Before He Met Bright Vachirawit (Prequel to Bright for the Win)

Chapter 8

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Third Person  POV

Soon graduation day for Sapol came around and Win could not make up his mind whether to attend it or not.

Pluem tried to dissuade him from attending but Win had already bought Sapol a graduation present . It was a two tone link chain bracelet with Sapol's name engraved on it.

"His parents are expecting me to attend," Win said dejectedly to Pluem.

"You are aware that his girlfriend will be there and will be sitting next to him at the reception, right?" Pluem asked, still hoping that he would be able to convince Win to stay away from the graduation ceremonies and the reception afterwards.

Win thought long and hard. Then finally he said, "I will stay long enough to be able to hand him the present then I'm going to leave."

"If that's what you want to do," Pluem said in disappointment and shrugging his shoulders.

******************

The parking lot was already teeming with people and cars.

It took Win forever to find a parking spot but finally found one close to the very corner of the last row of parking spots. He had to walk a long way to get to the auditorium. By the time he got there he was sweating quite a bit but then again it served to enhance the appealing smell of his perfume.

The graduating students were already in a line at the center aisle of the auditorium.

Win tried to search for Sapol in the crowd of faces but was unsuccessful.

He was met by an usher to whom he showed his ticket with the designated number.

The usher escorted Win to his seat.

It seemed like forever as the emcee called out the names of the graduating students one by one.

The air conditioning system in the auditorium did not seem to be functioning well because Win's forehead started to form beads of sweat.

Win's heart started to pound fast and hard against his chest when he heard Sapol's name being called by the emcee and he saw Sapol making his way up the stage.

The rest of the ceremonies were a blur for Win. He couldn't wait for it to be over.

Finally, when Win thought he couldn't stand it any longer and was getting ready to hightail it out of there, the whole affair was over and people started to leave the auditorium.

Win walked quickly out of the auditorium and started to walk towards the parking lot.

His intention was to skip the reception and just hand his present to Sapol at Sapol's house the following day.

"Win!"

Win stopped in his tracks when he heard Sapol calling him.

Win turned around.

Sapol was running towards him, almost stumbling as his graduation robe seemed to have gotten caught on something on the pavement.

Sapol hugged Win tight when he reached him.

"I was searching all over the audience for you and could not find you,"Sapol was saying while not letting go of Win. "I thought you had decided not to attend my graduation."

Win pulled away from Sapol and dug into the inner pocket of his coat.

"Congratulations, Sapol," Win said, handing the box containing the bracelet to Sapol.

"Thank you, Win," Sapol said, accepting his present. "You're coming to attend the reception, right? My parents are expecting you to be there."

Before Win could reply, a pretty young lady approached Sapol.

Sapol turned to her.

"Tricia, I'm having a private conversation here," he said grimly. "Go ahead to the reception. I will join you and the others there."

While Sapol was still talking to Tricia, Win started to walk away.

Sapol ran after him and grabbed his wrist.

"You are going to attend the reception, right?" he repeated the question.

"Please," Sapol added when Win remained silent.

"I only came to hand you your present," Win finally spoke. "I have to go home now."

"My parents will be very disappointed," Sapol continued to plead his cause.

"With Tricia there, they won't miss my presence at all," Win said pulling away his wrist from Sapol's hold. "Good bye, Sapol, best of luck and success in your future endeavors."

Sapol watched Win walking away.

Sapol quickly wiped away the tears that started to fall before he turned to join Tricia who was still waiting for him to finish his conversation with Win.

Tricia tried to hold Sapol's hand when they were walking back towards Sapol's parents but Sapol pulled his hand away. He ignored the pout that appeared on Tricia's face.

"Wasn't that Win you were talking to?" Sapol's father asked when Sapol and Tricia reached him.

"Yes," Sapol replied curtly, turning his face away from his father so that his father could not see his puffy reddened eyes.

"Is he coming to the reception?" his father asked.

"No," again Sapol replied curtly.

"Why?" Sapol's mom who had been quiet all this time suddenly spoke up.

"Yes, Sapol, why?" Sapol's father wanted to know.