Chapter 3 Part II
“I’ll take some, but please place them in another basket,” he said in a gentle tone. He set the basket he was holding down and turned to look at the Khanom chan, the steamed layer cake, which had been formed into shiny-petaled roses and arranged into rows on a tray made of banana leaves. The translucent petals reflected the meticulousness with which they had been crafted. The young woman followed his gaze, and upon seeing her customer’s interest, launched into sales mode.
“Would you also like some pandan Khanom chan, too? They’re a soft, single perfect bite and have the fragrance of pandan leaves. They’re not too sweet, either.” The young man nodded to show his agreement and gave her an amused smile. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to her.
The young woman made a confused face, not understanding the meaning behind the man suddenly handing his own handkerchief to her.
He raised an eyebrow and shook his head a little. “Your cheek is slightly dirty, little lady.”
The young woman raised the back of her hand to wipe at it, as was her habit, but he took hold of her wrist and pulled it away.
“If you use the back of your hand to wipe it, it’ll remain dirty. I’ll wipe it off for you. Pardon me.” Once he finished his sentence, the soft, delicately-perfumed handkerchief in his hand was pressed tenderly to her pink-tinged cheek before she could brace herself or make any protest.
When he moved closer to her, the clean scent of him was so enticing, it made her want to breathe the lovely scent in again, but the pair of striking eyes staring at her made her feel so nervous, she had to turn her face to avoid their gaze. Though he probably didn’t feel anything in regard to her, she couldn’t explain to herself why she felt her heart flutter from his soft touch.
When she looked closely at his profile, it made her certain that he was the man that Madam Warakun was always talking about. It could be seen from his smooth, clear skin, his fine figure and good looks, his considerable height. The clean scent of him still swirled faintly around her. Knowing what she did, her feelings of shyness grew.
Sakunthara eased some of her embarrassment by pulling the handkerchief from the young man’s hand. “I’d better wipe it myself.”
Sakunthara used the man’s soft handkerchief to wipe her face until it was clean before she returned it to him.
“Thank you,” Sakunthara thanked him gently, but once she thought of something, she yanked her hand back.
“Your handkerchief is dirty now. If I gave it back to you now, that would be very rude of me. Let me wash it and return it to you later, please.”
The young man held back a smile. Her cheeks turning pinker than a moment ago was a sign of someone experiencing bashfulness, like a teenage girl feeling shy around a dream man.
The blushing face, now clean of flour smudges, claimed all of his attention. He felt no different than her. His state at the moment was like an old bull stumbling upon newly growing grass. The scent of the new grass was so alluring, and it enticed an old bull such as himself to come closer.
“It’s alright. It’s just a handkerchief. It’s not that dirty. It just wiped off some flour dust on the cheek. Just give it back to me,” he said, putting out his hand for it. The young woman had no choice but to return his handkerchief to him.
Once he had put the handkerchief back into his pants pocket, he thrust both hands into his pants pockets in a casual manner. Then, he broke the silence again.
“Do you have any other desserts to recommend?”
“Will you be buying them to eat yourself or as gifts?” Sakunthara responded with a question of her own. She tried to compose herself. She felt like she was falling in love with the young man in front of her, and it was the first time she had felt this way in her young life. How absolutely embarrassing!
This time, the person being asked furrowed his eyebrows in surprise. “What is the difference between eating them myself and buying them as gifts? After all, a salesperson should recommend that a customer buy them anyway,” the young man prompted good-naturedly.
The young woman smiled widely, showing a beautiful row of white teeth hidden by the delicate lips. Every time she smiled, a small tooth resembling a fang was visible on the left side of her mouth. Though it could not be seen clearly, it made the small woman so charming. It made anyone looking at her unable to tear their eyes away.
“It’s not the same.”
“How so?” The other person was starting to feel like he wanted the conversation to continue because her soft voice made him want to keep hearing it.
“Well, because a man of your age—” Once she started the sentence, the man made a displeased face. The words “a man of your age” emphasized the fact that he could not avoid his age, even though his body and face were not those of a man nearing forty.
