"Hello, Kim ler ja?"
Mark sounded nervous on the phone. He was going to work late tonight and he was going out town for the weekend. Sure enough, he was going to miss Valentine's Day this year.
Mark cleared his throat.
"Uhm...I'm working late tonight and...I just found out I'm supposed to go out of town this weekend," said Mark.
Nadech and Mario broke into laughter behind Mark. Mark shot a shut-the-fuck-up look at them and turned around.
"Okay," said Kim, calmly.
She sighed heavily and nodded to herself.
"That's alright," she told Mark. "I understand."
"I love you," said Mark.
"I love you too," said Kim.
That was the end of their conversation. Mark turned around and smiled at his friends.
"Did she buy it?!" asked Nadech excitedly.
"Of course she did," said Mario. "Just take a look at his cheesy face."
"I can't believe this," said Mark. "Now we got the whole weekend to plan it."
Boy suddenly burst into Mark's office door. He looked shitty and tired.
"Mind to tell us what the hell you've just been through?" asked Nadech.
"Thanks to you guys Margie wrestled me out of the door," explained Boy as he slumped into a chair.
"Hey at least you're making it up to her this weekend," said Mark.
"True," said Boy. "Now come on and let's plan this thing."
"Well we gotta wait for Ken," said Mark.
"Here I am," said Ken, bursting through the door panting.
"Did you run up here or something?" asked Mario.
"Yeah, actually I did," replied Ken. "Are we ready or what?"
"Yeah, let's do this," said Mark. "I just told Kim while ago on the phone and she seemed pretty sad."
"Yeah we all just lied to our girlfriends," said Boy. "I bet my case is the worse."
"Oh come on," said Nadech. "We're doing this for them."
"Well let's get going, shall we?" asked Boy. "I feel and look terrible."
"Alright, so let's discuss where we should have this," said Mark.
"I say at your house," said Ken.
All the guys looked at Mark.
"No way," said Mark. "That's too obvious but that isn't very romantic."
"Well what do you suggest?" asked Mario. "We could book a restaurant to ourselves."
"No, that's too normal," said Ken. "We should do something exciting."
Mark sank into a chair. The guys could tell he was running out of patience.
"Come on guys," he said, holding one hand into the air. "We've only got so many days to plan it."
"Oh, I know," said Nadech, with a bright smile. "I say on the rooftop of a hotel with lights and live music."
"This isn't a party," said Boy, shaking his head.
Nadech's smile turned into a frown."
"Wow this is harder than I thought it would be," said Mark.
"Well you know, if we could just cooperate," said Mario.
This was going to be a long night. Mark and Boy buried their faces in their hands. Mario sat down on Mark's desk. How complicated can this get? Then, out of nowhere, a phone rang and all the guys' were silent.
"Not mine," said Ken, looking at his dark black screen.
"Not mine either," said Boy, stuffing his iPhone back into his pocket.
"It's mine," said Nadech. "It's Yaya! What should I do?!"
"Well answer it!" snapped Mario.
Nadech answered the call from Yaya, winked at his friends, and stepped outside the office. Boy and Mark exchanged looks.
"Wonder what's up with that," said Ken.
"I know now," said Mario. "I know where we should have this Valentine's Day surprise."
"Well..." said Boy, Mark, and Ken simultaneously.
"We should have it right here at this hotel in the ball hall," suggested Mario. "We could set it up and make it all romantic...
"No!" said his friends in clamor.
"Right, that's way too obvious," said Ken. "The girls come up here all the time."
"Fine," said Mario.
The door swung open and an annoyed looking Nadech reappeared.
"How did it go?" asked Mark.
"Well Yaya just went off on me," answered Nadech. "First, she's mad that I won't be able to join her this Valentine's and second, she's mad because she thinks that I got Mark working overtime too. And now, she and Kim are comforting each other."
"You know I'm beginning to think we should just do as we do every other year, just a romantic dinner," said Mario.
"But I want this to be a big thing," said Ken. "Just going to dinner and saying I love you is something everyone does. We should go all out."
"I've got a headache," said Boy. "I'm out of here. Let me know what you guys come up with."
Boy got up and left.
"Damn," said Nadech. "What now?"
"Any other suggestions?" asked Mario.
"Hey you know how I'm supposed to be out of town this weekend?" asked Mark.
"Yeah, so?" asked Ken.
"We could do this surprise thing out of town," suggested Mark.
"I like that," said Nadech. "Keep going."
"Well I was thinking at the beach or something, at night," said Mark.
"We could put up lights on a patio," added Ken.
"And I can come up with a fancy menu for the night," said Mario.
"Ah, so romantic," said Nadech, dreamily.
"Well that sounds like a plan," said Ken. "I'll take care of the lights and decoration."
