Teeradon leaned his head back against the plush leather seat of the Mercedes, exhaling softly as his capable secretary, now looking utterly drained, fumbled for smelling salts beside him.
Catching the scent, his boss opened his eyes and turned with a questioning look. "Feeling faint already, Khun Toey?"
"Standing under that blazing sun like that—how was I supposed to keep from getting dizzy? Next time, don't drag me along to worker protests. Labor disputes aren't secretary business." Toey fanned himself with his breath.
"How is it not? Did you forget the oath you made to my father? That you'd stay by my side always, help me work without regard for exhaustion, and take care of me while he and Tin are away?"
"Including handling your sleeping partners too, right? Today I got chewed out by Sarin because you don't want to see his face anymore."
"Who said that?" Teeradon closed his eyes with a smirk. "I just want him to take a little vacation for a few months. I've found someone new—fresher, brighter. Need to devote my full attention to that."
"If it's work, I never flinches. But that kind of thing—I'm not cut out for it. He even had the nerve to accuse me of keeping you all to myself. Insane. How did he even think that? As if I'd ever want you. Just the thought makes my stomach turn." Toey made a face.
"Easy there, Khun Toey. Do you know who you're talking to?"
"I'm talking to Khun Teeradon, my own boss."
"Not just that." Teeradon opened his eyes, lifting his head from the seat and turning to study his secretary's face—red as a ripe tamarind, not from embarrassment but from rarely seeing sunlight. "You're talking to a devastatingly handsome young man with irresistible charm, whom everyone desires. I can make anyone swoon with just a nod or shake of my head."
"Why are you so full of yourself?" Toey sighed.
Teeradon smiled smugly, then complained, "Now stop with that smelling salt. The smell is killing me."
"I'm about to pass out here."
"Try getting out of the air conditioning once in a while. All you do is sit there looking pretty. Wait—or is it looking beautiful?"
"Khun Teeradon, that's going too far. As far as I know, I'm constantly busy doing everything for my boss."
"And don't forget to report to father exactly what his eldest son has accomplished, so he'll know I can work and handle problems better than anyone." Teeradon changed topics the moment his secretary's voice turned cold.
"I'll report everything, including how the new chairman threatened to fire all protesting workers if they don't return to work, and promised a thousand baht to anyone who stops protesting. That's hundreds of thousands down the drain."
"Just hundreds of thousands, Toey. In exchange for millions in benefits that would disappear. Would you have done what I did? Why waste time with long speeches in that heat? If I wasn't worried about you fainting, I wouldn't have made that decision."
"If you were worried about me fainting, you wouldn't have dragged me to the factory in the first place," Toey shot back immediately. "But thanks for caring. I'm deeply touched by your kindness."
"Don't be sarcastic." Teeradon leaned back against the headrest and closed his eyes again. "And why does father have to go golfing in Bali anyway?"
"He's golfing with the chairman of Rising Sun Beverage and the CEO of Kau Chim Group."
"Probably having a blast shaking down fortune sticks. And when will Tin finish his honeymoon? By now shouldn't they have made a dozen babies?"
"Mind your mouth," the secretary scolded his boss.
"Toey, I can't take much more of this. If I encounter anything like this again, I'll definitely lose it." Teeradon shook his head.
"Just sell The Dazzle and work here full-time. Plenty of people want to buy it. You can't handle running two places." Toey advised.
"True. One is exhausting enough." Teeradon nodded in agreement. "And I have two secretaries."
"Khun Don," Toey's voice turned stern, his expression dark.
"But the club brings in good money, Toey."
"All you care about is money," Toey said sympathetically, but his next sentence made his listener jump. "And the food that comes with the money."
What? What did he mean by that? His secretary was speaking in riddles again...
Teeradon was about to turn and confront him when Toey suddenly exclaimed loudly.
"Oh no! Oh my."
"Screaming like that. Someone dies? Your boyfriend? Do you even have one, Khun Toey?" Teeradon chuckled softly.
"Khun Teeradon, don't look down on me. I could find more boyfriends than you if I wanted."
"Easy there. Do you know how many boyfriends I have? Are all your fingers and toes enough to count? Can you even count that high?" his boss challenged.
"Those aren't called boyfriends. They're called bed partners. Boyfriends and sleeping partners are different, boss. But anyway, you wouldn't understand because you don't have a heart. Someone like Khun Teeradon—handsome with a rich father—probably doesn't know what love is."
"Says who?"
"It's true. I will bet my head on it—someone like Khun Don will never find a real boyfriend. A boyfriend who means a lover, not just someone you grab, strip, and jump on top of. Get your thrills and then dump them." Toey curled his lip.
