The Rainforest Shower - E-book - ePub

Two young IT professionals, find themselves seated next to each other on an overnight flight to Bangkok. During the flight, they discover that they have much more in common than just their work. As Jonathan takes out a copy of Attitude, a gay magazine, to read whilst waiting for dinner, Mark discloses that he, like Jonathan, is both gay and single. Jonathan has an itinerary that takes him first to Bangkok and then to four other Asian cities, whilst Mark's assignment involves eleven days work in Bangkok.
While originally booked into different hotels, Mark finds himself transferred to Jonathan's five star deluxe hotel when his original hotel was over-booked; this provides them with an opportunity to learn more about each other and why Bangkok attracts so many gay travellers. By the time of Jonathan's departure, they are sharing both Jonathan's bed and rainforest shower, and a strong emotional and sexual attraction has developed between them.
In Jonathan's next destination, Hong Kong, he encounters two Chinese guys, who turn out to be gay multi-millionaires, having sex in the showers of his hotel health club. Later in the lounge, they apologise to him for their behaviour and any embarrassment that it may have caused him. To make amends, they then invite him to join them for dinner at the very exclusive Club. As they part at the end of the evening, they say that they hope to meet him again soon, but he thinks that highly unlikely.
During Jonathan's travels to other Asian cities, he has encounters with other guys, and not least a couple of young Asians, who also share his hotel rainforest shower. From these guys, he learns, first-hand, of the conflict that arises from the contrasting parental expectations of Asian and western families and, more importantly, the impact that this can have on the lives of young gay Asian men. Within ten days, Jonathan and Mark are unexpectedly brought back together in Bangkok when Mark requests a security expert; he is told one will be sent from Hong Kong.
He is both surprised and delighted when this expert is Jonathan. Their joint investigation uncovers a multi-million Baht fraud and leads to the arrest the alleged perpetrator. They appearance as expert witnesses at the subsequent trial results in them returning to Bangkok. At the end of the first day, the defendant changes his plea to guilty, leaving them free to spend two days in Singapore; here Mark goes to visit his parents, leaving Jonathan to be entertained by his gay best friend.
Hong Kong introduces them to the excesses of gay expat life at a wild weekend party fuelled with alcohol, drugs, and sex. Jonathan discovers that the two gay multi-millionaires have delayed their flight back to their home in the States, when they learnt that he would be at the party. The following Tuesday, Jonathan departs on his business trip into China and Mark is scheduled to fly back to London later the same day.
However, after Jonathan has departed for China, Mark is also sent to China to investigate an urgent IT problem at a Shanghai hotel. Jonathan arrives at the hotel in Shanghai, his final destination, unaware that Mark is already there and discovers him lying naked on a bed waiting for him. The Chinese gay millionaires invite them to lunch on their final day in Shanghai and, the conversation turns to the Hong Kong party.
Jonathan and Mark begin to wonder if they are about to be propositioned for an afternoon of sex. However, much to their great surprise, it is an invitation to spend Christmas with them at their eight bedroomed 'cottage' in Key West that they wish to discuss. This leaves them speechless, especially as the offer includes first class flights to Miami, but they are left undecided as to whether they should accept.
The author, who has lived and worked in Asia, uses his personal knowledge of the region to enhance the detail of story.