“I'm sorry, did I cut in front of you?”
“No, no. It’s ok... Don't worry about it. I'm still waiting to be served. You can order first so that you don’t keep your companion waiting.”
“My companion? I am alone. I came with a friend, but she had to leave... wait! It was a strategy to find out just that, right?”
“Well, you got me,” I recognized smiling. “Although I find it hard to believe that such a beautiful woman doesn’t have company.”
My comment seemed to amuse her, and she began to laugh with a singing laugh that instantly enchanted me. We remained quiet and looked at each other for a few minutes.
“I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself,” I said, reacting. “My name is David; I am one of the Spanish expats honoured at this party.”
“Spanish? From your English I thought you were American...” she said with a grimace.
“That's because my mother is American. From Boerne, a small town of ten thousand inhabitants in Texas, near San Antonio. A hiking paradise full of beautiful routes, though not as much as you, that I have never seen in my life. And what's your name? I think you forgot to tell me, or is it a secret?”
“No, no, it's not any secret. My name is Sumalee, Sumalee Sintawichai. In Thai, my name means beautiful flower.”
“Beautiful flower? I'll keep to myself the compliment, but it's obviously a perfect name for you. They say Thailand is the country of smiles. If everyone has it as pretty as yours, it must be paradise.”
“It's hard not to smile at a guy like you,” she replied.
I swear that her smile was worth a war. She was gorgeous. It was clear that this woman had caught my attention.
“Did you say Simalee Sintawachi?” I screamed trying to overcome the sound around us. “I will try to remember it.”
“No, Sumalee Sintawichai,” she repeated in my ear so that she wouldn’t have to scream, which gave me goosebumps. “Although I think Sumalee will do. I don't want your head to explode on the first day.”
First day? Did she want us to see each other again? Because I did, that was clear. As many times as I could. Such a pretty girl I would always want her by my side. I didn't say anything about her comment and offered her to join us. She accepted delighted on the condition that would not leave her alone at any time. There was no harm for me to agree to her terms, and once I ordered Jerome and Tere's drinks, and I offered her one, we headed toward the group. I introduced her to all my companions, and I was amazed at how comfortable she was among so many strangers. When it was Damaso’s turn, who was already under the spell of the alcohol, he started throwing compliments screaming and I had to stop him.
“Down boy! And you want to keep your hands off if you wanna keep them. Save your charms for another woman. Sumalee's with me tonight. We have a deal. Right?”
“Sure thing. Just for you,” she said, as she winked at me and grabbed my arm. “We agreed not to separate for a moment today.”
Damaso, Jerome, Josele and Diego looked at me amazed. They didn't know whether to think I'd been hit by the lottery or if there was a trap behind so much luck. I did not care; I just wanted the night to last forever. I was feeling euphoric. I had just arrived, and I had already linked. It was clear that my seven years with Cristina had not made me lose my legendary skill with women.
We spent the entire party talking non-stop. We felt very comfortable with each other, as if we knew each other all our lives. She told me that she worked for a travel agency organizing mostly trips to Thailand, her country, or from there to Singapore. She had to leave because her mother was sick, and she needed to make more money to pay for the treatment. In Thailand she had a good job, but salaries were very low, so she came to Singapore as advised by a friend. With what she saved, she could send enough money home for her mother's medication. She was from an area called Chiang Rai, in the north of the country, almost bordering Myanmar and Laos. Her family was poor, and she had to work hard to get a scholarship and study Marketing at Thammasat University. When she finished school, she got a good job with a big company, but the salaries were very low compared with what she needed and that pushed her to Singapore, where, fortunately for me, she was now.
We had many things in common. We both loved sport, travelling, reading, trying new things, adventure, everything related to space... As if we were soul mates. I couldn't believe my luck. The night seemed to be a success.
I don't know at which point in the night we got there, but next thing I knew we were talking with her right hand over mine and caressed by my left hand. Her skin was very soft and I noticed a tightness in my chest that made it difficult to breathe. Also, because the music was very loud and there were a lot of people screaming, we had to talk to each other's ear, which made the situation even more exciting when she said something to me and her breath was stroking my face. We seemed like two lovers confiding into one another. It was hard not to turn and kiss and caress her, unleashing the burning that I noticed all over my body, but I didn't know the customs of the place and didn't want to ruin the night.
We talked about my family, about what had brought me to Singapore... She asked me endless things of all kinds. How long I was going to be in Singapore, whether I liked to travel... She was very interested when I told her the whole story with my ex-girlfriend. She said she thought it was unbelievable that a girl could leave me for another. I was liking Sumalee more and more. She had definitely climbed positions to the top of my favourite people in Singapore.
We had such complicity and confidence that we seemed to have been together all our life. As she spoke to me, I could smell her hair, which had a very defined fragrance that she later told me was jasmine, and I noticed a strange feeling that I hadn't felt in a long time.
It felt as if I was falling in love, but I'm sure it wasn't that, but rather the sexual attraction of the first date. It seemed madness. I had just met her. She had a tragic story, but, although she seemed made to be my soul mate, it could have not been so easy.
Did it make any sense?
Singapore 6
The next morning, I had plans with Sumalee to spend the day together. She offered to show me the city and be my private guide, which I thought was a fantastic proposition. She was a travel professional and much prettier than Josele or Damaso. Besides, they had plans to play golf with the photographer and for me it was a sport that didn’t attract me much.
Despite the fact that the party went on until late, we planned to meet early at the door of Leong Nam Temple in the Geyland neighbourhood because she told me she wanted to show me something that looked better early. We exchanged numbers in case anything came up and the first thing I did as soon as I woke up was to look at my phone fearing that she might have cancelled the date; but there were no messages from her. When I arrived, she was already there, waiting. She was wearing a pair of blue shorts that didn't even reach halfway on her thigh, a turquoise strap top and a very thin sweater, also a shade of blue. She was beautiful, she was beautiful, and she knew how to highlight it. When she saw me at a distance her face drew an incredible smile, and she came running toward me. She hugged me and kisses me on the cheek.
“Hi, David! I couldn’t wait to see you.”
She pronounced the 'a' of my name with a delicious mix of 'a' and 'i'. Something like Daivid, which sounded like heavenly music.
“Hello. Me too. I couldn’t think of anything else since we said goodbye last night.”
“You are so silly! It’s not that big of a deal.”
“It is, believe me, it is. What are you going to show me today? You have me on fire!”
“This is Geylang. It is among the least developed in Singapore and maintains the traditional cuisine