Like The Water That Sustains Me

Hia and Jae

Jay smiles at the uncle who's waiting for them by the dock. He waves, and smiles so bright, Jay smiles back. He's standing there beside the car Khun Tan  and he used on the way there

Jay hears the engine from the boat dying and the sound of the waves of the sea amplifies, clearer and it sounds and feels like the wind is bringing it closer to the shore. It must be that time of the day already. He sees Khun Tan throwing the anchor to the side to make the boat steady, then grabs the rope by the dock and hooks it to the boat.

The uncle walks to them, holding out a hand for them to take, and Jay smiles at the offer.

"Thank you for lending it to us, Lung," Khun Tan says.

The uncle grins and slaps Khun Tan's shoulder in a doting manner. Like a father congratulating their son on a win. And it makes Jay wonder how they know each other exactly. They talk intimately, Jay doesn't hear their conversation, only when he's a few inches away from the two men.

"Not a problem Khun Tan. You can come to get it anytime you want. You know that" Uncle answers.

Khun Tan smiles and they exchange keys for the boat and their car. Then hugs him again. Just like last time.

"No need to do that, Lung. Jay, let's go?" Khun Tan directs the question to him this time.

Jay smiles at his boss and nods his head curtly. He looks at the older man and the elder wais at Jay. And Jay wais back.

"Thank you for coming here with Khun Tan, Khun Naang. I hope you had a great time," the old man says.

Jay's too out of it to correct him on that so he only smiles and nods and walks faster to avoid answering that.

He races the elder for the driver's seat, but the other still insists on driving, giving Jay no choice but to go to the passenger side instead. They drive off, with the uncle on the dock still cheering for them.

'Why does uncle seem so happy?' Jay thinks.

He remembers they were on land, which means they finally have a signal, then takes out his phone and braces himself for-

Ping

Ping

Ping

Ping

His phone kept on ringing and vibrating. Without stop. For 2 minutes straight. So he pockets it in the meantime, just until it stops pinging.

"Are you nursing a hangover?" Khun Tan asks.

"I'm not Khun Tan. Thank you for the aspirin. I'm sorry you had to do that for me," Jay answers.

The elder looks at him for a second, before putting his eyes on the road again.

"It's just aspirin and water, Jay. I can do that for you," The elder answers.

"It won't happen again, Khun Tan. I'll get myself together after this," Jay answers.

He hears the man beside him sigh, and on cue, his phone stops pinging.

He takes it out and checks his work emails first.

For Khun Tan.

For Khun Tan.

For Khun Tan.

Okay good. Nothing seems to concern him. He'll answer it when he gets to his laptop. Thankfully, they've only been sent a few hours ago. And none of them were too urgent. Besides Khun Tan is on a vacation. He deserves the rest. Jay can take care of these issues by himself.