Two days from now my wife and I will have been married for one year. Nak has become increasingly excited about the anniversary the nearer it gets. It’s a really big deal for her. I mean, OK, it’s a big deal for me too but, I haven’t been losing sleep over it. I’m too busy losing sleep about the fact that so few people have bothered to buy any of my books. But, never mind about that.

The anniversary is on a Saturday and she suggested we go away to some island off the coast of Cambodia for the weekend. That didn’t appeal to me because it’s the rainy season and traveling on the weekend around here is a hassle. Several other of her suggestions were similarly dismissed so now she’s settled on cooking a special dinner for us…a couple of nice steaks, some fresh vegetables, a bottle of wine, etc. She wants to sit on our verandah for a romantic candlelight dinner. Fine, except, there aren’t any decent steaks to be had in Kampot. So, she plans to go to the market tomorrow and buy a fresh, whole chicken.

“Make sure it looks healthy,” I said.

“It will be as healthy looking as a dead chicken can look.”

The plan is to meet for breakfast in town Friday morning after her Korean class and then go shopping for Saturday night’s dinner. That’s the plan as far as she knows. What she doesn’t know is that two weeks ago I reserved a top floor room at the best hotel in Kampot for Friday and Saturday nights. So far, I’ve managed to keep it a secret.

Right after Nak leaves for class Friday morning I will commence a frantic pace setting up the surprise. I need to pack a bag with clothes she will like to wear, her creams and lotions, toothbrush, hair brush, and a few things for myself. Then I scoot into town to the Diamond Hotel and stow the stuff in the closet of room #608. The girl at the front desk has been briefed on the project three times during the past two weeks. I hope she understood enough to play out her small part in the ruse. (Very cute girl, by the way.) If all goes well I will be in time to meet Nak for breakfast at Captain Chim’s around ten o’clock.   

We had a pleasant breakfast and talked about shopping for a nice, romantic dinner Saturday night. As we were leaving I suggested we stop by the Diamond Hotel to look at the rooms in case we had some visitors who would like a really good room to stay while in Kampot. I figured Nak would balk at the idea because she had several places to go shopping for food. Fortunately, she agreed.

“But, let’s just look at a couple of rooms. I have a lot to do today.”

So, into the lobby, up to the front desk…I wink at the girl, she hands me the key to room #608 without Nak noticing anything askew and we entered the elevator to the top floor. I pretended not to know where room #608 was. Nak found it. We entered the room…king-size bed, cable TV, air-conditioning, refrigerator, balcony overlooking the river, spacious toilet with glass-enclosed shower. All in all, very swank for a back-water town like Kampot. Nak approved enthusiastically of the whole set-up.

Lastly, she headed towards the large closet. I knew she’d check that out eventually…being a woman, as my wife is.

Upon opening the closet doors she immediately noticed an adorable floral dress of her on a hanger. Then she looked down and saw my travel bag. Her eyes bulged.

“Wha…what’s this…my dress…wha…what’s going on here?”

I simply wrapped her in my arms and said, “Happy Anniversary, sweetheart.”

The next three days were wonderful. We had a massage, tried different restaurants for breakfast and dinner, had drinks every evening along the river, talked about our first year as a married couple and plans for the upcoming year, watched a couple of decent movies and…and…oh yeah, we spent a lot of time in that big, comfortable bed. The maid was terrific…clean, fresh linens every day.

Not to sound overly self-congratulatory but, I was quite proud of myself for pulling off this surprise for my wife. She was so thrilled and thankful. As far as I’m concerned, Nak is the most wonderfully joyous human being in the history of human beings. I often question what the hell she’s doing with me. Still, once in a while, I manage to do something to warrant just a bit of that heartfelt love she has for me.

“Your smile is my happiness,” she so often says to me.

No man could ask for more than that from his wife.

  Excerpt from: An Eclectic Journal...Cambodia