Aperture on the East Read Online Free PDF

well as the
temperature, began to climb.
    After taking a few shots of the busy
traffic and the stately hotels on the other side of Tran Phu
Boulevard, Ana turned her camera back toward the ocean to
photograph the early swimmers, and as she was doing so, she noticed
a familiar figure in her lens.
    The tall man emerged from the water
slowly, taking in rapid but deep breaths. As his chest rose and
fell Ana could see his well-defined muscles gleam in the sunlight.
He removed his swim cap and goggles, and then with a hand wiped the
water from his face. It was Vo.
    Ana felt as if her heart stopped for a
second. She let the camera sink to her lap, and gawked at Vo as his
bulging thighs propelled him toward land, toward her. Ana’s head
was telling her to look away, that it was rude to stare, but she
was in a trance. Suddenly, she heard a voice.
    “ Ana.”
    “ Oh, hi,” said Ana. Her
heart was pounding fast in her chest, and she felt as if she had
just been caught doing something criminal.
    “ Morning,” said Vo,
standing like a tower in front of Ana with his hands on his waist,
breathing deep and fast.
    “ Morning,” said Ana. Vo’s
eyes, the color of mahogany, were beaming straight at hers again.
She withdrew her gaze from his face to her camera, and stowed it in
the carrying bag.
    “ Mind if I sat down?” Vo
was looking at the space next to Ana.
    “ Oh, no, please. You need
to rest.” Ana moved a little to the other end, trying to create
some physical distance from Vo. Vo sat down and rested his elbows
on his knees. Ana didn’t know if she was supposed to make small
talk; she was so nervous that she wanted to get up and leave, but
she didn’t think it would be polite.
    Vo’s breathing slowed down to normal.
He sat up a little, crossed his arms in front of his chest, and set
his eyes on the other swimmers in the open sea.
    Ana looked down; she was digging in
and out of the soft sand underneath the bench with her bare feet.
The sand was still relatively cool compared to the air, which by
now was well heated by the sun. Ana raised her hand to wipe the
sweat away from her brow.
    “ You are up early,” said
Vo. “Most tourists get here late.”
    “ I’m not a tourist,” said
Ana.
    “ Oh, right. You have a
job. You live here, don’t you?”
    Ana nodded her head, still looking
down.
    “ I am guessing you are
Russian,” said Vo.
    “ That’s
correct.”
    “ When I first got here a
year ago, I didn’t expect to be living among so many Russians. It’s
been interesting.”
    “ In a good way, I hope,”
said Ana, turning her head a little to look at Vo.
    “ Good and bad,” said Vo,
looking at Ana. “It’s good you are here. I mean, you can’t be
bad.”
    Ana couldn’t help but smile. It was
endearing the way he stumbled to find words. “So, you swim early.
How’s the water?” said Ana.
    “ I come to swim every
morning. It’s the best time. Just look at the locals. The water is
calm and cool.” Vo looked at Ana’s camera bag. “I saw your
professional camera. Are you a photographer?”
    “ Not really. I just like
to take pictures.”
    They sat in silence for a minute. The
vendors were raising the beach umbrellas as the foreigners poured
in and took over the beach.
    “ Vo,” said a voice from
behind them. It was the petite woman Ana bumped into the other
night. She was holding a beach towel.
    Vo stood up and smiled at the woman.
He said something in Vietnamese to her, and mentioned Ana’s name.
Then he said to Ana, “This is Kim. She walks. I swim. She insists
on carrying a towel for me. I normally just air dry.” He
chuckled.
    Kim smiled at Ana and said, “Hello,
Ana.”
    “ Hello, Kim.” Ana stood up
too.
    “ I guess we’ll see you
around,” said Vo. “Nha Trang is a small town.” He took the towel
from Kim, and they walked toward the street. They stopped at a
motorcycle. Vo removed a helmet that was hanging on the handle bar
and placed it on Kim’s head, buckled the straps and