We reassembled in the hall after a fifteen minute break.
I was no longer hungry, despite having emptied my guts a few minutes ago. My head throbbed painfully.
Fong looked at me worriedly.
"Have just a little bit of food and then take a tablet for your headache" he coaxed me.
"You know I would kill for pizza on any other day. But even just looking at all that cheese is making my stomach churn" I whined.
"Have this instead. I made it for you. It'll be gentle on your tummy" said Wat, appearing like a genie near my head and holding a steaming bowl of congee.
"Fong, could you please hand me a slice of the four-cheese pizza with the cheese-stuffed crust, the extra cheese toppings and cheesy dip on the side" I said, ignoring Wat.
I gasped in surprise as he grabbed me by my wrist, pulled us both down to sit on the couch and thrust a spoonful of the warm porridge into my half-open mouth.
"Don't punish yourself when it's me you're mad at" he said softly and blew on another steaming spoonful of the delicious congee.
He extended it to my mouth, waiting for me to open up.
"I..." I began but couldn't get any further as Wat tapped into some hidden Samurai skills and jabbed the spoon into my mouth with precision.
I glared at him as I slurped the porridge.
"Will you be a good boy and finish your congee by yourself or does Daddy have to feed you?" he whispered with a smirk.
I blushed crimson at the way he said Daddy, like we used it in the bedroom.
I grabbed the bowl from his hands. "You're sitting in Ren's seat".
"He's not even here" pouted Wat.
"I don't like sitting in such close proximity to strangers" I declared loftily, my nose in the air and scooping another spoonful of congee into my mouth.
He was a liar and a crook, but damn he could cook. It was the best porridge I had ever had, and I didn't even like congee usually.
Wat sighed and walked away to confer with Mix, Man and PK.
I saw Boss standing three feet from Pear, drooping like a strand of wet noodle, looking like he would burst into tears if she so much as frowned at him.
"Pear, dijyuhavsumfinktweet?" he burst out suddenly in a squeaky voice.
Pear raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at him.
He gulped nervously.
"Did you have something to eat?" he tried again, slower.
Pear looked quizzically around her and turned to me. "Is this person talking to me, Phi?"
Boss flinched immediately and withdrew as if he'd been spanked. Pear could be colder than the Arctic when the occasion demanded it.
"Shall we get back to business? Why is everyone just standing around?" demanded Ren, bursting in, all brisk and pumped up.
Everyone took their places as before. I pulled Pear next to myself. Ren's elbows had left a dent in my ribs the last time.
*
Wat cleared his throat and began.
"So, continuing from where I left off. We had no idea where the ledgers may have been hidden.
While this was an important but not immediate problem for my father who already had access to the empire's offshore accounts, it was an extremely pressing one for the person whose 50 million dollars of laundered money were sitting in locations unknown.
YOU ARE READING
Business With Pleasure | 2gether AU
FanfictionWhen his father leaves him with a failing party planning business and a crippling debt - as in pay up or lose a limb - Tine Teepakorn has no choice but to make it work somehow. Enter Sarawat, who has been appointed by the friendly mafia loan sharks...
