Cockatoo

Cockatoo

I live for feedback nikkie.silk@outlook.com

Part 2

Everyone had said that Alex was good looking back at Uni and many of the girls had even said he looked quite pretty. As she held her hair back I could see that it was Alex's face looking back at me.

Oh my God,' I couldn't think of anything more original to say, It is you.'She smiled and stood up, took my hand and pulled me to my feet.

`Come on James, give me a hug.'

She pulled me into a hug and instinctively I hugged her back. She was about my height but I think she was wearing heels as I remembered Alex being shorter than me.

`That's better,' she released the hug but held onto my arms as she stood back and looked me up and down. 'Damn, it's good to see you, James. You're looking really well. I have a million questions to ask you. Come on let's have a drink and you can tell me what you've been up to.'

`You've got questions? Don't you think I've got few?' I was beginning to get my senses back now.

`Oh, Ok, but first of all let me introduce you to Areeya, she's my business partner and soul mate. I turned round and the Thai girl who had brought me through from the bar was still standing there.

`Areeya, meet James, James, meet Areeya.' Alex's eyes sparkled as she made the introductions.

Areeya made a wai to me and remembering my Thai manners I did so in return.

`It's delightful to meet you, James. Any friend of Alex is very welcome here.' she spoke softly and with a very good English accent.

`I'm really pleased to meet you too, Areeya.' I replied. Her hair was swept back in Thai fashion and this emphasised the beauty of her face. She really was stunningly pretty

`Alex, if you don't mind I have a few things to attend to before we get busy tonight, so can I leave you and James to catch up and I'll join you later if I may?'

`Of course, Areeya. Let me know if there's anything you need me to do.' She turned and walked out the door.

Alex saw me looking,' Yep. She's gorgeous isn't she? Went to the American University in Bangkok graduated with an MBA. She's bright as well as beautiful. But let me tell you all over dinner. I promise I will answer your questions but what brings you to Samui? How long have you been over here? This was the Alex I remembered, a million questions a minute.Alex led me through a second door into a small room beautifully decorated in Thai style.

`You like Thai food?' she asked.

I nodded, `I love it since I've been here'

I could smell the unmistakeable aroma of Thai cooking. `That smells good' I said. The aroma of garlic, onion, fish sauce and lemon grass is a wonder to behold.

`We have a restaurant at the back facing the sea and the kitchen is just out the side here. This is our private lounge. Let's get you a drink.

Alex must have signalled somehow because the door opened and a small pretty Thai girl entered and Alex asked me what I wanted.

`I think I need a stiff Scotch.' Alex laughed.

`Is Laphraoig OK? I assume you didn't mean Thai whisky.'

`Manee, that will be a large Laphraoig for our guest and a fruit juice for me please.'

I tried not to stare but I couldn't drag my eyes from Alex. Her blonde hair hung down onto and over her shoulders and framed her face beautifully. Her skin was flawless, slightly tanned and her eyes just shone in the shaded light in the room. Her long nails were painted a shade of pink to match her lipstick. She was wearing a beautiful red print silk dress with a vee neck plunging almost to her navel. I still could not fully believe it; the woman in front of me was gorgeous. As I studied her I could begin to see little bits of the old Alex showing through, like the way she held her head slightly to one side and looked sideways at you.

She smiled and asked, `Well, what do you think?'

`Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare.'

`Hey, don't worry; I would too in your place. But, honestly, how do I look?'

I took a second and said, `Well, firstly, I am still in complete shock but would you be upset if I said you look beautiful?'

She giggled, `James, no, I never mind anyone telling me that, even if they are in shock.'

Why didn't you tell me, Alex? On the phone? You gave me the shock of my life.'

She smiled, `Honestly, I'm sorry for the surprise but look, would you have ever come if I had told you that your old Uni mate was now living as a woman?'

`No, I guess not, to be honest. I still can't quite believe it. What happened? I knew you came to Thailand on a gap year but then you dropped out of sight.'

The drinks arrived and we paused while they were served. There were two couches in the room and a low table. Alex invited me to sit down on one and she sat on the other crossing her legs and giving me a lovely glimpse of thigh.

