I am not entirely sure how I first started to talk to Anna, it just seemed natural and easy, one minute we were on our own, the next companions on a strange journey but perhaps I should go back a little.
I travel a great deal and visit many remote parts of the world as part of my job. Despite most people thinking it is very glamorous to travel let me tell you it sometime gets to be really stressful. This trip had been no exception. The flight from London to Bangkok was delayed, business class was packed and no upgrade to first, on arriving the queue for immigration was slow the airport very hot and Bangkok itself was the normal trial of traffic and smog. Still the rewards of Bangkok are some of the best hotels in the world, this trip in The Peninsula Hotel melted most of the stress away and a couple of productive days with business partners in the city helped me to acclimatise and adjust to the time difference.
I am 40 years old and work for a software company where my job is to train partners around the world how to use our technology, it can be great fun and each day is different but long weeks on the road, on trains, in the air in hotels can get pretty lonely. You get used to things not quite working as planned and true to form my first class train seat to Chang Mi was double booked and I found myself in second class for the 15 hour overnight journey through Thailand. No private cabin for me!
The sleeper train was pretty full and whilst waiting in Bangkok station the air conditioning was off so that it was very hot as I looked for my seat in the middle of the carriage. The seats were arranged in pairs facing each other, and for sleeping converted into bunks. As I sat down I found myself face to face with a young woman perhaps 20 or 21 years old clearly dressed for travel in a brightly coloured skirt, leather sandals and a light blue strapped tea shirt. These details I noticed later on, but my attention was first drawn by her eyes which were a deep blue colour, her slightly dishevelled off-blond hair creating a wild but energetic look. She was lovely.
Trying not to be too obtrusive I put my travel case on the rack next to the seat, and sat down with my travel guide in my lap and smiled at my companion, who after a moment to react smiled back.
"It looks as if we'll be sharing this part of the cabin" I said, "my name is Alan". I reached out my hand to her and she took mine.
"Anna" she said and shook my hand.
I had guessed she was English form the clothes and her back pack, her accent confirmed this for me, not quite home counties, but educated and strong. Her handshake was direct and her hand very warm, but then I guess my hand was pretty warm too in the heat of the cabin.
"Are you going all the way to Chang Mi?" I asked her.
She nodded and asked "how about you?"
"Yes, let's hope they get the air conditioning on soon, it's really hot in here." We laughed in a companionable way and on impulse I asked "would you like a cold beer?" Without waiting for her answer I reached into my bag and pulled out two cans of Tiger beer that I had bought on the station platform and reached one across to her.
"Are you sure?" asked Anna as she took the can.
I nodded and opened my can, Anna opened hers'.
"Cheers, and good health." We both took a welcome and long pull on our cold beers. Bliss.
"So what are you doing in Thailand?" asked Anna and so I explained my job, and was surprised to see her relax quite considerably as she realised I was not one of the many single European men in Thailand travelling for the sex tourist trade but doing something more worthwhile.
Ice broken we chatted about this and that, I learned that Anna was a student and travelling for fun and until her money ran out, that she was on her own and feeling quite lonely but was hoping to meet up with some friends she had met on the beach when she arrived in Chang Mi.
A sudden jolt of the train told of the arrival of the engine and our imminent departure from Bangkok, on time at 19.30, and then to a loud cheer from all of the passengers the air-conditioning finally started, quickly cooling the cabin. In the suddenly cool air I could not help but notice that Anna's nipples hardened and were quite noticeable through her tea shirt and bra, and then to my embarrassment I glanced up and noticed that Anna had clocked me clocking her! Our eyes met and Anna just smiled and then laughed.
"Naughty, naughty!" I laughed and the tension immediately broken.
"Sorry, couldn't help myself." I said.
As the train pulled out of the station and into the city suburbs we chatted, about the country, other places we had visited and when the steward came to ask if we wanted a meal we both ordered a Thai curry and another beer this time a litre bottle and as the level of our beer fell we became more relaxed. On impulse I asked
"So why aren't you travelling with your boyfriend?'" I asked.
"Oh I don't know, most of the men of my age are so immature and selfish , all they want is sex and when they get it, it lasts about two minutes! Far too much trouble, and besides you never know when you will meet somebody interesting."
I glanced up at Anna, she was looking me right in the eye and her smile suddenly made my stomach lurch, surely an attractive young girl would not be interested in a man of my age? I smiled back and stretched out my legs, to my surprise Anna did the same thing and the skin of our legs touched under the table, my legs bare in shorts, Anna's bare under her skirt and for the first time in my life I felt an electric jolt of connection with somebody I had met less than an hour before. I looked at Anna again and saw that she was looking quite confused with a blush spreading up her neck, and I noticed her nipples were again quite pronounced.
I was not sure what to do, but figured that I should tread carefully, and so apologised. Anna it seemed was used to being more direct.
"You felt that too, didn't you?" she said looking hard into my face. I nodded, and moved my leg closer to hers again so that the hairs on my leg lightly brushed against her. Anna visibly shuddered, I assumed in a nice way, but made no attempt to move her leg away, so I left it like that feeling the heat of her leg next to mine, aware of a suddenly highly sexual charge in the air.
At that moment the steward arrived with our meal, breaking the tension, Anna smiled at the steward, then at me and I ordered two more beers, suddenly aware of the rest of the cabin around me which was buzzing with a party atmosphere. I could hear voices all around, chatting in several languages, but given the layout of the cabin could only see a few people further along the carriage. I was hungry and so it seems was Anna who tucked into her curry and rice with gusto, clearing the plate and the salad in step with me.