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“What do you see?” I ask.
“Oh, shoot!”
“What?”
“He’s back, but with a towel around his waist. Anyway, the bare-chest guise still has appeal.” Lana sighs. “Even from a distance, I can tell he’s eye candy.”
“And what’s the eye candy doing?”
“Talking to the monkey, I think, but he’s too far away so I can’t be sure.”
The naked stranger’s stilt villa and mine are about thirty yards apart and share a patch of grass enclosed within a square lined with hedges for privacy.
“Why don’t you come out and see for yourself?” Lana suggests. “He’s no longer naked.”
I get up from my squatting position but stay half-hidden behind the vertical cane screen shielding the left edge of the patio. Spying between the cracks in the wood, I can make out what’s happening on the other side.
“You’re right,” I tell Lana. “He’s negotiating with the monkey.”
“How does one bargain with a monkey?”
“The dude is offering a banana in exchange for his phone.”
Lana chuckles. “Is the monkey taking it?”
To better peer between the gaps, I bring my face so close to the divider my nose touches the wood. “Looks like she’s considering… she’s extending her free hand toward the banana… and, yep, she’s taken the banana and, oh, no! She’s dropped the phone.” I watch as the discarded piece of technology crashes to the floor, my neighbor not quick enough to catch it. “Ouch, you wouldn’t believe the stream of filth that’s exiting the dude’s mouth. He’s bending down to pick up the phone; the screen must’ve broken… and, oh gosh, there goes the towel… I have eyes on white butt cheeks again.” I push my phone slightly out to the side so Lana can see.
“Yeah, those are some impressive buns.”
We both keep an eye on the man as he takes a few quick steps to his door and, still cursing like a sailor, slams it shut.
“Aww.” I sigh, turning off the video. “Show’s over.”
After one last peek at the monkey now enjoying her banana on the roof, I head back inside my bungalow, saying, “What’s up with you?”
It’s weird for Lana to call me while I’m on a work assignment out of the country.
“You have time to talk?” she asks, with an edge to her voice.
Something’s definitely up.
“Not really, honey; I have a meeting with the expedition team in”—I check my watch—“twenty minutes.”
“Oh, okay.” She sounds downcast. “Can we talk when you come back?”
I double-check that my door is locked, then open the backpack resting against the wall next to it to get some clothes out. “Did something happen?” I ask, apprehension building in my gut.
“Yeah,” Lana says. “But it’s better if we talk later. You’ll want to hear the whole story.”
I select a pair of shorts and a loose T-shirt and lay them on the mattress. “Now I definitely want spoilers.”
“Trust me, you don’t.”
“Do.”
“Okay, but you’re going to hate that you have to go to a meeting after I tell you…”
I untie the back of my bikini bra and toss it on the straw bench at the foot of the bed. “You’re raising my expectations… What is it?”
