Mail and Gadgets

Chapter Eighteen - Over the rainbow

Hi readers,
Hope you enjoy this chapter,
The picture above was taken off Google and it's my idea of what Burtie looked like as a young man.
Dedicated to T :-)
Enjoy!

'Somewhere over the rainbow,
Way up high,
And the Dream that you dream of,
Once in a lullaby.

Somewhere over the rainbow,
Bluebirds fly,
And the dreams that you dream of,
Dreams really do come true.
                     Over the rainbow - Harry Nelson
LLP
Arthit had woken up the next morning to find a message from ‘BK152’. It had been the highlight of his morning and it had lifted his mood but after reading it he couldn’t help but to feel slightly disappointed. After all, he was expecting a bit of an explanation why this guy hadn’t shown up and instead the whole message had been encrypted and had not really explained anything. What did he mean by ‘someday he would explain everything’? Explain what exactly? And why couldn’t he say what happened? It all seemed a bit mysterious. Maybe Kao’s presumption of him being ‘The Rooftop Killer’ was right.

“So, he didn’t say where he had been or anything?” Rome asked.

“No”.

The sky was a bright blue with only a couple of white clouds as Arthit and Rome rode in a city taxi down a busy high street. They were on their way to Burtie’s condo for lunch. Arthit had always loved these small get-togethers not only to see Burtie but also to see his great collection of original si-fi novels. It was also a chance to sample Burtie’s cooking because Burtie was a great cook, learning most of his culinary arts from his trips around Europe. He was also a great story teller and from as far back as Arthit could remember he had always enjoyed being told these stories. From tales of Burtie’s family back in England to his many adventures as a young man. 

They had stopped off at ‘Blue Sky Cafe’ to pick up some Chinese doughnuts. An added treat to go with lunch and Burtie’s favourite. Rome had insisted on holding them.

“And he didn’t say anything about wanting to meet you again?” Rome asks turning his whole body to face Arthit who was starring out of the taxi window, watching the passing scenery.
  
“No, not really”. Arthit frowns.

Rome shrugs, “I just don’t get it?”

“Listen, it’s ok”. Arthit turns in his seat to face Rome. “It doesn’t matter”. He smiles to himself. “We’ll  just send letters back and forth to each other for the rest of our lives”.

Rome shakes his head and puts a hand on Arthits shoulder, “Oh! My poor deluded friend. You really have got it bad. Haven’t you?”

Arthit pushes the hand off. He didn’t know what he felt. He snatches the box of doughnuts from Rome. “I have no idea what your on about”. He says as he turns back around to look out the widow. 

Rome grins to himself, “and they say I’m the over-dramatic one”. He chuckles under his breath. Next to him Arthit watches as the scenery turns from the busy streets of Bangkok to the more open spaces.

Eventually the taxi pulls up just outside Burtie’s condo building and they both spot Kao stood near the entrance. He looked like he had just come from one of his tutoring sessions. Dressed in a white T-Shirt, deep blue shirt and biege cargo pants. He was leant against the building with the blue and grey shoulder bag Kao always had with him when he was tutoring, hitched high on his shoulder and was typing away on his phone. Normally, they would both dismiss it as Kao just playing one of his online games but his phone was pinging and Kao was giggling.

He was typing away with such concentration that he didn’t notice the two men descending from a taxi and approach him. Rome looks at Arthit and winks at him, putting a finger to his lips as he silently gets nearer to their unsuspecting friend tapping him on his shoulder. Kao jumps so much that he nearly drops his phone. He holds his hand over his heart, taking some really deep breaths as he calms himself down.