Chapter 10

Morning came early. I left my empty bed, cleaned up and dressed. I called to have my bags picked up and grabbed a fairly substantial breakfast at one of the hotel restaurants. After eating I went to the front desk, checked out, had a nice conversation with the hotel manager about the quality of my stay, and threw a few compliments in Rom's direction. Hotel managers just eat it up when you compliment one of their staff.

[Gandalf, you need to close out the Rom wager. I lost.]

{Maybe you lost by not getting her into your bed, but we will do well in the long run with this wager, as it has driven many of our bettors to consider different types of wagers.}

I had the bellmen grab my bags and find me a cab, who was a little disappointed that this was not an airport trip. Instead we headed to my condo. I was just getting my bags out of the back of the cab when the girls showed up in a tuk-tuk. They had Suchin's bags with them, and I was delighted to see that it was bags plural, not just the one lonely bag she had yesterday. I could only assume that the shopping trip was successful.

The girls were all dressed in jeans and T-shirts and looked ready to work. We began by dragging all of the baggage up to the unit and then walked around while waiting for the deliveries to begin. I made it crystal clear that for the move-in Rom was in charge and that the rest of us were simply day labor. Anong and Suchin agreed, so there was going to be no real strife. I suggested that Anong and Suchin might want to go find a market and pick up snacks and drinks for us to use during the day. I gave some money to Suchin as I wanted her to know that I trusted her and that I would be giving her household money. My only request was to bring back a receipt. I didn't need a receipt, but I felt it was a good practice to get her into. I winked at Anong and I was pretty sure she understood. I also expected that she was carrying a check for me for the leftover balance of the escrow account.

Once they left, I asked Rom about her thoughts on Suchin and she told me that she immediately figured I had run into some who was just off the bus from the rural areas, and she was glad to see that I was getting her out of the bars. She said that Suchin told her the complete story, and that she had pretty well guessed what was going on. She told me that she expected Suchin to be a very loyal employee, and cautioned me not to try to take her to bed as it would destroy the trust.

I told Rom that I understood that I needed to keep my relationship with Suchin straightforward, and I thanked her for taking her shopping and helping her ease into the role of housekeeper. She also told me that the mama san at King's Castle was exceptionally nice, and paid Suchin the full amount that was due her and didn't play any games. She told me that she thought the mama san was actually glad that she was going to get out of the business before she really even got into it.

About that time Anong and Suchin came back lugging arms full of plastic grocery bags. We definitely had enough snacks to last the day and to start stocking the pantry. Since the refrigerator came with the unit, we got the drinks to cooling. We also filled the ice trays, figuring having ice cubes might come in handy.

Rom then walked us through the house, referring to her notes, telling us which items of furniture would go where. She had just finished when the first deliveries came – our hard fought carpets. Rom and I were delighted that they had been the first things to arrive. We checked the shipment very carefully to make sure the merchant had not tried to switch items, but we found my initials on each carpet. That was a major relief as I did not want to have to battle that merchant again. Suchin asked if I had a vacuum, and Anong explained that it would be coming with one of the deliveries.

We had most of the carpets in position when the other deliveries began, and they continued almost nonstop throughout the morning. Furniture was positioned, the rest of the carpets were laid, the vacuum was located and immediately put to use. Rom allowed me to make most of the decisions as to appliance placement in the kitchen, since she would not be here using it.

Around noon I called a stop to our activities, verified with Rom that all of the deliveries had been made, and suggested we shut down for an hour to eat. That suggestion was met with general agreement, since the drinks and snacks we consumed had done little more than keep our batteries from running down. We took about five minutes to clean up and then headed to one of the restaurants that was nearby, and did our best imitations of the new vacuum cleaner as we ate and drank everything that was put in front of us. While we ate I had Gandalf confirm that everything we ordered had been delivered and that he was comfortable that we got what we paid for. He was good with what had transpired.

We trouped back to the condo and spent the rest of the afternoon getting things squared away. I hooked up the washer/dryer and we washed all of the sheets and towels. Suchin put shelf liner paper in all of the kitchen cabinets and pantry, and she washed all of the dishes, glasses and flatware before putting them away for the first time. The kitchen appliances were also given thorough cleanings, as were the pots and pans we had bought. The television and music systems were set up and connected, and I confirmed that the satellite TV system was working.

As the day wound down, wall hangings were put up, shelf paper was used in bureaus and draws in the bedrooms, my luggage was unpacked and my personal belongings were put away.

We finally finished up, although Suchin explained that she still had a ton of work to do during the next few days. She wanted to polish all of the furniture, stock the kitchen with basic food items, and part of that was learning the foods that I liked and wanted. She seemed relieved when I told her that she should cook the foods that she liked, and that I was sure I would like them.

I told the girls to clean up that I was taking them all to dinner. Suchin tried to beg off, claiming work and then claiming that she was only the maid, but Anong and Rom both helped me with that battle, and about thirty minutes later were headed off to dinner at the Grand Hyatt Erawan where there is a restaurant called Tables that was designed by none other than Tony Chi. Rom was familiar with his work, and we quickly explained that this restaurant specialized in the art of tableside cooking that incorporates showmanship, entertainment and great European food.

We had a magnificent time, the restaurant was everything that I had heard, and the chefs had a better routine than the ones at the Benihana chain in the US. Our table was a party, with lots of wine, great food, and super entertainment. Once the chef realized that he did not have to speak both Thai and English, his routine became more relaxed and spontaneous. He did a number of tricks with the food preparation that he usually did not do for Farangs because they were too difficult to explain in English and because there were elements of inside jokes that only Thais would understand and appreciate. We all laughed so hard that we cried. It was a great evening.

I'm not sure how the conversation came about, but it moved to the subject of dating Farangs. Suchin offered that she had tried, but had discovered that she was uncomfortable with the idea, and then leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek to show that it wasn't personal. Rom explained that she does not date Farangs, and would never date a hotel guest. She turned to me and reiterated that this has all been business, very enjoyable business, but still business.

Anong explained that this was not something that came up. She was generally opposed to dating clients because it had a very high potential of messing up a deal, and she worried about her professional reputation. Then, as women and wont to do, they began talking about me as if I weren't there. It started innocently enough when Anong asked Rom if I was a Farang or a Thai. The all agreed that I had the body of a Farang, and definitely had a Farang nose, but my heart, now that was a different matter. They finally came to the conclusion that I was a Farang on the outside, but mostly a Thai on the inside. I did have Farang magic which was usually a bad thing, but sometimes was good.

I decided that it was time to change the subject so I began talking about money and ambitions. I asked Anong if she had my proceeds check, which she promptly dug out of her purse and handed to me. I thanked her and then shocked her by asking if she wanted to be my local business manager. She could keep her job as a real estate agent, but I wanted to employ her to manage my household account, pay all the bills associated with the condo, including making sure that Suchin got paid even when I was travelling.