Sabaidee all
 
Laddavanh and Keo are back again.  Since my Part 1a and 1b, I have received comments from a number of critics, for instance:

* "Wowser, this is the best episode yet.  For a moment I was about to get myself a new running shoes, kaki trousers, a dark brown leather belt, and a white shirt.  I thought perhaps after work I'll go bump into my gf and see if we can get the same sensation going"
(The Deon)
 
* "Eauy Pauline, tres bien..tres bien. J'aime ca beaucoup (I love it a lot) ... Your story is getting more and more interesting. And this is just Part 1b. You know what ? What a coincidence too that I am wearing a pair of  khaki trousers and brown belt right now. Good thing I didn't bump into Deon :))".  (Guy Phiaxay)

* "When I read your novel, I think Laddavanh is you, sounds very much like you".  (Douang2)
Well, Douang, I don't know but it's worth guessing (Author)
 
* "Phayvanh / J'aime mieux de Lao version. Je trouve qu'il y avait des mots Romance que l' Englaise.
Which can be roughly translated into English as: "Phayvanh / I like the Lao version better.  I find that the words used are more romantic than the English version". (Ai Thip)
 
Yet, the best comment came from my favourite ai Kongkeo (Author):
* "About your novel, I will give you a comment when I got more time".
 
Thank you all for your comments.  If you like Part 1, I am sure you are going to find part 2 interesting.  It also describes the nature and environment of southern part of Laos.  Enjoy!  Don't forget to read Lao version where the real flavour is, as commented by ai Thip.
Hak phaeng, Pauline

To Paris with Love (Part 2)

"LISTEN TO YOUR HEART, NOT YOUR HEAD".

"Souksamlane" Hotel was situated right in the middle of Pakse, Xaykeo and Laddavanh were sitting at a table in a corner of the restaurant, having dinner . Well, you can't say that they were having dinner because the foods were hardly touched, it's probably more literally correct to say that they were sitting there looking at each other's eyes. Under the dim light . Xaykeo looked at Laddavanh thoroughly . she hadn't changed that much apart from looking more mature. Her hair was put up in a bunch; the silk blouse in peachy colour enlightened her face, especially those eyes, which Xaykeo used to dream of and yet the self-confidence, outspoken, and openness - which he used to admire. Being too preoccupied with looking at her, he hadn't touched any food on the table at all; noticing the untouched food, Laddavanh felt obliged to serve by putting some in his plate while asking:

"Isn't the food nice, you didn't seem to eat any?"

"Because I am looking at the person in front of me, therefore I am full" came the reply with a husky sexy voice. Wow! What do I have here? Doesn't look one bit like "Keo" I knew - she said to herself and avoided that look from him, she felt that her cheeks started to burn up, "terrible person indeed, he wouldn't even give me a chance to prepare myself!". The usually very talkative Laddavanh suddenly became silent. She tried to drop the topic by starting to eat, following by sipping the water, while her brains were busy trying to find some strategies to combat this rather severe situation .what's so severe is her own heart . which was beating so hard it may as well jump out of her chest. Oh God! the old flame was very likely starting to be heated up again, this time it may as well get so high even the fire brigade wouldn't be able to extinguish it. Laddavanh had been trying so hard to put out the flame since the afternoon but Keo didn't seem to cooperate with that at all, plus he seemed to be puffing it.

"Did you hear what I just said? I said I don't have to eat because I feel full in my heart by just looking at you. Vanh, may I also say that you look stunningly beautiful tonight? You know, I used to draw your picture in my heart all the time but I must have been the lousiest painter in the entire world because my drawing is not even half as nice as the real person who is sitting in front of me right now".

Ooii! One is trying to put out the flame while the other one is trying to puff it.

"My God! I didn't know that just twenty years apart, you have become deaf!" He looked genuinely concerned, "Vanh, have you ever had your hearing checked by a Doctor in Australia?" with a louder voice, he leaned forward Laddavanh, so close to her ears she could smell his perfume.

"Don't be silly, who said I am deaf? Of course I've heard you Keo but I haven't been able to find any answer because you kept talking and not leaving any gap for me to talk". The reply made him laugh, his face looked relieving.

"That's a relief to know that you are not deaf, otherwise I have to sit very close to you. Sitting this far would make our conversation very hard to understand". Laddavanh decided not to resume the conversation because the more she participated in this topic the more she lost. Right at that moment, a waiter interrupted by serving them dessert. Laddavanh felt very grateful to this waiter's rescue, just at the right time, so she intended to give him a handsome amount of tip.

Xaykeo and Laddavanh ordered coffee after the dinner. They apparently got used to westernised life style by having coffee after meals. Laddavanh slowly sipped her coffee, now her confidence slowly came back - she needed caffeine to clear her mind. Well, as a matter of fact, Keo had actually always been in her heart. However the one in her heart was a shy young man but the person sitting in front of her is a mature man, his face changed a little bit but the most obvious change was his confidence and his life experience as well as duties and responsibilities. He told her that he came to Laos to do a feasibility study on a project, which would be invested by the company he was currently working for. The company needed to be confident before they started the project because if they didn't get full cooperation by the Government, or if something happened, the work could not be carried on and if they could not meet the deadline, the company will end up loosing. This lack of confidence made a number of companies reluctant when it comes to investment in a small country. Laddavanh enjoyed listening to him so much. Laddavanh told him she came to Laos to visit her relatives but at the same time, she was also collecting some data for her thesis which she wrote on the roles of women in the countryside of Mekong Delta countries. They took turn in telling each other about their experience in education, work and friends from good old time at school. The cause that made them meet at Lycee Pakse was because they both had the same intention to go back to see the school they used to study in the past.