`Kap kun ka, Manee, Thank you,' Alex said to the girl.

`Ok, James, I'll tell you my tale quickly, and then I'll answer your questions. Is that OK?'

I nodded. She sipped her juice and went on, `It's pretty simple, really. I had always wanted to explore Thailand and I did the whole place, backpacking all the way. Thailand is really several different countries rolled into one. The North is very different from the South and Bangkok, is well, Bangkok. I loved it all and soon I could speak enough Thai to get by.'

She paused and took a sip of her juice.

`After about six months I pitched up in Bangkok and did the usual tourist red light stuff. Frankly, it was pretty awful until one night in Nana Plaza I dropped into one of the bars there and met some of the kathoeys there. You know what I mean, kathoey?'

`Yes, I know what you mean.'

Well, to cut a long story short, whatever it was I became attracted to them.' She paused and frowned slightly, Not in the usual way but I became fascinated by the transformation they underwent and how they managed to change from boys to girls, or something in between. I got to know a few of them and as I didn't want them for sex and once they realised I wasn't a threat, they tolerated me as a hanger on, I guess. Anyway, one night a couple of the girls, sensing something in me that I probably didn't realise myself, said that I could be really pretty if I wanted to be. Looking back I may have been a bit high that night. She paused and asked `Are you sure, you want the full story?'

I nodded; I was now hooked into this unfolding story. I wanted to hear this right through to the end.

Ok, here's where it gets a bit freaky.' Alex took a sip of the juice and ploughed on, As I said, I may have been high that night and I said yes. I guess the girls that night were bored or maybe they were just keen to tease a farang. Anyway, they stripped me, bathed and shaved me. My hair was pretty long by this time so they sat me down, styled my hair and made my face up. They wouldn't let me see what they were doing so I just had to sit there while they did it. The girls at Uni sometimes called me a pretty boy if you remember.'

`I remember,' I said softly.

We paused as Manee returned to the room with fresh drinks.

Alex at this point seemed to be off in a different world and her eyes looked to be focused on something far, far away.

After they had finished playing with me as their little doll, they made me put on a bra and knickers, she snorted, made me?' No I think I was pretty willing at this point. I was always pretty slight in build but six or so months back packing my weight had dropped even further. They found a dress that seemed to fit me and I put that on too. They were giggling like crazy all this time, but when they had finished I saw their faces change. They seemed to be surprised at what they saw. They became very excited and were high fiving each other and talking in Thai far too fast for me to follow. At this point one of them uncovered a full length mirror they had in the room and finally let me see. I fully expected to see a guy in drag looking back at me. To tell you the truth I didn't recognise myself in the mirror at all. No. I didn't look like a model but I didn't look rubbish. I looked just like an averagely pretty girl. The girls were so happy and excited. They dragged in the other bar girls to see and they were all giggling and laughing but not at me in a bad way. They were really surprised and pleased with what they had done. Well, that night was the first night I spent with the kathoeys and I got introduced to a whole new way of life.'

She took another sip and did that sideways look that Alex always had. `Is this too much for you?'

`No' no, it's fine, don't stop.' Truth be told, I was desperate to hear the rest of the story.

`That night was an epiphany for me; I'd had gay experiences over the years, at school and Uni so I wasn't totally naive about giving and taking a cock'

I was surprised about the gay thing as he had always had girls hanging around but looking back maybe he had gone both ways. The bluntness shocked me but I would be damned if I wanted her to stop telling her story.

`This was different, though, wearing the girls' clothes and getting fucked by the kathoeys and fucking and sucking them back was so liberating. I felt that somehow I had found myself at long last.'

Right now I was in thrall to Alex's story. In fact, I had to move a little in the chair as my trousers started to feel tight. Alex seemed not to notice and kept going almost as if I wasn't there. I got the feeling this story was now aimed as much at her as it was at me.

`I began to spend more and more time with the girls and they basically taught me how to be a kathoey. They coached me in how to walk and move and behave as they did. The sex was awesome; I couldn't get enough of it. Giving and taking to be honest.

