“Then why didn’t he fight for you?”
The words hit Siri in the heart like a sharp knife and he involuntarily took a shocked step back. This woman in front of him was one of the three people Siri respected in the whole world. He had not expected his grandma to say this. This is why he was confused when his grandma started insulting his lover. This was absolutely out of the blue and it angered Siri to no end. What did this woman expect Pai to do? With who Siri is, Pai had done the only thing he could do, right? Right?
Siri was glaring hard at the woman, whose eyes were nothing but challenging.
Siri was seething from within, “That’s not fair..”
Mrs. Thanawat tilted her head to the side, watching her grandson quiver with anger, “What’s not fair? Huh, Siri? What’s not fair?”
“We did, he made a..we ..I had obligation and Pai..”
Grandma snorted, “Yes, Pai, indeed. Tell me Siri, what did you take me as? Did you think I’m someone who would rate your happiness above a couple of billion bucks?”
“Nana..” The old woman chuckled.
“But dad, he just..”
Grandma sighed and shook her head, “Let’s be honest Siri. We both know your father is smart enough, but he doesn’t have the intelligence that you and I possess. He is managing just fine, let’s not discredit him. But I’m not deluding myself into believing that my son can manage this huge empire by himself. It is one of the reasons why I have been training you diligently. But now I’m questioning myself.”
“Nana, what are you saying?”
“Don’t you get it Siri? You failed. You failed to trust me enough, trust me that I will always have your best interest in my heart. You failed to trust that if you had put your foot down and had been firm on your decision, no one would have been more proud of you than me. I believed you are capable of single handedly not only managing what I have build from scratch but also expanding it. But you showed me that you are not even capable of taking control of your life! How am I supposed to trust you with this responsibility now?”
“Nana! I don’t know..”
“Why did you think I have never stopped you from meeting him? One word, one snap of my fingers and you wouldn’t even know where he disappeared..”
Siri gasped, fear clenching his heart at his grandma’s words. But he had to admit she was right. This woman could have separated him from his Pai with her eyes closed. Siri himself had wondered why neither his father nor this lady ad ever asked him not meet Pai ever again.
Grandma came close to Siri, held him by his arms and shook him, “Don’t you get it Siri? I was waiting! I had heard so much about your lover from you..I wanted to see if he would ever make an attempt to convince us. If that man had even tried..if he had so much as asked to meet me, I would have looked at him in a completely different way. It didn’t matter if he had stuttered or ran away without even saying anything, just the fact that he had tried would have raised his opinion for me. I would have at least seen a glimpse of that man that you claim to love!”
The woman sighed and closed her eyes. When she looked up at her grandson her eyes were softer and a small smile had graced her thin lips. She lovingly wiped the young man’s cheeks. Siri had not realized he was crying until he felt the gentle fingers.
“Did you not think I could have made that Paramsikt bend in some other way? Siri, I can understand why your lover pushed you to do this. Family, business and obligations are usually considered to be written in stone. And for someone like him, who has never in his life seen or even dreamed of a billion dollars, it’s overwhelming. I can see why he would think you would later regret not going through with this. He counts in pennies after all..”
Siri swallowed as his eyes went wide. He had never told his family about Pai’s financial or family background. But thinking now he should have guessed his grandma would have known everything there was to know ever since they started dating. The woman patted the young man’s shoulder as she went back and slumped back on the chair.
The young heir of the Thanawat empire rubbed his face in frustration, as he pulled his hair back and looked towards the sky. He knew he had messed up. This was a test his grandma had set for him and he had failed spectacularly.
“Nana…I ..I don’t know..”The lady in the chair chuckled, “All you had to do was trust me, but ..well”Siri rushed forward, knelt before the chair and held the woman at her knees. He looked up earnestly, his eyes tear-filled and red, “Nana. I trust you! Trust you with my life. You are ..you have been everything to me all my life! Why didn’t you say anything? Nana..I..”“Why did I have to? Why should I have? You are the one who chose the easy way out..” Hearing the words Siri stood up abruptly, once again feeling the anger rising inside of him. His heart was barely holding it together, the pain was actually physical and the most important woman in his life thought everything was a joke?“Easy? Easy?...There is nothing easy about this, believe me Nana! Nothing at all..”“Is that so? Or maybe you just took the chance to break things off with that man..Good for you the
Siri had been up since five am this morning, scrambling around his files on his laptop as he proceeded to remember every little detail regarding the presentation he was to make this afternoon. This project was being handled by his father since the beginning but his Nana had suddenly decided to hand it over to him a week ago. It was the morning after his wedding, when after the talk in the study his Nana had laid out detailed rules for him and handed him this project. He now had to convince potential investors to contribute for the capital so that Thanawat Enterprises could launch their newest and smartest home automation system.The talk in the study had really frazzled Siri from within. It was that day that the young heir had fully understood the enigma he lovingly called Nana. It felt like even after so many years, he had only scratched the surface of what Ratana Thanawat meant. At the end of the talk though, Siri could only surrender to his grandma and her greater wisdom.