"Great, we could go there tomorrow and set it up," Mark said to Ken.
"I'll come up with a menu and fax it to you guys there," said Mario.
"Well what do I do?" asked Nadech.
"Use your mind and be creative," said Mark.
"Aow," said Nadech.
"Alright, I say we call it a day then," said Mario.
They all parted ways and thought about their upcoming Valentine's Day surprise plan. Nadech giggled at the thought of kneeling before Yaya and asking her to marry him. Yep, he was so going to do it this year.
Mark got home two hours late and as soon as he did, he picked up the phone, he called Kim and apologized for missing out on dinner.
"That's okay," said Kim. "Yaya and Margie came over to keep me company."
"That's great," said Mark. "Listen, I have to be out of town tomorrow. I'm so sorry I won't be able to spend time with you this Valentine's."
"Yeah, no problem," said Kim. "It's just like any other day. The only difference is you spend time with your loved one. But it's not like we never see each other, right?"
"Yeah but I feel so bad and I'm going to miss you," said Mark.
"It's okay," said Kim. "Good night."
She didn't want to talk anymore. Not having Mark beside her on a special day brought this depressed feeling. Just thinking about his absence on that day made her want to cry. She had intended to surprise him but too bad he won't be around.
After talking to Kim, Mark answered a call from Toey, his younger cousin.
"Hello," said Mark.
"P...P...P'Mark," said Toey.
"Wh...are you crying?" asked Mark.
"No, I'm just tearing up," Toey sobbed through the phone.
"What's wrong?" asked Mark.
"Your stupid friend ditched our Valentine's Day date," replied Toey.
She continued to sob a bit more while Mark tried not to laugh.
"P'Mark," said Toey.
"Huh," answered Mark. "Hey listen everything is going to be fine okay? We gotta go out of town tomorrow for work. Sorry to take him away from you this Valentine's but this job is important."
"Arai na?" asked Toey. "You're going out of town together?"
"Yeah, if you don't believe me, ask Nadech," said Mark.
"How about P'Kim?" asked Toey. "Did you tell her yet?"
"Yeah, I did," replied Mark.
Toey sensed something fishy. She quit sobbing and wiped her tears away with a Kleenex.
"What is up with you guys?" asked Toey. "Are you guys hiding some secret?"
"What? No, absolutely not, of course not," said Mark. "Listen, I gotta go okay? I just got home and I'm really tired. Sorry again."
He hung up before Toey could say anything else. He smiled to himself and got up from his sofa to go to the shower.
"Stupid boyfriend, stupid pee chai," said Toey, to herself.
She put the phone back down and kicked the sofa.
"AOWW!" she yelped in pain. "Stupid sofa."
"WHAT?! YOU'RE GOING TO PROPOSE TO HER?!"
The guys were shocked to hear about Nadech's surprise.
"Seriously man?" asked Ken.
Nadech nodded.
"I love her and I want to surprise her," said Nadech.
"Hey I think that's a great idea," said Boy, putting his coffee cup down.
He rubbed his chin and smiled.
"I think I'll propose to Margie too," he said.
"What?" asked Mario. "You know this is really insane!"
The guys were so into their conversation that they didn't even realize that Toey, with a handful of stuff, had just walked out of the coffee/bakery shop. She noticed the guys sipping away coffee and stopped to eavesdrop.
"Funny," she said to herself. "Are they having some kind of secret meeting or something?"
She held the bag of baguettes close to her face so that they wouldn't see her.
"You should propose to Taew too," said Nadech, coolly.
Taew nearly fainted on the spot. Now, she listened in even more closely.
Mario smiled before his friends.
"Are you afraid she'll say no?" asked Boy.
"Of course I'm not!" Taew gasped to herself.
"No, of course not," replied Mario. "I just think that if we are going to do this, we should talk to Mark and Ken about it too."
"For what?" asked Boy. "I'm marrying Margie, not Mark and Ken."
"Uh chai," laughed Nadech.
"No, I didn't mean it like that," said Mario. "Wouldn't you think it'd be cool if we all proposed this Valentine's Day?"
Nadech and Boy nodded and laughed.
"Let's see what they say," said Nadech. "I'll talk to them later about it."
Taew couldn't believe what she had just heard! She definitely had to hit up the other gals and play along with these guys.
"Unbelievable," said Yaya, turning to Kim.
"Uhm hmm, they all lied to us, huh?" said Kim.
"No doubt about that," said Toey.
The gals caught Margie smiling dreamily.
"Hey!" they all exclaimed.
"What?" asked Margie.
"You're blushing," said Toey, laughing.
"Why did you tell me this?" Margie asked Taew.
"Well I thought that it was necessary so we can play them back," replied Taew. "Don't you guys want to play these idiots back?"
"I'm in," chimed Yaya and Toey.
