"It makes sense. He is dating a guy — about the same height as him that he refuses to introduce to me. Actually..." She looked at me. "He must be the same height as you."
Tine's POV
"Ah-- Umm, may be those were his friends' clothes? It doesn't have to mean he has a b..boyfriend." I said it out loud in the innocent way possible.
That's when the elevator lift opened and we walked out together.
She smiled, walking forward into the lobby. "A friend could not make my son clean up and organize his house like that. No, my instincts say he is dating some one. Well, at least I know he is dating someone better than him."
"No, I mean — Wait, why do you think Wat is dating someone better than him?" My lips curled and a smile crept up.
"Clean bedsheets, clean house, clean kitchen? I know my son and that — that isn't my son. Obviously, it's the person he's dating. Whoever the guy is, he seems to have a good influence on my son" She suddenly turned back, and looked at me with curiosity in her eyes. "But wait, how do you know my son's name is Wat?"
"Huh? I do? Ah.. you—you just told me his name in the elevator. You did.. " I shrugged my shoulders and gave her an innocent smile.
"Of course. Of course. You're right." She smiled back. "Well, I'll leave then. Hope I bump into you the next time I come in. Its good to see you."
"Yes, its—its definitely good to see you too."
/
/
/
/
"Hey.... Took you long enough." Sarawat opened the door just a few seconds after I rang the door bell. His hairs were dry now but I could still smell my shampoo on him. He put his lips on mine, sending butterflies to my stomach.
God, I don't know what I did so right to deserve a beautiful man in my life but I am planning on keeping him beside me for the rest of my life.
"I am sorry. I got a bit late, didn't I? Are you hungry already? Should we just order some takeout?"
"No I wanted to cook for you, and you already bought the groceries... " That's when Sarawat's eyes travelled to my arms, specifically the four big bags of groceries I was holding. "What's with so many bags? Did you buy the whole grocery store or what?"
I chuckled. "Well, I went to the store to buy only the things you had texted me, but then I remembered your apartment is practically empty with hardly any stuff. The chances of you going grocery shopping alone to buy all this were very very slim, considering you were okay sleeping on a mattress for weeks — And that's how I ended up buying all of this."
Sarawat shook his head taking all the bags from me. "Wow Teepakorn, I have no idea if you are insulting me or you actually care about me."
"Umm.. both?" I squinted my eye.
"You're lucky I like you too much to ever get affected by your insults. Just get in and close the door already."
"I am lucky, aren't I?" I laughed, closing the door behind us.
"Hey, do you want to go somewhere this weekend? May be to a beach? May be back in Phuket? I feel like I really missed out on that trip after getting shit drunk."
I rolled my eyes. "Well, may be you shouldn't have gotten shit drunk on a work trip with your boss."
Sarawat gave me a sly smile, slowly snaking his arms around my waist. "Well, may be you shouldn't have stripped clothes off your collegue and let him sleep in your bed."
"I—I was trying to help you okay?"
"Ah huh, sure, and you weren't looking at me like you want me to kiss you."
"I—I wasn't."
"Okay, how about this? We could drive down to this amazing resort I know that's just a few hours away from here, and this time, you could actually strip my clothes like you mean it." Sarawat winked.
That. Wow. Sounds like the best thing I have heard in my life. God, I hate myself for living in a capitalistic world more and more everyday.
"Wat that sounds great, but I have too much work this month. I don't think I can. May be we could go some other time ?"
"Sure. Sure. Whatever you want babe" Sarawat ran his through my hairs but I could see a pinch of disappointment in his eyes.
He went straight to the kitchen to cook dinner and I followed him back We put on some of the old 90's romcom on the TV in the background, but neither of us was watching it. For a moment, may be just for a moment, my life felt sweeter than a stupid, cheesy romcom.
"What are you making?" I asked as I sat down right on the kitchen table, watching him chop vegetables.
"Just some quick fried rice. Mom brought some fish with her. I thought we could eat some rice with it?"
"She brought fish, huh?" I looked down on the floor.
"Yeah, you liked her fish last time too. Remember I brought it to your apartment?"
"Of course I remember. Ah, Wat, I actually have to tell you something — and you may not like it."
Sarawat stopped working the knife and looked up. "What is it?"
"Just don't get angry, okay? This truly isn't my mistake. It just happened and I am really sorry"
"Tine... " Sarawat's hand travelled to my nape, massaging it. "Have you ever seen me get angry at you?"
"No.."
"You really don't know the power you have on me, do you? Tine, I couldn't get angry at you even if I wanted to. So, just tell me what happened, whatever it is, I am sure we'll sort it out together."
