Blinking as if just waking up, Joe confusedly looked around the bar.
Marina calmly took the glass and tasted the beverage. Her eyebrows moved up for a bit, and she glanced at Joe, but he gave away nothing, so she continued drinking.
«Tell me more about Saint Petersburg,» he asked her, remembering she liked to talk about it. He guessed correctly. A smile lit up her sullen face, and her eyes became brighter.
«It’s an amazing city.» She took her cue and hit a ball, and she laughed. «Imagine a small dark court surrounded by old gloomy buildings; you feel yourself like on the bottom of a well. You go through a gate, and wow! A beautiful spacious street opens so wide that your breathing stops for a second. Placed in a line, these aged houses seem like courtiers greeting a king. You go along the street, and there is an enormous square and a huge basilica strikes you with its size and magnificence! You keep walking, and a strong cold wind beats your face, and pushes into your chest, but you keep going, struggling through it. You fight the Power of Nature, and you’re enjoying this! You reach the river, squeezed by granite quays. Numerous museums and palaces alternated with plants and manufacturers go along the banks making you confused with their variety!»
Marina noticed that she had finished her drink. She strode to the counter, and called out, «Barman!»
Her emotional voice sounded like a ringing bell, and Joe grinned, noticing other males in the bar stare at his date with eagerness. However, everybody here knew him, and nobody dared challenge his right to this wonderful female.
«You see what a woman I have by my side?» he thought with pride. «You want her, don’t you? But she’s with me.»
Martin gave her another glass, and glanced at Joe as if saying: «Didn’t I tell you? She can drink like a fish!»
She paid for her beverage this time, and watching her thin sensual fingers move, Joe dreamed of how she would caress him making love.
Marina went back to the pool table, hit a ball with a very skillful strike, and Joe saw her refined nostrils dilating with the thrill. Putting her cue down, Marina gazed at Joe, and her grayish blue captivating eyes glistening with excitement seemed to him like magic swirling eddies into a fairy forest.
His look slid down along her neck onto her chest. Her black silk blouse was buttoned very low, and, seeing the tender shivering skin of her delicate breasts, Joe felt like he was going insane. He had difficulty understanding that was she continuing the story about her native city.