The Mamasan at the bar was not so happy at all this and was getting very uptight about the amount of time the girls spent with me. I was also running short of money at this time, but I was now hooked into the life. I don't think I could have given it up at that time even if I had wanted to. I had gotten myself clean of other drugs but this was now my drug, I just couldn't leave it alone. Then one night the girls said to me that they ask the Mamasan if I could work in the bar with them. She thought it was crazy because all the farangs wanted Thai girls. Anyway the girls persisted and eventually, the Mamasan agreed to give it a go.' Another round of drinks arrived and some snacks also appeared.

`The first night I was scared rigid, but the girls were very supportive and although the westerners didn't seem to be interested in the blonde kathoey, a party of Japanese men came in and possibly because of the blonde hair one of them took me for a short time. The bar had rooms at the back where after the customer had paid a bar fine for the girl we could conduct our business. I didn't speak any Japanese and he didn't speak English but it's incredible what you can do with sign language. I think I did alright that first time because he gave me a pretty good tip and he came back again the next night. It was pretty easy really; most of the clients wanted me to suck them off which usually didn't take long or to fuck me which did take a bit more getting used to. Some wanted me to fuck them and I even had few couples which was my favourite; I like giving and receiving.'

She smiled wickedly at this and my trousers needed adjustment again.

`I found that not only the Japanese but Thai men also wanted to come in to see the blonde kathoey. It got a bit dodgy once or twice but the bar sorted out most of the bad customers and once all the bar girls chased a guy out into the street who tried to get too rough with me.' I really felt Alex was now in a world of her own. I wondered if she had ever told this story to anyone else before. I dare not interrupt but another adjustment of my trousers became necessary.

`This went on for about six months and I was now living full time as a kathoey. I had left my old life way behind. I had burned all my old clothes and deliberately dropped out and was now fully committed to the life I had chosen. I had developed a real reputation as the blonde farang kathoey and life seemed OK. Then, one day the Mamasan said a farang lawyer had come looking for me. How this guy tracked me down I don't know because I thought I had dropped well below the radar. But find me he did. I thought it was something about overstaying my visa. It, however, turned out that an Auntie of mine had died and as her sole heir I had inherited a fairly large estate. It wasn't millions but pretty substantial. I took the chance to leave the bar life behind and set myself up as an escort instead. Same fucking and sucking but better pay and conditions. I could afford to get out completely, but I just loved what I was doing, is that a bad thing?'

She paused and seemed to notice me for the first time in a long while. `Not boring you am I?' she said quite coyly.

`No. No, it's interesting,' I could have kicked myself; interesting? What idiot says that? An English idiot, that's who. It certainly wasn't boring that's for sure.

She smiled at something to herself and went on,' by this time I was living full time as a woman and passable. I had always been quite small and slight, and had begun to take hormones so my voice and body hair growth was not a problem. In Bangkok it's easy to get a boob job and they are also very good at cosmetic surgery to get rid of certain male characteristics. I could afford the best so I had my boobs done, my Adam's apple scraped and few other bits and pieces done to enhance my natural charms. I didn't go the whole hog though, and held onto my cock. I am very fond of that.'

Strangely I was very pleased to hear that. Another adjustment of the trousers was needed.

`After about another six months I was now happily living full time as a woman and getting good money from my escort work. I decided to have a break and rented a villa here on Samui for three months. I have to admit I was drawn to have a look at the local bar scene here, from a professional point of view, of course. It was pretty bad, just the usual dive bars you would find anywhere. I had an idea, why not set something up a lot classier than what was already here? The idea for Koh Samui Blue was born. I started to look around and got in touch with Real Estate agents to see what was on offer.'

Another round of drinks arrived and I was beginning to feel a bit light headed.

Alex was still talking, `That's when I met Areeya. She was working in her father's Real Estate agency and we hit it off straightaway. I don't know why but we just enjoyed each other's company. It went from a purely business relationship to a personal one very quickly. She knew what I was; it's hardest to fool other women. Men don't know what to look for and generally they only look at tits and arses anyway. Present company excepted, of course.'

I blushed because she had caught me looking straight at her breasts at that moment.