"I meant the rich father part. I'm rich on my own. Just the inheritance from my grandparents alone—fifty percent just for me—plus income from The Dazzle, father can't even compare. And I own thirty percent of Kunanon Brewery."
"Poor Khun Tin," Toey sighed. "Helped father work since before finishing high school and only gets thirty percent. Meanwhile, you just played around, graduated from abroad, then sweet-talked your grandparents into doting on you. Opened a club to intoxicate the masses, then had to come work at father's company."
"Toey, that's going too far." Teeradon glared. "It's called winning them over with charm."
"Khun Tin came before you. I worked with Khun Tin first, but you stole me away," the capable secretary gave his boss a reproachful look.
"Want to go back? If Tin returns, I'll send you back to work with him. You can sit around picking your nails all day."
"Oh, he's cool," Toey suddenly changed from his bored expression to one of excitement mixed with admiration, turning to look out the car window. Teeradon opened his eyes, lifted his head, and followed his secretary's gaze toward a motorcycle speeding past in the opposite direction, now just a distant speck.
"Looking at his rear again," the capable secretary smirked.
"Watch your mouth. Wait until Tin gets back."
"Send me back to work with Khun Tin and you'll regret it later. I wonder how many rounds a new secretary could handle you. Personnel will have to work twice as hard constantly finding new secretaries for you every two weeks."
"Didn't they change the name to Human Resources Director instead of Personnel?" Teeradon got him back.
The secretary didn't respond, just rolled his eyes and made a huffing sound in his throat at being countered.
After their "sparring session" had entertained them enough, boss and secretary each sat in silence for several long moments until they neared the company gates. Then Teeradon spoke up.
"But wait, that motorcycle that passed us earlier—that means it probably came from our company."
"This is the road to our company," Toey added.
"Very familiar," Teeradon narrowed his eyes, thinking, then his expression turned suspicious as he slowly turned to look at his secretary, voice strained. "Khun Toey, was that the engineer?"
"Probably," Toey grinned sheepishly.
"Then why didn't you warn me earlier?" Teeradon growled.
"If Toey had warned you, would you have had the driver make a U-turn to chase after him? Just passing each other and we turned to watch until our necks could rotate 180 degrees. We'd never catch up." The secretary refused to back down.
"Then why didn't you detain him as ordered?" Teeradon huffed in annoyance.
"Uh, Toey didn't know about this. I'll go find out information for you," Toey's voice softened.
"No need." Teeradon refused curtly. "Just order the gate guards to come see me."
"You can't fire him over something like this, Khun Teeradon. He has the right to file a complaint with the Ministry of Labor."
"Just do as I say."
"Yes, boss. I'm hired to follow orders anyway. Chasing motorcycles, tracking down..." Toey paused as if remembering something, then murmured softly, "Tracking down the owner of that red-lipped engineer for a meeting."
"Khun Toey," Teeradon's voice turned threatening, making a fierce expression at his secretary, who scooted closer to the opposite car door.
"Sorry I forgot. I exclaimed earlier, but you mocked me about not being able to find a boyfriend, so I didn't get to say what I remembered."
Teeradon sighed loudly, shook his head, and gave his secretary another sideways look.
"Got it. I'll track him down again." Toey said.
"As soon as possible," Teeradon pointed his finger commandingly.
"But it'll have to be after the day after tomorrow at the earliest. This weekend you're completely booked, especially the bilateral meeting between private sector and government entrepreneurs. This can't go wrong—the Commerce Minister, the Finance Minister, all the big shots will be there. And it's all the way in Hua Hin."
"Why, oh why?" Teeradon groaned.
"You'll get to see him soon enough. In the meantime, I'll get photos for you to see his face clearly."
"I meant the meeting." Teeradon's voice was weak and yearning as he leaned his head back against the seat and slowly closed his eyes again.
"Want to go for a massage? I know a great spa with excellent massage therapists. Guaranteed to make you completely relaxed, like a new person. But this spa only does regular massages—no extras."
"Not going."
Toey smiled, watching his young boss's sharp features with an amused expression, feeling simultaneously sorry for him, annoyed with him, tender toward him, and worried about him.
Teeradon looks so jaded and worldly, but when it comes to knowing real love, he's still so far away...
Annoying how he's such a playboy and hedonist, changing bed partners like it's nothing, getting his way then discarding them. But it's pitiful how hard it would be for him to find someone who truly loves him. Everyone who gets involved with Teeradon expects something in return from him...
Such a playboy. He needs to fall head over heels for someone, just to feel something for once. He's hurt so many others—now this playboy, the so-called president of Thailand's Playboy Association, needs to learn his lesson...
That fair-skinned computer engineer with the dark eyebrows, prominent nose, and red lips—now there's the perfect tool...