Give A Man A Bad Name. Roberta Leigh

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СКАЧАТЬ raced up the wide, carpeted stairs to the mezzanine floor that led to the offices, intent on sharing her experience with Nan.

      ‘He’s a real dreamboat, isn’t he?’ her friend had agreed. ‘But not an easy man to know. He plays his cards close to his chest.’

      ‘Does he have a girlfriend?’

      ‘In the plural. They line up for him and fall at his feet like ninepins. But he’s soon off with the old and on with the new.’

      Marly was mulling this over as she slid into the passenger seat of Nan’s car to go home, though she did not mull for long, for she was soon holding on to her seat for dear life. Nan, in common with the majority of Thais, drove fast: weaving in and out of traffic, dodging oncoming cars, taxis and tuk-tuks—three-wheeled scooter taxis—and skimming so close to them that she practically scraped their paintwork!

      But when a motorcyclist cut in front of them for no reason other than to mount a pavement and park his bike there, Marly had had enough and shut her eyes tight. But she opened them again immediately, deciding it was easier to cope with seen fear. Heart in mouth, she watched Nan shoot along the inside lane, overtake a single-decker bus with people clinging to the doors like limpets, and swing sharply left into the quiet side-street where she lived.

      ‘I’ll never get used to the way you drive,’ Marly gasped, emerging from the car outside her friend’s home.

      Large, beautiful, and built of golden teak, it was in the Thai gabled roof tradition, and could have been mistaken for two houses instead of one, had it not been for the balcony joining them together on the upper floor. It was also quite a rarity among Bangkok’s newer single-storeyed houses with their corrugated-iron roofs, though recently the traditional had started coming back into favour, albeit at exorbitant prices.

      Leaving their shoes by the front door before stepping over the threshold—as was the custom—they walked into the living-room and, with palms together and heads bowed, waied Nan’s mother in the time-honoured greeting towards Thai elders and superiors.

      Since first visiting her friend, Marly had been touched by such customs, for they indicated a respect and caring for each other that was endemic to Thai culture.

      ‘Your father is bringing Kevin Rossiter back with him from the hospital,’ Nan’s mother told them. In a pastel-blue cheong-sam, the traditional dress still favoured by many Thai women, she was smaller than her daughter, with silky, grey-streaked hair drawn into a coil at the nape of her neck. ‘Kevin is a brilliant young doctor and has been working with the professor for the past month,’ she explained to Marly.

      ‘Is he staying for dinner?’ Nan questioned.

      ‘He’ll be very welcome if he does,’ her mother replied, surveying the table the maid had set with more places than the size of her family. Thai hospitality was legendary, their homes and food being shared with anyone who cared to accept it.

      Twenty minutes later Marly and her friend, showered and changed into softly shaded dresses, returned to the living-room where Nan’s father was talking to a sandy-haired young man.

      ‘Kevin’s from New Zealand and is studying tropical medicine in my department,’ Professor Damrong, a stockily built man a little taller than his wife, informed Marly.

      Smiling at the visitor, Marly saw only Alex Hamilton’s face staring down at her—Alex Hamilton of the smoky grey eyes, chiselled features and supercilious smile, the man whose path she had blocked earlier that day.

      ‘Marly and my daughter were at school together in England,’ the professor went on. ‘She’s here to prepare a computer program for the Riverside Hamilton.’

      ‘Sounds a big job,’ Kevin commented, warm hazel eyes intent on her. ‘Why don’t you and Nan have dinner with me and put me in the picture? I’m a computer nut.’

      ‘You two go,’ Nan said promptly. ‘I’m behind with my lines and have three days left to learn them.’

      ‘Lines?’ Kevin quizzed.

      ‘For the cabaret the staff at the hotel are putting on for Christmas.’

      ‘Looks as if it’s just the two of us,’ Kevin said to Marly, and she tried to look pleased at the prospect.

      Her brief encounter with Alex Hamilton had put her on an emotional high, and she was in no mood to make conversation with an earnest young doctor, worthy though he might be. But once seated opposite him in the Italian restaurant of the Royal Orchid Hotel, she was glad she had accepted his invitation. After all, it was stupid to behave like a lovesick schoolgirl over a man who did not know she existed!

      ‘It’s a stroke of luck meeting you,’ Kevin commented after they had given their order. ‘I hope you’re going to be here for several months?’

      ‘I’m not sure. It depends how long it takes me to devise the software that the hotel wants.’

      ‘Is it just for the hotel here?’

      ‘No. For the whole group.’

      ‘Obviously a very high-powered woman.’ Kevin looked flatteringly impressed. ‘Is there a boyfriend in the background?’

      Marly shook her head. ‘Not even in the foreground! I’ve been too busy with my career. What about you?’

      ‘Fancy-free and still looking! Like you, I’ve been too busy establishing myself. Still, the worst is behind me and the future is for living,’ he said, signalling the waiter to pour their wine.

      Sipping it, Marly studied him through her lashes. He was a nice-looking man if you fancied them fair, hazel-eyed and whipcord-thin. Except that she preferred them tawny-haired, smoky-eyed and powerfully built.

      ‘Tell me about your job,’ Kevin cut across her musing. ‘Or don’t you like talking shop?’

      ‘I love it,’ she grinned. ‘But right now there’s nothing much to tell. My boss was away until today, and I haven’t yet found out what my brief is.’

      ‘When did you arrive?’

      ‘A week ago, and I’ve been champing at the bit till now. Though to be honest I love wandering around Bangkok.’

      ‘Maybe we can wander together,’ he suggested. ‘How are you fixed for tomorrow? I’m always free on a Sunday.’

      ‘I’m not. At least not this Sunday,’ Marly lied, reluctant to give him any encouragement. ‘Now that Mr Hamilton’s back I’d better stay in the Riverside.’

      ‘Fair enough. But if you think I’m letting you off the hook...’

      She smiled at his persistence and tactfully changed the subject. ‘How long are you here for?’

      ‘Six months. Before that I was doing a course in the States.’

      ‘What do you think of the standard of medicine there?’

      Marly had hit on one of his hobby-horses, and for the remainder of the evening she managed to keep the conversation away from herself.

      ‘I’ll call you in a couple of days,’ Kevin said when he delivered СКАЧАТЬ