`She knew what I was and it didn't matter. I was so nervous at first but she is such a lovely girl that she made things so easy. She is incredibly clever, funny and dynamite in bed. Between the two of us we have everything that we need to keep us happy together in bed.'

Another trouser adjustment was necessary. This time Alex noticed and said, `James, you OK?'

I nodded, `No it's OK, please go on,' and I swear she smirked and sat up straighter in her chair, giving me another good view of her breasts. She did that thing women do by running their fingers through their hair. It gets me every time.

She went on. `We talked about my idea and we quickly came up with a business plan for the bar and restaurant. In Thailand, non foreigners are not allowed to buy land on their own so the obvious thing was for us to go into partnership. It's easy as long as you trust each other and have a good lawyer. That's assuming there is such a thing as a good lawyer. Anyway, I had the seed money, together with a bank loan that Areeya's business plan allowed us to get. We paid off everyone who we needed to, and that's a lot over here.'

She narrowed her eyes as she said this remembering some bad times, I think.

`So we built the bar first, and quickly expanded to build the restaurant to go with it. We wanted to keep the bar and restaurant pretty classy which we have but we did add another bar down the street which is more, shall we say, in the style of my old career. We can go have a look in there later if you would like.'

As she said this she looked straight at me over the top of the glass as if she were daring me.

Oh, yes, that would be nice, if it's not too much trouble.' Nice? Nice? I screamed at myself inside my head. Who says nice' about visiting a ladyboy bar? She must think I'm a bloody fool.

`That's you up to date with me, James. What about you? Which twist of fate brought you here?'

Alex relaxed back into her chair waiting for me to begin.

At this moment Areeya reappeared apologised for interrupting and whispered something to Alex.

`James, I'm sorry but there's a little issue I need to attend to. I promise I won't be more than a few minutes.'

As she stood, I pushed back my chair to stand too.

`Oh, James, that's so very sweet of you. That's what I always remember about you, you were a perfect gentleman. I'll let you and Areeya get to know each other'

With that, she leaned in and gave me a peck on the cheek. I blushed scarlet and sat down again.

`James, how long will you be staying on Samui?' Areeya's English was almost perfect, just a hint of an accent making it sound so sexy.

`Only a few days I'm afraid, Areeya, I have to be back in Bangkok by the end of the week.'

`That's a pity, James, but Bangkok is so close by plane these days. You could easily fly back anytime. Alex was so happy to learn you were coming here. She would love to see you again.'

Wow, I thought, that was unexpected. They must have talked about me yesterday or today. I never dreamt that old or new Alex would be so happy to see me.

`Areeya, I must say that it was to shock for me to see Alex as she is now. She is very different to how I knew her before.'

t was strange how quickly I had slipped into calling Alex she and her. Maybe not so surprising, given that she looked so damned gorgeous.

`James, yes, I could see that when you walked in, but you did deal with it very well.'

How so, Areeya?' Given my performance back than I was surprised to hear it.

`Well you could have got angry and been very unpleasant about everything. Instead you were calm and listened to what Alex had to say.'

I thought `Keep Calm and Carry On' was almost a mantra for me to be honest.

`I was more worried than Alex, James. I thought she should find some way to prepare you but she said that she always knew that you were a kind and generous soul as well as a gentleman and would behave like one. I'm so glad she was right.' Areeya gave my arm a little squeeze to reinforce what she had said.

Wow and wow again, I thought. Alex thought I was a gentleman. Who knew? I thought he had me pegged as an upright square. Maybe they are the same thing really.

`Areeya, it's an incredible story. What strength of character Alex must have to have done what she has and to end up so balanced and adjusted. I admire her for that. She chose to go down a hard road but she seems to have come through to a really good place. I think she is lucky to have found you, Areeya, you two seem very happy together. I am so glad for Alex and for you too.'

`Thank you, James, Alex would be very glad to hear you say that. She is very fond of the memories she has of you, she hasn't stopped talking about you since she learnt you were coming to see us.' Wow and wow and wow again. Fond memories? Mind you, it did make me sound a bit like an old family pet.

