“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 then..”
“Nana! No! If I wanted that, why would I have sought him out tonight? You can’t even fathom the pain that I am in right now! To have gotten myself into this sham of a marriage…just because..because..”
“Because you were stupid, huh?”
Siri’s shoulders slumped. Grandma was right, he loved whole-heartedly but was not brave enough to follow through. He knew his family had never said anything against his relationship with his Pai, but he had failed to trust them. And then suddenly one day his father a proposed this deal and instead of taking a stand, he did something stupid. Siri sighed and rubbed his hands over his face.
He turned towards his grandma, “But Nana, why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t you let me know I don’t have to do this? Why didn’t you stop me, nana? Now look where we are! Nana..!”
“Don’t put this on me! I asked you clearly..I asked you the night before the wedding, didn’t I? And what did you say? Tell me, Siri? Your exact words were ‘yes Nana. I’m ready’ Am I right Siri?”
Siri could only swallow the lump in his throat and put his head down guiltily.
“That was after I had always told you that I wouldn’t be disappointed if you didn’t go through with this! Hadn’t I told you this again and again over the months, Siri?”
The young man could only stand there silently. He had made a huge mistake. He had ruined three lives in his efforts to make his father proud of him and also to show his Pai that he could be responsible. He had forgotten that the matriarch of the family would always take his side! She had always fought for his happiness, so why should this have been different? But then something else struck Siri. He had always seen his Nana being fair and just in every situation but here she had allowed Siri to marry a young girl. Did the girl deserve to be caught within this faux of a ceremony? A loveless marriage? His Nana’s take towards the girl puzzled him greatly.
“But Nana! Why didn’t you stop me? What about Boon?” Siri had met the girl twice before the marriage and she seemed like a gentle nice girl. She seemed interested and talked in what people might consider a sweet voice. She too may have married him due to pressure from her father but she seemed to really be
interested in him. She definitely did not deserve this.
“Huh? Who?...Ohh..Boonsri. Don’t worry about her..”
“Nana! How can you..”
“Don’t look at me like that Siri. You think I didn’t ask her as well? Her answer was the same as yours. I’m really not worried about her much, she knew full well what she was doing. In fact she was quiet chirpy and smiley about the whole thing, like she was really interested in this marriage. All fake, might I add. And even if she had been given a choice she would have still married you..considering she’s just a gold digger. Not that unlike her father, per say. And the girl has a few rich lovers swarming around her.”
Siri stood there stunned at this new information. He never thought the petite girl who was now officially his wife would be such a cunning woman. The sweet and gentle side was apparently just a façade.”
The lady chuckled looking at her grandson’s shocked face, “Oh Siri! You have a long way to go..”
The young man sighed as he too sat down on the chair opposite the woman, suddenly really tired. He was not only confused with all the thoughts going through his head but he didn’t even know how to begin remedying the situation.
In barely a whisper Siri asked, to no one in particular, “What do I do now?”
“You will do nothing Siri. You made a choice and now I will have to clean up the mess. You have showed me that you are still not at the level that you can work independently. You are still getting influenced by others, still not trusting your own instincts and more importantly your heart..” Grandma said as she stood up, ringing the bell for a maid. She came closer to the defeated man sitting in the chair and patted his shoulder gently.
Siri sniffled as he looked up, “Nana..”
“I guess this is as much my fault..for not recognizing that you maybe the smartest of them all but you are still young and needed my guidance. Well, all is not lost yet, it seems. Go, wash up for breakfast. It’s almost time. And then we will talk. Okay?” Siri nodded.
The maid came in and Nana asked her to set up their breakfast. When the maid was gone, the lady Thanawat once again turned to her grandson. She said, “If you want out of this situation Siri, mark my words, you will do exactly as I tell you to do. Not a step out of line, is that understood?”
The only thing the young man could do was nod firmly as he watched his Nana walk away.
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
“Pai, please have some soup. I know, you haven’t eaten anything since last night.” Pai opened his mouth as Aroon held the spoon in front of his lips. The younger man had taken it upon himself to care for Pai, feeding him something every time he visited, which was at least three times a day. He would also call and remind Pai to take his medicines.As the older man continued to eat, sitting up leaning on the wall, Aroon said, “I am sorry I couldn’t come in earlier today. I had to submit a presentation this morning and I still had some editing to do.”“It’s okay Aroon. I have told you so many times, you don’t have to do this. You are already doing too much..”Aroon snorted, “Well, if I don’t make you eat, you will not eat anything at all and then how will you get better, huh? In fact, I am thinking of moving back here, I can take better care of you that way..” The older man just shook his