Chapter Thirteen

Same old thing again.

The phone ringing woke me up. I fell asleep with the tv on.

"Hello," I answer in the same old manly morning voice.

It was a woman now, on the other end of the line.

"You ordered a wakeup call, miss. It's 9 am."

9 am. That's different. Two hours later. What's changed?

"Yes, thank you."

"Have a lovely day, miss."

I met him in a different eating area. The one that was inside the hotel.

"So, what are we doing today?" I asked, while I was putting marmalade on my toast.

"Monkey forest," he said while sipping his coffee.

I noticed he looked different. Tired, like he hadn't slept well, or hadn't slept at all. He smelled nice, so he did get to shower.

"Monkey forest? Made of monkeys?" I made a sad face, hoping it wasn't true.

"No," he smiled," Forest full of monkeys. Sort of like a kingdom of various species of monkeys."

I swallowed.

"One man must survive. Alone, stranded, surrounded by the monkeys. The planet of the apes, fifth part," I did my best trailer voice, making him laugh.

"About yesterday…", he started off.

"What about it?" Oh, why are you doing this? You know I'm embarrassed already, leave it alone. We do not have to do this. But he didn't. He kept pressing on it. And, he had every right to do so. I was invading his privacy.

"Do you really expect me to believe you were in the hunt, for the healing mood?"

"Ye…e..s..," I shyly spoke.

"You shouldn't be eavesdropping. You are not a child." He wasn't angry, but his voice held a tone of seriousness. Like a parent reprimanding a child. And, he had all the right to. It was his private life. On the other hand, I'm a curious person, by nature. Clumsy, but curious.

"Lydia is an old friend."

I laughed sarcastically, "And, by and old friend you mean…."

He gave me a stern look, so I stopped.

"It wasn't my place. Sorry. I just don't like her," I swallowed my last piece of toast, and we left the hotel.

"And it's your every right, just don't do it again."

I nodded.

"Good, now, if you're finished, we need to leave. I have rented out a car, and I think it's already waiting for us," he looked at the clock on his phone.

The drive to this place was long, and It gave me enough time to sightsee. Well, as much as you can sightsee, from a moving car. The streets were narrow, so Zach drove carefully. This was a whole different world. Children were playing football on the road; girls were jumping hoops. I can't remember the last time a saw a child be so careless, and I can't remember seeing a child hold a ball or some toy, instead of holding an iPhone.

We arrived and were greeted by a guy that worked there. He told us to buy some bananas. Soon we were walking around this place and enjoying all of the things this forest had to offer. There were monkeys everywhere. Jumping around, jumping on people. It was amazing. Tall trees, were everywhere, and besides humans talking, you could only hear the loud noises monkeys made.

"Sit over there, and hold your hand with the banana, facing upwards. They will come to you and climb up your back and take the banana from you, so don't be scared."

I sat on one of the steps covered with grass, and held my hand up, holding the banana. I couldn't see what was going on behind, because my back was turned to the monkey and trees, but soon enough I felt four hands on me. They were small and moving fast. The monkey climbed up my neck, then to my shoulder and was touching my arm. He reached for the banana and snatched it from me, eating it. The feeling was funny, and weird. You have a strange animal, small animal, that is so unpredictable, climbing on top of you.

"Sit still," Zach told me while smiling.

"I am sitting," I croaked out, not sure whether to laugh or scream.

It wasn't like a spider crawling on you, because you could see a spider and shake it off. Plus, the only thing a spider could do to harm you is to sting you. This was a monkey. He could jump on me, or like, I don't know punch me. Monkey was heavy. Luckily, he just chilled on my shoulder while he ate the banana.

I saw Zach, take his phone out of his pocket.

"What are you doing?" I said quietly, trying not to disturb the monkey.

"Taking a picture. Your face is priceless," he grinned.

"I'm going to hurt you."

My threat wasn't met with the reaction I was hoping for.

"Don't worry, everything's fine. When he finishes the banana, he'll jump off and find someone else, who is also holding a banana."

But the monkey didn't move, even after he finished his food. I felt him slowly moving towards my face.

"Please don't punch me," I told the monkey, in hope he will understand. My body tensed and was waiting for the moment he will attack me. I mean, if you think about it, and remember our school education, we evolved from monkeys. So, logically, he should understand me. My fear of the monkey was an amusement to both Zach and the guide.

"Relax, he likes you," the guy said.

I felt the monkey move even closer and sort of scratch his face on my cheek, and then he put his arms around my throat. He rested his head and his arms on me. I felt my body relax a little bit. His body was warm and soft.

"He really likes you, and he seems to be falling asleep. So, let's wait for a minute or two, and then I'll get him off of you, ok?"

"Yeah, actually I'm fine now, so we can wait more than a minute," I told the man.

I carefully moved my head, and saw that it was a baby monkey, and he was sleeping. I cannot describe how cute he looked. I slowly raised my other hand and gave him a little caress, trying not to wake him up. I was enjoying having him sleep on me. He was so cute.

Five minutes past, and the guide walked over to me, and picked his body, carefully placing him on a nearby branch. So, I stood up and walked over to Zach.

"How do you feel?" He put his arm around me.

"Incredible."

We spent the whole morning walking around and sightseeing. We spent more time laughing at the people who were attacked by monkeys, or whose bananas were stolen by some very clever monkeys, then sightseeing. The children were hilarious. They kept on chasing the monkeys who would steal their toys and went as far as try to climb the tree to get them back. Then, you would see the fear on their parent's or grandparent's faces, when they spotted their children trying to climb the tall trees.

"Oh, so it's funny NOW?" Zachary playfully punched my arm.

"Yes, now it's funny."

We left the place at noon, but not before I bought some souvenirs. I had to fight Zach because he wanted to pay for it. I had brought all the savings I had with me, and I may not be able to afford the hotel, but I will buy my own souvenirs. I did note, mentally, that I will have to pay him back. Maybe, not the full amount he spent for me, but part of it. Because, I don't think I could have paid him back, even if I worked every day for the next 100 years. Who knows how much money he had to spend? Then again, I never asked him to bring me here.

He suggested we head to the beach and swim a little, for the rest of the day. So, we dropped by our resort to grab some of the beachwear and headed to the beach.