Noi opened the main door of the helicopter and turned to Kaori, offering his hand to help her in. He was beaming, but Kaori hesitated. Ma?l stepped in with a large grin and handed him the backpack.

  “Thanks, pi Noi!”

  Ma?l bowed to Kaori and offered his hand.

  She chuckled and took it. As soon as her fingers touched his, he spun her around and a second later, she found herself in his arms. He was holding her in a princess carry, his face a breath away from hers, his eyes fixed into hers.

  “Would her ladyship come aboard, Aiko-sama?”

  He stepped on board without waiting a response and sat, placing her on his lap. Noi laughed and gave him a thumbs up.

  “Noi, Ni krai ah?” the pilot asked, staring at the unexpected couple.

  “Pen puan. Len ti kiat duay kan. Khun ni tcheu Ma?l” Noi said, pointing to Ma?l who saluted the pilot quite formally.

  A pal from Muay Thai. Muay Thai was almost a religion for Thai police officers, and the pilot was suitably impressed. Lieutenant Colonel Noi used to be Ratchada’s champion back in his prime, he wouldn’t introduce just anybody as a “Nak Muay.”

  “Yindi ti dai rootchak. Pom tcheu Daeng.”

  “Yindi. Pooyin tcheu Aiko,” Ma?l said to the pilot. Turning to Kaori, he explained: “Our pilot’s name is Daeng, which means ‘Red’.”

  Noi settled in front in the copilot’s seat and the helicopter took off. Kaori was still on Ma?l’s lap, but so what? It’s not like the police was going to give them a fine.

  The rotor was so loud they gave up on trying to talk, and watched the sea of lights below instead. Bangkok was quite a beautiful city at night. Kaori and Ma?l’s heads were close together, pressed against the window. Ma?l had been in Bangkok so often he could pick out landmarks and he was trying to figure out where they were going. So far, they were heading west, straight into town, but where the hell was that party?

  Bangkok was a party town, but everything closed at two am, by order of the police no less, so there wouldn’t be anything open. Besides, he could hardly imagine Noi hanging out at the airport during a party.

  It was the middle of the night and they were at the back of a police helicopter, flying to a party that shouldn’t exist.

  Only in Thailand. Ma?l smiled as he spotted the Chao Phraya river meandering through the city like a giant snake undulating its way through a field of lights. He turned to Kaori. She was taking in the sights, the neon lights shading her face—a character from a cyberpunk movie. He pressed his cheek against hers, and for a moment there, they felt truly at peace.

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  The helicopter landed on the roof of a large building by the river. Noi jumped out of the cockpit and opened the bay door.

  “Welcome to the Peninsula Hotel” he said, holding his hand out.

  This time, Kaori grabbed it and helped herself down. Ma?l jumped behind her. He turned around and gave a thumb up to the pilot who took off.

  “What are we doing here?” he asked.

  “I’m in charge of security for Songkran, and they gave us a whole floor! Come, let’s go get some food.”

  Noi beamed. Back when they trained together, they shared a room at the training camp. They had a cot each, placed on a dirt floor and were taking “showers” with cold water and a pail. And now, he was welcoming Ma?l to one of the most exclusive hotels in the country!

  “If anyone asks, tell them you are a consultant,” he leaned in with a conspiratorial whisper.

  Ma?l laughed and explained the situation to Kaori.

  They walked in a large suite. The room was full of policemen in various stages of inebriation, and a number of women in various stages of undress. In perfect contradiction to his own advice, Noi proceeded to introduce Ma?l as a friend and a fighter, which immediately earned him a place on the sofa and a bottle of beer. Kaori attracted a lot of hungry stares. She sat down on Ma?l’s lap, promptly bringing clarity to her dating status—not single, very much taken.

  There were all kinds of dishes on the low table. All Thai food. Traditional Thai food, Ma?l realized.

  “You can eat spicy, right?”

  Kaori scrutinized the dishes. They looked nice. She was more concerned about the guys rolling balls of sticky rice and dipping them into the sauce with their fingers, but decided not to judge. When in Rome…

  She imitated the guys and rolled herself a ball of sticky rice which she dipped generously in the innocent looking thimble of thin brown sauce with little seeds. Brown seemed safe enough. Alarmed, Ma?l tried to stop her, but she shoved the ball in her mouth as she had seen the men do. The sweet, smooth taste spreading into her mouth quickly turned into liquid fire suffusing her palate with an unbearably hot sensation. She was burning, her soft white skin turning red, her lips visibly swelling and she yelped in pain, reaching for water.

  Fortunately, Ma?l was ready for it, and stopped her. Spicy food was bad enough. Spicy food plus water was murder. Instead, he handed her an ice cube and some plain rice. Relief was immediate and she turned to face her savior with a look of pure gratitude.

  “Aroi mai?” Noi asked, with a wide grin. The guys around were trying their hardest not too laugh, and were doing a very poor job at it.

  “He wants to know if you liked it,” Ma?l translated as she regained a semblance of composure.

  She stared Noi with daggers, but suddenly realized that, now that most of the pain had past, the lingering taste was actually quite nice. Either that, or her taste buds had surrendered to the torture and she was now experiencing a form of Stockholm syndrome. Probably the latter, she thought, but she nodded, her mouth still too sore to speak.

  “You should try this, that’s pretty mild,” Noi said, innocently handing her a bowl of Som Tam. “Papaya salad, very good for digestion.”

  She reached for it, but Ma?l intercepted the bowl.

  “Kob Khun Krap, Pi Noi.”

  Kaori stared at Ma?l in disbelief.

  “You want to try some?” Ma?l said, lifting a single strand of Papaya to her lips. It wasn’t a bite, not even a morsel, but as soon as her lips touched it, she understood.

  Thai people are monsters in human skin!

  She looked at Noi who was shoveling the stuff down his gullet with an air of the purest bliss. He actually enjoyed it!