Are We Too Late or Am I Too Soon? (Completed ☑️)

CHAPTER 03

New agreed to meet Mint in the coffee shop they frequently go to. She told him to meet her in one of the private rooms of the café intended for customers who want silence and privacy.

Before he went in, he called Tay first.

"Te, I might go home late. I'm meeting Mint."

"Really? I thought you were not able to reach her these past few days?" 

"She's the one who reached out to me this afternoon. Anyway, I'm going in now. You don't have to wait for me but please eat your dinner first before going to sleep, okay?"

"Okay, Hin. Noted. I love you. Text me when you're going home"

"I will. I love you, too, Te, bye". New hung up the phone and proceeded inside the coffee shop. 

There, he saw Mint. She looks normal, but as he got closer, he noticed how stressed she looked. Her eyes look tired like she just cried a bucketful not so long ago.

When she saw New, she smiled at him and gestured for New to sit.

"I ordered you a drink already," Mint said.

"Thanks" New took a sip of his latte before he spoke again, "How have you been, Mint? I've been trying to reach you for days but you were not answering my calls nor responding to my texts."

"Sorry, New. I just didn't know what to say." Mint suddenly burst into tears which prompted New to stand up and hug her until she calms down.

When she did, New sat down again, and the both of them stayed silent for a minute or two before Mint spoke.

"A year ago, I met Gee-I mean, Mr. Sutthirak-"

"Hey." New cut her off. "You can call him whatever you're comfortable with. It's fine."

Mint nodded. "So a year ago, I met Gee in a bar. I was there alone, and he approached me. He said he recognized me and thought I could use a friend. We got along pretty quickly. He brought me to my condo that night and parted ways after. Two days later I had a photoshoot just in a studio in our building and he visited there. He said he wanted to know if I'm okay already. We somehow became friends and we exchanged numbers. We had constant communication until one day we met for drinks and things escalated. After that incident, I asked him to stay away from me since he already has a family but he came back and said that he can't stay away. He said he tried to really see me as a friend but he can't. He said he loves me, and I know I sound stupid, but I know I already love him at that time, too, New." 

Mint looked at New like she's asking him to understand. New didn't say anything and just nodded, so Mint continued.

"So I agreed to be the...mistress. That's why I can't tell you who I was dating because that's all I am. A mistress." Mint sobbed again for a while, then she continued "We kept our relationship lowkey, only meeting on days when he's supposed to be overseas. I felt happy with him and I am fully aware that he's already married and that he is a father already but...at the time I just want to be happy without thinking of the consequences of our actions. I felt loved by him, New. So much.

But then a month ago, I had...familiar symptoms. So I went to the doctor and...

I found out I was...pregnant"

New felt numb because of the information he just heard. He remembered what one of the people he met a while ago said, "It's not just Mint's career that is on the line."

"There's a baby?" New asked, still trying to get his head to grasp the information.

"Yes. The picture of us that was leaked, that day, I met with him and I told him about the baby. He didn't say he's not going to accept it, it's just that if news about him getting an actress pregnant while being married and a father to a two-year-old, everything would be over for him. His job, his marriage, even his being a father."

"AND HE JUST THOUGHT OF THAT NOW?! HOW SELFISH COULD HE BE?!" New stood up and slammed his hands on the table.

Mint got startled by New's actions, and fear was suddenly obvious on her face.

New, realizing that he just scared a pregnant woman, breathed for a few seconds to calm down and sat again.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. But how could he say that?! Like he's the only one whose life is going to be jeopardized?!"

"I know. That's why I broke up with him that day." Mint started sobbing again. "He said he'll still take care of the baby and me financially. I just need to leave the country. He said he has a house in the US that I can use. Everything was planned already but...but then the scandal happened, and I can't leave now otherwise the news will just be confirmed." Mint started crying heavily again, but New just stay put.

"New," Mint held New's hands and looked at him in the eyes, pleading.

"New, if it's just my career that's going to collapse, I would be fine. I would not ask for you to be involved but...New, I can't have my innocent child be the center of a cheating scandal. I don't want my baby to grow up with people looking down on him or her because he or she is a product of infidelity. I need you, New. Please help me and my child." Mint pleaded with tears flowing heavily from his eyes.

"So you..." New trailed off but Mint got what he was thinking.

"Yes, I talked to the management before they talked to you. I asked them to convince you for me since I really don't know how I could. I feel ashamed but...I really need you, New. Please. Please marry me."

New does not know what to say. Mint is right. If it's just her career, although she is a dear friend to him, he won't even be considering this. 

He thought of Tay. Is he really considering leaving Tay behind? Everything they have built? Everything they are?

"I'm sorry Mint. Let's talk again some other time." New got up and left.

---

He did not go home right away. He stopped over at the playground near his and Tay's apartment and sat at one of the swings.

Tears suddenly fell from his eyes. He feels so conflicted right now.

I can't leave Te. I love that man more than I love myself. 

But the baby! Mint is right. An innocent child will be bullied by the world if they knew the baby's a product of adultery. Only he can prevent that. He just needs to marry Mint and tell the world that the child is his.

But Te. Even if Mint and I will just be pretending, I can't make him seem like he is my lover on the side. I know he's tired of hiding as much as I am. If  I do this with Mint, it means I would have to break up with Tay...

"I can't break up with Tay...I can't. I really can't." New is crying hard now. He's so confused as to what to do.

---

When he got home, he found his boyfriend on the couch, sleeping.

He still waited for me even when I told his stubborn ass not to do so. New thought.

New touched his boyfriend's cheeks. "I won't leave you, Te." He whispered before kissing his boyfriend's forehead. He then carried him to their room and fixed him to the bed. 

After that. he went to the bathroom to shower but cried again instead.

---