The next morning, Nina woke up feeling Bo hug her closer to his body. When he kissed the back of her neck, she smiled. Feeling his firm chest on her back first thing in the morning was something she wanted to get used to.

Bo groaned. "I have a client in an hour," he said. "You've got me wishing I wasn't the owner though. I wouldn't mind a few days off." He stroked her waist in slow motion.

Nina purred with pleasure. "What time is it? I need to get going as well, I have an important meeting to prepare for. I must have a hundred missed messages from Chompoo."

Bo grabbed his phone, glanced at the screen for a second and showed it to Nina.

"What?!"

"It must have been past two in the morning when we dozed off," he chuckled.

Bo had woken her again after that, Nina remembered. Or was that a dream? The night had been a blur of slow kisses, talking, making love and laughing. He had slipped his hand into her panties and complained that she didn't like to sleep naked. She now searched under her pillow, feeling for the silk fabric. When she found it, still lying in bed, she put them on. No, that definitely wasn't a dream.

Bo stood by the bed, getting dressed and looking at her.

"I'll call you when I get off work," he said and leaned in to kiss her.

Half an hour later, she was already in a taxi taking her back home through the mercilessly bright streets. On the way, she called Chompoo and they went over the strategy for the meeting. At home, she had just sat down at the table to drink her first coffee when she noticed an email from her attorney in her inbox.

Dear Nina,

I hope this email finds you well. I will try to reach you by phone, but I'm sending you a court notice attached, informing you that the trial has been moved to an earlier date.

As you can see, it has been moved up to next Friday. I don't need to emphasize how important it is for us to be well-prepared for the trial. Let me know when it suits you to schedule a meeting.

BR,

Renato Batel

Associate Attorney

Batana Legal Partners

As she read the email color drained from her face. Rereading the words a knot formed in her stomach, she couldn't believe the words she was reading. The trial was set for a month away, and Nina had already bought a flight ticket for a few days before the scheduled date; how could they have moved it up? Then she remembered her sister had a good friend who worked as a judge. She must count on it not being easy for Nina to get a ticket from the other side of the world in time.

Her heart pounded maniacally in her chest as she opened Skyscanner to check for the earliest flight and how much it will cost her. Going through the results, she caught a glimpse of the clock in the corner of the screen. Eleven in the morning, and she hadn't even had breakfast yet. One thing at a time, she thought, focusing on finding flights. Then she thought it might be smart to check with someone in Croatia to see exactly what was happening. Since it was only 5 a.m. in there, she sent a message to her aunt Luana, asking her to call back as soon as she woke up.

She found a decent flight with one layover for Wednesday, which would give her enough time to prepare for the trial. She thought about whether she should book a return ticket right away, but one quick look at the price made the possibility of deciding slip from her hands. She bought the ticket, repeating the mantra "Step by step" to herself, but at the same time felt her dream of an independent life in Bangkok dissolving, while the grim reality of returning to live at home with her mom and sister became more material. There wasn't much time to dwell on it. One look at the clock sent her running for the shower while she mentally went over her business meeting clothing options.

A little before two in the afternoon, she stepped out of the freezing train into the heat of the street, which scorched her bones. She kept her scarf on to protect herself from the sun and checked the address Chompoo had sent her on her phone one more time. If she didn't get lost, she had a twelve-minute walk to Mr. Sombat's office. Without lifting her eyes from the phone, she made her way through the pedestrians struggling to stay on the shaded side of the street.

The neon sign that read Sombat Massages was above large black doors, and with a sense of relief at escaping the sun, she stepped inside. At the reception, they directed her in broken English to where she could wait, and when she sat down on the red couch, she called Chompoo to check whether she was arriving soon. But before the call went through, Chompoo appeared in front of her, wearing the most serious outfit Nina had ever seen her in. Clad in gray trousers with a sharp crease and a long-sleeved white shirt, she looked the part of a young professional. Nina smiled.

"Look at you being all punctual and looking all business-like! I knew I wouldn't regret having you on for this," she said as Chompoo sat down next to her on the couch.

"Nina, I'm scared. How are we going to do this? I don't know anything about web design!" It was the first time she had seen Chompoo unsure of herself. Even though so much depended on them securing the deal, Nina's thoughts were already on the trial in Croatia, and she felt a kind of detachment from the outcome of the meeting.

"Don't worry. Your task today is just to act as a simultaneous translator. OK?"

Chompoo was about to say something when the lady at the reception called them to enter the office. Nina stood up, squeezed Chompoo's hand, hoping to pass on a little confidence to her.

Mr. Sombat's office was airy and well-lit. By the window, Nina noticed several lush green plants, which had a soothing effect. Sombat was sitting at his desk, dressed in a casual linen shirt. He was a man in his sixties, somewhat overweight but with a friendly expression on his face. He greeted them in Thai and gestured for them to sit in the chairs opposing his desk. Then he said something that Nina didn't understand, but Chompoo quickly translated.

