Summer House

Chapter Six

❤︎

Chapter Six

"Why are you listening on May!??"

While Arthit was trying to push Kongpob away from him, he lost his footing and fell back onto the bed. Arthit fell along with him, landing on top of his body.

The same moment, Arthit heard the bathroom door opening and May's voice asking, "What's going on here?"

The moment Arthit heard his sister's voice, he made the time stop around them. Everything stilled and he could breathe in relief again. Pushing the immobilized-Kongpob off of him, Arthit turned to look at his sister who was wearing a blue bathrobe and a towel around her head, looking right at them.

Arthit regarded his sister in curiosity as he slowly approached her. "Why are you really here? Why are you acting like you don't want to remember me? Are you really with Kongpob because you love him? Why didn't you come back for me like you promised you would?"

He felt like his questions would go on forever and May would still not answer them. Not even one. "What would happen if I told you my name, would you still refuse to accept the truth?" He circled his sister. "Do you hate your past that much that you've shut me out completely?"

Arthit knew it was pointless asking these questions in this situation, but he felt he needed some type of release. If this was the person he thought he knew, then he would have called out her name the moment he saw her.

Shutting his eyes in hopelessness, he whispered, "You will forget what just happened a moment ago."

Turning to Kongpob, he told him the same thing, and watched as he stood up like a human doll on his command. His sister turned back around to re-enter the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

"Work," Arthit called on the time.

The time started again and Kongpob shook his head as if he had been in some kind of trance. Arthit stood there looking at him. "What's wrong? You blanked out just a second ago."

Kongpob looked around him in confusion. "How did I get up here?"

The bathroom door opened and Arthit turned to confront his  sister. He knew what he had to do next.

May looked up at them both, but her focus was more on Arthit alone. She stared at him in a state of shock. Her face pale to a an extent of a corpse. "You're..." her voice trailed off.

Arthit offered May a warm smile and inclined his head in a quick bow. "Hi. I'm Arthit, the housekeeper. It's nice to meet you."

When he looked up again, May's gaze was still fixed on him, but nothing came out of her mouth.

Kongpob took a step closer to May and asked, "What's wrong?"

Upon hearing Kongpob's voice, she pried her gaze away from Arthit and said, "I...I need to change. Excuse me."

Arthit hurried to retrieve the clothes from the bed and quickly handed them to May. "These are my clothes. I hope you don't mind."

May stood in stillness, refusing to budge as if Arthit had the ability to harm her. Arthit pushed the clothes closer to her face and May's eyes widened in surprised.

"Take them," Kongpob told her.

Finally she, reluctantly, accepted the clothes and turned her back on them both to enter the bathroom.

Arthit had just tested his sister. And he now had his answer. 

May wasn't the same person he once thought he knew.

❤︎

Faint, soothing music played in the background inside the dimly lit empty restaurant as a slender woman standing around five feet six, wiped at the tables, flicking a tendril of hair back from her delicate face. Pushing up her designer frame glasses to rest on top of the bridge of her finely shaped nose, she continued to wipe at the tables as if they weren't clean enough already. She bit on her lower lip, while humming along to the soothing tune.

After finishing all the tables, she stopped and kicked off her black heels, sitting down on the nearest chair to look at the blister that was starting to show at the back of her heel. "Aaah, Mirae, you're overworking yourself."

At exact moment, she heard someone entering the restaurant. Without looking, she called out, "We're closed."

"I'm here to see you," came the direct reply.

She looked up to see Chris Suthiluck, dressed in a denim jacket over a plain gray t-shirt and loose fitted jeans. His dark brown hair was hidden beneath his gray beanie. He gave her a wave and a heartwarming smile.

Mirae had grown up with him; she knew what lurked beneath that misleading smile. "Why didn't you just call?" she said, flinging the cloth over her shoulder as she turned her back on him.

"I wanted to see your face."