*Doorbell buzzes*
"Coming!" Celine got nervous after hearing Praya's voice coming from inside the door at which she and Praifah were standing. She was nervous the whole time in the car while driving to her house but as she was standing just inches apart from the main door, the adrenaline rush through her body was making her heartbeat crazy.
"Welcome bac-" Praya froze when she saw her teammate standing at her doorstep. Her thoughts which were initially about the food that she was cooking, shifted to 'Why is nuu here', ;'Is she really here?!'; 'Do I look good?'; 'I probably look weird due to this old, ragged apron' ; 'Do I even smell good?'.
Seeing that her sister was visibly buffering Praifah welcomed their guest in, "Hey Celine, come inside~~, Mae*! look who I brought for dinner today!"
(Mae - used for mother in Thai language)
Their mother, who was an middle aged lady possibly in her 50s, came in the living room. A smile grew on her face seeing such a beautiful, young guest at her home. She felt very cosy and homely vibes from their guest and she pulled her into a warm hug which made Celine feel overwhelmed.
"Welcome~, are you Praifah's friend" Mae said as she slowly loosened her grip and held her arms.
"Mae, she is my team member, the one who newly joined. Her name is Celine" There was a hint of jealousy in Praya's voice. Nobody noticed it except her mother.
"Oohh, so she is yours eh?" Celine blushed a little when mae said that. "Celine, what a cute name! Dinner's almost ready, you came at the perfect time!"
Mae made Celine sit at the dinner table and chatted to her while Praya brought the food there from the counters and Praifah got freshen up. Celine felt an unknown warmth from this lady that she had never experienced before.
"Mae! let her also get freshen up while I serve the food... Praya show her the washroom"
"This way" Praya lead her to the washroom on that floor.
While Celine washed her face, hands and feet quickly, Praya stood outside, waiting for her. When she came out Celine got a jump scare by seeing Praya standing so quietly in front of her.
"Gosh!! You scared me! Don't do that again na"
"Why are you at my house? that too with P'Prai?"
"We should eat... your mom is waiting" Celine ignored her question and walked away but Praya held her hand to stop her.
"I NEED to know Celine!"
"P'Ya, calm down! We will explain it to you after dinner... and you're hurting me~"
Praya immediately let loose and apologized to her. She felt too guilty to continue the conversation so she just walked back to the table. At the table, Celine sat next to their mother. She felt very happy eating with all of them and loved the bickering of the Suwan sisters. She always thought of them as flawless beings who never lost their cool but after getting to know them personally, she got more confidence in herself that even if she makes some mistakes... that's ok and nobody is perfect!
------
After all of them were done eating, Celine helped in cleaning the table even if everybody requested her not to as she was the guest. She also offered in doing the dishes but was strictly denied by Praifah whose duty was to do the dishes if her sister cooked the meal.
"Now tell me nuu..." Praya told Celine. Both of them stood on the either sides of Praifah who was doing dishes. "Mae is watching T.V. so she won't be coming here or be able to hear our talk... SO tell me. What's the matter?"
"Ummm....." Celine didn't know where to start from.
"Your nuu was spying on her brother coz apparently he doesn't spend time with her... But doing that she came dangerously close to... danger. So as your sister I was obliged to protect her-" Praifah tried to explain her.
"Wait what?! You tailed P'VJ? all alone?!" Praya was very angry at this "That was very stupid of you. But wait.. what were you doing there phi?"
"That is something that we need to tell you. Now is the correct time as I will be needing your help. P'VJ has involved himself in very disgusting jobs... we need to pull him out of it" She told Praya expecting a shocked face but as she already knew there was not much of a reaction. Celine was shaking her head like crazy, signalling Praya that 'I didn't tell her anything and you also don't' .
"It's ok nuu, I mean now that she knows, there is no need to hide it. Phi, we already know that... Heidi told us..."
"That traitor? How come she knows about it??" Praifah stopped doing everything as soon as she heard her name and waited for her sis to answer.
"She isn't a traitor..." Praya started in a very low voice which increased slowly "She is a helper. She and her father have done anything but help!"
After that Praya and Celine told her everything she needed to know. At first Celine was a bit hesitant but her team captain told her that she could trust Praifah. Praifah also shared the details she knew from all the spying she had done for over a year. She couldn't tell Praya all this before because Kittisak told her not to and also VJ hadn't signed such a big deal ever before. So this time, they absolutely need to stop him.
--------
"So you seriously trust Heidi now?" Praifah asked
"Not fully...but all her investigation matches with yours... there is no reason to not trust her. I guess, we hated her without knowing the whole truth."
"Hmmm, I would like to meet her tomorrow then. Let's go to sleep now"
"Yeah I will also go back to my home. It's pretty late now" Celine said but she didn't want to leave just yet. She wanted to stay in this house for as long as she could. This small house provided her much more warmth and satisfaction than her villa ever did.
"Celine~ stay for tonight... Go back after having breakfast ok?" Mae said as she came inside the kitchen during a commercial break.
"But my dad would worry..."
"Oh just call him and say that your are at Suwan's house. I bet he would be more than happy in letting you stay!" Praifah suggested. She also agreed to it right away because she really wanted to stay.
After calling and telling her dad about her sleepover, she happily jumped towards mae and told her that she would stay. Mae smiled sweetly.
"Ok then, Yaya go take her to your room. She is your friend, take care of her!" She tapped on Praya's shoulder.
"Whose Yaya??" Celine was confused.
"It's your captain, only mae uses this nickname for her. Nobody else is allowed to you know" Praifah whispered in he ear while Praya told her mother not to call her that in front of others. Then Celine followed embarrassed Praya upstairs to her room.
------
"So this is your room huh? It's really nice! I like how the moon is directly visible from your window... wow your shelf is full of cartoon figurines. You have a GUITAR TOOO? Can you play it?.... " Celine was exploring her captain's room. Looking at every corner which was very telling of whose room it was. Praya sat down on her bed which was just big enough to have 2 people adjusted there.
"Yeah I can play guitar and sing. If I wasn't a gangster, I'd probably be a singer... that's what my father always said."
"Play a song for me!"
"Let the other people sleep nuu. I will play it tomorrow...ok?" She said that but she was yawning too, so Celine agreed with that and sat beside Praya. "You sleep on the bed, I'll take the floor"
"No.. it's fine! I can sleep on the floor" Although Celine said that but she has never slept on floor before, her dad had always treated her like a princess.
"Nuu I know that you are way too.... you know.. And moreover I have practice to sleep on floor"
"Way too what?? Yes I have not slept on the floor before but so what? I will do that now!" Celine stood up and took one pillow but Praya grabbed her hand and pulled her towards herself. Her nuu fell on her and they both just looked at the other's eyes while taking a glance at each others lips sometimes.
"Let it be nuu... we both will sleep on my bed. This marks the end of discussion ok?" Praya said just to lower the tension while staying in the same position. But this only further increased it.
"Us i-in yo-your bed!!!"