[Pixs of models for illustration purpose only]
“Make yourselves comfortable, gentlemen,” Mummy Lulu says. “Jessica and Wati have not arrived. Traffic’s bad tonight. They stay quite far away.” She presses a button on a remote and the air-conditioner in the karaoke room starts to hum.
Chow Kah, Hussein and I settle down on the settee. The smell of citrus fills the room, and lights sparkle from the chandelier.
“Maybe you want to book other GROs?” Mummy Lulu (left pix) asks.
“No, I only want Jessica,” Chow Kah says, “and I’ll wait. The usual beer, Mummy. Sapporo Premium.”
“Bir Bintang,” Hussein says. “Me, too, I’ll wait for Wati.”
“Fresh orange,” I say.
Mummy Lulu leaves the room. I pick up a remote, thumb a few buttons and sentimental music starts to seep from the speakers. “Wow, you guys are so loyal to your regular GROs, huh?” I say.
“Yup, I’m trying to woo Jessica. Make her my girlfriend. I need to show my loyalty to her.”
“Has Jessica fallen for you yet, Chow Kah?” Hussein asks, leaning back on the settee and stretching out both arms to rest them on the crest rail.
“My battle to win her heart is half-won. She will do anything I tell her to.”
Hussein raises his eyebrows. “Really? Prove it.”
“I bet you three hundred ringgit that I can get her to show me her butt!”
“Deal!”
“Come, let’s play darts while waiting for them,” I say.
Thirty minutes roll by. Through the glass section of a wall, I see the hour-glass figures of Jessica and Wati, both wearing red dresses, silhouetted against light from the bar. “Here, they come. Jessica and Wati.”
The door is pushed open from the outside. “Hello guys, sorry we’re late,” Jessica says.
“Good evening,” Wati (left pix) says, gliding into the room on flats.
Jessica (top pix) slinks beside Chow Kah, stoops to plant a peck on his cheek and sits beside him. A whiff of perfume blown by the air-conditioner floats past me.
“Can you come outside for a moment, Jessica?” Chow Kah says.
“Yes, dear, what is it?” Jessica's voice is sweet like sugar.
Chow Kah smiles and says, “I need to talk to you confidentially.”
Chow Kah and Jessica leave the room and return ten minutes later.
Extending his hand to Hussein, Chow Kah says, “My money, please. Three hundred.”
“Not so fast,” Hussein says. “I need to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth.” He turns to Jessica. “Jessica, did you show Chow Kah your butt?”
“Huh? Why?” Jessica screws her face.
“Please answer my question.”
“Err, yes, I did. Just now we slipped into the gents to do it.”
Wati exclaims, “What? Why?”
“Chow Kah said he heard from one of Hot Legs' staff that I have a butterfly tattoo on my butt. He said he bet me one hundred ringgit if I could prove what he was told was wrong. Of course, he lost.”
“Come on, darling, pay up,” Wati says, smiling.
/end
Published by Monsoon Books, Singapore. Sold in Malaysia at Kinokuniya, Popular Book Store, Borders and MPH nationwide. An e-book edition is also available. Please check out monsoonbooks.com.sg
/end
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