Chapter 5
***The next morning. After Kob sent Popuri kindergarten school and her friend to work. She picks up sakura flowers at the Geisha House. It was the only place she could get those flowers.***
With a basket of sakura flower in Kob’s hand, she walks through a path toward her mother’s grave. From her distant she could see a man hanging around there. He wipes something off the headstone with a handkerchief and was removing leaves from around the area of her mother’s grave.
Kob: “Dr. Patchai.” She calls him. But when he turns toward her, it wasn’t the doctor. The man looks like he was in his early 40’s. Although he had a mustache and a beard he looked decent. He facial features were very bold and structure.
Mr. Kongying: “Dearest daughter, were you expecting Dr. Patchai?” Kob drops her basket of sakura flowers. He walks over to her and kneeled before her as he picks up a couple of flowers that spill out of the basket. “Hmm…Sakura flowers.” He fumbles with one of them. “It’s a rare sight to find these growing in Thailand.” He stood up with the basket in his hand.
Kob: “Did Dr. Patchai tell him already?”
Mr. Kongying: “You mother would be excited to see you…since you were born, you never came here.” Kob knew he was talking to Suvanant. She was stun at the situation, a bit in shock as well as thrilled “One blink of an eye and it’s already near the anniversary of your mother’s death.”
Kob: “This is why?” She mutters. Her aunt was afraid they’ll met Mr. Kongying, her father, at the cemetery, so the only time they would visit her mother was after dark.
Mr. Kongying: “You are here. But you won’t go face your mother.” Dr. Patchai arrives, the elderly men greeted each other. The doctor eyes her and she shakes her head lift and right, hinting to him Mr. Kongying doesn’t know anything.
Dr. Patchai: “What made you decided to give your mother a visit, Suvanant?”
Kob: “I want to ask for forgiveness…” She takes the bucket of flowers and walks toward her mother’s grave. Infront of it she throws the sukura flowers into the air. As they fall they scatter around the grave. “To give one’s life away to save another, only a mother can do such thing. I will make sure your sacrifice will not be in vain.” The doctor wonders what she has planned while he stood in the distance with Mr. Kongying. She looks up into the clear blue sky. “I ask for forgiveness for the things that will happen in the future to come. You and Suvanant won’t retaliate back against Grandma Kongying, but I will.” She grabs the last hand full of sakura flowers and threw it over her head so the flowers fell on her. “I will live within my sister shadow for a couple more weeks. Until the day you gave birth to us…only then I will reveal to everyone of my existence.” Kob walks back to the two elderly men.
Mr. Kongying: “I’ll take you to work.” She remembers Dr. Patchai telling her about Suvanant not getting along with her father.
Kob: “You go first, Mr. Kongying. I’ll follow along shortly.” She acts like she didn’t care about him.
Mr. Kongying: “The usual…” He leaves. Kob really wanted to call him father, but she didn’t want him to catch on to her.
***After Mr. Kongying leaves. In the cemetery garden, Kob and the doctor sat on the bench to talk***
Kob: “Do you remember when Sirium (her mother) gave birth to her twin babies?”
Dr. Patchai: “It was a dark, autumn night.”
Kob: “Autumn….the time when nature’s color began to fade…awaiting the coldness to come…” She looks around. “You are the family doctor of the Kongying’s…you should have my mother’s file, details on her birth town in Japan, which would be the same town my aunt grew up in.” Kob can see one of his eyebrow raised.
Dr. Patchai: “You’re suggesting I should chase after you aunt?”
Kob: “What is holding you back?”
Dr. Patchai: “You’re aunt wouldn’t want me to bail out on you.”
Kob: “So you’re going to do things the way my aunt wants and regret your whole life…that…you never got to tell her you love her.”
Dr. Patchai: “Regret…” He gets up. “That is what I am feeling right now.” He clutches his finger into a fist. “Thank you…thank you Kob for opening my eyes…” He runs off like a teenager boy who had just found out he had fallen in love.
