Vietnam
“Here she comes, Ben,” Red said. “He who hesitates …”
He whispered, “It’s like she’s not even real.”
“You’re hopeless. Find out if she’ll see you away from here.”
“Not a chance. She wouldn’t look twice at me.”
“Guess you’ll never know,” Red said.
“She is fascinating,” Ben said. “I’ll give her that.”
“That’s why you can’t take your eyes off her? Because she’s fascinating?”
Ben waited until Charm’s two-year mourning period was over and ventured into town alone for the first time. At the restaurant he asked for a single table in her section and was surprised when she approached with a menu and an iced beer. “My hero,” she said. “Where are your friends?”
“I came to see only you,” he said, stunned at her tight-fitting turquoise silk tunic and white trousers. “That is beautiful!”
“Thank you. It’s traditional. We call it an áo dài, and even men can wear it for special occasions. It would look good on you for New Year’s.”
He laughed. “That will never happen!”
“I’m glad,” she said. “Now, do you trust me?”
“I’ll bite.”
“You bite?”
“Sorry, it’s an idiom. It means I’m listening.”
“Father taught me English but not idiom. Or humor. I don’t get American humor.”
“Anyway, let’s say I trust you. Then what?”
“I order for you,” she said.
“I definitely trust you for that,” he said, handing her the menu.
In a few minutes she delivered steamed long-grain rice smothered in a seafood and vegetable stir-fry. Ben breathed in the aroma. “If it tastes as good as it looks and smells …”
“You don’t like it, you don’t pay.”
“And if I do like it, you let me walk you home when you’re off work.”
“That’s my reward for good ordering?”
“It’s my reward,” Ben said.
“Can I trust you?” she said.
“With what?”
“With me.”
“Of course,” Ben said. “I don’t like the idea of your walking home in the dark. I’m not asking to come in. I’ll walk you to your door and disappear. Promise.”
“It’s a long walk.”
“Even better. More time with you.”
She smiled. “But I don’t even know you.”
“I protected you before I even met you.”
“From a child!”
“Oh, that hurt,” Ben said. “When I tell people about it, I say he was a giant. And ugly. And armed.”
Charm laughed. “Okay, you walk me home and protect me from all the giant Vietnamese boys.”