Once Again

6.

Sky glanced at himself in the mirror, the tears in his eyes on verge of falling. He kept his lips tightly sealed, humming throughout the time to whatever the other person was saying on the call.

His mom called today but to his disappointment, it was another call from her to force Sky into a marriage. She talked about various girls that were apparantly 'perfect' for him and Sky wanted to say that , 'they weren't. He didn't wanted to marry anyone.' but he kept his mouth shut, afraid that the tears he had kept locked until now would escape his eyes. His ears listened to whatever she said but his mind was focused on his own image in front of him. It was until he couldn't take more he muttered a quick 'goodbye' and ended the call immediately before his throat made a noise and he started sobbing. His hand made its way to his mouth as he tried to muffle his cry. He stayed there for while and made sure to be as quiet as possible because he was still in his office. It wasn't until half an hour before he came out of little comfort zone to the harshness of reality. He quickly packed his stuff and made his way downstairs without making any eye contact with anyone. As much as he would try to hide it, he knew he looked miserable.

Sky stopped dead in his tracks as he saw Pai standing outside, 'Why is he here?' He sniffled all his cries back and walked slowly, keeping his head down. 

"Hey babe, how's been your day today?" Prapai's voice rang in his ears as if informing him that he couldn't hide now. He ignored the other's presence and continued walking as if it would somehow make him disappear. But it didn't happen, prapai followed Sky without uttering another word. He somehow sensed how Sky wasn't his usual today. So he decided not to ruin his mood even more by saying anything silly. He followed Sky until he stopped which made Pai bump into him. He turned around and saw Prapai in face. Now that he could see Sky's face he knew there was something wrong, his eyes had a reddish tint and his face didn't glow like usual. It was dull, he felt dull.  

Prapai noticed this change in Sky and Sky knew he did, so without much thinking, he said "STOP IT AND GO HOME" His voice came out a little hoarse from all that crying but he was glad it didn't crack.

"Ok then where's your car?" The other person replied nonchalantly.

"Why would you ask for my car?" Sky asked and his voice felt a little better now. 

"Because you have to drop me. I didn't brought my car today and the bus stand is way too far from my home." 

"I really don't see how it is my concern" he said, trying to give him a fake smile. He wanted to reach home as soon so he could plant his face on his pillow and scream his heart out.

 "You are the one who asked me to go home so you must take responsibility for it" Pai said showing his brilliant white teeth to Sky.

........

'ughh why did I even ended up having this chatterbox in my car' The thought came in Sky's mind as soon as he let Prapai enter his car. Prapai sensed how Sky's mood lifted a little when he talked with him earlier so he talked the whole time. Asking questions and then answering them himself. Sky didn't responded to him much but he knew how he no longer looked like he would cry. He even smiled at some joke he made and Prapai was proud of himself for that.  

Prapai talked all the way through and honestly it helped Sky taking his mind off the call he had earlier. Talking to his mother always drained him and her forcing Sky into a marriage was even worst. He sometimes wished he had a family like Prapai, a normal and more importantly happy family. Before he could dwell on it more he swtiched his attention to the person sitting next to him.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Pai suddenly blurted out and his words even suprised him. He hoped that Sky wasn't paying attention to what he said but that was all in vain as he saw Sky's eyes widened a little before they turned to look at him.

"Why would you want to know that?" Prapai felt a sudden thud in his heart and a voice echoed in his mind, 'This might be the only chance' He hestitantly opened his mouth to say something but Sky beat him off. 

"I already have someone whom I love and nobody could replace him in my heart." He snapped before shutting his mouth up so he couldn't speak any further. He could already see the pained expression forming on Prapai's face as he shouted at him. But these words, they weren't meant to be said to Prapai. It was for his mom and he considered himself a coward for not saying them to her. It all started when little Sky who was too naive that he believed that his parents would support him if he had a boyfriend, intoduced them to Fort. They always refered to it as a phase and said that he was just confused. But he wasn't, he was determined towards his future with Fort. The real conflict started when his boyfriend died and his parents demanded him to forget Fort, to forget a six year relationship just like that. They moved on as if nothing ever happened. Sky never once heard about Fort from his parents again. His mental condition at that time was too week and he forced himself into believing that Fort was with him, thinking that otherwise he would forget him just like his parents wanted. He wished he could say these words to his mom but he knew he was a coward, a fucking coward.

He felt water flowing to the corner of his eyes for the second time of the day. Prapai turned his eyes towards the window and Sky towards the road as they broke the eye contact which felt too heavy to maintain. A heavy silence settled in the car and Sky realised in a little more than a month period of knowing Prapai, this was the longest time he was quiet for. He started feeling worried about him but thankfully the latter finally spoke up and the rest of the ride went like that before, Pai talking and Sky listening in peace. Although, thoughts about the worse lingered in his mind for the whole time. 

Prapai opened the door when he saw the familiar surroundings of his home.He stepped out of the car and marched towards his home. Sky waited a little before starting the car once again to drive to his own home. Before he could leave, there was a knock on his window. He rolled the window down in order to hear what the person wanted to say.

"You know the person whom you love, he or she is so much lucky Sky." Prapai said and walked away leaving a dazed Sky in his car alone with his thoughts. For a moment he imagined that he saw something in Prapai's eyes but he couldn't pin on what it was, moreover it was only his imagination right?

~~~