Walk A Different Path 🤍 Jaa/First

Chapter 14 ~ stormy weather ~

Nothing seemed to have changed in Thailand but even though it felt as if he'd been gone for six months he'd only actually been gone for a few weeks. He'd been back home for a week and he'd called Maskwa a couple of times and messaged him every day but it wasn't enough.

Today he was meeting Paitoon in a coffee shop, he showered and dressed in his designer pants and shirt leaving the top three buttons undone then he thought of the way Maskwa had made him cover up in the bar that first night in the village and unconsciously found himself buttoning two of those buttons back up again.

He made himself a coffee from his top of the range pod machine and thought of Maskwa's mother boiling coffee grounds in her special coffee pan on top of her stove and it was the best coffee he had ever tasted and he skipped breakfast remembering how the Maskawisiw's would sit together every morning and eat a proper cooked breakfast.

After he drained his coffee cup he washed it and left it to air dry then he grabbed his key card and his manual car key, wallet and shades and walked out of his penthouse apartment.

It still felt weird not having to bundle up against the cold every time he went out but it hadn't been as bad as it sounded and there was nothing like that crisp fresh mountain air first thing on a morning.

Walking outside of his apartment building he slipped his shades on in case there were any paparazzi lurking in the bushes then he strode across to his convertible and unlocked it using his fingerprint on the biometric panel then he slid behind the wheel and the car greeted him by saying 'good morning'

He typed in the location of the coffee shop where he was meeting Paitoon and fired up the engine using his print again before setting off.

It was an awesome car, then again'  it should be for how much it had cost him and at the time it had been his baby and all his 'friends' had been envious but now he was thinking about selling it, did he really need such automotive opulence?

When he reached the coffee shop he pulled up and jumped out of the car which locked itself as he walked away and strode confidently towards the designated meeting place ignoring all the whispers and stares as he went.

When he went inside the coffee shop he dropped his shades down his nose a little and scanned the room until he saw Paitoon who was waving at him then he waved back and walked across.

"toonie, how are you baby boy?" Sam said falling back into his old fake persona, Maskwa would be so disappointed in him.

"Sam, hey buddy, how are you?" Paitoon asked.

"truthfully? what the hell am I doing here toonie?"

"having coffee I think" Paitoon laughed

"very funny bro' but seriously, I'm questioning everything about my life and wondering why the fuck I didn't stay up there with Maskwa?" Sam said.

"you really like him as much as that?" Paitoon asked a little shocked.

"I love him toonie, I don't know how I managed all those years without him in my life" Sam admitted.

"but up there? I mean it's an awesome village and everything but it's so isolated" Paitoon said.

"it's amazing bro' it's such a wonderful, stress free lifestyle or as stress free as you want it to be ... it seems to me that the more we want out of life the more stress we have to deal with in order to attain those things" Sam said.

"woa that's deep Sam, that place really did a number on you didn't it?" Paitoon said.

"not just the place baby boy, the people too and in truth, what do we really need to be happy, a roof over our heads, food on the table and our loved ones around us ... we don't need the latest appliances, the best job, the best house or car ... life can be so simple if we just get our priorities straight" Sam said as a waitress came up to take their order.