Borrowed Time

BORROWED TIME|||
Alan Maley
Skorzeny had been waiting
twenty years for the stranger.
Now it was time for his last drink.
San Juan de los Reyes. Dusk was falling. Luis, the barman at the Hotel Mimosa was polishing the glasses. In the village, lights were going on. Down by the harbour, the boats were getting ready to set out for the night’s fishing.

The hotel was quiet. Hardly anyone cameto stay there anyway; only the occasional American tourist group.

And, of course, Mr Skorzeny. He had arrived out of nowhere five years before and stayed on. He kept to himself. He had his own routine. Every morning he swam before breakfast. Then he disappeared into his room, only emerging at lunch. In the evenings he would sit on the veranda and drink. Sometimes he would be found still asleepin his chair in the morning. No one knew where he came from - but he paid his bills, so no one asked.

Today was different. The stranger had arrived in a white Mercedes in the late afternoon. He wore a wide-brimmed straw hat. He had asked for Mr Skorzeny. He was the first visitor Skorzeny had had in all his time at the hotel. Now they sat in the twilight at the end of the long veranda. It wasfunny, Luis thought, that the visitor looked so much like Mr Skorzeny - same blue eyes, same square face, same powerful shoulders. But of course, unlike Mr Skorzeny, he had no beard.

The two men faced each other.
‘So, you’ve come at last,’ Skorzeny said. ‘I’ve been waiting for you for twenty years, do you know that?’
‘I hope you are ready to come quietly?’ said the visitor, ‘I don’t want anytrouble. You’d better give me your passport now.’ As he spoke, he opened his jacket to reveal the pistol in its shoulder holster.
‘My dear fellow. Here it is.’ Mr Skorzeny gave the man his passport. ‘I don’t want any trouble. It’s almost a relief to see you at last. I’ve been expecting you - or someone like you - ever since I defected all those years ago.’
‘I’m glad to hear it. So, let’s go. Itwill take us two hours to reach the capital. We should leave now.’
‘Come, come. There’s no hurry surely?’ Mr Skorzeny said. ‘I have waited for twenty years. You can wait for half an hour, can’t you. I’d like to enjoy my last drink here. It’s so peaceful in the evening’.

He made a sign to Luis, who brought two Margheritas in ice-cold, frosted glasses. It was now completely dark and the end of theterrace was only dimly lit by the single bulb over the bar.

‘Cheers, my dear fellow,’ said Skorzeny, and drained his glass. The stranger drank too. Skorzeny ordered another round of drinks. The stranger got up to look down at the harbour. He did not notice Skorzeny’s skilful work with the drinks. They drank again. Then settled down to talk.

An hour or so later, while Luis was away at thehotel reception, a man wearing a straw hat rose from the table and made his way quickly to the car park. The other man remained slumped in his chair on the dark veranda. Skorzeny started the Mercedes and drove swiftly away in the direction of the airport. In his pocket was the passport he had taken from the visitor, in the name of Lubelski.

By the time they discovered Lubelski, he would beclean-shaven and on a plane to... where next, he wondered?
Source: English Digest
GLOSSARY
dusk was falling: the time of day immediately following sunset was falling (caía el crepúsculo)polishing: making shine (lustrando)going on: (here) turning on (encendiéndose)harbour: small port (puerto)to set out: to leave (para partir)night's fishing: catching fish for a living at night (la pescanocturna)hardly anyone came to stay: very few people went to the hotel (casi nadie iba a alojarse)out of nowhere: from any remote or unknown place (de algún lugar desconcido)stayed on: went on as a guest (continuaba hospedándose)swam: past tense of "swim" (nadaba)only emerging at lunch: come out to have lunch only (saliendo sólo para almorzar)he would sit: used to sit (se sentaba)veranda: gallery (balcón...