Areeya continued in a serious tone, `James, Alex means so much to me and all I ever want is for her to be happy. I think you can help her in ways that you might not realise. I think you have a great opportunity to help Alex and I hope you act wisely, James,'

I was puzzled by Areeya's last comment, but I replied, 'Areeya, I promise you I will do anything to help her that I can.'

At that moment Alex walked back into the room, beaming all over her face. She came and stood behind me, with her hands resting on my shoulders and to Areeya she said All fine Areeya, all fine.' and to me, A nice new business venture we are starting here. Looks like we have the go ahead.'

She kept her hands on my shoulders and gave them a little squeeze before letting go.

From Areeya, `Alex, that's very good news. Shall we celebrate?'

`Good idea, Areeya, can you ask Manee to bring through some proper Champagne and three glasses for us please.'

Areeya rose gracefully from the couch and went to tell Manee. She was back in an instant.

Alex came and sat next to me on the couch. I could smell her perfume and felt her leg briefly touch mine. She lightly brushed my arm and said, `James, you were going to tell us about yourself and how you came to be here in Samui.'

`Not that much to tell, Alex. After we lost touch, I graduated, and got a job with a computer Software Company in Cambridge, I got married and life kind of stalled after that.'

I told them about walking in on my wife and her girlfriend and they both laughed. For the first time since it had happened I saw that it was kind of funny after all. They commiserated about the divorce but were impressed I think by my decision to change my life by going to Bangkok. The champagne had arrived by this time and we toasted the success of my new start and their new business venture.

They asked me what I thought of Bangkok and had I done any sightseeing.

`Yes, I've done all the tourist stuff. It's a beautiful city; I have really enjoyed my time there.'

Alex grinned and asked. `How about the night life, James? Have you taken any of that in?'

I believe I blushed a little and said, `Well, yes, it's a kind of rite of passage isn't it for newcomers to Bangkok.'

`Did you enjoy it?'

I definitely blushed this time, Erm, yes, well, some of it, I mean...'

`And did you go to the bars in Nana Plaza?' She bloody winked as she said it. She was enjoying this, teasing me.

Areeya laughed and came to my rescue, `Alex, I think you are embarrassing our guest. You should let him off the hook, is that what you say?'

Thanks Areeya, I thought.

Alex laughed too. `Yes, yes, you're right Areeya; I remember James always did blush very prettily. By the way, James, how did you know to find me here?'

I told her that I had got the email address from an old mutual friend who had discovered that I was going to Samui for a holiday.

`That was a stroke of luck, then. Only a few people know I'm out here.'

`First of all, Alex, can I ask you a question?' there was something I wanted to know.

`Sure, James, fire away.'

`Why did you agree to meet me? I mean you could easily have just said you were too busy to see me. Unless you just wanted to see me get the shock of my life.'

Yes, apologies again for the shock, I'm not sure there was anything I could have done to mitigate the effect though. It's a fair question. Why, indeed did I agree to meet?' she paused, thinking about her answer. When I came out to Thailand I never intended to stay, always planned to go back and do something in the UK. But when my life over here changed, I dropped below the radar and fully intended to disappear for good. However, as time went on I felt more and more that I was missing some parts of my old life. I eventually gave my email address to a couple of people and told them to use it discretely. They don't know about me, by the way, they just know Alex is here in Samui. That's how you got the address. I guess he felt you fell under the term discrete. When you made contact I had to think hard about whether I wanted to actually meet someone from the past. You can imagine that it was a difficult decision to make and one I wouldn't do for anyone. As it was you I decided to make the step and reconnect with someone I knew I could trust. So, I took my courage in both hands and said yes. Does that help?'

Sort of,' I replied but what do you mean as it was me'?'

She came close and put a finger to my lips to silence me, `No more questions for a bit, James, are you hungry?

I realised I was absolutely starving. I hadn't eaten since breakfast and lunch had been a couple of beers and some nuts. It was now 11pm and I realised we had been talking for four hours already. I had had four or five large scotches and now the champagne on an empty stomach and I was getting pretty light headed.

Alex clapped her hands together excitedly, `James, I have an idea. Areeya and I have to visit our bar down the street. It's not far.'

`And you want me to stay here, until you come back?'