"Right. Okay. Got it. We'll just rip the band aid then I guess. So—so I will just say it out and get it over with it, I guess. So..." I stopped, staring out in the blank space.
"Tine. Whatever it is, you can tell me."
"So, I sort of met your mother in the elevator? Well not sort of, I definitely met your mother."
Sarawat smiled. "You did? Wow, what a coincidence! Why would I get angry over—Hold on, how did you recognize mom? Did I show you pictures of her before?"
"No, you did not. I recognized her because this isn't the first time I met her actually." I pressed my lips and closed my eyes. "I met her a couple of weeks ago in the lobby. I didn't know she was your mom. I didn't even know you had moved into the building. She didn't have her phone with her and she said she was trying to 'find her son's new apartment.' So naturally, I helped her. It wasn't until you showed me your apartment that I realised the woman I met was actually your mom."
"Wow. Wow. That's some stupidly crazy coincidence."
"I know right?" I chuckled. "Oh, by the way, I also told her that her son is probably dating someone secretly. That's why her son moved out of her house and into a new apartment." I said it all out in one breath.
"WHAT?"
"When I met her again today, she said I was right and that her son is definitely dating someone."
"WHAT??"
"She said and I quote: 'New bedsheets, new curtains. There were even dustbins around — I know my son too well, he can't do it all alone. He's definitely dating someone.' She might have even noticed you wearing someone else's clothes... so there's that."
"WHATTT??"
Sarawat looked baffled. Fuck, I messed this up.
"I am sorry. I am really sorry. I didn't know and—" I put my hands in my hair.
"Tine, babe, look at me." Sarawat's hold on my neck got stronger as he circled both of his arms around my shoulder. "Open your eyes Tine, please."
I sighed, finally opening my eyes. "I am sorry. I messed it up, didn't I? Of course I did, what am I even asking?"
"No, of course not. You didn't even know her when you first met her. I should be the one apologizing here for hiding the fact that I moved into your building."
"You are really not angry?"
"I could never be, babe." Sarawat rubbed my cheek with his thumb and stared into my eyes for what felt like an eternity. And I didn't know if I could handle his hungry eyes on me for an eternity, so naturally, I moved forward and kissed him.
"What was that for?" Sarawat smiled.
"That was me asking you to cook me dinner really fast because I am very hungry."
"So demanding, I swear." Sarawat shook his head and withdrew his hands from me to focus on chopping vegetables again. Finally, after a few minutes, he spoke up again"So, she really thinks I am dating someone, huh?"
"Well, more importantly, she thinks you are dating someone 'better than you," I couldn't help hide my smug smile.
"Excuse me? Why's that?"
"I don't know. You'll have to ask her that." I shrugged my shoulders.
We sat down for dinner with fish and fried rice in front of us. I opened up the wide windows with city lights flickering behind us and took out two cans of beer from the fridge to celebrate Sarawat's first meal in his new apartment. It felt nice, it felt like home — It felt like something I could do everyday of my life.
"Do you like it?" Sarawat asked.
"Yes, oh my god, your mom seriously makes the best fish ever. This is crazy good." I took in another big bite of the fish.
"So, what do you say — Should we go meet her next weekend?"
"Wha..." I started choking on my food just as heard Sarawat's question.
"God, you okay?" Sarawat got up handing me a glass of water and patting my back. "Drink some water, here."
Gulping down on water, I was finally able to breathe. "I—I am okay."
"Quite a reaction to my question. I am guessing its a 'no' then?"
"No.. no I mean its, not a no. I just, I don't know, Wat. Its just —"
"Too fast? Too soon? I am sorry. I didn't really think much when I asked you that. I just thought mom might like meeting you."
"No Wat, its not too fast it's just —"
I am scared I'll lay my heart out for you and then you will eventually realise I am not good enough for you. I am scared of meeting too many people close to you because they will realise I am not good enough for you. I am scared of what will happen to us when people around us realise I am just another good for nothing guy.
"Its just, Wat.." I tried to gather my thoughts. "If your mother knows, we have to tell your dad. If we tell your dad, we have to go and tell HR that we are dating. And if tell the HR then—"
"Wow, wow, wow. Slow down there. God Tine.." Sarawat walked over, cupping my cheeks. "Don't worry about anything right now. I am sorry I even asked that. Your reaction is valid. This is obviously a bit too fast. Don't think so much into it." Sarawat let out a breath and stayed quiet for a beat. "Tine, I don't want our relationship to ever become a problem for you. I just want to see you happy. So, we'll do what you want. We'll go at the pace that you want. And we'll handle everything together, okay?"
And just like that, a missing piece of the puzzle in my heart clicked, finally finding its place. Three words at the tip of my tongue that I was too scared to say out loud.
Not now, not here. Don't scare him away Tine.
