Gemscentric

Written by Julian Robov


Forty One


He was enjoying the late evening at the Window-on-Silom restaurant. Jack decided to stay a bit longer watching the tourists sipping tea. It was just amazing how he could finally get the assurance from Seri and Rudy regarding blue sapphires.
Especially, he liked Rudy. His face, eyes and nose had that special feature—beauty. Like a unique cut gemstone there was that innate brilliance. Without a good cut, hardly any gemstone displayed brilliance. They were intertwined just like Rudy’s face, eyes and nose. If he was a woman, he would have married her immediately. Jack laughed unconsciously, as his thoughts began to orbit in a totally different flight path. He began to drink more tea, as the thought refused to extinguish from his mind.
Then he saw a really fat-looking tourist arriving in a frenzy, who took a seat not too far from his window seat. Boy, what flesh? He must have weighed at least two or even three hundred kilos plus—like a baby elephant without a trunk and tail. He could have been an American, European or perhaps a laboratory-created man. After ordering from the menu, Jack saw the fat man grabbing at his grain frantically, and dashing to a nearby toilet. He was alone. What a creature! He returned in ten minutes feeling good and relaxed.

Jack checked the menu again. He was in no mood to leave that quickly. It was only six in the evening. There were a few Japanese and Korean girls who were chirping in a strange tone, as they took their seats in opposite corners. Jack could hardly differentiate them from their physical properties. Visually they looked pretty much the same. What really caught Jack’s attention was their clothing. It was a see-through design, and they seemed to be least bothered by the peeping Toms, who had purposely taken their seats to feel the special environment. Again, these men—five altogether—could have been either American, English, Canadian, New Zealanders or Australian, because they all spoke English with strange accents changing seats in a rather abnormal manner. The staff seemed to be extremely tolerant.

After ordering a Singha beer, Jack began writing some notes on his Palm Pilot, checking some emails and other appointments. Then came a woman with a menu, who spoke perfect English. He didn’t look at her face first, instead concentrated more on his work. Finally, he looked up at her face. What a beauty! Is this the woman he was looking for so long? He wasn’t sure. But she was looking at him in a rather pleasant way, he could hardly breathe. She had that quality what most gem dealers look for in a gemstone face-up(table-up). A good face, brilliance, luster, clarity and finally a good cut. She looked wholesome, and now she was standing in front of him, waiting for his instruction.
“Hello, sir, would you like to order anything from the menu?”
After glancing at the menu at random, he raised his face to say something.
“Ah, yes, but what’s your name?” Jack said. “I’m sorry to ask you this personal question?”
“Oh, it’s fine,” she replied in cute way. “Pailin!”
“Wow! Pailin! That’s an interesting name, but you look beautiful too,” Jack commented.
“Thank you!”
“I’m Jack Quartez,” he said. “You can call me Jack.” He then fished out a name card from his jacket and gave it to her. She then responded with a meaningful wai(greeting).
“Oh, wait a minute. I’m staying at the Oriental. Let me write the room number for you in case you would like to call,” Jack said with a wry smile.
“Oh, thank you so much,” she said, and then left the table.