She lightly punched my arm, `No, don't be bloody silly, we want you to come with us. We'll have a few drinks and then come back for some food. The kitchen will still be open. There'll be fewer people around so we can be more comfortable. Please say yes, please say yes.'

How could anyone refuse such an invitation? I said yes and she squealed with joy, grabbing my arm and pulling me out the door.

As we reached the main bar, Areeya caught us up and put her arm through mine on the other side; I walked the entire length of the bar with a drop dead gorgeous woman on either arm. The envious glares I got from the bar customers were a wonder to behold. For the first time in my life I felt ten feet tall.

We walked down the strip in Lamai for a few hundred yards until we came to the bar, unbelievably it was called Cockatoo 2.

`Where did you get the name from?' I asked Areeya.

`Oh, it's because our sister bar in Bangkok is called Cockatoo. We thought it was quite funny. Do you know it in Bangkok?' I swear she was reading my mind.

`No, no, is that in Nana Plaza? Do you own that one too?'

She looked a bit oddly at me. `No, it's just an arrangement we have with them. We try to share overheads and things.' A little warning bell went off somewhere in the back of my mind. Alex was bouncing up and down with excitement.

`Come on you two, stop dragging your heels, let's get in,' she was bubbling over with energy. She grabbed both of us and almost dragged us into the bar.

It was a fairly typical Thai bar; open to the front, a bar along one side, TVs all over the place and three pool tables towards the back. Music blared out from the sound system, which for a Thai bar appeared to be good quality. It was getting pretty busy now with two of the pool tables in use and mostly guys and a few couples drinking at the bar or the tables. There were a few of the usual bar games of Connect 4 going on. Connect 4 is essentially a child's game but is used in Thai bars as an icebreaker game or to bet on, normally for drinks. If you think you can beat a Thai bar girl at the game, think again. If it was an Olympic sport, Thai bar girls would win every medal. There was even a cockatoo in a cage in the corner of the bar. I felt sorry for the bird in the middle of all this noise and light but he didn't seem to mind too much.

Areeya stopped to talk to the Mamasan, presumably to check on business. Alex was busy talking to a couple of the girls and they didn't seem to regard her as a boss figure. Maybe because she could speak Thai fluently and had been one of them, they seemed to be on good terms. I was handed a beer by one of the girls and she pointed to Alex and said, `On house, Miss Alex.' Ok, good start. It seemed to be a fairly typical crowd; mostly groups of young tourists, a few dissolute looking ex pats nursing a cold beer and looking typically grumpy together with one or two couples along for the Thai bar experience. The bar girls were a mixed bunch, mostly kathoeys but with some genuine girls. I guessed there would be a few short time rooms out the back. The girls didn't look too busy and Areeya shooed a few of the prettier ones out front to drum up business.

Alex came bouncing across to me, grabbed my arm and asked, `Do you play pool?'

`I'm alright, I think, I've played a bit,' I hoped modesty was the right approach.

I secretly fancied myself a bit as a player, having conveniently forgotten getting my arse handed to me by the bar girl in Bangkok last time. I hoped Alex wouldn't be as good as her.

She dragged me over to the unused table. She grabbed a couple of cues and racked the balls in a suspiciously professional manner.

`You break first,' she said, handing me a cue. I rolled the cue on the table and it seemed unusually straight for a bar cue. I took a swig from the beer bottle and settled down to break. Of course, Alex had to make it difficult by standing in my eye line and pulling faces. I managed to stop laughing long enough to make a good break and fluked a colour in the pocket. I managed to knock in another colour and then had trouble deciding what shot to play next. Areeya came over and gave me some advice on which ball to go for. Alex was shouting at me to get on with it and to Areeya to stop helping me as that was cheating. In spite of this I managed to pull off a third colour with a blinder of a shot. Encouraged by this, and the desire to show off to Alex I over reached myself on the next one, clipped the lip of the pocket and the ball just hung there.