"Tine, you hear me?"
"Yeah.. Yeah I do. Let's just eat. "
/
/
/
/
It had been two weeks since I started dating Sarawat.
Two weeks since I realised I was in love with Sarawat.
Two weeks since I had carried the secret with me that I loved Sarawat.
For the last two weeks, Sarawat and I had practically lived together. He would mostly cook at his apartment and then we would sleep at mine. We decided it was best we didn't meet each other anywhere near the office. We weren't working at the same office anyway, at least not at the moment. That's how coming home became the best part of my day and staying in the office for 8 hours became the most frustrating this.
"Hey, I was waiting for you." May entered my office cabin while I was staring at all the meetings I had scheduled for the rest of the month. "I thought your morning meeting with the Head of Marketing was only supposed to be one hour long?"
I shook my head. "It was. But then he kept going on and on about his golfing buddies and what they used to do back in the day. And that's how.. the meeting ended up being 3 hours long."
"God, that sounds really boring. I am sorry."
"It was. I could hardly keep my eyes open."
"Well, for what its worth, you only have to persist for a few more weeks — and then you'll be off to Japan, hopefully. Tine Teepakorn, the head of marketing — With no old men to drag you into meaningless meetings."
"Huh? Yeah. I mean IF I go to Japan..."
"Why won't you go to Japan?" May looked at me confused. "Are you scared you won't get the opportunity? Tine, you are the best person for this job and.. it's your dream job. Of course you'll get it."
"I don't know May..." I looked away. "How—how's the wedding prep going? Three weeks left huh? No jittery feet right? I can help you escape the wedding venue if you decide to ditch him at the last moment."
"Shut up Tine. Don't make me rethink your invite."
"You haven't even given me an invite yet."
"Well, I was planning to give them out this week and you may be out of our guest list. I can already picture you getting super drunk at the open bar, if you end up coming."
I sighed. "Why did you come into my office May, except for insulting me?"
May smiled. "I came to remind you that we have a team meeting in... " Checks her watch. " 25 minutes."
"God, I forgot about that." I started scrolling through my calendar on the laptop furiously.
"Should I order you some lunch in the office to save you time?"
"Yes please?"
"Got it. Oh and.. you still need to talk to the team about Sarawat."
"Right.. about Sarawat. I forgot about that. Yeah I'll take care of it. Thanks for reminding me."
"Also, while you were in the morning meeting, I got a call from the reception. There was someone downstairs who wanted to meet Sarawat."
"Who?"
"I don't know he didn't leave a name and he obviously couldn't get a visitor's pass without any employee's approval. He said he didn't have Sarawat's number and wanted to meet him." May furrowed her brows. "But here's the weird part, when the girl at the reception told him Sarawat wasn't even in the building, he said, he wanted to speak to Mr Guntithanon."
I tilted my head in confusion. "Why? Wait.. does that mean—"
May nodded her head. "Whoever came to see Sarawat knew he is Mr Guntithanon's son. I thought nobody apart from us and Mr Guntithanon knew who Sarawat was. "Should I inform Sarawat?"
I hummed. "Could be a family relative or a family friend. No need to inform Sarawat, I'll talk to him about it."
/
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/
/
"Morning guys.." When I took my seat in the meeting room, everyone else had already been seated.
"Morning Tine.. Should we start with the project status updates?" asked Josh.
"Yeah, before that," I spoke up. "I wanted to clarify a few things with the whole team.
I understand there have been some questions about Sarawat. Why a new marketing associate was working so closely with me? Why did he suddenly get to pivot to the R&D labs?
Those are all valid questions guys and while I appreciate you all raising those questions, I'll appreciate it even more if the next time you can come to me directly with questions like that. Please don't feel afraid in coming to me and clarifying any doubts you may have about anything here. But may be like Misty, dont ask me where the coffee machine is."
Everyone started laughing.
"Now to answer your questions" I added. "Sarawat is not a 'new' marketing associate. He has experience working in breweries in Germany before. While he has experience in R&D, he also has an MBA in marketing. Keeping that in mind, we want to make sure that he is using his full potential here. I had a conversation with Sarawat about this. He will be working with the R&D team for a while, but he may come back to Marketing, if needed, because he's a great asset. Now I want to make it clear that, the reason Sarawat was given this opportunity is because he has the skills and the experience backing it, not any other reason. In fact, both Sarawat and I graduated the same year from the same college--"
"Oh wait, you went to college with Sarawat? So you're friends?" May interrupted me. "You never told me. God, that explains so much."
"Right? I thought Tine was dating Sarawat," said Josh.
I look at him baffled. "WHAT EXCUSE ME? I was not. I mean I am not-- "
"I thought he was dating Sarawat too. I saw them having dinner in Tine's office late at night."
