"If it is right, it happens; the main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good ever gets away."
Café au Lait, one week later –
Sky walked into Café au Lait, a coffee shop near Chula Uni. He was supposed to be meeting P'Pai, who had begged so much that Sky could not refuse. He looked around, wondering if P'Pai had arrived or not. He was about to pull out his phone and text or call the man, when he spotted him. He was sitting at the back of the café. Sky was shocked to see him. The usually gregarious P'Pai looked haggard. He had a lost look on his face, as he sat there, just twisting his coffee mug around and around, staring out of the window. He was getting glances from both men and women, but he seemed immune to the whispers. "P'Pai?" he said, and Pai immediately looked up. "Sky! How are you? Have you been here long?" he asked. "No Phi, I just reached," Sky replied. "Why did you ask me to meet you?" he continued. "Where is Rain, Sky?" Pai asked, his voice laced with desperation.
"P'Pai, I..," Sky started. "Sky please. Please.. I am begging you. If Phayu doesn't see Rain for one more day, I will lose my brother forever," he said, silent tears pouring down his face. Sky was completely appalled. He could not imagine what P'Phayu's condition must have been, if it had broken P'Pai so much. "He came to college one week ago. After that no news. Nothing at all. So where is he?" Pai asked. "P'Pai..," Sky began, then paused, thinking about what to say. "P'Pai, he is not in a very good condition. That day, after he spoke to your friend, he was upset, although he didn't show it to us. He left for Surat Thani, I mean Ko Phangan, that evening itself. He told us, he wants to think things out, before he switched of his phone and stopped contacting us as well," Sky finally spilled out his heart, worry for Rain overriding all his other thoughts.
"My friend?" Pai asked, puzzled. "He said his name was Lhong, and that he was a friend of P'Phayu," Sky said. "I even tried to call you, but your phone was switched off. I don't know what they spoke of, but when Rain came back, he looked.. weird.. I don't know how to explain it. He took off immediately after, saying he wanted to go home. And after that, no contact Phi," Sky explained. "Lhong? Lhong Adulyadej? Was that his full name?" Pai asked, his voice sounding almost on the verge of panic. "Khap Phi. That was his name," Sky replied, causing Pai's expression change from full blown worry to full blown panic. He took out his phone right away and called a number. "Shit! Why is this asshole not picking up the phone?" he said. "Who is he Phi? Why do you look so worried," Sky asked. "Exactly! Why do you look so worried Phi?" a voice spoke up, causing Sky and Pai to look up. "RAIN!" Sky jumped off his seat and hugged his best friend. "RAIN! Where have you been?" Pai asked, anxiously. "Relax Phi. I was at Ko Phangan, with my grandparents. My Gampy had a fall, so I went with Pa to take care of him. Why? What happened?" Rain asked puzzled. "You went off with that Lhong guy!" "You spoke to Lhong?" Sky and Pai said at the same time. "Ah! One at a time please," Rain said laughing.
"You went with that Lhong guy, and came back looking so weird," Sky said. "You spoke to Lhong, and then disappeared without a word," Pai said, both of them anxiously searching Rain's face for anything out of the ordinary. "I didn't talk to him. I didn't get a chance. As for disappearing, I did inform Sky. And I told Pa Pete I am going. In fact, if I am right, then Dad spoke to Dad Vegas too," Rain said puzzled by all this lack of communication. "Why was your phone off?" Sky asked, a scolding note entering his voice. "Ai'Sky, you just came with me to Ko Phangan. You know very well, service is poor and mostly spotty there. I hardly had time to check my phone. When Gampy is sick, he turns into a grizzly bear, extremely hard to handle. Finally, we had to call Aunty Thanya to handle his tantrums. In front of her, he is a docile puppy," Rain said, grinning broadly at the memory.
"Why didn't you inform Phayu or me that you were going?" Pai asked. "I did. I tried calling both of you multiple times. I can show you proof in my phone. But your phones were constantly switched off. And probably by the time you switched them on, I was in Phangan. That's why I called up Pa," he said, patiently explaining himself. "Oh my God Rain! You have no idea what has been happening here. Phayu is such a mess," Pai said, looking exhausted from all that happened last week. "But I just spoke to him Phi. He told me you are here, so I came to meet you so that I can go with you to your house. I got permission from my parents to stay with you guys for a while. Just that, one of you will have to drop me and pick me up, since my car is in the garage and Dad is with Pa in Ko Phangan. Hope that's okay," he said. "Obviously Rain! It's perfectly okay! Anything to see the smile on my brother's face," Pai said.
YOU ARE READING
The Red Thread of Destiny
Fiksi PenggemarCold, brooding, arrogant.. These were the adjectives used to describe 24 year old Phayu Venice Theerapanyakul, part time architect and full time mechanic. Considered one of the God's of the Architecture department at Chula Uni, his fame was also pas...