Kob: “If my aunt loves you…then I should care about you. I don’t want you in the mess when Grandma Kongying finds out, she might burn you with her rage. It’s better if you take this little vacation.”
A few minutes gone by after Dr. Patchai leaves, she starts to get a chill feeling about her surrounding. She didn’t feel like she was alone, she was feeling uneasy.
Kob: “Perhaps I should get going.” She stands up casually and walked slowly not to catch anyone’s (human) or anything’s (ghost) suspicion. She hears scraping behind her and a cough. She tells herself not to look back but she did anyway because of curiosity “Stupid” she told herself “After watching so many horror film you should know never to look back…because when you turn to look in front of you…it will be standing…” She turns quickly and see a pale man standing in front of her “Gho….ost!!!!” she shrieks. The man says hello, which freaks her out. She runs across the cemetery only to bump into someone’s chest. She falls onto her buttock. “Get away from me!” She screams as the man crouch down to check on her. She was terrified to the man’s touch. “Get off of me.” She pushes him and crawls away. He pulls her toward him and cups her face so she would snap out of it.
Chakrit: “It’s me…” Kob clutches the collar to his jacket.
Kob: “Thank god!” She held onto him as he helps her to her feet.
Chakrit: “What happen?”
Kob: “I saw a ghastly ghost…” She hears the man voice again and covers her ear. “I hear him…don’t you?” Her eyes widen as she stares at him in confusion. Chakrit laughs. “You have been posses.” She had clearly watched too much horror films. Chakrit turns her over and removed her hand from her ears.
Chakrit: “It is only the graveyard keeper.” He gently grips her shoulder. Kob notice it was a human, it was early in the morning and the man still had his white facial cream on, a beauty product which he used yesterday night to keep his skin clean, that’s why he was so pale. The graveyard keeper told her she left her purse. She left it on the bench earlier, the man gave it to her then left. “You’ve been jumpy lately.”
Kob: “Have I?” She asked herself. She brushes the dirty off her hands, knees and buttock.
Chakrit: “Why are you here?”
Kob: “My mother is buried here.”
Chakrit: “You come visit your mother? How come I never knew of that?”
Kob: “What are YOU doing here anyway?” She tries to change the topic.
Chakrit: “Oddly, you wouldn’t be interested in what I do.”
Kob: “Correct. You’ll be tempted to tell me why you are here, but I don’t want to hear, which will break your heart.”
Chakrit: “Hmm…I guess it’s understandable, you found a new way to play with me. I was tired of the silent treatment anyway.”
Kob: “I’m leaving.” She walks around him to get to the gate area. She took a few steps before she stops to his explanation.
Chakrit: “After my parents died in a car crash, they were buried here. I come to pay my respect to them every morning before going to work.”
Kob: “This doesn’t concern me.”
Chakrit: “What a coincidence, after I made my prayer just right now to my parents, you run into my arms.” He had wished for them to help him with his love life.
Kob: “Like I said, I don’t care.” She pretends she wasn’t interested.
Chakrit: “How did you get here? I didn’t see your car.” Kob turns, she walks up to him.
Kob: “What I do…where I go….it is none of your business.” She stood right in his face.
Chakrit: “Understood.”
Kob: “Good.” She turns around to leave but trips on a rock and falls face first, plugging her face into a puddle of mud. “Yuck…!” She complains as she wipes the muck off her eyelids so she could see. She can hear Chakrit laughing quietly.
Chakrit: “Where you are going…it’s none of my business.” He crouched down near her.
Kob: “That’s why you didn’t warn me? Because you were obeying my words.” She complains as she shook the mud off her fingers.
