The trip back home.

Having ravished each other for the last time, unfortunately, we begin to think about returning back to our normal lives. But not before a quick skinny drip to wash the sand and the sex off. Piya and I run into the crystal clear blue waters and I’m not ashamed to say I experience a little bit of shrinkage. Piya swims up to me and wraps her arms and legs around my body.

“Thank you once again for the most perfect date,” she beams.

“You are more than welcome,” I say honestly.

“What time do you have work tonight?” Piya asks.

I tell her the time I have to be at work and alas we need to get going, leaving our island. The trip back takes a little longer as there is an easterly wind blowing against us, whipping up the waves into little white peaks. The boat is fast and sturdy though and I have fun pushing it a bit harder than I really should. Piya too enjoyed the bounce and salt spraying as we hit each crest. Arriving back at the marina, Piya stays with the boat on the jetty as I go and bring the trailer around, backing it into the water to load our craft up. Piya helps me offload our belongings into the car and we divide up the catch of crayfish between us. Piya tells me she will invite Aor over the help her cook them.

Back in the car, it feels funny to be driving something other than the boat but I make my way back to Piya’s house without any hassles. I give her a hand to bring her things inside the house before returning to my car to say our goodbyes. Piya seems particularly **** to let me go after our night away.

“I can’t stop thanking you for our date. Everything was perfect. No one has ever made me feel so special,” Piya tells me sincerely

“You are special. So incredibly special Piya. Never forget that,” I say.

Its when we go to hug goodbye that she whispers in my ear something I hadn’t expected to hear.

“I love you.”

I pull back so I can look Piya in the eye.

“I love you too Piya,” I say back. “I think I always have.”

“I know. Me too. That’s why I ran away so much.”

We kiss long and tenderly.

“Now go! Get ready for work,” she tells me, smiling the happiest I think I have ever seen her. “I have three million messages to get through and Yui will kill you if she doesn’t hear from you soon.

I drive off, watching Piya wave goodbye in the mirrors as I leave. On the drive home, my mind is spinning from the fact Piya just told me she loves me! At the apartment block, I use the garden hose to wash down the boat and clean it before dropping the keys back off to Barry.

“How was the trip mate?” Barry asks when I knock on his door.

“It was awesome. Piya absolutely loved it,” I tell him.

“That’s fantastic,” he says.

I give him the two crayfish I saved for him and Lucy and bid him farewell to let myself into my own flat and start to get ready for work. First things first though I give Yui a call like Piya told me too. She picks up on the second.

“Hey sweetie,” Yui calls down the line.

“Hey Yu, how are you?” I ask.

“Good now that I’ve heard from you. How was the date? Did Piya absolutely love it?”

“She did. We had a great time.”

“I bet you had a couple of ‘great times’” she says laughing.

I keep my lips sealed and ask her how her day was. She’s bummed that she has a heap of marking to get done over the weekend and that Piya and I got to go away while she was stuck working. I remind her that I have to work tonight. She wishes me the best and asks if I want her to drop off some Red Bulls at the bar. I tell her I will be fine and that the bar would have plenty anyway. She tells me to be safe and to have a great night at work, letting me know that she’s going to pester Piya for every single little detail of the date. I tell her she’s starting to sound more like Aor and she swears at me in Thai, laughing all the while.