Sometimes the Tiger listens to my prayers. I am holding Khun Sam and place her on the sofa in the middle of her room. Acting like a good girl, I ran out to buy migraine medication. This is a good opportunity to get closer to her.
"Do you feel better?"
I kneel beside her as Khun Sam lies back on the sofa with her hand to her forehead, trying to hide her eyes from the light.
"I'll improve in a heartbeat."
"I didn't know you had migraines."
"And why would I need to know?"
Because I'm your biggest fan. Of course I didn't answer that out loud. But when I start to answer, she interrupts me.
"Why don't you go home?"
"Oh... Oh. I like to work late after everyone else has left."
"So, you came to see me here?" She removes her hand from her forehead, revealing her hazel eyes.
"Aren't you afraid of me?"
"Why would I be afraid?"
"Haha, I don't know why they need to be afraid of us."
She places her hand on her forehead again and continues to lie silent. As for me, I'm still on my knees by the sofa because I don't know what to say.
Are you falling asleep?
Ten minutes have passed... finally, she moves.
"Why don't you go home? How long will you stay here? I can't sleep." She moves her arm and sighs. "Are you going to stay here all night?"
"If I go, you will be left without company."
"AND?"
"You will feel alone."
He looks at me again with confused eyes.
"You're weird. If I feel lonely, what happens?"
"Whatever. I'll stay here being your friend."
"It's already late. You're a girl, you should hurry up and go." Look at his fancy watch. "It is eight o'clock?"
"Could you go?"
"I will stay here".
she disagrees "Where do you live? I'll take you."
I run to keep her seated. For a moment we are close, and she quickly walks away.
"Hey, why are you so worried? It's just a migraine."
"You'd better go home. I can walk you."
"No, I'll stay here."
"So me too."
We looked at each other like we were fighting. Then he sighs like he's not listening.
"Do you know where I live?"
"You can tell me."
Although I am your biggest fan, I don't know your address because no magazine or article had this specific information. In any case, I'll take you home today. How could I sleep here without a blanket?
"You can drive?"
"No I can not". His countenance now looks confused. So I hasten to say. "But we can take a taxi.
Please tell me where you live."
And after a lot of insisting, I finally managed to take her home by taxi. The house is huge, with 3
floors It has a strange appearance as if it has no one.
"Are you staying here alone?"
I look at your whole house as if I were looking for a living being there. It is huge and luxurious like a soap opera palace.
"Hmm."
Do you live alone here?"
"Yeah."
I get out of the taxi and help Khun Sam to the entrance. But she tries to stop me...
"He comes."
"But..."
"I'm home now, don't be bossy." He stares at me for a few seconds. "You have to go home too. Give me your phone."
"Yeah."
"This is my number... 062-446-****."
I look at her in amazement, who speaks to me briefly. I retrieve my phone and immediately save her number.
"Give me a missed call."
"Is there? Ohâ¦okay." Due to her wide eyes, I felt that I would be forced to call her as a missed call. Her phone starts ringing, and she looks at it and nods.
"Send me a text when you get home. I'll know you're safe... Don't forget to send me your taxi license plate."
"Good."
After finishing the conversation, he pushes me towards the taxi. I see her touch the side of her head. I look at her until I lose sight of her completely from inside the taxi.
Heavens. How long did I talk to her today?
Also, I took her to her house and stood in front of her door.
Excellent!
I come home with a big smile on my face... Of course, my happiness is spreading everywhere, even if an ant or mosquito bites me, I wouldn't mind. There would be no reaction.
My heart races.
You're marking me."
Someone says in front of me as I walk distracted. I smile at my childhood friend, who lives near my house.
"Nope... are you waiting for me?"
"Yeah... I've been waiting for a while. Do you have to work that hard?" He looks at me disgusted.
"Your mother and I care about you."
"I already talked to my mother. So, how are you? We haven't seen each other since she started working."
"I've been waiting for you here with crab paste, your favorite. Have you eaten?"
"Not yet."
Today is my lucky day, I have been with the person I love and now I am eating my favorite dish at home. Nope he looks at me as I devour the crab noodles until I turn my head in embarrassment.
"Please don't stare at me. I can't eat."
"Watching you enjoy my food is one of my joys. It's great to have a job and earn money, I'll be able to buy your favorite foods."
"You'd better make time to see me first. I heard you've been busy, so we haven't seen each other in a while."
"I'm very busy. But I can find you." Nope's serious tone makes me smile and nod because I don't know what to say to him. "What about your new job? You're working with your idol."
