The day after his drunken night on the town, Jonathan Yeager slept until almost noon. He was surprised he wasn't hung over. After all of the beer he had consumed the night before, it was what he deserved. His head pounded a little but he didn't feel nauseous.
He lay in bed for a minute to shake off his wakening daze. A deep breath triggered a spasm of smoker's cough that threatened to leave a lung on the pillow. A wad of phlegm landed on his tongue. He tasted it for blood, found none, then spit it into a tissue.
He got up from bed and stumbled to the bathroom. There he relieved himself, groaning in solitude. He turned on the shower and then looked at himself in the mirror.
He looked like death warmed over. What little hair he had was pointing in all directions; his eyes were blood-red splotches with a dab of green thrown in the middle. Sleep creases etched down across his forehead. The skin around his eyes was dark and puffy. He looked old.
He splashed water on his face hoping that would help, but it didn't. He stepped into the shower and waited for himself to come back to life.
Nuang awoke to loud harsh coughing. It took her a long moment to realize where she was – the farang’s condo. After a few minutes of struggle she remembered his name was Jon.
She dropped her legs over the side of the bed and sat up. Her bladder was stretched to the point of exploding. Since having her baby, her control had been shaky. She needed to use the toilet and right now.
As she stood, she heard someone make a loud fart. This struck her as funny. Her attempt to suppress a giggle made her need for the toilet more urgent.
She hurried to the door and peeked outside. No sigh of the man. She stepped into the hallway in search of the bathroom but stopped at the sound of the shower being turned on. The man was inside the room she needed most.
She eased her face around the doorframe and looked inside. The shower curtain was heavy but she could see the man’s outline moving inside. Suddenly her bladder convulsed. She rushed inside, pulled down her panties, and sat on the toilet. She hoped the man couldn't see out through the curtains any better than she could see in.
She was only half finished when the shower stopped. She tried to stem her flow, but couldn't. Without covering hiss of the shower, the flow of her urine seemed as loud as a waterfall. She glanced up at the shower curtain just in time to see it snap open.
A soaking-wet, naked farang stared out at her. The alarm on his face matched the horror on her own. She turned her head away from his nakedness, but not until she had seen his private parts. The seconds felt like hours as she finished relieving herself. Her face flushed beet red. With as much dignity as she could muster, she wiped herself, slipped her panties up, and walked out the bathroom. She went back to her room and shut the door behind her. At that moment, she thought she could die from embarrassment.
Jon turned off the shower and yanked open the curtain. A Thai woman sat on his toilet. Her eyes sweep the length of his body before she looked away. He stared back in shock. In a moment, the woman stood and left the room as if she hadn't seen him.
Jon pulled a towel from the rack. What the hell was a Thai woman doing in his condo using his toilet? And who was she, anyway? Her face was familiar but she wasn't anyone he knew. His mind searched for any hint of what he might have done last night while he was drunk. Small bits of memory sparked, but they were too vague to recognize.
By the time he finished shaving, he remembered meeting her at Toy's Bar. By the time he finished dressing, he remembered his drunken idea to have her teach him Thai. By the time he arrived at her bedroom door, he remembered inviting her to stay at his condo. But as hard as he tried, he couldn't remember her name or her coming home with him.
He knocked softly at her door. "The bathroom is yours if you want to shower. I will be watching TV. When you're finished, we need to talk."
He returned to the living room and turned on the Asian version of MTV. The volume was loud, but he didn't hear the music. He was too busy figuring how to get out of this situation. Then he wondered if he wanted out. He did want to learn Thai, and now that Julie had dumped him, who cared if his teacher lived with him or not.
Julie! The name dredged up the reason he had gotten so drunk the night before. Yesterday he had called her when he came home from work. It had been early Saturday evening his time, but seven o'clock in the morning American time. The groggy male voice that answered the phone caught him completely off guard. He almost hung up, but didn't. Instead he asked for Julie. He hung up when he heard her voice. She called back within minutes, and she was crying. He listened to her explanations, believing none. He tried to laugh and pretend that whatever was happening at her apartment in Dayton wasn't important, but he felt only anger and bitterness.
"Does he make you feel good?" he asked.
There was a short silence on the line.
"I'm lonely, Jon," she replied in a firm voice. “How he makes me feel physically means nothing. I just can't stand sitting home cooped up all the time. I think it would be best for both of us, if I stop pretending I can wait for you. You are a wonderful and kind person, but for now I think we should just be friends. You do understand, don't you?"
