Bangkok, Kitchen of Raina and Gobli
Scene 7
One of the reasons for Maille's patience was called Lun. Lun hailed from a village in south Thailand and had a hearty laugh that was at once shy and forward. Everything seemed to get a bit on her nerves and seemed at the same time to amuse the lady. Maille found her charming in a bizarre way. First of all, however, he loved the almost shameless ease with which she directed her hands over mortars and pans.
Lun was the cook in the household of Raina and Gobli, a couple from Sasselin who had lived in Bangkok for the last four years. Both had earlier worked 100 per cent for the Deuxième Bureau. Today Raina worked for a humanitarian organisation – and undertook only minor assignments for the «Bureau». Gobli had quit the secret service altogether and was now engaged in supplying the United Arab Emirates with cashewnuts from Cambodia.
Whenever Maille was in Bangkok, he visited the couple and spent long hours in their kitchen, where he was happy to learn new recipes from Lun.