"How is Phonemany?", she asked about his family.

"She's fine" came the short answer, "how is Thavisinh?"

"He's fine" her reply was also short. They both became silent and not mentioning that topic again although they wanted to say more but realised that the time wasn't right. That night, the dinner finished well for both - one was full in the tummy, the other one was full at the heart. Since it was still not too late, they decided to try to visit some old friends who may still live there. Pakse was a rather small city therefore it was possible to find their friends by just asking people. Eventually they managed to find a couple of old friends. They all end up so happy to see each other again.

Xaykeo stayed in a big hotel - a palace that used to belong to Chao Boun Oum, a prince who was extremely powerful in the southern region of Laos. He built this enormous palace but did not have a chance to live in it as intended due the political changes in Laos. This palace was later turned into a hotel, which looked so outstanding at nighttime. Keo dropped Laddavanh at her hotel first. They will need to get up early tomorrow because they will have to travel down south. In fact, Laddavanh meant to go back to Vientiane because she had already made an arrangement to go to visit Luangphrabang but because Keo had asked her to travel to the South with him - this trip was part of his work and shouldn't take longer than one week. Laddavanh decided to postpone all other programs . because when she asked her heart . the answer was she should go down south with Keo. Well, why not listening to her own heart, just for once, see what will happen? Because in the past, she always listened to her head and therefore had not respected the heart that much.

*****************************************************

In the car, Keo and his two colleagues spoke French when they discussed work. In the beginning, she hardly understood them because her French was so rusty but after a while, she started to understand because the part of her brains which contained French language started to function again. Anyway, every time they spoke to Laddavanh, they said it in English, although they spoke with French accent, but their English was very fluent. Therefore Laddavanh managed not to feel lonely . How could she feel lonely since the person sitting right next to her would not let her be? . she got all the attention all the time from Keo . Laddavanh wished this trip would never end so that she could next to him forever. The car had been running for hours, Laddavanh felt sleepy and ended up falling asleep, not sure for how long. But when she woke up again she found that her head was leaning against Keo's strong arm, her whole body was wrapped by his other arm . possibly to prevent her from falling. In actual fact, she had been waking up for another while and had observed the surrounding with her eyes half opened . well the surrounding was in fact not too bad . it was rather comfortable and . Umm . the odour of the after-shave cologne combined with the odour of the person was nice too - so nice she kept smelling it. Well. the person wouldn't even notice it, would he? Laddavanh determined that there's not point to wake up, so she pretended to remain asleep.

The big transport ship or "Heua Buk" generated a loud and regular sound while moving against the stream of Mekong River. There were four cars stationed on the ship deck. Xaykeo was standing next to Laddavanh on the edge of the ship . on both shores of the river, the ship had past a number of villages - big and small, hundreds of coconut trees stood tall along the river bank. The coconuts and its products created revenue for the people by selling them at the market in the city.

Laddavanh took a scarf out of her bag and tied it around her head in order to protect her hair from the wind and also to protect her face from the sun. This was also Westerner concept - being afraid of developing skin cancer, which was developed quite alarmingly among Australian white people. Although her skin was not white but "prevention is better than cure". Anyway, nobody would want to develop cancer anyway.

The ship had again past so many islands - tiny and gigantic - so many Laddavanh lost count. No wonder it is called "Four thousand islands" (See Phan Done) - the name was so appropriate. They arrived at "Done Khong" or "Muang Khong" when it's just dark. Laddavanh couldn't believe that there would be this many foreigners on the tiny island, everywhere they went, they would bump into a foreigner. So there was a very big problem - no vacancy at the motels or hotels. They had driven up and down on the only main street but could not find any vacancy. Eventually, they managed to find a motel called "Bane Phak Souksanh Done Khong", more like bungalows . tiny little huts . here and there . rather cute. But there's still another problem - there were only two rooms with twin beds available! Look! There's no other choice. They either took it or nothing. Laddavanh had no choice either. She didn't want to complain too much because that wouldn't serve any purpose but simply annoy Keo's colleagues. They could easily say why complain now? What about when they sat so close to each other in the car all day . how come there was no complaint then.

Huhh! This is the result of her listening to her heart, eh? Laddavanh still didn't know what her destiny would be? In fact she was not complaining or anything. She simply raised a question out of her curiosity. The habit of being curious had in fact helped her succeed more than often but it had also served to be on the opposite side as well. Even so, she had not been able to get rid of this habit, not yet, not quite. Oh well! just like an English saying which says "What will happen, will happen", there's not much she could do. In general Laddavanh was not chicken, she was a person with a "No Fear" tag attached to her, rather. She had never been afraid of anything without a good reason to do so, hadn't she? Why would she have to be scared of this tiny little incident? 

No way . She tried to console herself but her heart can't help beating so irregularly. Heh! Why bother being afraid of something, which had not even happened yet . there's not point to be afraid. "I'll deal with it as it happens", she eventually managed to tell herself.

(to be continued)

P Phoumindr

13 May 2000