Too Rich, Too Poor

Chapter 4

Third Person POV

Mingkwan followed Kit back to his study.

Kit motioned for Ming to make himself comfortable on the couch. It was a wide luxurious couch and Ming was more than happy to settle on it.

"Are you sure you don't want to take a teeny weenie sip of wine?' Kit tried to cajole Ming.

"I am sure," said Ming with a regretful smile. "Don't get me wrong. I'm not a teetotaler. I can drink myself half blind when I want to, but drinking is strictly off limits during work hours."

"I'm not going to tell," Kit persisted.

Mingkwan shook his head and tried to change the topic. "Do you live all alone in this big house?"

"No," Kit replied, "I have eighteen live-in employees but if you're trying to find out if I have a wife or girlfriend, the answer is no. I have not yet met the woman of my dreams. How about you, Ming?"

"I don't have any either. I have given up on finding the person who could make me happy beyond my wildest dreams," said Ming, watching as Kit sat down on the couch beside him while taking a sip from his wine glass.

"You're too young to be giving up on that sort of thing," said Kit, raising his eyebrows at Ming and taking another sip of his wine.

Ming just smiled and did not reply.

Kit stood up after he finished his drink.

"I'm gonna pour myself another glass," he said, "I know you're not allowed to drink any alcoholic beverages so, if you wish you could go over to my room refrigerator over there and choose from any of the non-alcoholic drinks in there."

"Thank you," said Ming as he stood up and went over to the fridge and took out a small bottle of pomegranate juice.

"So," said Kit after he had poured himself a full glass of wine, "you mentioned earlier that you can drink yourself half blind when you want to. Care to say, on what occasions?"

"It's not very often that I drink myself to oblivion," Ming replied. "I only do it every time my wedding anniversary comes around."

"Oh, you're married?" Kit asked, wide eyed.

"Almost married," Ming replied trying to sound nonchalant about it, "my fiancee stood me up at the altar when she found out that my father's business had collapsed and I was suddenly an heir to nothing."

"And what business was that?" Kit asked, "if you don't mind my asking" he added belatedly.

When Mingkwan named the business, he noticed Kit's eyes grow wide with fear. He turned to look at his bodyguard who was standing at constant attention by the door.

Ming noticed the glance. Then Ming realized something. No wonder the name on the business card sounded vaguely familiar to him.

"Are you by any chance the son of Mr. Pirapat Intochar?" Ming asked slowly and almost in a whisper, his chest experiencing the same familiar tightness every time he remembered how his father had announced to him that his family was practically penniless after the Intochar conglomerate had brought his business to its knees and had bought him out in order not to go into any further bankruptcy.

Kit's silence meant yes, he was. He noticed him giving his bodyguard a look which probably meant to be on the alert.

"No, no, no! I'm not here to do you any harm or to do some kind of vengeful act on you!" cried Ming as he noticed the bodyguard positioning himself in a stance that meant he was ready to tackle him, "I didn't even know that you were the son of Mr. Intochar until just now."

"You probably heard only your father's side of the story." said Kit, setting his glass of wine on his desk, no longer interested in it. "If you listen to my side of the story, you would not think too badly of my father."

"To be honest, I just want to forget the past," said Ming, "I am here to make the present pleasant for you and me."

Ming was back to his escort/client frame of mind and Kit was more than happy to take his lead.

Kit lifted his glass of wine from his desk and brought it to his lips.

In a few gulps, he had downed the wine and stumbled toward the couch. Ming helped him to settle on it.

"Would you like to dismiss your bodyguard for a few minutes?" Ming whispered in Kit's ear.