The best things in life are free(dom).

I watch as Mother Superior Constance leans a bit harder on the belly down armbar she has Aor’s husband in. I know from the way the Mother has his thumb pointing away from her body he is in danger of having his elbow dislocated. I see his eyes bulge as he tries to deal with the increased pain before he yells out in Thai.

“He’s done,” Aor says not bothering to translate. “The worm is going to give me everything that I want.”

The fearsome elderly nun lets go of the man’s forearm and stands up as he cradles his very nearly broken arm to his body. He leaves the restaurant without a whimper as the girls all gather around the nun congratulating her on her bad arsery. The poor server from before comes and apologises for what happened but we won’t hear any of her attempts to say sorry, telling her it wasn’t her fault in the first place. We do push our separate tables all in together though and Aor orders a bottle of champagne to celebrate our victory. Yui initially refuses a glass saying she still has to teach that day until Mother Constance orders her as her boss to have a glass with the rest of us.

We settle into a very happy vibe after that. The first topic of conversation is where The Mother Superior learnt to do that.

“Before I found my calling I used to run with some very mean people in the favelas in Rio de Janeiro. I picked up a thing or two,” Constance tells us in a very modest way on what must be an amazing story in its own right.

“Were you in a gang?” Lucy asks.

“I was the gang leader,” Constance says with some pride.

The detective in Lucy can’t help but try and get the former gang member turned holy sister to spill some details but The Mother isn’t about to talk saying, “I’ve done some things that are between me and our creator. I decided I needed to make an early start on earning his forgiveness is all.”

As much as I and everyone else at that table would love to hear more, we all know we don’t have a snowflakes chance in hell of making the tattooed matron reveal her secrets.

Another round of drinks turns into cocktails and something a bit more filling than salads. The three Thai women demolish an enormous platter of chicken wings, fish cakes and coin bags between them with only minor help from the rest of us. In between all the food, Aor pulls out her phone and plays the video of her and I on the bonnet of her car for the benefit of those who haven’t seen it. Lucy blushing crimson as her and Mother Constance replay the 10-minute video three times.

Yui and Mother Constance are the first to leave the small celebration to get back to the school. Constance telling Yui she can have a lay down in the staff room for the rest of the day as she takes the car keys off the notorious **** intolerant Yui. Yui’s car soon seen entering traffic outside the restaurant in a loud burnout and big cloud of smoke. Lucy cackling loudly at the nun’s reckless driving.

Piya and Lucy are the next to leave together. Piya begging Aor to let her take the baby home with her for the day saying she won’t get the chance to play Auntie when she moves to Tokyo next week. Piya returns Aor’s keys to her having transferred all the babies items to her car as she is at the counter paying. Aor refuses to let anyone chip in for the lunch paying for everyone with her soon-to-be ex-husband and her joint account as one last ‘fuck you’ to him.

Alone, Aor and I walk back to her car. As we get there I feel a little embarrassed to ask her the name of her baby. I’ve never actually been told before. He’s simply been Aor’s baby.

“His name is Nuk,” Aor tells me with the sweetest loving face a mother can have when thinking about their child.

“Aww that’s beautiful,” I say, “little Baby Knuckles!”

“You did not just name my child that!” Aor says with mock outrage. “I’ll knuckle you,” she threatens before punching me twice in the stomach and then pulling me into her for a public kiss in broad daylight now that her separation troubles are behind her.

“Lucy is probably just getting home if we went there,” Aor begins.

“You could try being quiet,” I say which makes her laugh.

“Not today. I want to scream that I’m single and I want you to make me do it.”

“Well, where then?” I ask.

“I’ve got a surprise for you I want to show you.”

Aor drove me from the restaurant then and took us back into the city and then out towards the industrial area near the airport. I’m not sure what I was suspecting as a surprise but it wasn’t the old warehouse in an industrial estate, she brought me to.

“We’re here,” Aor said when she parked her car next to the small office that stood out the front.

“What is this place?” I asked as we got out of the car and went to the front door.

“You’ll see,” was all Aor would say as she rummaged through her oversized handbag for a ring of keys and began feeding them into the lock. Finding the right one she unlocked the door and let us inside.

The foyer of the office was taken up by a large desk where a receptionist would sit. The place was currently empty or Aor wouldn’t have had to unlock the door. Papers are covering the receptions desk in a mess and there are bookcases full of books and files against every wall.

“So, I knew you would need to find an office eventually, as well as a place to store all your rum when it arrives, so I wanted to do my bit for the business and help out. If you like it, I can get us a great deal on the rent. An old Thai friend of mine owns the building and has been using it as his accounting offices but wants to move somewhere smaller as the big warehouse out the back is just going to waste,” Aor tells me as she begins to give me the guided tour.

“This is amazing Aor,” I say as she shows me into a manager’s office off the reception with a big wooden desk and then into a smaller section were other workers could have their stations. From there it led through a door into a huge warehouse that was big enough to fit two full-sized houses in.

“This place is massive. We could never afford this just starting out,” I say. I had looked at some storage spaces and a building this size would have to rent for ten or twelve thousand dollars a month.

Continuing her sales pitch, “I worked out the distance and its about twenty minutes to your apartment and fifteen to The Loft in normal traffic. My friend only wants a thousand dollars a month to help me out with the divorce and I’ve already told him I’ll cover the first three months. I really want to do my bit and make this business something I can be proud of. So do you like it?”

“I love it,” I say, sold on the new AORsome Spirits Inc. head office and distribution centre.

Aor claps her hands and jumps up and down, excited to be doing her part for our business.

“O.M.G! I’m so happy! Why don’t you head back inside and take a seat in the bosses chair? I just need to use the bathrooms for a minute.

I do as Aor suggests and take a moment to tour through the offices again as she nips off to the ladies. I make my way slowly to the big leather recliner chair in the main office and take a seat behind the desk. I rub my hands gently over the wooden office desk as I imagine myself taking calls and doing business right here in this very spot. My introflection is broken though when Aor appears at the door to the office wearing only a pair of black panties and a grey office cardigan. She is holding one of the books from the reception and has put on a pair of wire-rimmed glasses.

“So will you be needing a secretary… boss?”