Alex reacted with glee and started to chalk her cue. Now, my Dad always told me that a bad player chalks their cue after a shot and a good one before he plays a shot. Well I could see I was in trouble with Alex pretty much from the start. It was clear from the way she handled the cue that she was good. She dropped the first ball with panache and then managed to put away the next 4 with embarrassing ease. Mind you it was nice to watch as she had to hitch up her skirt to play the shots and it showed off what a lovely figure she had as the material stretched tight across her bum. I got a chance when she missed the sixth but I flunked out my shot and she hit great shots to pot her next two balls. That just left the 8 ball and she just stroked that in like a professional. It seems you can take the girl out of the bar but you can't take the bar out of the girl.

I just stood and clapped. She curtseyed and said, `Thank you kind sir.'

She wanted another game but she was way out of my league and I didn't fancy another humiliation right now. I saw Areeya pick up the cue and she and Alex had a cracking game. Areeya was good but Alex was that bit better. They played three quick games with Areeya taking one and Alex the other two. My consolation was to sit and drink beer and watch my two new friends as they bent over the table to take shots. I was enjoying that sight immensely whilst pretending not to look.

It was just at the end of the third game that I felt someone's hands over my eyes and from behind I heard a voice say, `James, James, it me, Pao,'

Hell, it couldn't be, could it? Pao from the Bangkok Cockatoo?

I pulled the hands away and the first thing I saw was Alex, leaning over the table frozen in mid shot with her mouth open in surprise. Pao was oblivious to this and before I could stop her she had scooted round and jumped onto my lap with her arms around my neck.

`James, you come see Pao in Samui.'

I could see Alex over Pao's shoulder as she walked around the table to where I was with Pao sitting happily on my lap.

Er, James,' Alex was still looking startled, is there anything you want to tell us?' She stopped in front of Pao and me, holding the cue as if she wanted to break it over someone's head. She just wasn't sure which one of us to hit.

Pao suddenly noticed that there was something wrong and she turned around, saw Alex and immediately jumped off my lap. Alex said something fast in Thai, Pao bowed her head and said something back equally as fast. Alex motioned with her head for Pao to move away and she began to back away. Areeya grabbed her before she could disappear completely.

`Well, James, it's very interesting that you and Pao know each other so well, there must be some simple explanation, surely?' There was the trace of a grin playing about her lips now. I was rooted to the spot. Words began to jangle around in my head and I just managed to say some of them.

`Er, well, Alex, you see, it's not like, I mean, it was all Robbie's fault, I mean not his fault really, I was just trying to...' I realised I was babbling so thought the best thing to do at this time was just to shut up.

`James, first of all, calm down and then who the hell is Robbie?' she stood there cradling the pool cue, legs slightly apart so the silk dress stretched tight across her body, the bar lights highlighting her golden hair and her head tilted to one side with a questioning look on her face. Quite bizarrely in the circumstances, it flashed into my mind that she looked so damn sexy.

I took a deep breath and took a swig from the beer, Areeya had brought Pao back and they stood to one side of Alex as she looked down at me.

`You see, it was like this. I met Pao in the Cockatoo in Bangkok one night. Robbie's a friend of mine from home wanted to see some Ladyboys and we ended up in the Cockatoo. I met her in the bar and we had a drink and she was friendly and then I went home, all very above board, so to speak, I didn't think she would remember me...' I tailed off, hoping I had made sense.

`James, how friendly, exactly?' Alex fired off a question to Pao who nodded her head and replied.

`Well nothing happened really, you know what's like in one of those clubs, it was harmless, honestly...' Even I knew that sounded pathetic.

`Oh, yes James, I do know what it's like in those clubs, remember?' Alex was grinning broadly now, enjoying my discomfort. Areeya was trying to conceal her laughter and failing badly. Pao was still looking from me to Alex and Areeya trying to decide if she was in trouble, and if so, why.

`Look it wasn't Pao's fault, she was very sweet and nice and I didn't know she would be here.'

Alex said something to Areeya who let go of Pao.

`We share staff with Bangkok sometimes when we need to,' Areeya said, now openly smiling widely.

`James, Pao confirms your story, that there were two of you, and you were a gentleman, she says. Your friend was the one who stayed behind after you left. He seems to have enjoyed himself a lot.'

I took another swig of beer and tried to look innocent.