Bill prided himself in being a great investigative reporter, and after his encounter with Mai at the cocktail party the prior evening he was more than a little pre-occupied with finding her and was desperate to talk to Phuong about what had happened last night.
Bill and Phuong had developed an early morning ritual of meeting at the Star Cafe on Nguyen Thien Thuat in the Old Quarter to begin each day, once together Bill would practice his basic Vietnamese and then they'd work out what newsworthy stories they would follow over the coming days.
It had taken Bill some time to adjust to the heat and humidity of Hanoi, although most days Phuong still wore a light jacket as he reminded Bill that it was still the cool season. To which Bill would shake his head and laugh as the beads of sweat rolled down his temple and onto the table in front of him. "God its hot" he'd complain
Bill always arrived at the Star early but inevitably found Phuong at his usual spot perched in the back corner chatting amiably to the Star's owner. The conversation ended as Bill strode toward them, Bin Dong, the Star's owner smiled and moved toward the counter to begin making the coffees. Once the coffees had arrived Bill turned to Phuong and told him of his encounter with the beautiful woman and more importantly what she'd said to him before she walked away.
“If you saw her, you'd say she was the most beautiful woman in the world” bill cooed but couldn't give Phuong much more to go on. Phuong's face was impervious to expression and knew who the mystery woman was without being given another clue. Hanoi Rose was the most glamorous and beautiful woman in all of Hanoi and Phuong knew much more than what he was willing to tell Bill.
She was trouble with a capital T...
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