They high fived each other and winked.
"Well how do we know where Mark and Ken went?" asked Kim.
"That's not a problem," said Toey. "I can figure that out."
"How?" asked the rest of the girls simultaneously.
Toey literally laughed out loud. The rest of the girls couldn't help it so they broke into laughter too.
After a few hours drive, Mark and Ken finally made it to the Blue Ocean Marina Resort. Since Mark and Nadech co-owned this hotel too, it was easy for them to plan things. Ken immediately talked to the manager about setting up the patio overlooking the beach.
"I want to put up lights all around the patio," said Ken, pointing around in the air.
He walked over to the other side of the patio and held out his arms.
"And over here, I want a huge stage with a banner displaying the words 'Will You Marry Me?'," said Ken.
Mark held up the time out sign with his hands.
"Hey, I think that is too much," said Mark.
"Really?" asked Ken.
"Yeah," replied Mark. "Don't you think so?"
"No," replied Ken. "I was thinking all us guys could kneel behind a huge curtain here while holding up the ring and at the right time, we'll have someone drop the curtains and reveal our romantic selves."
Mark snorted and laughed.
"Uhh...
"Aow na," said Ken. "We want this to be a day to remember. Nothing is more special than proposing to our women at the same time on Valentine's Day in this romantic atmosphere. The girls will love it. Then, we can get a room after that...
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Mark. "We are not getting a room. I'm saving mine for my wedding night."
"Law len na," said Ken, laughing. "So how's my idea? Say yes."
"Okay, fine," said Mark. "I'll be right back. I'm gonna go check if Mario has faxed the menu yet."
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Margie asked Taew.
"Yeah, of course, we can't just back out now," answered Taew.
"So who's going in and who's on the lookout?" asked Kim.
"I'll go in," said Yaya. "You girls stay in here in case they come out to the car and if they do, follow them."
"Okay," said Taew.
"I'll drive my car up to the front door to wait for you just in case we have to follow them," Toey told Yaya.
"Okay," said Yaya.
"If any of the guys come out, call me immediately," said Yaya.
"Alright," said Kim.
Yaya walked in, headed straight towards the elevator and took it to the executives floor. When the elevator door opened, Mario was standing right in front of her.
"Yaya!" gasped Mario.
"What?" asked Yaya. "Why are you so surprised to see me?"
"N...nothing," replied Mario.
Yaya noticed a dark green folder in his right hand.
"What's that?" asked Yaya.
"Nothing," replied Mario. "Just some work stuff Nadech and I were looking over."
Yaya smiled.
"Gotta go," said Mario. "I'm meeting up with a client."
Yaya headed to Nadech's office but no one was in there. She frowned and was about to turn around and leave but noticed Nadech's phone on the desk. Looking around to make sure no one was in sight, Yaya picked up his phone and tapped the unread message from Ken. There was a picture attachment. Yaya opened it up and thought that the patio looked familiar. In the far back of the patio, there was a semi-set up stage. Yaya read the message below it: "How's this for the big day?"
Yaya smiled at the picture and edited the message so that it said "unopened" just in case Nadech found out that she had gone through his phone. She put it back down on the desk and walked out of the office just in time to bump into Nadech.
"Khun!" gasped Nadech. "What are you doing here?"
"I was going to ask you to lunch but never mind since you and Mario are in the middle of something important," said Yaya.
She hinted at Nadech that she knew what was up and sure enough, he caught up.
"Really?" asked Nadech.
Yaya smiled.
"Yeah, I ran into him at the elevator while ago," said Yaya. "He said you guys were discussing something important and meeting a client."
"Oh, yeah, we are," said Nadech. "Sorry I can't go to lunch with you."
"That's okay," said Yaya. "I've got the gals."
"Oh right," said Nadech.
On the way back down the elevator, Yaya had gotten a call from Toey and learned that Boy had just pulled up and parked.
"Let's take your car back to the garage and meet up with the rest of the girls," said Yaya.
Nadech and the guys all usually parked in the front so there was no way they would notice Toey's car in the garage. Yaya and Toey met back up with the girls in Taew's car, where Yaya spilled out the information about the patio for the big day and the picture she had just seen on Nadech's phone.
"I'm sure that's the Blue Ocean Marina," said Yaya.
"Are you sure?" asked Taew.
"Yeah of course," replied Yaya. "I think they're meeting up here and taking one car down to meet the other guys down there."
"We should follow them," said Toey.
"Well we should drive to the front so we can see when they leave," said Margie.
"I can't believe this," said Kim.
"Oh believe it," said Taew. "I heard it with my own ears."
All the girls giggled.
"Oh this is going to be fun," said Toey.
"They don't know who they're playing with," said Yaya.
"My heart is beating funny," said Margie.
The girls giggled again.