"I saw them in the parking lot getting in a car together and get this guys — Tine was smiling. He never smiles in office."
"I saw them at a Japanese restaurant together. I thought they were on a date. And yes, he was smiling there too. It was all very weird. I have never seen Tine smile like that."
"Wowwwww" Everyone started chiming in at this point."
"EXCUSE ME, GUYS, CAN WE JUST—" I tried to silence everyone but it didn't work.
"I thought Tine was engaged to some secret person because he wears a ring but never talks about anyone." Josh added.
"I thought Tine had a fiance in the past who died and now Tine just griefs and continues to wear that ring." said Misty in the most innocent way possible.
I looked at her all confused. "Misty, I swear to god you have to stop reading all those mangas and may be focus on the work." I took a deep breath and finally looked around the meeting table. "Wow, okay, that took a really weird turn. Lets reel this back in. So, for starters, I am not engaged to anyone — living or dead.
And yes, I do know Sarawat from college which is probably why you saw us together. Sarawat has recently moved back from Germany, like I said, and he doesn't know a lot of people here. So, when he comes back to the office, I would really like all of you guys to be more friendly with him because--"
"And you are definitely not dating him?" Misty raised her eyebrows.
"Come on, can you imagine Sarawat ever dating Tine? Gosh, even saying it out loud feels weird." Josh added
"Why—why does it feel weird Josh?" I deadpanned.
"Because.. you are you. And Sarawat is.. Sarawat."
"Hey! Come on. Tine is hot, he could get it." May said.
"Yeah, but Sarawat is hotter." declared Josh.
"I agree.." Misty said. "But Tine, since you are friends with Sarawat, do you know if he is single? Is he dating someone?"
"Misty..." I stared at her with just anger in my eyes. "Is that really a question you should be asking your manager in a team meeting?"
"You just said we could come to you with any kind of question."
"I also want to know actually," someone else said. At this point, I was too tired to even have this conversation and care who was saying what. "I want to set him up with my sister if he's available."
"Come on, I asked first. I call dibs!" Misty yelled.
"Dibs? You want to call dibs, Misty?" I closed my eyes again with exasperation and anger. "You can't call dibs on a person. And Sarawat isn't available. He's dating someone. Someone hot."
"Oh well.. let me know if they break up and he's single again, please Tine?"
I glared. "Yeah, I don't think they are ever going to break up, it feels pretty serious. You should give up right away."
/
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/
"Where are you?" Sarawat asked as soon as I picked up his call while driving the car back home. I was late from the office again, and he was probably waiting for me at home — again.
"Just about 10 mins away."
"I am almost done making dinner. Come fast, I am hungry."
"Yeah. Yeah I'll be there. son"
I drove back home with everything that people said in the meeting about Sarawat, still echoing through my ears.
What is I even doing? I was wasting Sarawat's time who obviously deserves someone better, not some small-town workaholic guy who doesn't even have his life together.
I opened the door to Sarawat's apartment with the spare key that he had given me a week before — and I was welcomed by a beautiful aroma.
"You are making chicken?" I asked while closing the door behind me and making my way inside the house.
And that's when I noticed Sarawat in the open kitchen, with the city lights glittering in the window behind him. "I am. I had a feeling you'd be in a bad mood when you come back, so I thought I'd make chicken for you."
"What made you think I was in a bad mood?"
"I just — I had a feeling. You texted weird stuff during the day."
"I did?" I opened my phone to check my chat. "No, I did not, I just replied to your messages. That's all. What was weird about that?"
"I don't know" Sarawat shrugged his shoulders and looked up at me."But I just got the feeling that you were in a bad mood, and now looking at your face, it seems like I was right. Did something happen?"
"No. No. nothing happened." I put my bag down, closed the distance between us, and hugged him tightly. "I missed you."
"You okay, babe? How was your day?"
"Just the same as usual." We stayed silent for a while, still hugging each other. I could hear Sarawat's heartbeat and his scent lingered. All the noise from the day finally started to dim out.
"Hey Wat..."
"Does that offer of a beach vacation still stand?"
"Well.. if we leave right after dinner, I could pin you on the bed of our hotel room by midnight, and we can wake up to the sun rising over the sea."
"Sounds like a plan"
------
A/N: Was that too boring? I don't know.
For some reason, I have been stuck at this chapter for days because I just didn't know what direction I wanted to take it into. I haven't planned out his AU as meticulously as I plan my other AUs , no twists, no cliffhangers – Just some angst free fluff story. I am curious to know where it will take me. Let's see where this story takes me.
Okay now I am going to go take a nap and if you are feeling tired, this is a sign that you should take a nap too.