Angels in Heaven

Sacramento phone number, and
Benny’s read “B. Keith,” followed by likewise. The Sacramento phone numbers
belonged to an acquaintance of Benjamin’s who for a small monthly sum said
whatever Benny had instructed him to say to whoever called, so beware of
seeking references for anyone over the phone is my advice. The call to Sac I’d
placed before (you may recall) was precisely to said friend of Benny’s, to
cover our backs if need be.
    Benny mentioned we would drop off a
handful of business cards to him as soon as we had a local phone number,
possibly in a day or two. Then the agent presented himself, don Rafael Moreno,
at our services. He presented a business card of his own, which declared he was
an agent for the leasing of all types of commercial properties; I hoped his
card contained a higher percentage of veracity than ours did. Don Rafael
wondered in what way he could assist us.
    Did he perchance speak English?
    Alas, no, he was desolate.
    Had he perchance any vacant office
space in his imposing building?
    By a stroke of good fortune he did
have two fine sites surprisingly still unlet.
    Did either of them happen to be
furnished?
    Alas, he was desolate.
    Did there happen to be a furnished
office in the building whose tenants were away and might consider subletting to
us for a short time?
    Alas, he was desolate again.
    (For purposes of keeping the
narrative flow flowing, so to speak, I have dispensed with the laborious task
of telling it like it really happened, e.g., Benny to Don Rafael: “Do you
perchance speak English?” Benny to me: “I’m asking if he speaks English.” Don
Rafael to Benny: “Alas, no, I am desolate.” Benny to me: “No, he’s desolate.”
Benny to Don Rafael: “Do you perchance have any furnished office space in your
imposing building?” Benny to me: “I’m seeing if he’s got any vacancies.” Don
Rafael to Benny: “Alas, I am desolate.” Benny to me: “He’s still desolate.” In
other words, all translations have been omitted and will continue to be so. The
flowery style is but my feeble attempt to convey the inherent politeness of the
Spanish language.)
    Was one of those vacancies by any
stroke of fortune on the fourth floor, as we desired to have as fine a view as
possible of his beautiful city?
    One was, as it happened, but perhaps
those premises might be too small for a prestigious company like ours. He did
have a recently vacated, newly decorated ground-floor front that he could
highly recommend.
    Benny demurred, saying that
unfortunately we were but a modest concern setting up a Mérida branch as a
trial, really, and we would have to see whether further expansion could be
justified by our volume of business, which of course would depend on many
complex factors—the strength of the dollar vs. the peso, the continuing
availability of local products at a competitive price, and so on. That Benny—he
was so smooth when he got going that even I found myself believing him half the
time, and I don’t believe the speaking clock half the time.
    Might he, Don Rafael, inquire which
of the local products we were particularly interested in, as he had many
connections in the Yucatán business world and indeed his mother’s brother owned
a small but flourishing jewelry concern that specialized in inlaid coral and
tortoise shell?
    “Principally the famous handwoven
hammocks of Mérida,” said the hammock king of San Diego.
    “Ah, what a happy coincidence!”
exclaimed Don Rafael. “It was only yesterday that I was speaking with my
neighbor’s sister about that very subject....”
    And so on. You get the picture. And
after a trip to the top floor, we got the office. It was ideal for our
requirements, having a small room for a receptionist and a second, larger
office connected to it. There was an extra door in the larger office that I
thought at first might lead to a tiny kitchenette or bathroom, but on
examination it led to a set of fire stairs, at the top of which was a small
broom cupboard.
    Both rooms had been recently
repainted, recarpeted, and redraped. I gave Benny the nod, and he got down to
details with Don Rafael, like how much down? (a lot); would he require written
references? (usually, to be sure, but in our case, as we were obviously
upstanding citizens etc.); could the space be rented monthly to begin with?
(yes, with a three-month minimum); could we move in immediately? (sí, on
receipt of the down payment); were there working phone outlets? (sí,