2 Questions Every Girl is Asking Herself

Chapter 19

Here I am at last, in Bali, lying by the pool, listening to American pop music, watching, I don't know what's its name, big leafy green plant rock back and forth in the gentle ocean breeze. 

Before I had a chance to get acquainted with the land, I met Jeremiah.

Jeremiah is an American tourist from Cincinnati. Brown hair, sky blue eyes, tall, slim, ruggedly handsome. Direct, sincere, wears-his-heart-on-his-sleeve kind of guy who often likes to insert his wise-ass comments while you're in the middle of a story. "I don't like to start conversations, I like to interrupt," as he aptly describes himself. Has a thing for Asian women, (who doesn't?). Secretly, he's sensitive and considerate (but that's just between you and me). I never would've guessed what he's been through for a 30 year old, and very much thought he's just another immature self-centered white dude looking to get laid, which wasn't entirely inaccurate. He tells me, "I'm a good bad guy." (Here we go again, the bad guy who's convinced he's good.)

Here's how we meet. My first morning in Bali, I sit by the pool, head down facebooking on my laptop (after a 2 month Facebook ban in China, I was famished for some online social interaction). There comes a man's voice with an American accent, "Are you busy? You're so pretty". I lift my head to take a look.

Cute, I thought.

We exchange the usual "where are you from", and "what are you doing today" pleasantries by the pool. And when Jeremiah finds out that I intended to check out the beach, he promptly abandons his lunch plans and walks me to Legian beach, where he rents us an umbrella and beach chairs from an Indonesian also named Jerry. We chat. I find out he also studied business, has his own headhunting firm, divorced, and has an adopted son who's 11. He's been spending the past couple of months traveling across Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, and Bali is his last stop before returning to America in two days. A self-admitted player, who never has trouble meeting women, but has yet to meet THE one. We flirt and banter back and forth. He'll make his wise-ass comments, but his sarcasm is never hurtful.

He's been visiting an acupuncturist to treat a sports inflicted back pain, and has an appointment at 2 o'clock.

I wondered briefly if he would come back. If that's his graceful exit strategy.

While he goes to the appointment, I make friends with a Balinese man named Aya selling tours on the beach.

I ask him about Ketut Liyer.

"Ah, Ketut Liyer! I know him. His son and I are good friends!" He pulls Ketut's business card out of his pocket and shows it to me:

Ketut Liyer
medicine man
healing and meditation
balinese astrology
palm reading
painter
home stay

"Julia Roberts has seen him. I take you there. I know where he live. When you want to go, tomorrow 9 o'clock I pick you up at the hotel?" Aya continues.

"Sure!" I said briskly.

Ketut's real. I almost couldn't believe how real everything is. I half thought he's someone you'd only see in movies. Besides, most things you see in movies aren't real. Liz Gilbert, the woman who wrote Eat Pray Love, came to Bali in 2004. That was 7 years ago. Ketut was very old then. He could very well have died, or moved, or stopped receiving visitors. But he's alive! And still reading palms for $15 per person. And the unreal thing is I could meet him, and he could read my palm and tell my destiny just like he did for Liz! Maybe he'll tell me to come back to Bali and live with him for a while too?

When Jeremiah comes back from the acupuncturist, I tell him about Ketut cautiously, expecting him to laugh. But he didn't laugh, (well he did laugh for a bit) but he definitely didn't have that "I think you're crazy" look on his face like that American from DC. He just tells me it's adorable, and that he wants to come with me.

We watch the sunset together. Then he asks like a perfect gentleman, "Can I take you out to dinner tonight?" For someone who's full of sarcasm, whose favorite gesture is raising his eyebrows followed by shrugging his shoulders as if to say – "I really don't care what you think" kind of guy, I really didn't expect that from him. He said it in an almost shy, vulnerable, "I hope you'll say yes" kind of way. Of course, I HAD to say yes.

We go to dinner at Ku De Ta – one of the most popular restaurants in Bali. It's exquisite. Beautiful food, delicious cocktails served right by the beach. The cocktail is especially worth mentioning. The Lychee Rose Martini – a lychee, rose water, vodka combination served with three red rose petals..It was lovely.