From Something To Everything (Bounprem)

148. Red Flag

"You brat, so you are here, flirting with my best friend the whole time, huh?" Ann pinched the ear lobes of the young man.

"Ouch, Mom." The young man giggled. "I couldn't let such a gorgeous lady stay alone."

"You cheeky brat." Ann playfully smacked him.

He smiled back at her shamelessly.

Ann pointed at Tessa. "She is my friend. So, no flirting with her."

The young man looked at Tessa and then at Ann making a kicked puppy face.

"If you really want to flirt with someone." Ann moved closer to him. "You can flirt with my son. He is totally available. You can flirt with him all you want. I am completely okay with it."

"Really?" the guy laughed. "Then I will thank you." He took her hand and kissed it.

Ann blushed. "Enough flirting with me, now. My son has been looking for you all this time. You better go find him before he loses it." She gently nudged him to the stairs.

"Khrab." He gave her a tight side hug.

"Thank you for keeping me company, Fluke," Tessa said smilingly watching the exchange. Even though talking with Fluke had stopped her from overthinking things, it had given her new worries to think of.

"It was a pleasure to keep you company." Fluke smiled widely, giving Tessa a warm hug as well. He waied at the two women and left to find Ohm.

"Such a sweet talker." Ann chuckled, shaking her head. "I wish my own son was half as sweet as he was." She sighed.

"He is already calling you 'Mom' huh?" Tessa eyed the departing figure. "You guys already approved of him?"

"Of course." Ann was almost streaking in excitement. "Who wouldn't. he is sweet, comes from a good family, has an excellent educational background, has a stable career and above all 'my' dear son is interested in him. What else can I ask for?

You know what Tessa; all these years I had been worried that Ohm might not be able to find someone he could fall in love with. Given his introverted character and poker face, people don't even dare to approach him. But now that Fluke is here, I don't have to worry anymore.

Even if Ohm is withdrawn, Fluke's bubbly personality would make up for it. He is the perfect match for Ohm.

Ohm is so whipped for him. You should see his face every time he talks about Fluke. I even got to see him blush for the first time."

Ann noticed that Tessa was silent. "What happened Tessa? You look worried. As if you didn't like him."

"I did like him. He is a sweet kid but... he doesn't like our Boun." Tessa replied.

"What? Fluke doesn't like Boun?" Ann frowned. "That's not what I heard. I was told that those two get along quite well. Even better than Ohm and Boun. The other day Bosston was saying that Fluke was the only person who could match Boun's energy level. With their combination, the duo has the ability to wreak havoc at any place. That kid, Prem, I actually feel bad for him. He is stuck between these two hyperactive kids."

"He just told me that he doesn't approve of Boun getting together with Prem." Tessa was sulking. She didn't understand why anyone would oppose her sweet child's love life.

"Hmm," Ann hummed as if she was deep in thought. "I wouldn't blame him, na. I understand his point of view."

"What?" Tessa was shocked.

"What 'what'?" Ann shrugged. "It's just like how I never approved of you being together with P' Saen."

"But Boun is not P' Saen" Tessa argued. "He loves N' Prem."

"He is not P' Saen. But he is still his son. P' Saen's blood runs through his veins, Tessa. And sometimes, the blood shows its colour no matter how we try to hide it."

"What do you mean, Ann? Are you saying that my son is a vain person?" Tessa was ready to pick a fight with her friend for her son

"No. I would never say that. But I do see factors that can make him classified a total blinding red flag, Tessa. It's concerning." Ann sighed looking at Tessa with a sincere expression. "Look dear, I love Boun just as much as I love Ohm. I never distinguished between the two and you know it.

But I am not the kind of parent who would support their children even when they know that the kid was doing wrong. I will always say it is wrong if it is wrong and try to correct my children. Whether it is Ohm, Boun or Dream."

"I don't understand what you are saying, Ann. Did something bad happen?" Tessa was tensed. Ann seemed really upset as she spoke, making Tessa feel that something had happened.

Ann looked around. There were still people around them. "How about we go elsewhere to talk?"

Tessa nodded in agreement. The duo headed back to the bedroom.

Once inside the room, Ann locked the door behind her.

"Ann, tell me what it is. You are making me worried." Tessa was tensed seeing Ann's action.

"First of all, I need you to calm down, alright." Ann knew that even a minute thing related to Boun could affect Tessa widely.

"I am calm." Tessa clamped her sweaty hands together, to calm her nerves.

"Do you remember, almost a year ago, Mae fell sick and I had to come back from Amsterdam?" Ann asked.

Tessa nodded. She remembered that her mother-in-law's condition was critical after the elder had contracted pneumonia.

"Since I was back, I wanted to check on the three kids. Ohm and Dream were doing fine, but Boun... I had no idea what was going on with him. I was not able to get in touch with that kid. He was not picking up my calls or replying to my texts. Then, I started getting worried. I called Bosston to check and he said that Boun was doing fine. But I felt unconvinced.

So, I decided to visit his place. When I got there, you had to see that place." Ann held her head. "It was worse than a pigsty. Unwashed clothes, empty liquor bottles, dry dishes, leftover food, you name it. The place had such a pungent smell that I wanted to throw up.

This made me more worried. Boun may not be a neat freak like Ohm, but he wasn't a completely messy person. Even if he was too busy to clean the place himself, he would have definitely hired someone to do it. It wasn't normal that his place was like that."

Tessa's frown deepened. "Then what happened? What did you do?"

"Then, I called April, that assistant girl of his to know what was going on. She too told me that everything was fine with Boun and he had been enthusiastically attending his classes as well. After that call, I was sure that there was something going on with him but neither Bosston nor April knew of it."