Chapter Two
After almost five hours of falling back to sleep, Nawin was once again awoken by loud voices in the hall right outside his bedroom door. He glanced at his wristwatched and yawned. There was no way he could fall back to sleep now this late in the afternoon. Besides, he had much to do. The first thing on his list was a blind date with his supposed fiance, a random hi-so girl that his mother had picked out for him. Okay, that's on his mother's to-do list, not his'.
"Sorry, Mom," Nawin muttered.
He assumed that his mother would take care of things accordingly just as she had done with his older brother Narong's relationship years ago after she had found out that Narong was dating a woman that she didn't approve. Apparently, Khun Ying Lerlaksami took action and solved the problem accordingly as she had initially planned after threatening Narong that if he didn't break up with the girl then she would sort things out herself. And, she did. She even bethrothed Narong to a woman that she had picked out, claiming that the woman was far better for her son.
Nawin shook his head, suddenly pitying his eldest brother. Then, he remembered that Narong was returning home today, which meant that he, Nawin, was free! He was free from all of the office responsibilities. Even though his older brother, Nawit, had done nearly all of the work during Narong's absence, Nawin was never more glad that Narong had returned. He felt a sudden load of relief for both himself and Nawit.
Nawin stretched and yawned again before grabbing his pants off of the floor. He had tossed them aside last night before going to bed, too lazy to put them away. He reached into his left pocket for his phone, which he used to call Narong right away to remind his older brother that there was a sales plan waiting for him to take care of, the same plan that his mother, Khun Ying Lerlaksami, had given him in a binder to test his abilities. However, Nawin was no match to his older brothers.
"Hello, Nawin, where are you?" Nawin was glad to hear his brother's voice after a few days.
The last time they talked was when Narong called to check on some business.
"I'm at Amari Residence," Nawin replied, knowing that his older brothers would never in a million years give away his location to their mother.
"I heard that you ran away from home," Narong went on.
"Who told you that?" Nawin asked. "P'Wit, huh? P'Wit and P'Wat told you that?"
"I'm kidding," Narong replied. "It doesn't even matter because you're all grown up now so you're entitled to your own decisions and responsible for your own actions."
"Khob khun na krub, phee." Nawin thanked his older brothers for understanding him.
He was very thankful to be blessed with them.
"Oh, I was going to tell you that I left some things undone on your desk," Nawin told him. "Please tell Khun Mae that I am very sorry that I couldn't fulfill her requests. It's just not my thing."
"Okay, no problem," said Narong. "If you need anything, let me know."
"Krub, thank you again," said Nawin.
Their conversation ended promptly and Nawin let out a sigh of relief.
"It's my fault that I didn't answer his call."
Nawit scrolled through his missed calls list and saw that Nawin had called him twice. He had turned off his phone last night while he and Wattana were buried in their workload last night. Nawin was probably looking forward to seeking assistance with Nawit, which he mostly did if he couldn't get in touch with Narong.
"Mai bpen rai," said Narong. "I'll take care of it."
"He could've called me," said Wattana. "My phone is never off."
"Nawin is a smart kid," said Nawit. "If I don't answer, he knows that I'm busy and if I'm busy, he'll assume that Wattana is busy too so he won't bother."
Narong snorted and let out a small laugh. They were about halfway into their lunch when Narong announced that he was finished.
"Don't tell me you're in a hurry to get back to work," said Nawit.
"Well, I am thinking about going to the office afterwards," Narong replied. "Plus, I had breakfast on the plane."
"You're not going home first?" Nawit asked. "Khun Mae is looking forward to seeing you."
"I know," said Narong. "But I have to take care of business first."
And that was the last thing that Narong was looking forward to, his mother. As much as he loves her, he wasn't ready to answer all of her questions about the trip and her exciting assumption of how delighted Ying-Orn would be to see him. It was more than likely that his mother would probably be preparing a grand dinner upon his return and Ying Orn, his fiance would be her guest of honor. It wasn't as if Narong had been gone for years. It was probably weird but safe to say that he knows her too well but he just doesn't understand her.
By the time Nawin had left his room, the noise had ceased and the halls were absolutely empty. He figured the girl next door probably had all of her belongings moved in by now. Thank goodness, he thought, shaking his head with a half smile. She was definitely clumsy-looking. Bless her, he thought.
