After coffee with Emmi, Nina headed straight home, intent on having a hyper productive afternoon. Nothing grounded her more than designing and implementing. Once she got into the flow, hours could pass before she thought of anything else. Even if she briefly got up from her desk to make coffee or a cheese toast, her thoughts remained on the project, and sometimes she'd come up with the best ideas or solutions in those very moments – causing more than a few burned sandwiches. Yet, as soon as she opened her laptop and sat at her favorite spot in the building's workspace, her first thought was of yesterday's motorcycle ride with Bo. She remembered how the wind caressed her cheeks as she dozed off, leaning against his sturdy back. How he occasionally checked to make sure she was holding on tight enough by squeezing her hands. Was it her imagination, or did he always keep his hand on hers a little longer than necessary, gently stroking and squeezing them more firmly against his stomach before returning his hand to the handlebars?

Work. She commanded her brain, firing up Visual Studio Code and the document where she had noted Bo's latest comments. It was harder than usual to get into the flow, but in the end – she managed. As she progressed in solving the problems, her mood improved, and after a few hours, her stomach reminded her it was time to eat something more substantial. She grabbed her laptop screen intending to close it but encountered resistance and a very unpleasant sound of tearing plastic. She looked down at her laptop and realized that the top part was not aligning with the bottom as usual.

A wave of panic washed over her. The laptop was her survival tool, and she couldn't afford a new one at the moment. She tried to open it again, but the unpleasant sound stopped her and she realized forcing it would only make the tear worse. She sat back down to think. The only logical solution at first seemed to be to cancel all her plans and return to Croatia to have the computer serviced at the same place she bought it. It was only a few months old and surely still under warranty. But what would she do while the computer was in service? From experience, she knew how long those procedures could take. Moreover, how would she transport the computer through airports where it often needed to be taken out of the bag, and in its current state, it couldn't even be closed properly.

She felt cold sweat dripping down her back. If fixing the computer required her return to Croatia, the earliest she could hope to use it again was ten days. And then she would be there with no money to return. There had to be another solution. She connected to Facebook on her mobile phone and searched the Bangkok Digital Nomads group hoping someone had faced a similar problem. She soon found information on shops where the laptop could be taken. It looked like the fault that had occurred was very common and was routinely fixed in a few of the shops. She made a plan of action and her pulse finally dropped a bit. Then she remembered that the repair would probably take some time and her meeting with Bo was scheduled for next morning.

She sent him a message explaining the situation. Bo's response arrived while she was cautiously carrying her laptop back into her apartment, careful not to bump it into anything.

I would hate to have to stop work for a few days. If I bring my laptop, can you continue working on it?" 

Nina thought it over. Bo's computer didn't have her tools, but the entire project was online, and if she didn't run into problems with home variables, she could get it running in half an hour.

Okay, it will take me some time to set up the project on your computer.

Bo didn't respond, and that bothered her a bit. How hard is it to write a simple OK?

The next morning, Nina felt strangely bare sitting at her usual window-side spot without her laptop. Every time her gaze drifted from her coffee cup, she was surprised by the empty table surface. She realized how closely she had bonded with her computer. Fortunately she soon saw Bo approaching and felt happy he was on time. He was dressed in casual jeans and a white t-shirt with a Chinese print that Nina was very curious about. The simplicity of his clothes further highlighted his tattoos, and she realized they didn't seem unusual to her anymore. He greeted her with a smile that she thought could chase away her greatest discomfort and sat down across from her.

"Bo to the rescue," he said, pulling a laptop out of his backpack and placing it in front of her on the table. "You can start the setup while I go get coffee, there are no passwords," he said, dropping his backpack onto an empty chair. "Did you want anything else?"

"No thanks, I have everything I need," she replied, her nose almost touching the screen.

