Letters to my beloved [Complete]

Chapter 21

Kong's POV

Is that....is that P'Arthit?

When the hell did he return?

When the hell did he start drinking coffee?

No, wait. Most importantly, what the hell was he doing sitting in the exact same café that I was supposed to meet Turtle?

And for a brief, fraction of a second, as the realization began dawning on me, I felt a whirlpool of emotions creating a havoc within my chest.

Could it be possible that...

Surely, P'Arthit wasn't...

It would be a coincidence of gigantic proportions if Turtle and ...

My mind reeling, my heart racing, my every last nerve on edge as I kept staring at him sipping at his coffee, his eyes darting towards the entrance to the café as if he was waiting for someone.

Me?

This was bad. This was so, so, so bad. This was disastrous. This was the worst thing that could have ever happened. My friend! My crush! My Turtle was the man I despised more than anything under the sun! Please God, let it not be true. Please, please, please, please.

And then suddenly my wish came true.

A pretty looking girl, carrying a drink and a plate of pastries sat across from him as they smiled at each other a little too sweetly.

Phew!

Thank God! I was literally two seconds away from utterly freaking out. I couldn't believe I was being so stupid. What were the chances that Turtle and P'Arthit would be the same person. Absolutely zero. There was no possible way under the sun that Turtle could ever be anywhere as cruel or heartless as P'Arthit. Ofcourse P'Arthit wasn't here to see me. He hadn't even let me know he was back from home. He didn't even care that I was drowning in guilt for weeks. He was here only for a woman I had never seen before. Apparently going on dates as if nothing at all happened.

My eyes narrowed as the second truck of reality smacked me right in the face. He was on a date. This was probably the nicest I had ever seen him dress in the entire year I had known him. His hair actually combed and gelled for once. His foot tapping nervously as he tried unsuccessfully to conceal his nervousness.

His eyes once again darting towards the door, briefly moving across the window, and I immediately ducked. Obviously not at all interested in getting caught spying on him while he was charming up this woman.

Remember the whirlpool of emotions I mentioned earlier? Now becoming a full blown cyclone. Any possibility of rational thought getting swept away as I struggled to pin down what exactly I was feeling right now.

Relief that P'Arthit was definitely not my Turtle. Briefly wondering if it would really have been that bad if he was?

Anger that P'Arthit had not contacted me for weeks even though he was the one who had barged into my apartment demanding an explanation, and then completely ditched our scheduled meeting and ran away home to hide out his suspension.

Frustration that I was feeling this odd pinch around my heart at the sight of him going about casually dating when I had no business to even care about his romantic life.

And lastly, annoyance that all my excitement of meeting Turtle was currently being overshadowed by the presence of my nemesis. Thoughts that should have been solely focused on our first fateful semi-date now being pulled towards that table for two.

I moved away from the window as discretely as possible and found a tiny shielded cove under a large tree. My position giving me the perfect view of the café entrance while also concealing the lone man hidden behind the overgrown branches. No way was I stepping foot inside that café knowing P'Arthit would be entirely too eager to mock me into oblivion. Neither did I ever want my first meeting with Turtle to be marred with his presence. And hopefully if I had my way those two people would never, ever be under the same roof.

I could very easily see anyone who attempted to enter or exit the café from my strategic location, and I am sure I could convince Turtle to try out another coffee shop. So I perched against the tree, keeping a very attentive eye trained at the door and began my hour long wait. My mood progressively getting better as the clock struck closer to the eagerly anticipated 6 o'clock, and still confusingly I could almost feel my irritation rising to its surface as I kept thinking about the couple just on the other side of the door. How the hell was their date lasting this long? Didn't he just miss 3 weeks of classes? Shouldn't he be at home trying to catch up on all of the course work?

The battle between the two opposing emotions continuing until one side began eventually winning out. The minutes ticking by. My sore back not too happy, while my legs began complaining at having being upright for a little too long. I looked down at my watch for the millionth time to see the time 7:23 flashing back at me.

And yet absolutely no sign of Turtle.

Did I by any chance miss him? How could I? I had been staring straight at the door non-stop. The only people who had entered the café during this time were a group of pre-teen girls giggling away, a young mother with her toddler, a few older men with greying hair, and a bunch of middle aged aunties. And if Turtle was truly any of these people I would happily like to never know the truth.

So I waited and waited. Absolutely assured that Turtle was not the kind of person who would stand me up. And yet, with setting sun, and the darkening skies my conviction was sounding ironically funny. A loud roar of thunder, and a blinding flash in the sky indicating the dark rainclouds were definitely giving me a sign.

It was finally time for me to leave.

Turtle really hadn't come. I was sad and upset. Of course I was. And it didn't help even a little bit when I walked passed the window I saw P'Arthit's date standing next to him, placing a hand intimately over his shoulder. It was probably more than I could take at the moment and I rushed away. Only one thought bouncing around my head. I needed to get to the library as fast as possible. Hoping, almost praying, that Turtle had left me a message in our book about not being able to make it today and I, the idiot hadn't thought of checking it before I rushed like a love sick fool to the café.

My fingers almost shaking with anticipation as I flipped to the last message. My heart immediately sinking as I stared at my own handwriting, excitedly relaying how I couldn't wait till our meeting on Friday. Almost slamming the book shut and walking away before I stopped and stared at my words some more. As mad as I was at Turtle at the moment, I was still not ready to give up hope. Almost anything under the sun could have prevented him from coming today and he would have no way to informing me. He atleast deserved a chance to explain himself. And for me to salvage my foolish one sided crush on the man I had yet to meet.

Hey,

I....

I am not sure what happened today.

Did I happen to just miss you?

Or did you not come to the café at all?

I was...I was really looking forward to meeting you.

I waited for you.

Anyway want to hear something funny?

Guess who else was at the same café?

My evil senior!

Can you believe it?

It's like the stars were lining up to make sure I had the shittiest day possible.

Getting stood up and almost running into him after three weeks of peace all in one day.