The odd thing was that he did understand. What did he have to offer her anyway? Certainly he couldn't offer a stiff throbbing cock like her stud muffin was giving her. She had a need he couldn't fulfill. He understood her completely, but it didn't make his pain any less.
"Yes, you're right," he said. "We were always better friends than lovers anyway."
He hung up the phone and left the condo before she had time to call again. He went straight to the nearest bar so he didn't know if she had called back or not. By the time he had arrived at Toy's Bar, he’d become numb to the fact that Julie had dumped him. She wasn't the first, only the latest.
The sound of a door closing caught his attention. He wondered if it was the front door or the bathroom door. In a moment the hiss of the shower answered his question. He figured she would be in there for a few minutes so he left the condo and went downstairs to buy a newspaper and a pot of tea. The shower was still running when he returned.
He tapped lightly on the door. "I have hot tea, if you want some." The shower continued unabated.
Jon sat at his kitchen table and read the Bangkok Post. He found it interesting to read about America and Europe as viewed by the Asian press. He couldn't help but feel it was a more accurate account than what he got from his hometown paper in America.
After a long while the shower stopped. He wondered if there was any hot water left in Pattaya. A minute later, the woman stepped out wearing the same clothes she had worn the night before. They stared at each other for a second before he spoke, "I don't remember your name."
"I am Nuang. Your name is Jon."
He laughed despite the pounding in his head. "As amazing as it may seem, I do remember my own name. But that's about all I remember. Do you know why I invited you here?"
Nuang fidgeted with the towel in her hands. Her face flushed slightly. "You want to have sex with me? You can, if you want. I am clean now."
This time Jon blushed. "Is that what I told you last night?"
She shook her head. "No. Last night you only said I could sleep in your condo, so that's what I did. I didn't touch your stuff, either."
As good as her English was her answer confused him.
"What stuff are you talking about?"
"I don't know. It's what you said. I don't know the English word stuff, but whatever it is, I left yours alone." She remembered seeing him naked in the shower earlier. She wondered if that was what the word meant. "Maybe I saw your stuff, but I didn't touch it."
"Stuff is slang for what belongs to me. Things like my clothes, my money, my passport, and my airplane ticket."
"Oh." Her face flushed even more. "Then I didn't see your stuff either. It was something else that I saw. I only thought maybe it was your stuff."
Jon wiped his hands across his face. They were talking in circles. He understood every word, but had no idea what she was saying. "What stuff did you see?"
"I didn't see any stuff." She lowered her eyes. "I only saw you in the shower. Now I know that wasn't your stuff."
Jon was suddenly flustered. He cleared his throat and changed the subject. "I'm hungry. I think we should get something to eat."
Nuang was happy they had stopped talking about his stuff. "If you have food, I can cook for you. I'm a very good cook."
"I have food in the refrigerator, but nothing I would trust eating. There's a restaurant nearby. They have American and Thai food. I think it’s safer if we eat there. We'll go shopping while we're out. Then you can cook dinner for both of us. It's been a long time since I've had a home cooked meal."
Nuang nodded and smiled. She wondered if this was why he had invited her to stay with him. Maybe he wanted his own Thai cook. He had certainly paid her enough for something. If he wanted a cook, she would make him the best Thai meal he had ever eaten.
They got plenty of long stares from the staff as they walked through the condo lobby. No one said anything, but their sly smiles made their thoughts clear. Jon broke into a sticky sweat. He had an urge to introduce her to everyone but he didn't. He could do that later.
After a leisurely lunch, they went shopping at Big C. First he bought her some clothes which he thought were more appropriate for his new employee. It dawned on him that this was the first time in his life he had ever taken a woman shopping for clothes. He was surprised. He could tell by the look on her face that his small generosity made her happy.
Next they went to the grocery section. Jon turned the cart over to her and told her to buy anything she wanted. Then he went to the book rack and busied himself finding something to read.
Forty minutes later she returned with the cart brim full of fruit, bread, milk, snacks, and a lot of Thai things he didn't recognize. He frowned at the cart.
Nuang shifted nervously from foot to foot. "Have I bought the wrong things?"
