Martoons

Today: Damion attempts to market some romance.

Cast of characters

Damion

Coffee Lady

Mr Go

Scene: Coffee Lady’s coffee shop (“Coffee Shop Max”), Chinju

*

After returning with Go from dropping off Thomas in Ulsan, Damion had gone straight to Coffee Lady’s shop to fill the romance vacuum left by the now-dearly-departed Golden God.

* Do you think Coffee Lady will be swayed? *

“We do not choose love,” he cooed to her, “it chooses us. It is bigger than us. We are helpless and just follow along. Slaves to Cupid’s arrow.

“The hand of fate has guided Thomas to a new place and guided me to you.”

“I’m not a big fan of flowery prose,” she answered sarcastically, diligently wiping the coffee cup rings and cigarette ashes off the counter between them.

“The hour after you get off work tonight is the first hour of the rest of our love life,” Dame recited.

Timing was everything in seduction.

In a matter of seconds, he’d launch the final volley of his romantic sales pitch – the action command.

It would consummate their new sans Thomas relationship and be an offer she couldn’t refuse:

An all-expenses-paid evening in the best tourist motel in the neighborhood.

* Will it really be something that she cannot refuse? *

He’d done his homework on this one; dropped by the handful of posh hotels around here and checked out their rooms, their shower facilities and – yes – their toilets.

The Tokyo Rose Inn had won hands down.

Their in-room shower had Japanese-style multiple shower heads; one emanating from each wall.

And the toilet – believe it or not – had a self-enema feature.

As Dame sat at Coffee Lady’s counter explaining to her exactly which buttons she’d push to activate the after-enema perfuming function, she decided it was time to wipe the smug smile off his face.

* And how will she do that? *

“Where is your friend Thomas?” she said sternly, flinging down her wet rag on the countertop and putting her hands on her hips defiantly.

Dame snapped out of his romantic reverie; it was as if Coffee Lady had been reading his mind and seeing his kinky little vision.

Now she was scolding him like a mother discovering a pubescent son with a skin mag.

“My friend Thomas?” he blurted out.

“I want to see him often,” Coffee declared.

“When you see him please send him here.”

And she dove back into her cleaning chores.

The coldest feeling in memory shot through Dame.

His face involuntarily twisted up.

“My … friend… Thomas?”

To save his last iota of pride, all he could answer with was, “He’s not my friend.”

His sales pitch about the Tokyo Rose Inn and its luxurious lavatories never reached his lips.

The only thing that did was another cigarette, followed by a prolonged coughing fit.

*

A little later.

The silence in the room was deafening.

Go sat in his Central Institute office brooding, while Damion reclined nervously on the couch to keep the boss company.

Dame had tried a dozen times to kick start a conversation but got tired of one-word answers or grunts in response.

So he gave up.

When the quietude would drag on for several excruciating minutes, Go would tend to shatter it and thereby reset the tension meter.

* And Go does this how? *

“When will she be arriving?” he presently asked for what seemed like the thousandth time.

“Can you call the airline and confirm she is on board?”

Dame took a long, drawn-out puff on his cigarette for what seemed like the ten thousandth time.

It was for effect – to make it look like he was giving Go’s question some thought, although he already knew the answer.

* What is the answer? *

“I don’t think much has changed from the last time I called – an hour ago. The Vancouver to Los Angeles part is out of the way. Every time a flight leaves L.A., we’ll call to see if she’s on it.

“She’s flying standby so it could be any one of those flights. She wasn’t on the last one so maybe she’ll be on the next…”

And that wasn’t the end of the waiting game.

Once Donna got on board, it would be another dozen hours until she arrived in Korea.

The only sound to break the shroud of office silence was the pulling-down of a new blind Go had just installed on his big window – the one that looked out on to the neon nightscape.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ching.

Night was falling and Go drew the blind.

He didn’t need any neon nocturnal temptations right now, especially with the foreigner in his midst.

* Why do neon lights affect Go so much? *

For Dame’s part, holed-up in this office wasn’t his idea of summer fun either.

He was still subject to vicious cravings to visit Coffee Lady for a daily fix of flirting but held off going there.

He had a distinct, gnawing feeling if he left Go’s office for even a short while, the embattled owner might backtrack on hiring Donna, drive right back to Ulsan, and pull Thomas out of there.

* Do you think Go would do that? *

*

Tomorrow: The wait for Donna’s arrival continues.