Shipping and forwarding was a competitive business. He had worked hard and had built up the business over the years since he had taken it over after his father's sudden and tragic death. He had been lucky to cultivate the right connections with Taiwanese, Indians, and more lately, with Japanese clients and other agents. The Japanese had especially brought in a lot of business and profit, and so the last couple of years were successful for him. He liked doing business with them because they paid the asking price up front without any questions, so unlike the Taiwanese.

He got up early every day, Monday through Saturday, and worked until late each night. He liked to keep his new Mercedes-Benz spotless because he frequently drove his clients and other businessmen in it. Some mornings he would drive by thieves' market on the way to his office because he frequently got good deals there.

He had six children all in a row, and the oldest was now entering secondary school. He was hard on his children and would not tolerate any nonsense from them. He hardly had any time to talk or be with them, and he expected his wife and his house-keeper to handle the lot.

He had been arguing with his wife a lot lately. He would scold her or exchange a few harsh words with her. His wife would not fight back very much, but just break down and start to cry.

Someone had told his wife that they had seen him getting fresh with a young secretary who worked in his office. The girl was nice and very attractive and he liked to go out to lunch with her sometimes. The girl dressed very seductively and she had long slender, shapely legs.

The phone rang and it was someone from the Chinese Swimming Club inquiring about his application for membership. He said he was happy that he was being considered for membership and would pay the initial fees when they billed him.

In the evening he had a dinner date to take a client to one of the nicer hotels in town where they were offering a buffet special. The client could bring in a lot of money and he was anxious to see that everything went smoothly with the appointment.

At noon he went out to get something to eat at the corner coffee shop. It was his favorite coffee shop where he worked. Soon his secretary came in and ordered some food and sat down at the table with him. They talked and laughed together about things. She was young and fresh and fun to be. He liked her and enjoyed her company. She wore a pretty dress and had an attractive face. Also she was pretty smart and he liked intelligent women.

He knew his wife was put out with him over her. He had not been serious with her at all, though she sometimes stayed over time to help with the books after everyone else had gone home, and he would then take her out again in the evening to buy some dinner. They had spent a lot of time working together, and she was getting to know the ropes of the business already.

They walked back together to the office and went back to work. He had to go out to take care of some cargo waiting on the docks. Before he left he opened up the safe again and looked at the gold chain with the monkey pendant. He couldn't make up his mind what to do with it.

While driving down to the docks in his car he talked with his secretary on the phone and then called his wife to see how she was doing. After hanging up he was debating whether to give the chain to his wife or to his secretary. He felt like he ought to give it to his wife, though secretly he desired to give it to his secretary. His wife had stuck by him through all those lean years, and the five kids had not been easy to raise. He loved her a great deal. His secretary had really been helping him out with his new clients and business was doing better than ever lately. She worked really hard and he also really liked to have her around. He couldn't get her out of his mind and wanted to do something for her.

He worried though that if he gave it to his secretary then it would signal something more serious between them, a commitment of support that would cause a great deal of friction with his wife. On the other hand if he gave it to his wife what would it matter, he thought. She had so much jewelry and a little bit more wouldn't make much difference to her.

That night he picked up the clients at their hotel in his Mercedes-Benz. He had invited his secretary along because she was good socially and helped to break the ice. Plus she was attractive and he felt good when he was with her in public situations, as everyone seemed to treat them better. He was carrying the gold chain in his pocket but he still hesitated about who to give it to and so it stayed where it was the entire evening.

His secretary performed very well that night. She knew all the right things to say and all the right things to do, and his clients seemed really relaxed and to be enjoying themselves with her. They had had a couple of drinks with their dinner, and because he hardly ever drank much, it had affected him quite strongly.

He drove his clients back to their hotel and then drove the girl to her apartment flat she shared with her family. He let her off outside and she was hesitant about asking him to come inside for a little while. He said good bye and moved off.

He thought about his wife and children. He really loved his children. Every Sunday they would do things together as a family, and this had become the most enjoyable time of the week for him.

After dropping her off he didn't feel like going straight home. The drinks he had with dinner had made him relax and loosen up a little. He turned on his stereo and played his favorite music as he rode across town.

He rarely had much time to himself just to think about things and the problem about what to do with the necklace was bothering him.

As he drove down the coast road he saw the lights of the local nightclubs up ahead and as he came closer he impulsively decided to stop and have a drink at the place he usually frequented with other businessmen.

Inside it was dark and filled with cigarette smoke. The red tiles of the floor shinned in the sparkling of the multi-colored light that rotated, suspended from the ceiling on center stage. A few couples were doing a slow dance on the floor and the Filipino band was playing an old mellow 60's number.