Jon stroked his chin thoughtfully. He wasn't concerned about what she bought but the quantity gave him pause. The idea of lugging kilos of food in the midday heat made him grimace. He looked up at her. Her anxiety was obvious. He was sure she would cry if he said anything. He let a small teasing smile pull at his lips. "You forgot to buy me beer." It was a lie. He’d seen bottles at the bottom of the cart.
Her return smile was priceless. "I bought you beer already." She moved a few items and extracted a bottle of Carlsberg. "See? I think of everything."
"You sure did," Jon laughed at her excitement. He was sure she hadn't thought about carrying everything back to the condo. He put his book in the cart. "Let's go then."
At the checkout counter, Nuang glanced nervously at Jon as the number of bags grew. She wished she had bought only one cantaloupe instead of two. Same thing for the pineapples and banana bunches.
Jon pocketed his change and grabbed plastic bag handles. Nuang did the same. She was careful to let Jon get the heavier ones. The cashier had to help pick up the last two bags.
Other customers watched their efforts in amusement. One man applauded as Nuang and Jon left the store.
The plastic straps cut sharp into the bends of their fingers. They stopped three times before they reached the mall exit. They could rest the bags on the ground but they couldn't let go, else they would never get them all picked up again.
At their last stop inside the mall, Jon told Nuang they would take a baht-bus back to the condo. One was always parked outside.
But this time it wasn't there. Jon took a deep breath, "We'll catch one on the street."
He knew that wasn't a sure thing at this time of the day, at least not one with enough room for all their bags. He started toward the condo and Nuang followed close behind.
Every baht-bus that passed them was filled with passengers. The drivers didn't slow down or even look in their direction. The sun was merciless. Sweat trickled through his hair and down his back. Stinging drops slid into his eyes and made him blink.
"My fingers hurt too much, Khun Jon," Nuang whined behind him.
"So do mine. Let's stop and rest for a minute."
Nuang didn't need any encouragement. Immediately, she plopped her bags to the sidewalk. The relief was instant. She wiggled her fingers to make sure they still worked. They tingled with an odd mixture of pain and delight.
Jon sat his load on the ground. The biting pain in his fingers eased but his sweating didn't. He looked back at Nuang. She was sweating, too. He smiled to himself. He knew it was hot when a Thai sweats. After a minute he was ready to continue. "Are you ready?" he asked Nuang.
Clearly she wasn't but she nodded yes anyway. She stood and started forward.
As Jon lifted his bags, one split at the seams and the beers clanked to the sidewalk. Two bottles broke.
"Shit fucking bags!" he shouted. He looked at Nuang and lowered his voice. "Okay, never mind. I’ll buy more later."
He turned and walked away. He had gone several meters before he realized Nuang wasn't behind him. He looked back to see her struggling to slip unbroken bottles into her own bags. He was impressed at her selfless act of ingenuity. She stood and continued forward with her extra load. He waited for her to catch up.
"Thank you," he said, meaning it.
"Mai pen rai, ka," she smiled. "Let's hurry. It's too hot in Thailand today."
She set off at a fast walk and he followed close behind.
They dropped their bags just inside the door. Jon rushed to the bathroom and washed the sweat from his face and eyes.
Nuang grabbed a tissue and dabbed daintily at her face. Her make-up was probably ruined already. She sat at the kitchen table and looked at the mounds of food strewn across on the floor. Then she looked at the refrigerator. She wondered if it would all fit inside.
Jon returned from the bathroom. "I think we have too much stuff," he said.
"You can never have too much stuff, Jon, even if it's more than you can carry."
Somehow he found her logic indisputable. Together, they found a place for everything Nuang had bought.
Afterwards, Jon took a shower. When he finished, Nuang did the same. By the time she stepped from the bathroom, Jon was asleep. As quietly as possible, Nuang began preparing dinner. She took her time. She would let Jon sleep before waking him to eat.
Without any disturbances, Nuang was able to think. She pondered her situation. Less than two days in Pattaya and already she was living with a farang. An image of Surat flashed before her eyes. It was followed by a sharp pang of guilt.
She wasn't really living with the farang, she reasoned with herself. She had only slept one night in his extra room. Besides, she and Surat were finished now so what difference did it make. She hadn't planned to move in with a man when she left the temple. It had just happened. She had done nothing wrong. He had already said he didn't want sex, but maybe he was joking. Or maybe not. She didn't know. She had no idea what he wanted from her. If it was a cook, he had one now.