Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
flopped his wrist; I suppressed a smile and was alarmed to note that Harry had seen the
wrist action. I burnt with embarrassment and took a long sip of the delicious red wine,
“Mmm, this wine is wonderful, Harry. I must say, you do have excellent taste.”
“My chef does,” he replied shortly, waving off the compliment. He seemed a little annoyed.
I believe he was a little hurt at Gavin's faux pas.
Plates of steamy soup were brought in and laid out in front of us with a flourish. There was
tomato soup, thick and creamy with crushed, fried bacon as croutons, and a dollop of fresh
cream floating on top with a sprig of parsley. Nice touch. We waited for Hugo to join us
before starting. “Oh! No need to wait! Please start before it gets cold,” he said effeminately.
The soup was wonderful, and I felt it in the pit of my stomach, warm and nourishing. The
fish was just as good, and as we ate, we relaxed more; the wine flowed, and Harry proved to
be a charming host. Gavin cracked a few jokes, and there were some of howls of laughter;
he always managed to get a laugh out of people.
Canned peaches and custard wound up the elegant meal, and we were led out to the spa-
cious after-deck where cigarettes were lit. Hugo joined us a little later; he had brought out
a bottle of some sweet after-dinner liqueur and glasses which he now charged and handed
around. “Thanks Hugo, my dear, you excelled yourself tonight!” said Harry as his hand
lingered on Hugo's slight shoulder. Hugo smiled shyly at the rare compliment. I noticed
Mike looked on, a little jealous.
The other mystery crew member finally came out and was introduced to us. Roddy was
Asian and spoke little English, but he more than made up for it in looks and charm. He had
a dazzling smile. It was easy to see that he was the boat's mascot. He went over to Tony
and sat down next to him. I was amazed to hear Tony talking fluently to him in his own
language.
I asked Mike, “What is that language that they are speaking?”
“Oh, that's Vietnamese. Tony was a vet in Vietnam and stayed on after the war. He had a
very bad time there actually, was captured and badly tortured.”
“Yes, I noticed he seemed to have had a sad or hard life.” I replied quietly.
I was onto my second glass of liqueur and feeling very light headed when Harry came over
to me and asked me to join him on the upper deck. The crew looked up with interest.
“Oh boy! Here we go; time to pay for the dinner,” I thought. I followed safely behind him
up the short flight of steps and sat down on a side bench, also in luxurious, plush white
leather, overlooking the dark lagoon. Harry came and sat down next to me a little too close
for comfort. I was too embarrassed to move away and sat still, almost frozen.
