It hurts. It hurts like hell...
It had been seven years since Kayu started working as Ciro's secretary and six years eight months three days fifteen hours and twenty-one minutes since he realized he was in love with his boss.
Kayu had been a huge fan of Ciro since he was a high schooler. With each passing year, his idolization of the dimpled entrepreneur increased exponentially.
Finally, when he was in the final year of his undergraduate university, he managed to get an internship at Lumina, the home appliance company owned by Ciro.
He got appointed as the temporary secretary for Ciro, whose previous secretary was going on maternity leave.
Kayu put his all into his internship, impressing Ciro to the extent that the latter offered to make him a permanent staff directly.
That was how Kayu's journey of being Ciro's secretary began.
Even after signing the contract with his idol, he never let the latter know how much he admired him.
It was only when Ciro introduced his girlfriend, Aya to Kayu, did the smaller guy realized that all these years of admiration were not just admiration towards an idol but something way deeper than that.
The amount of jealousy and sadness he felt each time he saw Ciro and Aya together was what made him realize his feelings toward his boss.
To keep his professional decorum, he had kept all his feelings bottled up inside his heart at work and only poured them out to the human-size Teddy bear, Blue, that he hugged to sleep every night.
Yet, today was different. Today, it hurt him more because he knew that Ciro would propose to Aya soon.
Ciro had gotten permission from the parents of both sides and had already purchased the ring.
Knowing that the man he had been in love with was getting engaged to someone else was painful for Kayu. But having to watch the man live happily with the love of his life, was like having someone dig his heart out of his chest.
"Die! Die! Die!" Kayu screamed, as his fingers pressed furiously on the game controller.
The zombies on the TV screen were being mercilessly slaughtered by Kayu's avatar in the game.
"VICTORY!" A female voice exclaimed as the word flashed on the screen in bold letters.
"Damn it!" Kayu cursed, slamming the game controller on the cushion.
Even the victory wasn't helping him forget the pain. His mind couldn't shake off the thoughts of Ciro and Aya getting engaged.
"Why did he have to do that? Who it kill him if he didn't show that ring to me?" He screamed sitting on the carpeted floor.
Earlier that day, in the evening, before he clocked off from work, Ciro had called him into the office.
Inside the office, Ciro showed him a really beautiful ring and asked for his opinion. Ciro didn't have to spell it out to Kayu that he was going to propose to his lady love.
Kayu had acted all professional, answering his boss's question honestly.
Ciro, who was completely oblivious to his little secretary's feelings, was over the moon after getting the approval from Kayu. He had been worried that his ring choice might not be good enough.
Kayu was drowning himself in self-pity and heartache when his phone suddenly rang. "Who could be calling me at this hour?" He mumbled as he made his way to the table.
His breath hitched when he saw Ciro's name flash on the screen. He looked at the time. It was past two o'clock at the midnight.
With a frown on his face, he picked up the call, wondering why his boss was calling him so late. "Swadee Khrab, Khun Ciro."
The voice he heard from the other side was not of his boss but of a total stranger. He listened to what the stranger said.
After a moment of silence, he said "Khrab. I will be right there."
Hanging up the call, he rushed to get changed. Hailing a cab, he headed to the current location of his boss.
Bangkok being a city with an active nightlife, it wasn't difficult for him to find a cab even at such an odd hour. It was not that he didn't have a car of his own, but he knew that he might have to drive his boss's car back.
When Kayu entered the spacious bar, he found Ciro lying on the bar counter, completely wasted.
"Khun Kayu?" A bartender asked while spotting him.
"Khrab" Kayu nodded.
"Swadee Khrab, Khun Kayu. I was the one who made the call" The bartender smiled politely.
When Kayu received the call, he wasn't expecting it to be from a bar, asking him to pick up his boss who had passed out from all the alcohol. This is because he knew that Ciro wasn't the kind that loved to drink.
Yet, after seeing it with his own eyes, he was convinced.
"Thank you for taking care of him." He thanked the bartender sincerely.
"It's just part of our job, Khrab," The bartender said with a smile. He then proceeded to provide Kayu with the bill.
Kayu was so shocked to see the receipt. Being an A-class bar, just the entry fee was enormous. Looking at the huge bill he stared unblinkingly at Ciro.
"Khun Kayu Khrab?" The bartender called out. He wanted Kayu to settle the bill and take Ciro away.
"Khrab," Kayu quickly took out the credit card from Ciro's pocket and handed it to the bartender. "Here you go."
The bartender awkwardly swiped the card and handed the card machine to Kayu to enter the pin.
Kayu pressed in the pin without missing a beat. One might find it weird, but Ciro trusted him blindly. So blindly to the extent that he even shared his bank password with him.
The bartender was satisfied after the payment was made. He noticed that Kayu was struggling to lift Ciro who had passed out from drinking too much. Kayu's small stature couldn't hold the six feet tall Ciro "Khun Kayu, do you need some help?"
Kayu didn't stand ceremony with the bartender, "Khrab." He answered. It was impossible for him to carry Ciro all the way down to the parking lot.
He didn't forget to give the bartender a heavy tip for helping him out.
After securing the seat belt around Ciro, Kayu took a minute to admire the sleeping face of the man whom he was madly in love with for years.
His phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out to see who was texting him after midnight.
Do you want to meet? The text read.
In an attempt move on from his one-sided love, Kayu had registered himself in a dating app. It was one of the matches from the app who send the text.
He hesitated for a bit and glanced at Ciro again. He knew he would have no chance with such a man.
He quickly typed. Sure. And pressed the send button.
The car roared to life as it was keyed to ignition. It was driven out of the bar parking lot to the busy highway.
YOU ARE READING
Secret Admirer
FanfictionKayu was head over heels for his boss, Ciro. But never dared to openly express his love as his boss already had a girlfriend.
