Fortuitous

Fortuitous - 03

Arthit walked towards the kitchen calling out for Jane.

"I am here, Arthit. Come this way" – called out Jane.

"What are you doing aunty? Do you need any help?"

"No dear, I am just prepping lunch and it is almost done. Have you settled; hope you liked your room? I know how you love the grove. I also remember how you like to be around Kong always when you were a kid, so I chose that room for you. Maybe you being here will help Kong to be him. You know he is not old to suffer like this. He is still young with promising life and future. I know the pain of heartbreak and losing your partner is not simple, but from the eyes of a parent I cannot see him suffer anymore Oon." – Jane could not hold back.

"Don't worry aunty, everything will be fine. By the by where is P'Kong aunty, I asked Stud while walking from my room but Stud said P'Kong might be lying around somewhere. Why is he saying like that aunty and what had actually happened to P'Thun?" – Arthit just grabbed the chance to find out what exactly happened.

Just the question of what had actually happened to P'Thun took Jane back to that unfortunate day. The day resulted in her losing both her son and son-in-law – the latter forever.

Flashback: Mostly from Jane's POV

"It was a normal day, Arthit. I was in the kitchen preparing lunch, I guess, while Jack and Stud were in the living. All of a sudden, we heard a fight between Kong and Thun. It was something that never happened, they never fought. Kong never has raised his voice like that Oon and you know Kong.

By the time we started walking to climb up, I saw an angry Thun storming down and he literally passed us without even acknowledging me and Jack. I tried calling him, but he just went out of the house. Seeing Kong did not follow him, I went to meet and talk to him. Kong did not tell me anything other than that Thun is being silly and unreasonable. Even after pressing a lot Kong did not tell what exactly happened. To date, we don't know what happened and why they were fighting.

But being old and married for a long we understand there will be fights between couples, we asked Kong to leave the matter be and go and convince Thun. Kong promised us he will go and look for Thun after calming himself down.

I and Jack returned to what we were doing. When it was finally time for lunch, I started calling out for the family to join at the table.

In Flashback Conversation:

"Jack, did you see Kong coming down, or is Thun back?", Jane asked.

"No dear, I was here only reading office papers and did not see anyone pass by at all"

"Ok, now take a break, will you. It is already lunchtime. I am going to call Kong and will ask him to go get Thun. Kids these days are so childish you know." – Jane said as she started climbing the stairs.

"Kong, Kong open the door. It is lunch time already." – called Jane.

Kong opened the door and one look at his face gave away the fact that he has been crying continuously.

Jane continued: "Hey Kong, dear, you can tell me anything. What happened between you and Thun? Did anyone say anything? We can work on this together. And you know all these small fights happen in a marriage. It is these fights and makeups that built the strength of any relationship.

You need to always keep in mind Thun's feelings too. Marriage or any relationship is a two-way bridge, both the parties should communicate, compromise and trust each other. I will not know what exactly is the cause of this outburst but at this moment I want you to go look for Thun, convince him, apologize to him and bring him so that we all can eat lunch together. I don't want to hear anything else. Come on go dear, in the meantime let me go check Stud. I have not seen him in a while, God knows where he vanished."

Flashback Conversation ends. Jane POV continues:

However, I could not find Stud in his room and I too joined Kong at the stairs.

As we were climbing down the stairs, I saw Stud coming to the house from front and Jack getting ready around the table. All I need to fetch is Thun. My thoughts were disturbed by a loud scream from the direction of the outhouse and grove.

Kong sprinted first followed by Stud. By the time I and Jack reached, we could see a crying blabbering Kong who is trying to wake a wet, unconscious Thun. We immediately rushed with Thun to the emergency. Unfortunately, by the time we reached Thun did not make it. Doctors still did the next set of procedures and declared that Thun's passing was because of drowning. They did not find any malpractice at all.

Thun knows swimming Arthit; we don't know how he got drowned. Doctors said it is possible for a person well versed in swimming could also be drowned and ruled it a natural accidental death.

The moment Thun's passing came out from the doctor, Kong shattered. He just went into a deep shock and that's it. He did not talk to anyone after that. Post services of Thun are completed, we could not find Kong for a couple of days. We got scared thinking Kong will do some kind of self-harm. While we were searching for him frantically was when one of his college friends called us and informed us about, him being in a bar. That day was the first when we all saw a different face of Kong, the one who is completely under the control of alcohol, one who is drunk.

This is what exactly has happened Oon. You already know Thun did not have any family or friends. Kong and we were the families for him. I am guessing Kong felt he failed in protecting Thun and blaming himself for everything that happened." – sighed Jane.

Arthit let out a deep breath that he was not aware of holding. He did not know during this narration when he found a place to sit at all. He can see that Jane has been crying throughout. There were unshed tears in his eyes too. It was very tragic to hear about what happened.

He felt apart from Jane and himself, there was someone else who was hearing this narrative and he turned around to see but could find none. He wholeheartedly prayed that Thun should find peace.

Arthit then asked Jane again for Kongpob and why Stud was being sardonic.

"Kong, he should be in his room Arthit but I don't know if he is. Stud has become like that. I guess he is feeling we are giving more importance and priority to Kong. You know him na, leave him.

Kong nowadays doesn't have any routine; he comes and goes on his terms. And I have not seen him clear-headed or sober in a while now. In fact, since the service of Thun, I have not found Kong sober at all Oon, sober at all."

Arthit tightly hugged his aunt and consoled her. From where he got the confidence, Arthit never knows, but he promised his aunt that he will bring Kong back. He will not let Kong continue to spoil his life.

Oblivious to them, "Yes, that is exactly what I want you to do Arthit. That is exactly what I want you to do. You will be the one who will help me." Things are going to get interesting, it smirked.

To be Continued...

From the Author: That's Chapter 03 of Fortuitous. Flashback is revealed. Things are going to get interesting.

Please share your comments on how you think about the plot and story. Request you all to read, share your views, encouragement, like, and vote. See you soon with the next chapter.

Bye - Lux1986