Stealing Asia by David Clarkson Page A

find,’
he replied. ‘Perhaps you should take a time out. If your girl is meant to find
you here; she will.’
    He led me back to one of the many bars that lined the beach. The quality
of the alcohol offered in the buckets had decreased considerably since earlier
in the evening, but there was still a sufficient supply of elephant’s piss on
hand. We got more drinks and looked for a less crowded spot where we could sit
down for a moment. After a couple more bottles, I felt less anxious and did not
worry so much about finding Asia. I also desperately needed to take a piss.
    ‘I’ll be back in a minute,’ I told Esteban.
    There were some toilets by the bar, but the queue for them was humungous
so I decided to do what most others were doing and headed down to the water’s
edge. It was not exactly discreet, but I was running out of time. As I stepped
into the shallows, I noticed a couple of tourist police officers heading my way
and thought it best to hang back a moment. This proved to be a wise decision as
they grabbed some of the guys peeing by the scruff of their necks and dragged
them back to shore. Nobody was charged, but quite a few people managed to stain
their shorts. I decided to look for a more secure option.
    I ducked down an alleyway between resorts where I found a dark, secluded
spot behind the main buildings that was adequate for my needs. After shaking
off the last few drops, I noticed movement in the corner of my eye. Somebody
had been standing on the corner and when I looked up they quickly fled. The
only thing that I managed to make out was that they were wearing a green shirt.
I carried on down the alley and turned the corner to see if the person was
still in sight, but all I found was a couple fucking. Well, a couple trying to
fuck would be more accurate. The guy, who was on top with his shorts around his
ankles, was clearly having alcohol related problems. Even from where I was
stood, I could tell that he kept slipping out of his frustrated partner.
    The green shirt was nowhere in sight and rather than turning around and
returning via the way I had come, I carried on along the alleyway. As I passed
the not quite copulating couple, the girl looked up at me. She pulled a face to
communicate to me that she was having a less than pleasurable time. I smiled
back at her and then kept walking until I returned to the party. Esteban was
waiting for me and I told him about what I had seen.
    ‘I think that will be happening a lot around here tonight,’ he said.
‘Some guys think that alcohol is going to help get them laid, but too much and
it becomes the most effective form of contraception. It just shuts down their
libido completely.’
    ‘Well, luckily I’ve never suffered that problem,’ I replied. ‘I’m not
likely to be given the opportunity tonight either. I came here expecting to
find my dream girl and don’t want to have to settle for anything less.’
    ‘Does this mean that you have given up looking for her?’
    ‘Not given up, but it’s like you said earlier; if she is meant to find me
- she will.’
    It can be said that there is comfort to be found in knowing that some
things are simply out of one’s control and just as I was starting to relax for
the first time in the night, I noticed a man standing at the bar staring
directly at me. He was wearing a green shirt. Maybe it was just paranoia, but I
could swear he was following me.
    ‘Hold this for a second,’ I said.
    After handing my bottle to Esteban, I strode towards the man at the bar.
He saw me coming and quickly pushed his way into the crowd to get away from me.
I tried to follow, but was stopped by a tug on my shirt.
    ‘Looking for someone?’ a voice asked from over my shoulder.
    I was going to shrug whoever it was away, but stopped myself when I
noticed the distinctive red hair. Could it really be her?
    ‘Asia?’ I asked, turning to face her.
    ‘You weren’t expecting to meet some other girl here, I hope.’
    She had clearly