One Night In Bangkok Ch. 1

One Night In Bangkok

Chapter 1

"One night in Bangkok makes the hard man humble....not much between despair and ecstasy...."

"Are they playing that song again?" Amber blew a stray brown hair out of her blue eyes, "You'd think they would get tired of it already..."

With an easy grin and a pixie face, Amber was usually very cool, calm and collected - the sort of woman any man in his right mind would look twice, or three times at. Today, however, she was out of sorts. Who's idea was it anyway to go haring off to the Orient in the middle of the night?

"You'll enjoy it!" Mary had said the previous evening, "We'll have an adventure."

Upon reflection, Amber decided she definitly was not enjoying herself in hot, sticky, humid, smelly, foreign Bangkok.

As Amber struggled to drag her suitcase over the uneven pavement, Mary ran ahead to try to hail a cab. The wheel had gotten stuck in one of the many cracks in the sidewalk, and as she gave it one final heave, the case suddenly came loose, overbalancing Amber and sending her lurching forward, directly into the mid-section of somebody walking in the other direction. They both went down in a tangle of arms and legs. Giving the recalcitrant suitcase a look that would have withered any landscaping that may have been behind it, Amber turned to apologise to the unsuspecting stranger she had unceremoniously knocked on his rear.

"Sir, I'm very sorry ..." her voice trailed off as she looked into the most amazing cinnamon brown eyes she had ever seen. Add to that a spectacular tan, wavy brown hair combed back with just one errant curl dangling over his forehead, even white teeth and dimples ... Amber was beginning to reconsider how much fun might be had in Bangkok. As she continued to stutter, her eyes drifted over broad shoulders, a well muscled chest, flat stomach ... With a blush, she jerked her eyes back to his face. Taking a deep breath, she determined to take control of herself.

"Sir, I'm very sorry," she began again, "I was trying to roll my suitcase and it got stuck. I apologise for bumping into you. Are you injured?"

"Nah, I'm fine. Hard head, ya know. Mighta put another crack in the pavement tho." He smiled, showing the dimples to even better advantage, and Amber felt something inside quiver.

"I'm Malcolm Turner, nice to meetcha. M'friends call me Mal ..." He extended his hand with an inquiring look.

"Oh! I forgot. I'm Amber, Amber Mackenzie." She shook his hand. He had a firm but gentle grip.

"Well, Amber, welcome to Bangkok!" With that he stood, and taking her hand, helped her to her feet as well.

Before she could stop him, he had taken her case by the handle, and easily lifting it, he took her by the hand and led her toward the curb, and Mary.

"Your friend do'en't seem to be havin' much luck gettin' that cab." She couldn't place the accent, but then, she really wasn't thinking about that right now. They reached the curb in short order. Mary turned to Amber, and seeing her hand in hand with the handsome stranger, she silently lifted an eyebrow.

"Mary Connor, this is Malcolm Turner. I ran into him trying haul that infernal suitcase over this horrid pavement." Mary extended her hand, which he took as he laughed.

"Well, Mary, it's nice t'meetcha. Call me Mal, everyone does. Got a cab yet?" At the silent shake of her head, he continued, "I've a buggy over'ere, if you won't mind bein' a mite bit cramped, I'd not mind droppin' you off at your destination."

"We couldn't possibly impose on you! Thank you for your kind ..." Mary started to say, before he broke in.

"Oh, it's no trouble at all. Was on me way north, your 'otel in'at direction?" he asked.

"Well, yes," replied Amber, "it's the Hotel Bangkok, but really, you've been much too nice for us to impose any more on your kind nature."

"No troubla t'all! I'm on me way past it anyway, wouldn't mind havin' the company." He smiled again at Amber, and under the pressure of those extraordinary dimples, she couldn't think of any rational reason why not to take him up on his offer.

"If you're sure it isn't too much trouble..." she trailed off, looking at Mary, who was looking back at her with a slightly amused look. She knows me too well, Amber thought.

"It's settled then, off we go!" and taking her suitcase in one hand and Mary's in the other, he set off thru the crowd heading toward a small dirt lot beside the terminal of the jitney that had brought them from the dusty airport to this unsavory section of downtown Bangkok.

~~~~~~ R&R request: please indicate if you think worth continuing. Have I interested you in these characters?