From Something To Everything (Bounprem)

75. Driving

Ohm was surprised to see Fluke at his doorstep. He had totally forgotten about Fluke's visit. He clumsily scratched the back of his neck as he looked at the younger.

"Swadee Khrab P' Ohm?" Fluke wondered why Ohm was acting weird.

"Swadee Nong." Ohm smiled awkwardly. "Did you bring the file?" He was literally blocking Fluke at the doorstep. If it was any other day, he would have happily invited Fluke in. but today he couldn't, not when Boun was a crying mess inside. He didn't want Fluke to see his cousin in a vulnerable condition.

"Ah? Khrab... I have brought it." Fluke felt something was fishy about the whole situation. The way Ohm was behaving raised questions in his mind.

Before coming over, Fluke was almost sure that the older was not calling him over just to get the file from him. He bit his lip not knowing what to say next now that Ohm was not even inviting him in. An awkward engulfed the pair as they stood at the door.

"P' Ohm, would you mind if I use your washroom for a second?" Fluke broke the silence.

Ohm was taken aback by the question. He wanted to deny but he couldn't come up with an excuse to stop him. Taking his silence as a green signal, Fluke slightly pushed him aside and entered the house. He quickly followed Fluke in.

"I know the way to the restroom, phi. I won't get lost." Fluke chuckled.

Ohm smiled sheepishly. He was freaking out at the moment that he had forgotten that Fluke had been to his place before and had even slept over.

As soon as Fluke entered the guest room, Ohm looked around to see where Boun was.

"Don't worry about me, go attend him." Boun patted Ohm's shoulders.

"I am really sorry, Boun. I had totally forgotten that I had called him over." Ohm apologized. He knew that Boun needed to talk to him.

"It's okay. I will wait out there." Boun didn't want to ruin Ohm's chances with Fluke. This younger cousin was like a century old tree that had finally managed to bloom after meeting Fluke. He didn't want to be an obstruction in between the two.

Ohm jerked and turned around when he heard the guest room door open.

"P' Ohm, you should stop acting as if you are hiding a mistress in here." Fluke looked at Ohm with an amused smile. "It's just P' Boun."

Ohm's eyes widened. 'How did he see Boun?' He thought.

"He is literally wearing these shoes everywhere, isn't he?" Fluke looked at the customized shoes Prem had brought for Boun as few days ago.

Ohm let out a silent sigh of relief. He was relieved that Fluke hadn't seen Boun but also worried that the younger would want to greet his cousin.

"How is he holding up?" Fluke asked before Ohm could think of finding an excuse to make him leave.

"Huh?"

"How is P' Boun? ... he is a mess, isn't he?" Fluke spotted Boun sitting at the edge of the swimming pool. "P' Ohm, do you mind getting us a drink?" Fluke asked before sliding opening the glass door to the swimming pool.

Ohm could only watch Fluke making his way to Boun.

"Swadee Khrab Phi" Fluke sat next to Boun, rolling up his trousers to knee length to dip his legs in the swimming pool.

"Swadee Fluke." Boun was a little surprised to see that Fluke had actually found him despite hiding out of plain sight.

Silence.

"There was a girl named Pam. She was born with a silver spoon on her mouth. She didn't have to do anything by herself. She had maids and servants to do it for her." Fluke said looking straight ahead.

Boun turned his head to look at Fluke, wondering why he suddenly started telling him a story.

"When Pam became an adult and entered the university, she met a lot of new people and made new friends. These friends ridiculed her for not knowing how to drive a car by herself despite owning so many. She argued that she didn't have to learn how to drive as she had a driver to drive her around, causing others to laugh at her more." Fluke paused and splashed a little water with his feet.

"She felt like a soar thump in the group. This made her change her mind. She was determined to learn how to drive. With the help of her friend, she started learning. Pam had a difficult time differentiating between the accelerator and brake. She couldn't get how to change the gears to change speeds. This made her often crash in fences, walls and many other things. By the time she learned how to learned to drive properly, almost all her cars had become regular visitors of the workshop."

"Even after getting driving license by herself, she still used to do blunders like putting left indicator to turn right." Both Fluke and Boun chuckled imagining the scene in their minds.

"She got into several accidents ranging from ones in which her car got scratched to ones that made her end up in hospital bed for months. Still, when she got out of the hospital, she still drove her car. Several years had passed since she started driving, she still gets into accidents, sends her car for repair and still drives the car after getting it back from the workshop."

Fluke looked at Boun who was looking at him. "Relationships are also like that, Phi. We need to learn how to drive ourselves to our destinations despite knowing that there may or may not be an accident. We can't always find a cab to ride at the time of need."

Boun remained silent looking at the blue pool.

"I hope you understand what I am trying to say. I understand that you are afraid to take the first step. Most of us are. Even I am." Fluke touched his chest. "But, not moving forward is never a good option, Phi. If you hesitate to grab the opportunity that offers itself to you, you will regret it later."

"Prem... he is willing to sit in the passenger seat to guide you till you learn to drive. He is willing to face the accidents you may cause while driving. So, it is your choice to make if you want to drive yourself or wait till Prem losses his patience and takes on the steering wheel himself. Because I don't see him leaving your side in anyway." Fluke sneered as he said the last sentence.

"You know what Fluke?" Boun finally spoke making the younger look at him. "You should have been a philosopher instead of being an idol."

Fluke chuckled at Boun's compliment. "Why should I choose one when I can be both?"

"Narcissistic, aren't you?" Boun smiled.

"I am just stating the facts." Fluke shrugged.