Nawin casually walked down the hall to the elevators and found that there was already one person waiting. It was the same girl that had moved in next door to him. She looked at him, rolled her eyes, and turned back to focus on the doors of the elevator.
"You were talking so loud last night," Nawin began. "Why are you silent now?"
He knew that was the wrong foot to start off with but he usually made friends that way.
"I'm not your friend," she snapped.
Oh, so she's fierce too, he thought. Nawin smiled and pressed the elevator button again. There was a ding sound followed by two sliding doors opening behind them.
"After you, my lady," he said.
"And I am not your lady," she snapped again. This time, her voice was a little bit louder and Nawin could tell that she was pretty annoyed by him already.
They were both silent as the lift descended to the first floor and when the door opened, they went their separate ways. She made her way to the front desk and he went out through the automatic, sliding glass doors.
It was a beautiful day and as much as he wished to jump in a pool and relax all day after a week of torture in the office, Nawin had to go out and buy things for his new home. It felt really good to be free. It felt even better to be able to spend his own money for his own freedom than just depending on his family's. It was true that he was a rich kid but he definitely wasn't spoiled. A few years ago, Nawin had invested in a Japanese restaurant business with a friend and he was proud to say that he was the owner of a successful business.
"Arai na?!"
Disappointed that her eldest son, Narong, had gone directly to the company without seeing her first, Khun Ying Lerlaksami stormed out to the marble porch to the driveway and commanded that Tum, the driver, transport her there at once.
"Khob jai na, Wat," she thanked her sons' assistant, Wattana for the news.
Both Narong and Nawit were in a meeting and Wattana was out and about taking care of errands. Even though that was the case, she still expected her sons to answer her calls. She should be their top priority regardless, another thing that they didn't like and all disagreed on.
On the way to the company, Khun Ying had called to inform Ying Orn, her to-be daughter-in-law, to join her for dinner later in the evening after Narong had returned home from work. She already planned a grand dinner for him for his return and successfully sealing a deal with a Chinese investor. Ying Orn gladly accepted and promised to be present later, much to Khun Ying's delight.
"Ta Rong!"
After arriving at the company, Khun Ying had stormed into Narong's office without warning. She slammed the door shut behind her and stared at her two eldest sons.
"Mae," said Narong, getting up from his chair to pay his respects.
"Why didn't you come home first?!" she exclaimed.
"I had to come clear up some things at work," Narong replied, sitting back down.
"You too, Ta Wit!" Khun Ying moved on to harass a speechless Nawit.
He didn't think that the whole thing was a big deal but as usual, his mother made a big deal out of probably everything.
"Why didn't you answer your phone when I called you?" she asked him. "I had to call Wattana. Didn't I mention before that I would appreciate it if you all answered my calls every time?"
Narong and Nawit looked at each other and nodded at their mother.
"Krub," they both replied.
"And have you heard from your little brother?" she continued. "If Nawin took care of things accordingly, you two wouldn't have to clean up his mess."
"Oh, Mom, don't say that," said Narong. "Nawin didn't make a mess at all."
He held up some papers and handed them to his mother, who hastily looked through them.
"Nawin's work," Nawit replied. "Those were his ideas and plans to take care of the assignment you gave him. He didn't do it but those are brilliant ideas and plans to boost our company's sales."
"I don't believe it," said Khun Ying, handing the papers back to Narong. "I don't believe Nawin did all of this. If he did, then why didn't he take action and put these ideas into practice?"
"Mae krub," Narong began. "Nong Win is a smart kid. It doesn't take long for him to figure things out and solve problems. He just doesn't like office settings and putting up a front all the time."
"Chai krub," Nawit agreed. "You should know by now that Nong Win is capable of a lot of things but you should also already know that if he doesn't want to do something, you can't force him to."
"But no matter what, he must marry Noo Thidararath," said Khun Ying. "I've already spoken to her parents and they've agreed to an engagement."
"Mae, you can't force him to marry someone he doesn't even know," said Nawit.
Narong looked away from his mother and remembered the time that she had betrothed him to a woman she had picked out. Oh how he wished he could've done the same thing Nawin did. If he ran away from the oncoming problems, it would've solved everything and saved him from this fate. She couldn't be mad at him forever anyway. Why hadn't he thought of that before?