Chakrit: “Mud is good for your skin. Some people even paid to get into a mud bath.” He jokes. “However, you better get it off before it hardens. By then it’ll be difficult to take off.” He takes out a cloth from his pocket. “Close your eyes, you don’t want any to get in there.” She was obedient to him. He put a finger under her chin and lifts her face upward. He carefully wiped the mud off her face. “Done…” It seemed almost as if he had shined her face, there was no mud left. Kob opened her eyes and finds Chakrit passionately gazing at her. Kob gulps as he leaned closer and closer. Her eyes stares repeatedly into his eyes and onto his lips. Before his lips can touch hers she turns her head aside.
Kob: “The way he’s acting toward me is only because he thinks I am Suvanant.” She thinks quietly. “Get a hold of yourself.” She slaps herself. “Ouch. That really hurt.” Chakrit studies her awkwardness. She stands up to leave but Chakrit grabs her wrist. “Remember your status.” She yanks her hand away and walks off. Chakrit can’t help but feels giddy inside.
Inside her friend’s car, Kob put her head down on the wheel and made it honk. ‘Oops…’ she lift her head up ‘Why do I keep meeting him? The way he feels is only towards Suvanant…not me…’ She envy her sister for having such man who would stay by her side no matter how emotionally abuse he gets from her. She couldn’t understand why he would do so.
***Illusion Magazine Company***
When Suvanant approaches her office her secretary tells her there was someone in there. When she enters, she could see Tik leaning on the counter of her desk and flipping through her sketch book.
Suvanant: “Those are confidential.”
Tik: “The boss should be able to view them.”
Suvanant: “As far as I know, your job will begin next week, not today.” She walks to her desk where she pressed on the intercom. Her secretary walks in. “Yesterday Chakrit came in because you feel asleep right?”
Secretary: “Sorry.”
Suvanant: “Today, what did you do wrong?”
Secretary: “I let the boss come in…”
Suvanant: “You know the official announcement of handing down this company won’t be till next week. Right now Mr. Kongying and Mr. Pholdee are still the owner of this company.” She looks out the window into the streets below her. “You let a intruder into my office.” She turns over and open one of the cabinet to her desk. “When you were hire, what was written under rule eighty nine.”
Secretary: “Do not let anyone come into Ms. Suvanant room if not permit by Ms. Suvanant, herself.”
Suvanant: “You remember so well…yet you couldn’t obey that rule.” She writes out a check and puts it on the table. “You’re fire.”
Secretary: “No. Please…I still need this job to pay my mortgage this month.”
Suvanant: “Not only breaking my rule once but twice. You still have the nerve to ask for forgiveness?” The secretary looks to Tik for help. “Take what I give you or leave it.” The women goes up to the desk and unwilling picks up the check.
Tik: “You’re fire from Suvanant, but you can work under me next week.”
Secretary: “Really?”
Tik: “Apply for a secretary job in my department, I will guarantee you a position.” He tells the worker.
Suvanant: “You can’t do that.”
Tik: “Miss…” He asked the woman before she heads out of the door. “Is there a rule stating that a secretary if fire by Suvanant can’t work for Tik?
Secretary: “There is no rule such as that.”
Tik: “I thought so…” He smirks at Suvanant.
Suvanant: “Hmm…” She cross her arms around her chest. “Giving a worker a chance to work in the company puts the company in danger. She can leak recent designs or ideas out just because of the grudge she has against me.” She says under her breath.
Tik: “I’ll make sure it won’t happen.”
Suvanant: “But you double the chance of foul play. I won’t allow her to be re-hire.”
Tik: “I promise already.”
Suvanant: “You haven’t even started yet and already making a big mess. My thoughts never lie to me.” She walks up to Tik and the room seems to be spinning around them. “I’m afraid the fall of this company will be because of you.”
Tik: “That won’t be true.”
Suvanant: “Well just see about that…” She takes hold the sketch book that was in his hand. She looks out the window again. Tik stands right beside her.
Chakrit had just arrived downstairs when he looked up to Suvanant’s office window and saw her and a stranger together through the clear window of her office window. He grew worried and rushed into the building, he also wonder how she got there so fast.
Tik: “We’ll met again…tonight…”
Suvanant: “Tonight?”