Melted: A MaxTul AU story

Chapter Thirty-three: An Empty Desk

When Tul and Prin returned from their meeting, Ann asked them both if they were free for lunch. Prin wasn't too sure and turned to ask Tul about rearranging some of their afternoon work when he realized that Tul wasn't paying attention to them. Instead, he was looking across the office.

Both Prin and Ann followed his gaze to see Max putting items in a box from his desk.

"What is he doing?" Tul asked, voice steady but dead sounding.

Ann glanced at Prin first and then said, "He's packing up. I asked you if you were free for lunch because Max is taking us all out. This is going to be his last day in the office. He'll come back for your interview next week, of course," she added hastily.

"Rearrange everything we need, Prin. We will be free," Tul said and walked directly into his office.

Prin and Ann glanced apprehensively at each other before Prin followed Tul.

Prin wasn't sure what he was going to see when he went in the office, but he wasn't expecting Tul to be working as if nothing had happened.

Still, he followed Tul's lead, reorganizing the day's work to be able to attend the lunch. This meant that the rest of the morning was really busy, so there really wasn't time to talk about what Tul must be feeling right now.

Lunch had been fun, if slightly awkward with Tul trying too hard to be happy, and though Prin knew that Ann, Pongpat, and most importantly, Max, noticed this, they all behaved as if they did not. Max and Tul even sat next to each other in their now regular seating positions that they all had when they went out together. They still put food on each other's plates without thinking, but Prin noticed that every time Tul realized what happening, he looked sad.

Back at the office, they all stood around a bit while Max was trying to decide what to do with a couple of things he had on his desk that he knew he didn't need. Tul had went back into his office, and Max knew he was delaying a bit, hoping that the other man would come out again before he left. He walked over to Wanna's desk to give her some of his highlighters, and they all laughed when he commented that he had checked them out for spyware. She rolled her eyes and hit him lightly on his arm.

But he stopped still at her desk when he saw one of the papers on the top.

"Wanna, why do you have information on Hongtai Farms on your desk?"

"Oh, it's one of the farms on our list to contact. It's a real long shot. The owner has a reputation for refusing to speak with any of the larger companies. We hadn't really thought about them either because we still had them categorized as a sericulture only enterprise. Their work with mulberries hadn't been updated in our system until recently."

Max debated for a minute. He knew that Sinjai wanted to talk to him about offers. He also knew how private she was. Still, he thought about this team and Tul and the fact that he knew Plustor was going to take any advantage he could get.

"That's funny. I'm going there on Thursday."

Everyone stopped what they were doing. Prin opened Tul's office door and waved at him to come back out. Tul came to stand next to Prin, wondering about the shift in mood.

Ann walked up to Max. "What do you mean that you are going there this weekend?"

Even Pongpat looks surprised. He said, "Don't tell me the farm that you've been working at all these years in Hongtai Farms?"

"I thought you knew that. I'm pretty sure I told you or Tantӓ Clara about it. I visited Kuhn Sinjai when I came back to Thailand even before I came here. I stayed with her and Chimon first because I wanted to be able to see him before he had to go back to school."