can see she's a pro at avoiding what she doesn't want to talk about, just like I am. But there are some things I know we're going to have to say eventually.
ISLA
I pick up my coffee, let the potent fluid work its morning magic as I scroll through the news on my iPad. I just sent off my cookbook article, finally. I couldn't even concentrate on it properly till now but I'm pretty sure Farzana, my editor, and Chinda herself will be pleased. I was very complimentary. Her food was great, but it's because of her I found Ben again. Of course I didn't write about that. I need to write about that somewhere else; I know I do.
I cast my eyes to the beach. It's stretched out ahead of the swimming pool in the Shady Palm's restaurant, which itself is surrounded by statues of Buddha and bright pink and red flowers. There's one other couple having breakfast in the idyllic setting. It all unsettles me, the more I think about it; the butterflies, the breeze, the sound of distant laughter. It's a lot like the setting where I last saw mom and dad, when I kissed my dad's cheek and ran off with no idea I'd never see them again. Not alive, anyway. I spoke to them this morning from my deck: I miss you so much. Please stay with me while I do all this.
The beach here is definitely picturesque, strewn at random intervals with tall granite boulders, all against a backdrop of the pretty, green national park hillside. We're surrounded by national park. I remember a day tour we did out there once before, in Khao Sok. We paddled down a river in an inflatable canoe. It was me, mom, dad and a bunch of Swedish people who saw the whole thing through the lenses of their video cameras.
My iPad makes a noise. It's Skype. My heart leaps. Colin.
For a second I contemplate not picking up, but his face on his profile picture makes me swipe to connect before I can think any more. He's just worried about me.
'How are you?' he asks as soon as our faces are taking up the screen. 'Where are you now?'
His voice is so familiar. He's wearing his glasses, sitting on the sofa where I read that email. The picture of the London Eye I got from Covent Garden market is still frozen in time on the wall behind him.
'I'm alright, thanks,' I tell him. 'Still in Khao Lak.'
'It looks sunny,' he says. 'It's pissing it down here.'
'What's new. Why aren't you at work?'
'Because it's two a.m on Saturday,' he replies. 'I saw you come online, I was watching the match. Must be nice to be on holiday, no idea what day it is. So how is it being back there? Are you handling it?'
I shift my eyes to my scars, faced upwards at me on the table as I hold the iPad. The fact that I couldn't ever really talk to Colin about what happened made him feel like I shut him out. And he cheated on me. My fault initially, yes... but we were setting up a home together.
'It's a bit weird,' I tell him, trying to keep the emotion out of my voice now. 'But it looks so different now. It's all changed. I'm going with my friend to see a school they built.'
'Is this the friend you bumped into, who found you that posh resort?' he asks. I swing the iPad round so he can see it and he whistles in appreciation.
'Yes, that's him,' I say, and then I wish I hadn't. There's silence. I can see in Colin's face that he's processing my words now.
'Him? So it's a bloke?'
Shit. I don't know what to say now, and neither does he, I can tell. He has no hold on me anymore; not officially anyway. 'Yes,' I manage as my palms turn clammy around the iPad. 'He runs a dive shop now.'
'You're going scuba diving, too?' Colin asks in surprise.
'As if.'
He clears his throat, but there's something different in his voice now. 'Well, how long are going to stay there for?'
'Till I get my passport sorted out. I'm waiting to hear if the police find my other one first.'
'Don't count on it, babe,' he says predictably and slightly condescendingly. 'Let me know if you need any more money.' The way he called me babe hits a
ISLA
I pick up my coffee, let the potent fluid work its morning magic as I scroll through the news on my iPad. I just sent off my cookbook article, finally. I couldn't even concentrate on it properly till now but I'm pretty sure Farzana, my editor, and Chinda herself will be pleased. I was very complimentary. Her food was great, but it's because of her I found Ben again. Of course I didn't write about that. I need to write about that somewhere else; I know I do.
I cast my eyes to the beach. It's stretched out ahead of the swimming pool in the Shady Palm's restaurant, which itself is surrounded by statues of Buddha and bright pink and red flowers. There's one other couple having breakfast in the idyllic setting. It all unsettles me, the more I think about it; the butterflies, the breeze, the sound of distant laughter. It's a lot like the setting where I last saw mom and dad, when I kissed my dad's cheek and ran off with no idea I'd never see them again. Not alive, anyway. I spoke to them this morning from my deck: I miss you so much. Please stay with me while I do all this.
The beach here is definitely picturesque, strewn at random intervals with tall granite boulders, all against a backdrop of the pretty, green national park hillside. We're surrounded by national park. I remember a day tour we did out there once before, in Khao Sok. We paddled down a river in an inflatable canoe. It was me, mom, dad and a bunch of Swedish people who saw the whole thing through the lenses of their video cameras.
My iPad makes a noise. It's Skype. My heart leaps. Colin.
For a second I contemplate not picking up, but his face on his profile picture makes me swipe to connect before I can think any more. He's just worried about me.
'How are you?' he asks as soon as our faces are taking up the screen. 'Where are you now?'
His voice is so familiar. He's wearing his glasses, sitting on the sofa where I read that email. The picture of the London Eye I got from Covent Garden market is still frozen in time on the wall behind him.
'I'm alright, thanks,' I tell him. 'Still in Khao Lak.'
'It looks sunny,' he says. 'It's pissing it down here.'
'What's new. Why aren't you at work?'
'Because it's two a.m on Saturday,' he replies. 'I saw you come online, I was watching the match. Must be nice to be on holiday, no idea what day it is. So how is it being back there? Are you handling it?'
I shift my eyes to my scars, faced upwards at me on the table as I hold the iPad. The fact that I couldn't ever really talk to Colin about what happened made him feel like I shut him out. And he cheated on me. My fault initially, yes... but we were setting up a home together.
'It's a bit weird,' I tell him, trying to keep the emotion out of my voice now. 'But it looks so different now. It's all changed. I'm going with my friend to see a school they built.'
'Is this the friend you bumped into, who found you that posh resort?' he asks. I swing the iPad round so he can see it and he whistles in appreciation.
'Yes, that's him,' I say, and then I wish I hadn't. There's silence. I can see in Colin's face that he's processing my words now.
'Him? So it's a bloke?'
Shit. I don't know what to say now, and neither does he, I can tell. He has no hold on me anymore; not officially anyway. 'Yes,' I manage as my palms turn clammy around the iPad. 'He runs a dive shop now.'
'You're going scuba diving, too?' Colin asks in surprise.
'As if.'
He clears his throat, but there's something different in his voice now. 'Well, how long are going to stay there for?'
'Till I get my passport sorted out. I'm waiting to hear if the police find my other one first.'
'Don't count on it, babe,' he says predictably and slightly condescendingly. 'Let me know if you need any more money.' The way he called me babe hits a
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