Priceless - A PeteKao Love Story

Chapter 24 - Snippets - Part 1

Pete stared at the pink tee Kao had put out for him. It had a big daisy embossed on the front, with tiny white butterflies swirling around. He slowly tiptoed to the kitchen where Kao was preparing him lunch.

"Eh, Kao? Do you have some other color shirt?"

"Yeah, check in my closet and take whichever you want. Don't have to ask me, Pete." Kao muttered busy beating the egg.

"Cool," Pete said as he went back to the closet, only to gape open-mouthed. He squinted his eyes as the luster of the colors hit him in a daze. The closet looked like a rainbow had risen inside it, with various shades of pink, purple, yellow, and orange dresses.

He could only imagine the horror on the face of the British clients whom he had to meet today.

"Eh, Kao? Anything in grey? Black? White?" Pete called out slowly shutting the door.

Kao was standing there with a smile on his face.

"You don't have to look so terrified Pete. I have asked Off to bring your suit. You can change before the meeting. Oh, and by the way, these colors will give you cheer and smiles, which you definitely need more of."

"You are my brightest color, Kao," Pete said cheekily only to get a cat-shaped pillow thrown at him.

                                                              ****

The security guard stopped the two youngsters on a bike, each wearing a pink helmet at the entrance of the Vihokratana office. This was a side entrance used only by the upper management and clients visiting them. He rubbed his head annoyingly. It has been only a few months since he joined and he occasionally had trouble with overzealous youngsters trying to get inside the building to catch a glimpse or get an autograph of Pete Vihokratana. The boss hated any such intrusions. Even the guard himself had not seen the young heir up close. He only sees him passing by in the car, covered by tinted glass. His predecessor had lost his job because on Valentine's day some girl fooled the security and ran up to Mr. Vihokratana to give him a rose. Usually, they came dressed like those in the office. These two on the other hand with their pink and yellow shirts looked like aliens here. Idiots, he muttered as he strode across to the bike.

"Stop, do you have an appointment? You can't go in if you don't have one."

The one on the back removed his helmet and stared at him. The guard glared back, his irritation rising.

"What are you staring at? Didn't you hear what I said? Get lost both of you."

The man continued staring at him, as the one in the front removed his helmet and spoke pointing behind.

"This is Pete Vihokratana. I am dropping him in his office."

Even in his short duration here, the guard had heard many excuses, but this one was the most hilarious or stupid, whichever way you want to look at it.

"Yeah? And I am the Prime Minister of Thailand. If you stand here, I will call more security, and it's not going to end well." He said raising his walkie-talkie, his voice getting sterner.

"Call Off." The one in the front told the grumpy-looking man in the back.

The man then whipped his mobile and started talking, all the while keeping his glare intact. Soon the phone inside the security office started ringing. The guard's breath became heavy as he heard the stern voice of Mr. Jumpol on the other end. He cursed his stars, ran out of the office, mumbled apologies, opened the gates, and saluted the CEO of the company. He dared not look into Pete's eyes. His eyes darted to the kinder-looking face in the front. The face broke into a smile and mouthed an 'it's okay' to him. The guard felt a wave of relief. Maybe he won't be fired, after all.

                                                                 ****

"Pete, you ready for lunch? Ordered it from La Scala. They have King lobsters today. And truffle soup", Off asked popping his head in the cabin. 

"Great" Pete said rising from the seat, suddenly freezing midway. "No, you go ahead. I can't." He sat back and waved at Off.

"What do you mean you can't? Are you ill?"

"No, no, I have my lunch with me."

"What? Passing on king lobsters? Your lunch must be really special. Where did you get it from? And you are not going to share it with me?" Off looked at him suspiciously.

"Go away, Off. Why are you complaining? You can have the whole lobster to yourself."

Off left the cabin grinning as Pete opened his lunch box, sighing at the sight of the simple rice and omelet in his box. His mind wandered to the lobsters and truffles for a second. The thought of the relish, however, soon vanished as he saw a post-it note stuck on the side of the box. On it, Kao had drawn a big smiley face with heart eyes. No lobster in the world would give Pete the happiness he felt at the moment.