He found a seat at the bar and ordered himself a beer. He sat there listening to the music and thinking about the day. The gold chain still bothered him, as he was tossing between giving it to his wife and his secretary. He began thinking about his business. He had started with very little. His father did the business when he was young but he had never learned much while his father was alive. His father's business just fell apart after his death because no one wanted to step in and take it over for about a year. His old partner wanted to buy their family's shares of the business from his mother, but he had told his mother that he wanted to give it a try instead.

He owed a lot to his dad, he thought. His father had died unexpectedly after he had gone to the restroom while they were having dinner, and he slipped inside the bathroom and broke his neck. He died on the spot. He somehow felt responsible for his father's death, as he had insisted that his father go to the restroom just as they had been leaving. His father had been an inspiration to him. He was not only a successful business man, but he had also been a national champion badminton player in his younger days and playing badminton was his whole life. He had always been a straight and honest man and had given to charities and worshipped properly all his life.

Now he had been dead over ten years and he still missed his father and thought about him a lot. His mother never really got over his father's death, and she turned more seriously to worship almost everyday. His brothers did not want to be bothered with the business and all had advised their mother to sell of the father's shares to the partners. Now they looked enviously upon his wealth and success and were demanding their own share of the profits of the business.

He ordered another beer and the band had started on an old Elvis Presley tune. Elvis Presley was his favorite singer and he listened intently to the music, not noticing the poor English of the singer or the music that was out of key. He forgot about his daily worries over his wife and his business and just listened to the music for a while.

Since it was still not too late he decided that he would have another beer and listen to the music a little longer. It was then that the girl came up to sit next to him at the bar. At first he didn't pay much attention to her except that she was on the small and thin side. She had a funny appearance. She was a Malay girl but she was not wearing any veil and her hair had been permed. He couldn't tell her age although she looked pretty young, too young he thought to be in a bar like this.

The girl smiled at him and sat there a while without ordering any drinks. Finally the bartender came up to her and asked her if she wanted anything. She told him not yet and the bartender told her she would have to leave if she didn't want to order anything.

He did not know why he did it. The impulse came over him to order her a drink and he asked her what she wanted. Maybe he just wanted to see the site of a Malay women drinking. "A Roman Coke" she said and the bartender went to work.

She smiled again at him and asked him his name and what he did. He told her and then asked her what her name was. It was hard to hear each other because the music of the band was so loud. At first they were shouting to each other, until the girl leaned over and began whispering into his ear.

She was a mysterious creature. She reminded him of an oversized black cat without any hair, sitting on a stool too high off the ground. They began talking about music and what kinds of music they liked to listen to. He enjoyed the triviality of the conversation. He began telling her of the music he liked to listen to when he was younger.

Very soon he ordered another beer and another drink for her.

He didn't know why he did it. It was all a vague memory. Something about the girl got him really worked up and he ended up going up to a hotel room with her. He paid the hotel desk clerk some money and they went inside the room. It was an old Chinese style hotel and the furniture was very dilapidated. There was a large square mirror that had been hung low almost the entire length of the bed.

The girl went into the bathroom to shower and he just sat there on the bed, his head buzzing with the tunes from the nightclub and not quite sure what to do. She came out naked except for some long silk stockings tied at the waist with a black elastic garter belt. She was pretty skinny, and looked even younger than in the nightclub.

When he woke up it was dark. The girl was not there. He looked at his watch and realized that it was not too late to get back home again. He was lying on the bed naked, and his trousers were slung over the other bed and his shirt was hanging in the little closet. He wondered where the girl had gone to and then he thought about his wallet and remembered the gold chain he had left in his pocket.

He had never done anything like this before and felt quite ashamed of himself. He searched through his pants and found his wallet. His IC card and cards were all there, but all his cash was gone. Then he searched the front pockets of his trousers and realized that the gold chain was also missing.

He quickly got dressed, and looking a little sheepish, left the room. The hotel lobby was dark and the night watchman had fallen asleep on a cot blocking the hotel stairwell. He shook the old man quietly on the shoulder and the old man slowly got up and went downstairs to let him out through the grills of the front entrance.

He drove back to his house and found all his family already asleep as he snuck in quietly. He had never done anything like that before and vowed to him self never to do it again. He went and showered and then went to bed himself. He could sleep more easily because he didn't have to worry anymore about who to give the gold chain to.

As he laid down on the bed next to his wife he thought how much he really loved his family most of all.

Blanket Copyright, Hugh M. Lewis, © 2005. Use of this text governed by fair use policy--permission to make copies of this text is granted for purposes of research and non-profit instruction only.