Chapter 51
"Oh, shit!" Pranpriya hissed when she realized the time. She had been so absorbed with the film development that she had again forgotten to check the time, like how she usually would when she would spend the time inside her own lab back in Seoul.
She gathered hastily and clumsily all her stuff, including the processed films still hanging on the line for drying and knocking things in the process. A wizened man with hard lines on his face that could go on forever and had beady eyes behind the thick glasses and a toothless smile greeted her as he looked up when she emerged from the curtained door.
Pranpriya bowed to him with an embarrassed smile. In her arms was her Rollieflex which she cradled upside down while holding the rectangular bag of film canister on her hand. The envelope which she had kept the films she had processed successfully despite the senescent state of the lab and its materials inside were tucked between her armpits. She took a few pieces of baht from her side pocket which she had taken on the last second from her purse when she fled from her bedchamber earlier. They were the few bahts she had had exchanged at the airport before she departed for Thailand.
"Leaving already?" the old man asked her, disappointment was on his eyes, giving the Princess the impression that it had been a long time since he last had someone on his shop. He was sitting on a high stool behind the counter, his back hunched and shuffling photos after photos that he spread on the countertop as though he was searching for a particular one.
"Yes, sir," Pranpriya replied and tried to smoothed the bills before she offered it to the owner. "Thank you for letting me use your studio."
"No, no," he declined the money, shaking his head. "You can pay on your next visit," he said with a smile. He obviously had no idea that he was talking to the Crown Princess, which Pranpriya was grateful for because she really didn't want to explain, either.
Pranpriya sighed. "As much as I'd like to insist that you take my money, sir - I really can't right now. I'm late. But I will be back and pay you double, I promise," she said and gave the old man a low bow, thanking him repeatedly and then literally run to her car after, where she parked a block away.
She was late. She was freaking late and her heart was drumming madly against her chest from all the sprinting that she did as she threw her stuff on the backseat and started the engine. Beads of sweats were rolling down her temple as she manoeuvred away from the Thammasant Alley and joined the evening traffic in the main road. She couldn't count the number of times she had sworn under her breath while blowing the horn, which actually was a futile effort to unstuck the Lexus from the traffic jam. It was frustrating her that she furiously made a mental note to address this kind of traffic to the Minister when she would find an opportunity - if she would find an opportunity. Because the way things were going, her chances on getting an opportunity with the Minister were slim mainly because she had to go through His Majesty, first and foremost. Which the chance of getting on his good side was even slimmer because, by now, she knew that her father and his council of men were already discussing how to castigate her for all her wrongdoings. The thought was depressing. It was the same thought that actually made her decide to leave the palace earlier. Although at the back of her mind, Pranpriya admitted she wouldn't be in this kind of situation had she not fled from the palace in the first place and had she taken her guards with her, as she should.
Stupid.
She was being stupid and like how Chaeng would tell her every time, she was reckless and impulsive and now she was about to face the repercussions of all her impulsiveness and recklessness.
So stupid.
She cursed herself again as she anxiously drove past the gates finally (the guards greeted her when they recognized her car) and unto the wide concrete driveway of the palace grounds, already decided that she was, in fact, ready to face whatever her fate might be tonight. She had contemplated about it after being stuck in the traffic for half an hour.
