Right Back @ You (ForthxLam) (COMPLETED)

Forth

The weekend rolled by fast and soon it was the working week again. Lam works for an engineering firm not too far from mine and since he stays near me too, I decided to pick him up for breakfast and then send him to work as I had a more flexible schedule.

That fellow will never reject a free ride so I swung by unannounced to surprise him. He was getting ready when I arrived. His mother got me to go up to see him. I knocked on the door and put on a cheery grin when my smile momentarily dropped a bit when I saw him. It was a good kind of shock but boy I had to hold it in together.

I realized I had never seen Lam in office wear, he was wearing a fitted dark blue shirt, sleeves rolled up slightly to reveal a hint of that arm tattoo, nice crisp black pants and neatly gelled hair. He was sporting a  pair of glasses.

He was surprised to see me and didn't recognise my own expression. "Hey what are you doing here?"

I quickly composed myself, putting the smile back on; "I thought I go for breakfast with you & send you to work since we work close by. So wanted to surprise you unannounced plus you will never say no to a free ride!"

"Come in, I'm almost ready. You are right.  Give me 2 more mins"

"When did you start wearing glasses?"

"Only this year. I only wear it for work otherwise I wear my contacts. Does it look funny?"

"Don't be silly. You look good. I mean the glasses look good." I stuttered out like a fool. I swear I got to stop behaving like I never seen Lam in anything so handsome before. Which reminds me I never did, dude still wears his stupid t shirts and jeans out with us.

Lam chuckled, slapped on his watch and some rings and then we were ready to go. I waiied respectfully to his mother who smiled seeing me and reminded me to pop by for dinner soon. I agreed and off we went.

By the time I got to my office, it was 9am. Not late but I was usually in by 8.30am so my secretary was a little surprised to see me late.

"Sorry P Nua, I had breakfast with Lam & dropped him off first which is why I'm a little late."

"Don't be silly na. You are the boss. You can come in anytime but 9am isn't too late. Its the perfect time. How was breakfast with Lam? Is he doing well?"

"He is. You know I didn't realize he looks so good in formal wear. I should bring him to my tailor to get more done. And I bought you some food too, here you go."

I gave it to her, whistled cheerfully whilst going to my cabin. If I had turned, I would have seen the look of gleeful delight on my secretary's face who was very amused to see me talk about someone else other than work since she started working for my father.

The day went by past, I was immersed in crafting out the necessary documents for an upcoming merger, reworking details for some old contracts, talking to clients and had 2 back to back meetings. I didnt even look at my phone at all and missed lunch. When I finally rounded up my work day, it was 8pm and everyone had left.

I stretched back, cracked my joints and finally took a look at my phone. Messages from mum about dinner, the boys chat group making plans for Sat night, my secretary texting me at 6pm that she was leaving and a message from Lam who said he would come by to pick me up after work. He mentioned that he would wait downstairs in the lobby and to text when I was done. Fuck that message was sent at 6.45pm. It was 8pm now!

I grabbed my bag, switched off the lights and ran downstairs, calling him at the same time. Just as I reached the lobby, I heard a phone ring from the left hand side of the lobby where the company's profile was mounted. I saw Lam standing there reading the profile when his phone rang.

He answered it as I muttered breathlessly, "Sorry!".

He turned and chuckled. "Hey you are done. Shall we go?"

"Why didnt you just call me?!"

"You must be crazy busy. So I decided to wait. Dont worry it wasn't too long."

"It's almost a 2 hour wait Lam."

"Pffffsh. All is well. Shall we go? I'm starving!"

I smiled at Lam, grabbed his work bag and we made our way to my car. "Dude my bag."

"Let me carry ok? My way of trying to make up for being late."

"And also my favorite spicy curry rice for dinner?"

"Set!"

We fist bumped and set off. By the time, I headed home, it was 11pm. It had been a long long day. I wound down with a glass of whiskey and was in the TV room when my mom walked past.

"Ma! Haven't sleep?"

"Not yet Forthie. Your dad went out for a drink with some friends and waiting for him to come home. You know me, I never sleep till he comes. Why are you still awake? Not tired?"

"I just got home earlier after dinner with Lam. So relaxing with a glass of whiskey. And waiting for him to text me. He met a friend outside his home just as I dropped him off. So he said he will text once he's home. So yea."

"I see. Well you know Lam is at his house, talking to a friend. Don't think he's in any danger right? You should sleep early baby."

"Haha I know Ma. He can definitely defend himself if anything. It's just, you know making sure my friend is safe. I didn't spend all these years with him because I was away. And I always regretted not being able to be there with him. Like all these things that people take for granted; breakfast, dinner, hanging out, knowing he's just 5km away. You know Ma, just making up for lost time."

"I get it baby. I'm glad you are there for him. He's got such a good friend in you."

I nodded and just then my phone rang. It was Lam. I smiled at my mother who took her leave, shaking her head in amusement over my dumb self who was so ignorant of my own feelings.