You Have Yourself a Deal

He paid for his drink, sipped it and relaxed back in his chair. Maybe he had better keep one of the air tickets, he said to himself. Sooner or later, he would want to return to Paris. The Lotus Hotel was very cheap. He could remain in Hong Kong if he were careful for a couple of months. He felt himself relaxing. He had the facility of shedding unpleasant experiences very quickly. He suddenly found himself looking forward to those two months. He suddenly didn’t want to sit in this luxury bar for the rest of the evening with his thoughts. Carrying his glass he went back to the telephone booths. He gave the telephonist the Lotus Hotel number. When Wan See came on the line, Girland said, “There’s a girl I’m interested in. Her name’s Tan-Toy. Where can I contact her?”

“Is that Mr. Girland?”

“Who else did you think it was?”

“Yes, I know her. She has a room on Jaffe Road.”

“Is that near you?”

“A hundred yards.”

“Would you send someone round there? Tell her I’m at the Hilton, and I want to see her. Will you do that?”

“Yes, with pleasure.”

“The pleasure will be mine I hope, but thanks.”

Girland carried his glass back to the bar and sat down. He believed that life should never be wasted. It was short enough as it is, he reasoned. The trick of living a full life was to make good use of every hour.

Crossing his long legs, he settled down to wait for Tan-Toy to come to him.