Fated to be yours

Chapter 24

"I am not home, Mom. I am in Chiang Mai for work" Mew tells his mother on the phone when she asks if he is home. It's ten in the evening so it made sense why his mother thought he would be home. "Why? What happened? Is everything okay?" he enquires.

"Yes, it's just that I wanted to talk to Gulf but his phone has been coming switched off since the morning. Is he okay?" his mother says, her voice laced with worry.

Yes, he knows that Gulf's phone is still out of reach because he had tried calling his phone too only to hear the mechanical voice tell him that it's switched off, which means Gulf still hasn't started using the new phone.

He assures his mother that everything is fine and that Gulf's phone had just broken, that's why she couldn't reach him. He doesn't tell her how it got broken though, too ashamed.

"His new phone has already arrived, he must have just forgotten to set it up" he makes an excuse.

"Okay. This had never happened before so it just had me worried. Gulf always answers my call, unlike you, you see."

He groans at the jab, "Mom! I am a busy man."

"So is he!" his mother asserts. He can even imagine her rolling her eyes as she said that. "But, since I won't be able to talk to my son-in-law, you can just answer me. How was the party?"

"Huh?" He is puzzled why she wants to know about that all of a sudden, but answers her nonetheless, "As usual, boring." It's the truth.

"Boring? Nothing surprising happened to you?"

His mother sounds confused, and so is he, about where the conversation is heading to. He frowns, "Was something supposed to happen to me?"

"Didn't Gulf ask you for a dance?"

"Why would he - Oh!" It finally strikes him. His mother thought Gulf and he had attended the party together. "Mom, I attended the party alone" he tells her. "And by the way, Gulf can't dance to save his life!" he adds, remembering the last time they had danced. His lips twitch up in a smile at the memory.

"Why would you go alone?"

"I didn't want Gulf to get tired because of some stupid party. He has enough on his plate" he explains.

His mother sighs. "That's true. But I am surprised that Gulf listened to you. He had prepared so much!"

His brows furrow, "Prepared what?"

"Dance! A few days ago, he had come to me asking to teach him how to slow-dance" his mother chuckles. "I agree with you when you said he couldn't dance to save his life. But boy, did he practice! For three days! Even when he would be already beaten up from his football practice. His dedication to something even so trivial was so cute!"

Mew is stunned. He can't believe his ears? "What?..I...Mom...I didn't know."

"I know, right? Gulf said he wanted to surprise you. He had felt bad that last time he kept stepping on your feet. So he wanted to learn before you guys had to attend the party. He is such a darling!" his mother gushes. "It was fun teaching him to dance though. He was so shy!" she laughs.

But Mew is no longer listening, dumbfounded at the revelation. "Mom...I have to go. I will call you later" he manages to get out and hangs up before burying his face in his hands.

Shit! Shit! Shit!

Is it too late for him to kill himself? Oh, God! That boy! For three days Gulf was learning to dance just because- Fuck! That's why he was coming home late! And technically he wasn't even lying when he said he was at practice. He was indeed at a practice, albeit a dance practice.