How Do You Say I Love You in Nepali?

Later:

"Getting a little ahead of yourself, aren't you?" the American says, holding up a green scrap of paper he found between the pages of my phrasebook. In block capitals is written: How do you say I love you in Nepali?

I explain that my boyfriend had hidden notes in my books. I'd found this one in the LA airport, before I'd even left the States. I thought it was sweet then. When I reread it on the plane over the Pacific it had more poignancy. Now, held aloft by a stranger in Bangkok, it seems precious.

The Nepali man says, "When your boyfriend comes to visit you, he will call you timi." He’s not suggesting a new nickname. Timi is informal you, used for children and animals (so my phrasebook tells me). Nepali has several words for you—the other one in my phrasebook, the more formal one, is tapai.

I'm fine with Nick calling me timi, until the man goes on to say—"and you will call him tapai!"

"What?" I say. "We’ll both tapai each other!"

"I called my girlfriend tapai," the American reassures me. "He’ll just get made fun of a lot."