I walked outside. The heat and humidity hit me all at once and I breathed it in. It was familiar and associated with so many good memories, I was definitely adding a new memory to that today, too. Lilly.

I glanced around. I had no money. I had no way of getting to the backpackers lodge.. wait, what was I thinking, I wasn't going to be able to pay for a backpackers lodge either. The only way I was going to make any money was if I got to town where all the restaurants and shops were. I could find some work there to tide me over for a few days. But it was a long walk, too long. Especially in this heat.

I put my bag down on the pavement and started scratching through it, maybe I had something to barter with. A T-shirt for a ride into town? A CD for a bottle of water, I was officially dying of thirst- not that I had a CD on me, and I wasn't going to part with my Ipod. My mouth was very dry, though, and in this weather, you actually needed water. I could brave drinking out of a tap in the bathroom, nah, not safe. I didn't want to be homeless with food poisoning.

I found what I was looking for. A smart, expensive collared shirt that I had bought for a friends wedding, along with a pair of cufflinks (I would NEVER wear again) a belt and a shiny pair of leather shoes. I could clean up when necessary. They were the only things I could probably barter with. The street was lined with Tuk-Tuk's and I started walking up it, gazing into each one, looking for the kind of guy that would be down for trading. Not that I knew what that kind of guy looked like.

I finally found him. He was sitting on the pavement drinking a bottle of water, looking like he didn't have a care in the world. His feet were up on his Tuk-Tuk and the guy looked like he was ready for a holiday.

"Hey." I said. The guy looked up. "Do you have another bottle of water?"

The guy looked me up and down and then reached into his Tuk-tuk and pulled out a big, brand new bottle of water. I salivated. Literally. Over water!

"20 Baht." he said holding it out for me.

"20! Are you mad?"

The man smiled at me. "25 now."

"What about this?" I held the cufflinks out for him. They cost way more that 20 Baht, in fact, I won't go into how much the things bloody cost.

The man jumped up and took them from my hand. He rolled them over and scrutinized them.

"You're mad." He said and shoved the bottle of water into my arms.

"What about a lift into town too?" I asked.

The man shook his head. "I'm waiting for someone."

I wasted no time in opening the water and in one sip, downed half the bottle.

"You have something else to trade?" he asked.

I nodded, still downing the water.

"You see that one with the red umbrella on," The main pointed back down the street from where I had come from. And there, right at the bottom of the row was a brightly colored Tuk-tuk that had clearly been decorated by the owner.

"Ask him. Tell him Prasong sent you. Maybe you get lucky today."

I thanked the man and headed back down the street and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw her again.

She had changed now and was wearing a pair of jeans and a plain white t-shirt. The girls I'd dated would never dress like that- too mainstream. Too boring. It looked like she had attempted to brush her hair too, and it was looking much better. She'd managed to get some more of the makeup off too. I was staring. I knew I was, but I couldn't help it.

She had that same panicked look on her face from before, except this time I knew what it was all about. She was on her honeymoon, alone. She had just had her heart broken, she had just been humiliated and now she was here, braving her honeymoon for one. I admired her so much. Not many women would be able to do that. But she was.

"Hey." I called out to her without knowing what I was going to say. She turned and her face flushed red once more. I walked up to her. "I need to apologize. It was wrong of me to say that stuff about you looking like a heroin addict. I heard what you said in there, and I'm very sorry. If I'd known I would never have..." I was babbling and grateful when she cut me off.

"It's okay. Let's leave it. I insulted you and you insulted me. Now we're even." Clearly she didn't want to talk about it, I didn't blame her.

"Deal," I extended my hand and she took it. She seemed to react to it by tensing a little, and then pulled it away quickly.

"So where are you going?" I asked.

""Nowhere right now, my hotel shuttle can't pick me up for another three hours."

"Why don't you just take a taxi?" I raised the bottle of water up to my mouth again and tried to drink, only this time I missed. I was too busy concentrating on her lips as she talked and wondering what it would feel like to kiss her? (I would never of course, especially in the state she was in) The water ran down my face and onto my shirt, so much for being cool. But the coldness of the water felt good on my skin, so I poured some into my hand and ran it through my hair.

WTF? Suddenly she was looking at me strangely. Very. Her eyes seemed to scan me up and down, as if she was in shock. As if she had seen a ghost. She quickly shook her head as if she was trying to dislodge her thought... I would have given anything to know what she had been thinking.

"I... I don't trust taxi's." she stuttered. It was so damn cute.

"And where are you going?" she asked.

"Not sure. I think I am pretty stranded."

"What you mean?"

"I had to give that guy all my money to avoid the...¦um, intimate search he was about to perform."

"You could probably get some more at your hotel."

"I don't have a hotel."

"So where are you sleeping?"

"Not sure, I was going to go to a backpackers lodge, but now I guess I'm sleeping on the beach until I can get more cash."

Shee looked puzzled. "Why don't you just go to an ATM and draw some?" It seemed so obvious to me.

"I don't have a card."

"What?"

"I'm backpacking. I just did Europe and moved around from place to place earning money from odd jobs, and now I'm going to explore the East."

She looked even more puzzled and I got the feeling this interaction wasn't going well. She was looking at me like I was mad, strange, a different species. Maybe it was time to break it off? Clearly, we weren't very conversationally compatible. So I did.

"Anyway. I hope you don't have to wait too long for your shuttle, Lilly." I gave her one last smile, definitely the last time I was ever going to see her again, I turned and started walking away.

"You can stay with me."

I paused. Had I just heard that? I turned around to make sure I wasn't imagining it, but I wasn't.

"I mean, just for one night, while you figure out what you're going to do for money. I have this big suite," I rolled my eyes and scoffed, "Deluxe Honeymoon Suite. And it's got a separate lounge area, so..."

I stepped forward enthusiastically. I really wanted to accept the invitation, even though I knew she was probably just desperately lonely and scared and would probably take anyone's company right now. This had nothing to do with the fact that she wanted to spend time with me, or get to know me in any way, but I didn't care. The idea of getting a little more time with her was so appealing.

"You sure?"

She smiled... God I wanted to kiss her. "No, I'm not sure, but what the hell, I guess." She wiggled from one foot to the other nervously. "Besides, you'd be doing me a bit of a favor, I really want to get to the hotel, and I don't want to take a taxi alone, so..."

That was all the invitation I needed. "Well, if I'd be helping you?" I walked straight into the road and hailed the first Tuk-Tuk I could find.

Little did she know that she was actually helping me... 

*Clean- The accoustic version of the song. Also... breathtaking.