“What about a man of my age?” he hurriedly asked.
This time, the young woman laughed uproariously.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. What I meant was…a man of your age probably doesn’t like eating desserts like Cha mongkut, Thong yip, Thong yot, Foi thong1, or traditional Thai desserts. However, if you’re buying them for the ladies of the house, they are usually watching their figures and wouldn’t like these types of desserts, either. It would be more appropriate to purchase snacks or desserts that are not too sweet such as Khanom chan, Khanom tua pap, Leum kleun2, desserts like that. As for the desserts I told you about earlier, they’re more appropriate for elderly people,” she explained wholeheartedly.
The young man laughed with amusement at her determination to explain. Her silvery voice made him want to keep on listening to her, so he found another topic to continue the conversation with.
“Why wouldn’t you think I like sweet desserts?”
“I can tell your type, Sir. If you usually like to eat any type of dessert, you could have bought it right away without asking for recommendations. But you didn’t do that.”
“You’re that observant, aren’t you?”
“It’s what every salesperson should be.”
“Is that so? That’s why you have so many customers.”
“Doing what you like makes you happy. But, being able to make recommendations so that the consumers of the desserts are happy as well makes it so that when we do our job, we are even happier. It’s better than selling large quantities of products that are not pleasing to customers’ palates, that they’ll purchase and throw away. That’s just a horrible waste.”
“If that’s so, I’m buying a gift of about five or six types of desserts for an older person in their sixties. And for the young ladies at the office, who are in their twenties to mid-thirties, I’ll take about ten boxes. Is it correct if I order like this?” he asked her teasingly.
The young woman smiled shyly. “You don’t have to be that precise. I was just making a suggestion. Someone’s age doesn’t always reveal their preferences, although it helps a little.”
“And choose, say, two desserts for me. What kind of desserts should someone with this sort of appearance eat?” The young man pointed to his own face as he made the query.
Sakunthara merely gave him a smile and quickly turned to prepare his order, while the young man could only grin in amusement at her antics. Just from this brief encounter, he could see the reason why this shop was such a favorite of his mother’s. She often spoke admiringly of this Thai dessert shop. Now that he had seen it with his own eyes, he couldn’t disagree with any of his mother’s assertions. At any rate, he would have to test out this young woman’s ability to select desserts first.
It was only a short time later that she handed him three small paper bags. The three bags were of different sizes and colors.
“The yellowish cream-colored paper bag contains the gifts for elders. They are traditional desserts, but our shop’s recipes reduce their sweetness for health purposes. The pink is for the office ladies. They have little flour and are not very sweet. And most of them are snacks. The light blue bag is for you. I’ve added the dessert Leum kleun3 for free for you to try. They’re easy to eat. It won’t be long before the box is completely empty,” the young woman explained as she handed him the bags. The end of her sentence was slightly playful, but her entire speech clearly demonstrated yet more of the shop’s consideration for its customers. Customers would be impressed from the first moment they came in to buy desserts.
“With such an elaborate explanation, would it be all right if I accidentally ate the contents of the wrong bag?” he teased her.
“It seems as though you’re saying that I am talking too much, am I right?”
“I’m not saying that at all. It’s all in your head. You came to that conclusion all by yourself,” the young man grumbled as he pulled his wallet out of his pants.
“How much for all of this?”
“One thousand, seven hundred and eighty baht, Sir,” she answered cheerily.
The young man extracted two one-thousand-baht banknotes and handed them to her. “Keep the change.”
“It would be better if you waited for the change,” she hurriedly said.
Pongket made eye contact with the young woman once more. “Our shop does not have a policy of taking extra money from our customers, Sir. If you insist on giving me this whole amount without receiving your change, I’ll just have to increase the number of desserts to be equivalent to the amount of money you have given me.”
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[1] Thong yip, Thong yot, and Foi thong are egg yolk-based Thai desserts.
[2] Khanom tua pap and Leum kleun are mung bean-based Thai desserts.
[3] Leum kleun is a dessert composed of a mung bean custard topped with coconut cream. Its name literally means “forgot to swallow”, as it has a very smooth texture.