"He's asking what we'd like to drink."

Nina opted for a glass of water, and Chompoo followed her lead. When the receptionist left to get their water and closed the door behind her, the office fell into silence.

Nina sat down in the comfortable upholstered chair and felt her pulse quicken. Maybe this won't go as smoothly as she had envisioned it. Beside her, Chompoo was on the edge of her chair, drying her hands on her thighs. Mr Sombat smiled, relaxed and seemed to be waiting for them to say something. The sound of the AC suddenly seemed very loud. Nina cleared her throat.

"Ok Chompoo, it's game time. Tell Mr. Sombat we are a startup of two people for now, and we just completed a successful collaboration with a tattoo studio chain from China that has a branch here." She believed that would demonstrate their competence with international clients. She took notice of Mr. Sombat's face while Chompoo talked. Before he had a chance to reply she continued.

"Tell him the site has been in production for a month and is attracting a respectable amount of clicks. Also, we will email him a reference from the previous client and show him the site." Chompoo continued talking and Nina noticed Mr. Sombat's posture relaxing. He was leaning back in his chair slightly, listening to Chompoo with interest.

"We can have a draft ready in no more than ten days, which he will only pay for if we make the deal, and together with the draft we will send a price estimate. If he agrees to the collaboration, assure him he will be our main client for the foreseeable future." While she was listening to the conversation she realized the last part might be interpreted in a disadvantageous way. Mr. Sombat might conclude they don't have any other clients at the moment and see it as a bad thing.

"He wants to know when he could expect to have the finished product," Chompoo said, looking from Mr. Sombat to Nina.

"Ask him how many salons he has and how many clients per month on average," she said and waited for the translation.

Mr. Sombat smiled and gave a short reply. "He says he has thirty salons and doesn't know what the average number of customers is."

Nina thought for a moment. "Alright. Tell him our site will allow him to keep track of things like that easily, if that is a feature he would like to have," she paused for a while longer while Chompoo translated. "We will make two drafts, one with limited features and one with expanded options. We will give the estimated time included in the proposal for each of them. For a rough estimate, tell him the time will be between one and three months."

Chompoo started to look more confident as the meeting progressed, and Nina felt things were going smoothly.

"He wants to know if we can make the site multilingual," Chompoo said, with a worried expression. Nina smiled confidently. A few months ago this kind of question would have rattled her, but having worked with Bo on his web that caters to Chinese, Thai, and tourists of all nationalities she realized she had the expertise to soothe all of Sombat's concerns.

The meeting ended in high spirits and they parted with clear agreement on the next steps. Even Chompoo seemed more at ease. While they were exiting the building, Nina proposed a celebratory lunch. They had a lot to talk about and it was high time she broke the news of her need for sudden departure to Europe.

There was a week left before her flight but she had much to prepare, difficult decisions to make, and with a prospective new client, Nina knew her time for socializing was going to be limited. She would have to work on the proposal for Sombat exclusively in the next couple of days and then prepare Chompoo to present it by herself. Hopefully Chompoo will be able to handle it. It was a gamble, but she had nothing to lose. Then, if they by some divine intervention manage to seal the deal, she can start thinking about ways of getting back to Bangkok.

She would have been low spirited and not very hopeful in a similar situation in the past, but now, she somehow felt there was a possibility of it all going well. She thought about how Bo compared her to a rising stock option and laughed. Chompoo had been talking about the meeting excitedly and now realized Nina wasn't listening.

"What's so funny?" she asked as she was guiding her bike out of the parking area. She took out a helmet for Nina from the seat of the bike and handed it to her. Nina frowned at the prospect of putting it on in the relentless heat.

"Nothing, you were brilliant in there! I have a slight feeling someone had been rehearsing acting professionally in front of a mirror yesterday, " she teased taking a seat behind Chompoo as she was turning on the ignition.

"What?! No I haven't. I just gave a small presentation to my mom, so what, everyone does it!" she explained matter-of-factly.

"Absolutely normal, I do it all the time," Nina said, though as they merged into the busy street, she realized how far from the truth that was. Her mother had never been there to listen to her school assignments. A memory surfaced: once, she had brought home a painting that her teacher had praised highly. Excited to share it with her mother, knowing she loved visiting museums and appreciating art, Nina had eagerly shown it to her.

"Nina, you should go take a nap," her mother had said, placing the painting in a drawer cluttered with pencils and discarded paper. "Don't exhaust yourself too much at school; you won't learn anything meaningful there anyway."

Her father had tried to make up for her mother's lack of affection, and more often than not, he succeeded. A dull ache settled in Nina's heart as she thought of him.