Getting to know you (4)

Tik appears just as keen to know me. She has a small, pretty body, and I enjoy watching her.

'Pee Mali - have you bought cream for your head rash yet?' she asked yesterday. I had not seen her for two days, as she had been unwell.

Pon called me at home to say Tik had turned up, so I went down to the shop for a visit.

I had dropped in to see Pon earlier the day, but talked to her from outside the shop only, as Pon feels uncomfortable if we sit inside alone.

Tik was there, with three or four other young people, including two young men. The television was on. Some were grazing on food, while others watched TV.

Before we could start talking, we had to settle on seating arrangements. Pon was busy spooning rice into her containers before putting them in the steamer, so she could not join us.

The others insisted I sit in the easy chair which Pon usually uses. This puts me in the highest position in the room, and as I sat there, I felt like a father figure surveying his family at mealtime.

The young ones wanted me to sit there because as the oldest person in the room, I should occupy the highest position. I was initially happy to sit on the floor, like everyone else. But I knew the young ones would not be content with this arrangement, as then no one could sit in Pon's chair, as it was higher. So in the end I relented.

One of the newcomers was Tik's younger brother. 'We're from Laos,' he announced. 'Tik has lived here for years, but I arrived just in the last few months.'

'What do you think of Bangkok?' I asked.

'I don't know how to get anywhere,' he said. 'Do you recognise me?' he asked.

I took a closer look. He did seem vaguely familiar.

'We deliver water to your condo on a truck,' he said, referring to the older male sitting next to him.

I did not know Tik was from Laos, as Pon, who is also from that neighbouring country, did not say.

'I have been sick for two days. Did Pon tell you?' Tik asked, as she moved closer to me.

'Yes, she did.'

'Did you drop in yesterday?' she asked.

'I did - but I can't remember when,' I said.

'If I had been here, you would have remembered,' she said.

Tik is nothing if not forward.

'Have you been to Laos?'

'No.'

'I could be your guide.'

Ah, but then we barely know each other, young Tik. I also wondered how Pon felt, hearing that, as she herself has wanted to go back to Laos for years.

Pon said nothing. This was early evening, so after-work customers were arriving, and the shop was getting busy.

Fifteen minutes later I left, as I had run out of time.

That night, I called Pon on the telephone, to ask her about the exchange with Tik.

Tik appears sure in her own mind that I like her, and that she likes me, I said.

However, it's also possible her forward nature is just an expression of youthful self-confidence.

She could also regard Pon as a potential rival, and that the interest she is showing in me is just a way of locking Pon out of the competition.

When I visited, however, it seemed as if everyone in the shop knew why we were there: so Tik and I could get to know each other. The stage was set, the chase was on.

Maybe she also likes collecting men.

'Tik already has a boyfriend,' Pon said, while adding that she did not know much about her personal life.

Pon likes people to speak directly.

'How do you feel about her?'

'I like the way she shows an interest in me, and her self-confidence - though I find it scary at the same time,' I said.

'What happens next is up to the two of you. It has nothing to do with anyone else,' she said sensibly.

Pon asked me if I wanted her to say anything to Tik. No.

Pon also recommended that I not ask Tik questions like: 'Do you have a boyfriend' - even if that would give me an opportunity to avoid our friendship progressing, if that's what I wanted.

'No one likes to be ask questions like that,' she said.

Pon and I chatted for an hour. I thanked her for her impartial, sensible advice.

Pon is a great talker. It is sad that we can no longer enjoy our talks alone, except over the telephone, when no one knows who is calling her. After her remarks the other day, I no longer dare enter the shop without her friends being there, in case the neighbours start to gossip.

But if the only time that I can see Pon is when she is in the company of others, then I shall have to get to know her friends, too.

now, see part 5