The three thugs quickly dragged Katrin toward the car. The vehicle was like a tiger’s mouth, ready to swallow her whole. But at that critical moment, a tall, slender figure suddenly appeared and changed everything. It all happened so fast. The hero landed a punch on the three stinking thugs. They went sprawling, and their hands slipped from Katrin’s arms. The girl tumbled to the ground as well. The three thugs looked terrified, hurried into the car, and sped away. The hero approached Katrin, who was still sitting on the sidewalk.
“Are you okay?” The melodious voice slipped into Katrin’s ears like a bamboo flute.
For a few moments, Katrin was stunned and spellbound. She saw a pair of blue eyes glittering beneath the streetlights. His handsome face looked just like Pierce Brosnan’s. Am I dreaming? Who is this man standing in front of me? An angel? A messenger from Allah sent to save me? Katrin remained lost in her fantasy. She only snapped out of it when the foreign man spoke to her again. Katrin grew nervous. She quickly stood and thanked her savior.
“Thank you, sir!” Katrin said, bowing repeatedly like a Japanese tourist.
The foreigner merely gave her a small smile and nodded.
Suddenly, a taxi drove past. Katrin hurriedly waved her hand. The taxi stopped. Nervous and in a rush, Katrin climbed inside. Meanwhile, the foreign guy just stood there, staring blankly at Katrin’s strange behavior.
“Take care!” he called out to her.
But the girl didn’t hear him anymore—the taxi was already pulling away. Sitting in the back seat, Katrin let out a long sigh, as though releasing a thousand burdens from her chest. After the taxi had gone quite a distance, Katrin realized she hadn’t even learned her rescuer’s name. She had been too frightened to think clearly. All she’d wanted was to get away from that place as quickly as possible. When she looked back, the foreigner was already gone. Katrin didn’t know who he was. All she remembered was his tall, slender figure, fair skin, blue eyes, and Pierce Brosnan-like face.
Then Katrin remembered the words of the prayer she had offered earlier. All she could do was sigh…
The incident in Bandung would never leave Katrin’s memory. She shuddered whenever she thought about it. If that handsome foreign guy hadn’t shown up, who knew what would have happened? She would have been haunted by regret for the rest of her life. But the incident also made Katrin more alert and careful. She vowed never to go to a nightclub or any similar nightlife venue again. Even though she had always socialized with tourists who loved partying at nightclubs, she had no desire to follow their lifestyle.
The bleak night that had nearly robbed her of her virginity also made Katrin furious with the two jerkish foreigners from Italy. Because she had gone along with their request, she had almost become prey to a womanizer. To get back at them, Katrin slapped Robertino and Diego across the face as soon as they came out of their hotel room the next morning. They were shocked and confused, and their friends also started asking questions. But after Katrin explained what had happened the night before, everyone understood. They turned around and blamed Robertino and Diego instead, ordering the two men to apologize.
The two filthy rats apologized to Katrin. The sexual harassment incident could set a terrible precedent for other tourists. Tourists could be annoying and do whatever they pleased, but they hated having to deal with the law in the countries they visited. Katrin accepted their apology. After that, they returned to Yogya. As soon as she arrived in Yogya, Katrin shut herself away in her boarding-house room. This time, she really wanted to rest completely. For at least three days, she planned to spend her time pampering herself. She turned down every offer from her friends to go out.
She even drove Ira away when Ira came to her boarding-house room with souvenirs from Surabaya. Ira had intended to take Katrin out to watch a movie and grab some food as repayment for Katrin’s kindness in covering her assignment. But Katrin didn’t feel like going out. She chose to take the souvenirs, then told Ira to go home. Ira was left feeling awkward. She had wanted to chat with Katrin and hear about her experience taking the Italian tourists to Bandung. But Katrin wasn’t in the mood to tell the story. She didn’t want to remember her experience in Bandung.
Bitter!