Side Effects

Chapter 6

I'll admit, I've become a tad jaded in my travels. I haven't flown a commercial jet in ages, and even then, only in the United States. Travelling internationally has always been with a private jet, and then always in order to meet government officials. Do you know how easy it is to go through customs when you have a government attaché waiting there for you and ready to sweep you into a waiting limousine?

Yeah, it was about 30 seconds, just long enough for the passport stamps to be applied, and then we were through, with our luggage being sent right to the car as well. Was I spoiled? Absolutely. Alaya just followed me along in a daze, though sometimes I had to nudge her along as she needed time to acclimate herself to the experience.

"Is it like this every time?" she asked in a hushed whisper while we got into the limo.

I gave her a little shrug. "Not every time, but most. The better relationship we have with the government, the easier it gets. We're here to see Mr. Prateung, the Minister of Health. We have a great relationship with him already, as we have brokered deals to import several kinds of prescription drugs here. This trip we're hoping to get a new one, so we'll probably wine and dine him after the meeting."

"I have to help with that?" She sounded worried, and I didn't want to start the trip like that.

Shaking my head rapidly, I tried to put her at ease. "No, not at all. Just be yourself, don't worry about that at all. I mean, no food fights please, but really it is to just show him that we're good people. Usually, I just take him to dinner, have some nice drinks and conversation, and then his driver takes him home. It isn't anything crazy. He's married with a lovely wife, and he likes being home with her."

She nodded at that with a smile. "I'm not going to turn down free food!"

The limo brought us smoothly to our hotel, with Alaya looking out of the window the entire time. She delighted in pointing out everything that she saw, and it was hard not to get caught up in her enthusiasm. We hadn't even checked in yet, and I was already smiling more on this trip than I had in the entirety of most others.

We were staying at the Shangri-La Bangkok, a gorgeous five star hotel overlooking the Chao Phraya River and downtown Bangkok. After seeing Alaya's reactions to everything else so far, I might have taken a few candid pictures of her reaction to the hotel when we got there, as it really was a wonderful place to stay. She was like a kid at Christmas, and almost jumping up and down in excitement while we were still in the lobby. Once we checked in and took the elevators up to our room on the 24th floor, I flipped the camera to video, just to get her reaction when she flipped out over the suite.

"This place is bigger than that house I'm staying in!" Alaya cried out, as she ran from room to room.

The Shangri-La Wing Specialty Suite that we were staying in was over 2,000 square feet, so she was probably right when comparing it to that little bungalow she was living in. It had two bedrooms, a dining room, kitchen and giant sitting room. There was a gigantic marble bathroom with a whirlpool bath overlooking the river and city too, that could tempt you to spend an hour just soaking in the water and enjoying the view. With it already being night, the view was stunning.

"The room meets with your approval then?" I asked her with a grin.

"This is fucking insane! I knew you had the jet and the house, but this is seriously insane! I just want to move in here!" she cried out before flopping onto the couch. "Are all the hotels like this?"

"Well, I've never been to Malaysia, so that will have to be determined. It might not be as smooth sailing as this one. But Rome, Copenhagen and Australia are great. Mali is corporate housing, and I'm actually upset we're even going since I hate having to go to the labs. To me that could all be done via email," I told her.