10 Days - Part 19
Friday, October 10, 2008
We arrived at the Shangri-la hotel on Friday in the early afternoon. Burma Boy made me wander around while he checked in. Apparently, he had made the reservation under the guise that he was a travel agent so he would get a nice discount. (There were travel agents in his family, so he had the necessary paraphernalia to ensure success.) He was supposed to be traveling alone to get an even further discount, explaining why I couldn’t be anywhere near him while he checked in. Ahhhh, the life of a super haggler. My instructions were to eventually wander into the lounge where he would pick me up to take me to our room.
Friday was warm and beautiful and we relaxed by the pool. Burma Boy’s best friends were also staying at the Shangri-La for a wedding, so not only did I have the opportunity to be uncomfortable with him, but with his comrades as well. I met his friend Caroline early in the afternoon by the pool. She seemed lovely as she (understandably) checked out the whacko that had flown across the country to go on a second date. I left them alone to catch up while I went to get a two hour thai massage. HEAVENLY. They cost about $5 and I see no reason why a person should not get one every day, twice a day if you’re feeling indulgent. I had enjoyed the time that I’d had to myself the day before in
And the food! Finally, the food was edible. Better than edible. It was GOOD. I took Burma Boy out for dinner that evening and the experience couldn’t have been further from the date we’d gone on 4 months earlier. There was little laughter, conversation was not easy. I’m not really sure why I hadn’t called Thai air myself to see if I could depart a day early, but I didn’t. I was grateful to go meet Caroline and her boyfriend, Tom, after dinner. It was good to have some distraction from just the two of us. I was starting to feel less and less connected to this person, not more. I tried to be normal, to be myself, but I was already feeling uncomfortable with Burma Boy and when he was surrounded with his two best friends, I was the odd girl out. I chatted with Caroline’s sisters who were obsessed with fashion and loved my dress. But the whole time, I was sure that Burma Boy and Caroline, who had been whispering incessantly, were talking about what a pain in the ass I’d been and how much he couldn’t wait to get rid of me. Completely and totally convinced. SO convinced that I had decided that I knew the ENTIRE conversation they’d been having. I felt my face get warm and my heart start to beat…anxiety and anger flooded my body. By the time we got back to the hotel, my jaw was so clenched that it would have taken a small army to pry it open. Burma Boy, who had finally gotten observant, asked if I was ok.
“No, No, I’m not OK. I’m not ok since you just sat there and talked to Caroline about me for the ENTIRE evening!” I spurted at him through clenched teeth.
“What are you talking about?”
The look on Burma Boy’s face told me I’d been wrong. Very, very wrong. I had made the entire thing up in my head. They hadn’t been talking about anything even remotely involving me.
The anger flooded out as quickly as it had come and was rapidly replaced with shame. How could I have been so self-centered and paranoid? Where was the confident young woman who had flown there from
Posted byMeesh-elle my Belle at 5:15 PM
Labels: 10 Days in Burma, past, writing exercise, yeah...i'm a little bit crazy
ooh boy...
$5 for a massage??!! seriously?!?! holy hell. yeah, i'd be doing that up once if not twice daily, for sure.
funny the things we imagine in our heads when things aren't going as planned, huh?