Ephemeral: Love, Pleasure and Hidden Pains

Twelve

He just had to endure.

The tears that fell was a shock, he never showed his vulnerability to anyone outside his comfort zone. Tong looked at him, shocked. His hand was hovering in the air. His mouth gap opened, trying to form any suitable sentences. Apo had been strong for all his life, the hints of vulnerability that unconsciously showed was a neon flag. He forced his trembling body to calm, "Meeting was about to start, Khun Tong, better take a seat," he said in a monotone, like a robot, masking his rumbling heart. Tong took a step forward, trying to cease the visible distance Apo had made.

"Apo—," he started, but the click of the door completely brought their attention away. Arm, the staff who usually handle technical details pop his head into the room. Apo took this opportunity to wipe the now dried trails of tears. It is sticky on his smooth skin.

"Khun, may I?," Arm asked, his eyes looking around, undeniably scanning the room, it was heavy with uncontrollable emotion. Apo took a deep breath, brought his chair closer to his table, opened the folder to avoid Tong's judgement eyes. He acted like nothing had happened, that his panic attack was never actually burning him inside and out.

The only sound in the room was Arm opening all the equipment before the meeting. It now hit Apo again that Tong had made him come far too early to the meeting room. He could feel the older eyes were on him, never leaving him. With all the affordance he started to write anything on the piece of paper, his usual perfect handwriting is crooked, but it did help distract himself. He started to have control over his emotions. The breath of relief escaped his nose. He just needs to endure this hour's meeting. Then, he finds out how to avoid Tong.

Slowly the room was filled with staff members. Most empathy people could feel the heavy air but the others chatting happily with others, completely ignorant. It took another 5 minutes before their possible sponsor walked into the room. There are all kinds of rumours about the man, just like Mile, he had brought his company from a scrape after a big scandal hit. Young and reliable businessman. It was the reason why Tong reached out for this partnership, the older also knew that he could ask for Mile help. He is ready to do anything for this small company, but feels like he taking advantage of the young man.

The thought process was cut off as the door creaked open. The whisper died down. The man walked into the meeting room, he caught Apo's eyes instantly, something familiar with his face. He was wearing a royal blue suit, his dark hair style showing his forehead and his blue eyes striking. Apo had read his name and profile, Brian Channarong, Millionaire family who had many different branches, it also noted that they had a longtime business with Romsaithong. Maybe he had met Brian at one of Mile parties before, that's why it felt familiar.

Brian eyes drift around the room, and stop as he meets Apo's hazel eyes. He smiled, familiar with a dimple like Dan. Apo holds the pens tight. The man's eyes drifted to Apo fingers, a prize smile shown on the smug face. He felt a shiver run down his spine. After the wholehearted handshake, the man slowly took the seat beside Tong, they were now facing each other. He showed a dazzling smile at the other staff in the room, all swooning over the simple dimple smile except Apo, his face almost like Dan's. His earlier memory did not help his trembling hands. He took a deep breath, he needed to be professional.

The meeting was done according to their plan. As Apo started presenting his side of the presentation, Brian interested eyes looked at his every move. There was a glint of something that Apo could not describe, like he knew something that Apo could never guess. At the end of discussion, Brian gave a few suggestions and comments. His blinding smile proved he was interested. Apo really prayed for this to run smoothly, Tong hopeful eyes were enough for him to beg if things went sideways.

"I will take the documents with me, if you don't mind. I need a few checks before making any decisions. No need to rush, right?," he playfully said, and winked to Tong. Who melted a little bit, then he cleared his throat.