Toey placed a work folder for CEO's signature on Teeradon's desk and let out a soft sigh. Ever since their return from the seaside, his boss had changed dramatically. Today, Teeradon had barely worked at all—canceling meetings, spending his time either slumped in his chair or sprawled on the office couch. When asked questions, he barely responded, lacking his usual sharp retorts that could cut glass.
The young secretary emerged from his boss's office just as Teeradon pushed through the front glass doors, moving with the sluggish gait of a man walking underwater. He headed straight to his office without so much as a glance in Toey's direction.
So it didn't work out, Toey mused. Still no luck taming Wittawin, I see. All that effort following him to some island in the middle of nowhere, and still no progress.
Well, this is actually good. Maybe now Teeradon will finally give up.
Settling at his desk, Toey couldn't fathom what had transformed his boss so completely. The intercom's sharp buzz interrupted his thoughts—Teeradon was summoning him, requesting he bring the land deed for that Ayutthaya property they'd recently purchased.
"The stolen motorcycle—Detective Kamtorn says the owner can pick it up at the police station," Toey reported, standing before his boss's scowling face.
"Put this land up for sale. One point six million. When someone bites, report back with who's buying." Teeradon's voice was flat, businesslike.
"You bought it for two million and now you're selling for one-six? That's a four-hundred-thousand loss." Toey couldn't hide his disapproval.
"Whose land is it, Toey?" Teeradon raised an eyebrow, his stare turning predatory.
"Wittawin's land. But you swooped in and bought it right from under him." The words came out sharper than intended.
"And that computer system maintenance contract for the club—call him in to discuss terms."
"Him being who, exactly?"
"Khun Toey." Teeradon's voice carried a warning edge, his mouth pressed into a thin line as he regarded his secretary with strained patience.
"You seem to have forgotten you have two secretaries," the 'daytime secretary' said, his voice hardening.
"Just do what I'm telling you."
"You're really going all-in on this, aren't you? Just for someone you want to toy with and then toss aside—is it worth all this?" Toey's composure cracked. "First the VIP club membership, handed over for free. Then that insanely expensive motorcycle, which you probably couldn't locate right now. Buying prime real estate just to sell at a loss. Chartering a yacht to go whale-watching in the middle of the ocean, then staging a drowning scene."
"How did you know about that?"
"Is there anything I don't know?" The all-knowing secretary's tone was deliberately casual.
"Don't forget the luxury suite at Beach Front Millenia and those two ridiculously overpriced spa packages," Teeradon shot back.
"And why are you withdrawing hundreds of thousands more?"
"Whose money is it, Toey?"
"Yours, of course." Toey delivered the response to his boss's habitual question—the one he always asked when irritated. "Please don't tell me you're planning to invest a fortune in this cat-and-mouse game."
Teeradon's got it bad. Looks like he won't be letting go of Wittawin anytime soon.
"Maybe I won't." Teeradon exhaled heavily, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes as if to end the conversation.
"I don't approve of you throwing money around like this. It's pointless. You won't win his heart this way. If... if you're not planning to be serious about this."
"I've been wrong from the beginning, haven't I, Toey?"
"Wrong from the moment you forced him to come sit at your desk and apologize. When will you stop trying to win? When will you get serious? Are you waiting until you have no chance left? You're thirty-four, almost thirty-five. Pick someone. Pick someone who's actually possible. Pick someone who's right for you."
Toey's voice grew stern as he turned and walked out immediately after finishing, leaving the recipient of his advice to slowly raise a hand to his forehead, opening his eyes to stare thoughtfully at the ceiling.
I am choosing. Why wouldn't I be choosing? Toey doesn't know that things are starting to get more complicated than I thought. My secretary knows too much—everything, apparently. But does he know that right now I'm struggling with something I've never faced before in my life?
And what did Toey mean about picking someone "possible" and "right for me"?
Teeradon drew another deep breath and reached for the intercom to clarify his confusion, but pulled his hand back.
Wait. Maybe Toey does know. He must. My secretary seems to have supernatural insight. He probably knows about the thing I thought only I knew.
Teeradon picked up his phone, studying it briefly before dialing the number of someone who'd been calling him repeatedly since yesterday.
Pirayu. What would happen if Wittawin found out about me and his best friend? And Pirayu seems to be getting deeper involved with me than I care to think about when it comes time to 'choose,' as Toey suggested.
Pirayu seems as fragile as spun glass. Wittawin's more like a rock.
If the glass breaks, what's left? And I'd probably get that rock hurled at my head because Wittawin wouldn't just sit back and take it.
I'm afraid of Wittawin hating me.
***
Toey sat stunned, staring at the document in the file he'd received from the PR department the previous Sunday. He'd been too busy then to read it thoroughly, only catching the manager's brief explanation about donating computers to a kindergarten in Bangkok. He'd simply filed it away for later.
According to the original schedule, Khun Tin was supposed to attend the event, but PR had just notified them that Khun Tin wanted Teeradon to go in his place.
Pirayu and some kindergarten with an amusing name. This school where Pirayu Aswames serves as director. The friend Wittawin keeps trying to 'introduce' to Sarayoot is named Pirayu—gentle personality, cheerful, beautiful smile. Teeradon once mentioned dating this sweet-smiling guy who's a kindergarten teacher. And now I remember that night when I forced Teeradon to attend that education executive dinner—the one he complained was boring and nearly refused to give the closing speech. That night, I saw him leave with a slender young man I jokingly called Mister Siam Smile.
Should have figured it out ages ago. No wonder his eyebrow's been twitching for weeks. If Wittawin knew that Teeradon was planning to shag his friend and then dump him, Wittawin would absolutely lose it.
But Wittawin's trying to set up his friend with his uncle.
So Pirayu would be my competition.
Competition I can't afford to lose.
For confirmation, the young secretary picked up his phone to call his boss, who was brooding in his office. Though he was fairly certain his deduction was correct, and that Teeradon was probably nursing a headache for precisely this reason.
After finishing his call with Teeradon, he intended to make a few more calls to verify his information completely—following the proper methodology of an efficient secretary.
***