"Hmm." My mother is such a gossip that she knows a lot about me. "I came back late because of her. She was sick."
"How did you treat her?"
"I bought some medicine. It was great to be able to help her."
"Understood, that's why you walked in grinning from ear to ear. If Khun Sam was a boy, he'd be jealous."
"Jealousy?" I almost choked on the noodles. I looked at his smile without feeling anything. I've known for a long time that Nope likes me, not just as a friend.
I must reject it. I don't want to hurt anyone, especially my childhood friend.
Nope, it's the boy who lives near my house since I was born. As children we played together, we studied at the same school. We broke up when we were going to college. First, he wanted to study at the same university as me, but his grades were not good enough for that. In my case, I was not smart, but I tried hard to study in the same university as Khun Sam.
And I did, plus now I can work in your company.
For Nope, when we were in high school, our friends supported us on dating. But I ignored. I didn't accept it or deny it, but I didn't know that in his head we were in a relationship.
Should I reject it more clearly? I will hurt you. oh oh...
"Why are you so quiet?"
"Hm? Oh, I'm just talking to myself." I take a puff from the crab noodles and drink some water.
Nope he looks at me and smiles.
"When I flirt with you, you are always silent."
"I don't know what to say... I'm so full, my eyes are closing. And it's already late. We'll talk later."
Tomorrow I have to work early".
"I heard that his office is quite far from here."
"Hmm. I need to catch some buses."
"Is it worth it? Your salary is not much for a beginner."
"It's worth it, it's still worth it." She told him out loud.
"One day, my salary will increase, if I'm smart with Khun Sam."
"One day I will see Khun Sam."
"And then?"
"I'll tell you that you've always adored her, that you have to take several buses to work and beg her to fire you."
"Then you better not see her."
Even if he went very far, to the horizon, he would still work in the same place as Khum Sam. This was my wish since I was in college. Even if I get tired from going to work every day, I'll be excited to see the freezing room.
But today... It's so horrible. The freezer chamber is in work mode.
"I don't care, I'm leaving anyway. Don't make the same mistakes I did!" A noisy young man yelled from the freezing room as he opened the door, threw his name tag on the floor and stomped on it several times. "Shit, there are no romantic relationships in the workplace! Are you human?"
Its noise is so loud in the silent office. The girl leaves the room, her hand covering his face, she pushes his back to quickly drag him out of the freezing room.
"Hurry up, hurry up. We will."
And everything is silent again. The HR employee who interviewed me runs into Khun Sam's office with a ton of documents in her hands.
"Boss ML is showing his power again."
The colleague sitting next to me is whispering to other colleagues. I don't join them, but I can listen quietly.
"See? There's nothing to worry about with their relationship. She's not in the accounting department and he's not in the purchasing department." No one whispers like they don't agree with the rule.
"It's just a precaution. If they're in love and working in the same place, what will happen when they break up? It's hard to work together. The firing is a way to alert us."
"The ML boss has no heart. He really doesn't."
And there is more noise again. The HR employee walks out of the room, gives me a concerned look, and walks away. I am discouraged now.
I look myself?
Tap...
My phone is ringing.
It's HR calling me.
[Mon, did you do something wrong?]
"What did I do?"
[I don't know, but the ML Chief asked me about his background. So I called to ask you first. You are just a trainee, but now you are in the crosshairs.]
"I can't remember what I did."
[I warn you to be careful. She should call you soon. Behave well.]
She hangs up the phone putting me under pressure. Not for much longer. I leave it ringing for a while until my colleagues beg me to pick it up.
"Answer soon, please."
"OK."
Although I am afraid it is Khun Sam, I am considerate of my colleagues. I need to answer the
call.
"I can help?"
[It's Sam... Come here, please. We need to talk.]
His nasal voice is unique. I get up and straighten my clothes, then go into the freezing room.
My classmates, who ignore me, now look at me in surprise...
"Is the ML Boss calling you?"
I nod like I'm about to start crying. They all wave back as if saying goodbye.
It's okay... I didn't do anything wrong. Everything will be fine. She is very kind!
Knock Knock knock.
I knock on her door before opening it. Khun Sam, who is reading my story, looks at me and says slowly.
"Close the door please."
"Yeah."
I do as he asks and meekly approach his table. Khun Sam looks at my face, then looks thoughtfully back at my file.
"Tell me the truth."
She looks more serious, she closes the folder in her hands. Then she looks at me.
"We have seen each other before?"