Pai had just finished his second shift at the diner and was returning to his apartment when he noticed a long black unmarked limousine parked outside the building. All the residents were peering through their windows curiously. Some had even come out to stare and gossip about the car and who it was meant for. Pai may have been surprised by such a flashy car being in his dingy neighborhood but being the aloof one, he was not interested in such trivia. He had work to catch anyway. He worked nights at 7/11 around the corner and if he stays and chatted he would definitely be late. However, as he walked further, the back door of the car opened, blocking his way. Pai still didn’t think anything of it and was about to go around the door when a posh voice stopped him.“Get in,” the woman said. That’s when Pai leaned in to see an old classily dressed woman gesturing him to take a seat beside her. The young man had no idea who this was or why she would ask him t
Ratana Thanawat felt a soft smile spread on her face as she watched her grandson elegantly greet all the guests gathered at the mansion for a party to celebrate the production of company’s newest home automation system. Boonsri, slim and sophisticated, stood beside Siri in her classy lilac one-shoulder dress. From afar, they did look good together and she knew many of her guests might be jealous. But only the three of them knew the truth, not even Siri’s dad had been included.It had been almost three weeks and she had seen the young man work diligently for this project and also other assignments. Her grandson thought he was being subtle, but nothing had ever missed the matriarch’s eyes. She knew her conditions, one condition in particular, had been driving Siri to the brink. Her grandson was prolonging coming home, he didn’t want to relax his mind in the least so as to not let it wander. The lady’s eyes overcame with sadness. She could see from
The black limo was once again parked in front of his apartment building, but this time Pai didn’t hesitate. He just opened the back door himself and took a seat beside the old woman. The fact that Siri’s Nana had sought him out again for some reason didn’t even surprise him. After the first meeting, Pai had a feeling that there was a lot of unfinished business between them.This time when Pai bowed, the woman nodded in acknowledgement.The car started, “You are on leave tonight. I already talked to your manager.”“Uhh?”“We have things to discuss and I believe it will take a lot longer than 20 minutes.”Pai swallowed, but gave a small nod. One day of missing work won’t hurt. The rest of the ride was silent. When Pai and grandma Thanawat got out of the car, he realized they were at a small mom-n-pop restaurant. Surprisingly, it was completely empty, except for a middle-aged man and an old w
“It’s past 2:00 am Master. You should leave now and get some rest,” Chati said as he entered Siri’s office, without knocking. He was pushing a small tray-table, which had a bowl of steaming chicken-noodle-basil soup. The bulky man made some space on his Master’s table and placed the soup there.“Eat, master, and then I will take you home.”Siri watched the man, took off his glasses but didn’t make any effort to eat or get out of his chair. He just closed his eyes, leaned back on the chair and sighed.“Master..please, you have to eat something. This is one of your favorites,” Chati said as he pulled Siri out of the chair. Of all the people around Siri, he was the only one who could do something like this and not get reprimanded for it. The security chief pushed the young man towards the bathroom and asked him to quickly freshen up. When Siri came out, he sat down on his chair and reluctantly took a spoon
Pai slumped down on the small bed, without even taking his shoes off. He was so damn exhausted that all he wanted to do was just fall asleep. He had just finished his part-time shift at the diner around the corner. He had been in Chiang Mai for past two months now, with so called internship for the Thanawat enterprises. He started work early and ended his shift almost three hours earlier than the other interns so he could manage his shift at the diner. The stipend that Siri’s Nana had promised was good but not much more than what he was earning previously doing two shifts. He had decided to use the stipend to get some savings started and pay off the debts. He managed his expenses from what he earned from the diner. It was truly tiring.Being the soft spoken and hard-working person that he was, Pai had slowly but surely managed to gain appreciation from his colleagues and superiors. There were many people of Pai’s age in the department but none of them were i
Sirichai Thanawat found himself once again at Pai’s apartment. Over the past two months, Siri had taken to spending every weekend and some week-nights here. His Pai had left the place almost three months back, and Siri was still unaware of where he was. His heart clenched at the thought every time and he had taken to praying for the health and safety of his beloved. He took his suit off and gotten into the shower. He had come here straight from the airport as he had been in Singapore for past three days. He was exhausted but he really did need a shower and something to eat as well.Wearing Pai’s pajamas again, Siri sat on the chair with a bowl of instant noodles. It was something hot and satisfying, and that’s all that mattered at this hour. He scrolled through his phone as to check for any important messages or mails he might have missed while on the flight. He went through some queries from the production department, mostly they concerned the budget and re