The Way to a Man's Heart

Chapter 24

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Tae's POV

"I'm so sorry," I said to Tee. "I didn't mean to endanger your life."

"It's okay," Tee said, looking at me with a sympathetic expression on his face. "I saw what, or rather whom you saw. I understand. It can be really hard to go through something like that."

"Still, I should have taken in consideration that I have a passenger in my car. I'm sorry," I said once more.

"As long as I'm unharmed, it's okay," Tee tried to reassure me. "Let's focus on having a delicious lunch."

"Of course," I replied, easing my car into an available parking spot right across the entrance of the restaurant.

We were met and greeted at the entrance by a uniformed waiter. I recognized him as one of the waiters who greeted me on my way out of the restaurant last night, when I had decided to leave Mr. Ratthanaphast's birthday party early.

Tee gave his name to the waiter and the waiter checked his name on the roster of reserved tables. He then proceeded to escort Tee and me to a corner table where we were partially hidden  by a column.

In a little bit the waiter came back and gave each of us a menu booklet.

The teriyaki salmon appealed to me. I asked Tae what he wanted to order.

Tae pointed at a fish dish image on the menu booklet.

"This pan seared halibut with lemon butter sauce looks good," he remarked.

"Then that's what you're having," I said, motioning to the waiter that we were ready to give our orders.

The waiter approached us and after writing down our orders on his notepad, he asked what drinks we wanted to order.

"I don't drink alcohol in the daytime," I immediately said, "so I'm ordering the guava nectar."

Tae scanned the beverage page of the menu booklet and then said, "I'd like the soursop juice topped with mint leaves."

"Very well," the waiter said, bowing slightly before walking away with our orders.

Tee kept the conversation at a general level for a while then suddenly asked me, "How long were you together with Dome before you broke up."

I gave a deep sigh.

"You don't have to answer my question," Tee quickly said with an apologetic smile.

"It's fine," I assured him. "And to answer your question, we were together for close to three years."

"You don't have to tell me why you broke up," Tee said but I could see how much he was fighting his curiosity.

"He went abroad to work as an apprentice in his uncle's real estate business," I said, the sharp pain in my chest making me feel a little breathless as I recalled that particular day when Dome had decided that it was over between us.

"He had not informed me that he was coming back because he wanted to surprise me," I continued.

Tee nodded as he listened attentively to my short but painful story.

"On that particular day, my close friends and I were at my apartment watching a football game and I remember clearly it was halftime so there were lots of commercials on TV. We spent the halftime drinking beer and eating assorted pizzas and chicken wings. One of my closest friend was sitting close beside me on the couch. He must have drunk too much beer because he looked a bit sleepy as he rested his head on my shoulder. Suddenly there was a knock on my door and one of my friends who was sitting closest to the door stood up and opened it. Dome walked in with a big smile which changed into a hurt and horrified expression when he took in the sight of my friend resting his head on my shoulder. Dome turned around to walk out the door. I quickly stood up from the couch and ran after him to try to explain the situation but he did not give me a chance. He punched me and when I tried to approach him he kicked me which sent me reeling on the floor. He told me he never wanted to see me again as he walked away from me."

My voice caught in my throat and I tried to smile when I added, "And that's how my love life ended."

I felt Tee's hand covering mine as it rested lightly on the table.

"You're gonna be fine," he said firmly. "If he refuses to give you a chance to explain the situation, don't forget, there are so many other people out there who can give you the love that you deserve. You will eventually get over him."

"But I don't want to get over him," I found myself saying involuntarily, my voice barely above a whisper.

Then I happened to catch a fleeting expression of sadness on Tee's face. Was he remembering a painful experience of his own? Maybe it was his turn to tell me about his own love life.