Bangkok, Thailand. Miscellaneous flight information. Noticing a paperclip, Matt turned the ticket to see if there was anything else. Attached was a return ticket and a note scrawled with a local Thai address below the name of an hotel. Worth checking out. At least they’d be guaranteed to have a free room, he reasoned.
Matt pocketed the two tickets. With an hour before he had to be at the boarding gate, he bought a few travel essentials and withdrew several hundred Baht to cover any surprise expenses.
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Only two items remained after he had paid the taxi driver: 1) Check-in; 2) Collapse on the bed. Wrestling with the chauffeur's poor grasp of English, and vice-versa, after nearly day of non-stop flying and waiting, left little energy for anything else. The mysterious hotel was out of the way, on a side-street in a warren of old mixed residential buildings and stores. They had passed a high street catered to tourists which should be within walking distance. Matt stifled a yawn and batted away an insect with his already raised hand.
Tomorrow, plenty of opportunity to explore then.
“Hmm, you sounded older on phone. Expected you sooner, stood here for an hour after I usually close.” Matt was barraged by an old Thai lady standing behind the counter as soon as he had entered. Looked like normal, albeit large, home except with its entrance hall converted into a hotel lobby. It took Matt a several seconds to realize she must have mistaken him for the sunglasses-wearing man. His protest and correction stuck in his throat however when she pushed out a key. “Sukhon will show you room. All ready and cleaned.”
A flush crept into Matt’s cheeks when a young South-East Asian woman appeared. Her back-length black hair swept around the corner, the attention of her amber brown eyes initially on the empty space behind him. Only when her searching gaze met his did she notice Matt was looking intently at her. Without breaking eye-contact, Sukhon features shaded pink and a soft smile grew at her mouth’s edges.
Sukhon’s yaai, one of the Thai words Matt picked up during the endless flight meaning grandmother, cut the introduction short. Tossing the key toward them.
Another chance to clear out his mistaken identity, but Matt fell on the side of the sloth. The little devil on his shoulder assured him he could sort everything out later. Besides, aside from whatever was stirring in his pants the rest of Matt was ready for a full night’s sleep. “Sorry, long day.”
Matt reached out to catch the key as Sukhon did the same. Sidestepping, she narrowly avoided crashing into their guest. But they stood close to each other. Close enough that Matt could smell her perfume. Knowing he didn’t smell like roses after a day traveling quickly made it uncomfortable. Matt deliberately avoided seeking out her reaction as he retreated.
“Yah, yah. Just go and enjoy stay.”
Sukhon lead Matt up two flights of stairs and indicated the second last one as his. Both the second and third floor opened into a hallway with four doors. Except for one, a shared bathroom on the second floor, they were all rooms for rent.
Matt would’ve been satisfied with a mattress on the floor, but somehow the old grandma had managed to find enough space for a twin-sized bed and a TV. Throwing what few belongings he had on the covers, Matt hunkered down beside the DVD player, feeling an odd nostalgia for his childhood. Immediately regretting it, he shunted the first DVD case back into place after catching a glimpse of the cover image. It was porn.
Behind him, Matt heard the bedding creak as Sukhon seated herself.