---

Bo sipped his black coffee and watched as Nina's fingers flew over the keyboard. She hardly used the mouse at all, and windows seemed to magically appear and disappear on the screen. The text on one window moved so rapidly it reminded Bo of scenes from the Matrix. She had told him the setup would take a while, and at first, he entertained himself on his phone and sent a few messages, but soon he realized observing her was much more entertaining. Her facial expressions were serious and focused, and the only movements she made were shifting from one position to another to avoid stiffness. She was wearing the blue shorts she had worn to her first tattoo session and a soft light-pink top. He stared at the fair skin of her arms and caught himself imagining them around his neck. He wondered what it would be like to bury his head in her neck, absorb her scent, and hear her moan with pleasure. Nina seemed to sense the direction his thoughts had wandered. She suddenly looked up from the screen for the first time in about fifteen minutes.

"You must be dying of boredom. I've resolved the main part; I can do the rest later. Come closer, let me show you what I've done over the weekend."

It was clear she had worked hard, and Bo was pleased to see his ideas come to life. It seemed like the project was nearing completion, and he was excited to show the website to friends and customers once it went live.

"Great, I see you've addressed most of the things we discussed last time. I'd say we're near the end of this project, what do you think, how long will it take you to finish?"

"I agree, the ordering process is almost resolved, maybe a day or two more on that. The galleries are done, the homepage is also nearly complete. I can polish the few details we noticed today and go live soon. My advice would be to only use it internally for a few days so any minor bugs can emerge before it starts being used widely," Nina said, reaching for her coffee cup and realizing with disappointment that it was already empty. "I think you can realistically expect the launch next Monday."

"Excellent," he said. "How about a celebratory coffee?"

"I never say no to coconut coffee," she smiled looking up at him. Bo had already risen from his chair and was heading to the counter. In his mind, he was calculating which of his clients he would notify first that they could now schedule meetings online. The project he had long planned was now finishing, and he felt a sense of satisfaction. When he returned to the table with two cups in his hands, Nina looked serious.

"Are you always this melancholic when you're about to finish a project?" he asked, sinking back into the armchair. She remained silent.

"Hey, if you're worried about the computer, there's no need for that. A few days of digital detox will be good for me. Anyway, 99% of the time I use it just for watching YouTube."

That seemed to snap her out of rumination.

"Oh, I haven't even thanked you for the laptop," she said. "Thank you, you saved me and I owe you big time. I can't even remember the last time I spent a day without a computer, not since my dad brought home our first Mac. I must have been 5 years old," Nina's eyes sparkled as she momentarily looked past him with an unfocused gaze. He imagined her as a little girl with tousled blonde hair standing at a desk, fiddling with a keyboard. "Every time after I've used the computer, it would stop working," she laughed, now looking at him.

"I can totally see that," he said, a twinkle in his eye. "Your ability to wreck computers is actually inborn," he blurted out, amusing himself tremendously. He leaned back in the armchair, laughing heartily. Then he briefly wondered why he enjoyed teasing her so much.

"Hey, that's below the belt! And besides, too soon!" she said, giving him a stern look. Bo was still laughing, his shoulders shaking. "Stop!" she added, but then joined him in laughter.

"Sorry, I'm sorry!" He tried to regain a serious expression. At least he managed to get her out of the slump she was in when he had returned with the coffees. But just then, her serious expression returned.

"Listen, about Friday," she said, looking at the floor. "I wanted to.. I acted a bit.. " she trailed off, still looking down. "Be sure that nothing like that will happen again," she said finally, looking up at him with a high chin, one hand on her knee.

He was displeased to hear that she regretted what had happened, but understood why she felt uncomfortable. He left without explanation after she had asked him to stay. He had already written a message explaining about his commitment with Anan, but it had seemed awkward to explain.

"Don't worry, you were actually kind of cute," he said.

"Cute. Chompoo is to blame, and her damn delicious daiquiris," she said, finally relaxing and taking a sip of her coffee.

"Listen, now that the project is done, what do you say we –"

"Stephan!" Nina called the waiter. "Come take a look at the site, it's almost done. When are you booking your next tattoo?" Bo suspected she did that on purpose to dispel the charged moment. The business in the café was somewhat slow, and Stephan didn't leave their table for the next half hour. Every so often, he would find a way to bring Chompoo into the conversation, and Bo concluded that there was no time to wait for another opportunity to talk to Nina privately. He soon bid them goodbye and headed to his next meeting.