill her wishful guts into their ears and complain how lonely she feels and how much she longs for the creature comforts of home. Instead, she tells them how much she misses them and how anxious she is to receive them for a visit. You guys gotta come, she says, this place is gorgeous.
She doesn’t consider that lying. She does think that Puerto Vallarta is gorgeous and she does miss home sometimes, when she actually has time to rest from her busy schedule and remember that she has a mommy and a daddy and lots of friends and buddies.

She is waiting for her future, her real future, to come along and grab her and whisk her over the threshold and into the land of wedlock and babies. And she doesn’t tell them that, either.

She doesn’t say much of anything to anyone. She mutters trite comments about the weather and the food and how work is coming along. She tells the handful of people she is friendly with that she likes to go to parties and restaurants and nightclubs. And sometimes, when they remember, they invite her along.
She readily accepts each invitation she is offered, even if she is exhausted after a day of hard work. She takes a warm shower, runs a comb through her hair and adds a little gloss to her lips. She wears the same short black skirt she brought from home. It is made out of stretch cotton and reaches three-inches above her knees. She varies the ensemble with one of the three tight blouses that she considers showy enough to appeal to the right kind of stranger. She had purchased the blouses days before her move to Puerto Vallarta. They were the kind of garments the popular girls in college had worn, but that she had never had the courage to wear before. A whole new wardrobe for a whole new me.

She has tried different approaches to allure and charm the right catch of a man. She has crossed and uncrossed her tanned legs at de Santos and The River Café, but stopped doing that when a waiter tripped over her outstretched limbs one evening and quietly cursed her slim, gringa legs in Spanish. She has danced by her lonesome at The Zoo and Christine’s in hopes that her future husband will catch a glimpse of her and sway by her side. And not so long ago, she ventured to speak out just a bit and ask the handful of people she is friendly with if they knew of a young, single man in search of a mate.

They stared at her and burst into laughter. You gotta be kidding me, one of them said. In Vallarta? All you’re gonna find is one-night stands with cute tourists, married men or gay guys. You, they said while they chuckled, sure came to the wrong place if you’re looking for a boyfriend.

She laughed and replied, yeah, yeah, I know. I was just wondering is all. Damn. Damn. Damn it to hell.
Even though her professional life is going quite well and she recently received a small internal promotion, she feels invisible outside of the office. Nobody, other than her family and friends at home, calls her regularly, and she spends too many nights alone eating out of a pizza box. The only members of the male species who have given her any sort of attention are the salesmen that line the streets, offering day cruises and whale watching expeditions.

Some of them call her amiga. Some of them call her pretty lady. And not so long ago, one yelled after as she was walking along the boat-lined strip of the Marina on her way home from work. Hey beautiful lady, he hollered, you dropped something!

She turned around, flustered and searching for whatever had fallen. The salesman walked slowly towards her, his hands clenched by his heart and said you dropped my heart because you are so beautiful.
Even though she told him to piss off and bother someone who gave a shit, she was inwardly flattered. Well at least someone noticed me.

She asks herself, when she actually has time to rest from her busy schedule, if this is all her wish could offer. And although she knows that wishes are worth their weight in gold, she wonders if, perhaps, the time has come to throw in her chips and go back home.

Today she celebrates her 26th birthday. She hasn’t planned a party with balloons bobbing in the air and doesn’t expect many gifts. It is the first time in her life that she will celebrate the anniversary of her birth away from her family and friends at home.

Her boss is kind, a man who pays attention to detail, and brought her a lovely cake that one of the pastry chefs made just for her. He tells her that they will cut into it during lunchtime with some co-workers. He reminds her that she’s got a birthday wish coming to her and asks her if she already has one fixed in her mind.

She thinks of the one-way ticket home tucked away in one of her dresser drawers. She will be home before Christmas and feels slightly ashamed that she hasn’t told him of her decision yet. You betcha, she says, I sure do.

You think you’re going to get lucky this year, he questions, do you think it’ll come true?
She smiles and nods her head. I’d bet on it, she says with a smile.