Smile Only To Me - BohnDuen

Chapter 1 ~ new beginnings ~

Chet Thonsappapong woke up at his usual time of 5.30am, he showered quickly and changed into slacks and a loose fitting white shirt. He was the manager of the Koh Samui branch of KJ Hotels but where many of them were hotels which catered to the business class, the Koh Samui branch was a beach resort with holiday cottages.

Consequently the dress code was casual but smart, it helped the guests to feel relaxed and comfortable while they enjoyed their vacations and Chet wanted to appear approachable to his guests during their stay. 

He spoke fluent English and Greek as well as his native Thai and he was learning Spanish, French, Korean, Chinese and German but he knew enough to wing it and get by. 

Grabbing his cellphone, keys and tablet he left his own cottage which was close to the beach to walk five minutes to the main resort before making his way to the kitchens where the kitchen staff were just beginning to arrive.

The guests breakfasts began at 8am so the chef made food for the live in staff first, just simple fayre consisting of sticky rice with omelette or soup, cereal, toast or fruit with tea or coffee. Chet poured himself a cup of tea and grabbed a couple slices of toast before greeting all the staff and making his way to his office.

The first thing he did was open the shutters and turn on the overhead fan, it was going to be another hot one today. He sipped his tea and turned on his laptop while munching on his toast then perused his daily schedule whilst noting that there were a few guests leaving today and a few arriving too.

One in particular caught his attention, it was a guest flying in from the States, a Mr Tap Sittanasong, a Thai born gentleman who was relocating back to Thailand and was booked in indefinitely while he found somewhere permanent to reside.

Chet decided the best course of action would be to place him in one of the cottages which had a more homely feel to them and some had small kitchenettes too so the guest wouldn't need to use the resort facilities unless he chose to. There was an empty cottage beside his which was perfect and he was only next door should the guest need assistance.

Chet had an app which was linked to the airport arrivals and departures so he looked up the guest's flight and saw that he was due to arrive in Thailand at around 5pm so there was plenty of time to prepare his cottage.

He would get one of the girls to stock the fridge with supplies and arrange a hamper of fruit and a bottle of champagne, he assumed that after the long flight the guest would just want to relax before sleeping. Chet's attention to detail and his ability to put himself in the position of a guest was one of the reasons why he was so good at his job and so well liked not only among the guests who often returned but also his staff.

He was courteous to a fault and could be diplomatic or discreet when needs arose. With his staff he was fair and for the most part he gave them all free reign trusting them all to carry out their tasks to the best of their abilities but if they were found abusing that trust they were reprimanded accordingly.

Turning his attention to the job at hand he quickly finished his breakfast and made notes of when the guests were leaving so he could be available to wish them farewell. After taking his plate and mug back to the kitchen he went to have a daily meeting with the ladies who cleaned the room's, the receptionists in the lobby and the doormen.

Tap Sittanasong looked at his watch again, he had been in the air for almost 12 hours and unfortunately there were at least another four to go. Even though he was flying in first class on a direct flight, he was feeling irritable but he put that down to not being able to sleep properly.

He had lived in the US for over ten years after his family had moved there and he had studied media and communications then after graduating he had become a journalist for a while until becoming disillusioned with the whole industry choosing instead to become a writer and over the past three years he had become quite successful.

His father had passed away two years after moving to the states, he had been trying to help a woman in a convenience store who was being held at gun point and he had been shot by the assailant. His mother had died last year after a car accident.

There was nothing for Tap there now so after weighing up all the pro's and con's he decided to start a new life back in Thailand, of course he would miss his friends but they were only at the end of the phone, it's not like he was moving to Mars.

His maternal grandfather had been a fisherman in the village of Bophut on Koh Samui and his intention was to return there and purchase or build a home by the sea, a place where he could continue to write. In the meantime a friend of his, a guy named Lhong Ryu had recommended his best friend's hotel and said it was a great place to relax and that he would be able to stay as a long term guest while he found somewhere else to live.

He had assured him that the manager was a great guy who would see to it that he was made comfortable so Tap had booked a flight, called the hotel to book a room and began to pack. He didn't really know what to do with his parent's house yet, whether to sell it or let it? He decided to let it sit for the time being and asked a friend to keep an eye on it for him.

He had lived in Bangkok as a child but every summer he would visit his grandparents in Bophut and he could vaguely remember a boy he used to play with but he couldn't quite think of his name? A small boy with a bright cheerful smile, he wondered if the kid still lived there not that he would recognize him, a lot had happened since then. 

Glancing at his watch once more he decided to take a nap and asked the air hostess to wake him when it was time to land then leaning his head back he closed his eyes and listened to the thrum of the engines and felt the bumps every time they hit an air pocket and the motion eventually lulled him to sleep.

"Mr Sittanasong sir ..." the hostess gently shook the man's shoulder.

"yes, what is it?" he asked opening his eyes.

"we're going to be landing shortly sir, you asked me to wake you" she replied.

"oh yes, thank you" Tap said sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

He secured his seat belt and looked out of the tiny windows at the beautiful view below. He could make out the gulf and see all the tiny islands dotted around and as the plane got closer he could see the island of Koh Samui. He had requested a driver from the hotel to pick him up, he just hoped he wasn't waiting for too long.

Chet looked at the airport arrivals and noted that the flight from the US had landed, he had sent a driver to collect the guest and he had already instructed him to take the guest directly to the cottage he had prepared then he would message Chet to let him know so he could walk over himself to check the guest in using his tablet. It wasn't the normal check in routine but he was making allowances because the guest had been flying for so long.

Tap walked out of arrivals and saw a man holding a board with his name on it so he walked over to the guy.

"Mr Sittanasong?" the man wai'd.

Tap wai'd back even though he hadn't done it for years and the man introduced himself before taking Tap's luggage and leaving him to follow behind. Tap couldn't believe he was back in Thailand after all these years, it felt strangely comforting.

Within the hour they were passing a large hotel and resort and driving past several small cottages before finally turning into a narrow lane and pulling up in front of a similar cottage but this one was by the sea, it looked very picturesque and inviting.

"here is your cottage Mr Sittanasong, please allow me to show you inside" the man said.

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