Autumn is a second spring

22. Colleagues

As James looked up, he saw his colleagues along with his boss looking at him with scorn. "What happened? Why is everyone staring at me like that."

"Nothing. We just felt that you look like a Cheshire cat right now" Meg answered on behalf of everyone.

"Oh P' Meg, you are exaggerating" James acted innocent.

"You don't have to act all humble here. We know that you are going on a trip to Satun with your boyfriend." Pae said with a teasing smile.

Everyone around the table started teasing James in the name of his boyfriend. Instead of feeling uncomfortable, he felt happy. Happy that his colleagues were friendly and accepting. He loved the working atmosphere.

"You all are ganging up on me now. Why hasn't anyone said anything about Khun Boun's Pao?" James knew that he wouldn't be able to escape the teasing easily. Hence he redirected their attention.

Boun who had been enjoying the show from the sidelines almost choked on his drink. He shot a mock glare at his chief secretary and the latter flashed him a smile.

The people around the table turned to look at Boun hearing James.

"Nah," Well, the oldest of the group said. "His skin is too thick to be teased"

"So true" Everyone agreed suddenly finding the idea of teasing their boss uninteresting. 

Boun was left speechless. He looked at the group of people in front of him. These people were his secretaries, assistants and personal staff.

He wasn't very strict with them unless it came to work. All of them were very efficient employees as well. He had created a really friendly atmosphere among themselves. 

"We shouldn't even mention Khun Prem, or else he would start singing his praises again." Rang chimed in.

"Yeah. He can go to the extent of saying that Khun Prem's fart smells so good" Pon snickered.

 The whole table roared in laughter at the statement.

Boun rolled a magazine and used it to smack the back of Pon's head. "Don't forget that I am still your boss." He said with a fake angry face.

Pon pouted as he rubbed the smacked area.  "You all are bullying me" He complained. As he was the youngest of the group he often ended up being the one getting punished for the mischief the rest of the group did. "It was P' James who started it. He should get a smack too."

Boun just rolled his eyes and settled down at the end of the table, picking up some french fries.

James made a face at Pon as the latter puffed up his face.

The whole group had gathered around the table to have their weekly meeting. There was nothing much of importance to be discussed in such a meeting but was a mere ritual. 

Every week they would gather like this and have food and converse about whatever is going on inside the company, including small gossips.

As Boun wasn't a strict boss, the others didn't mind gossiping in front of him. The former was happy as long as they all did their work on time.

"I really feel bad for all those boys and girls na" Well said sympathetically. "Even today I saw those girls from the marketing department grooming themselves up before the meeting to impress Khun Boun." He sighed. "Little do they know that his heart had long been stolen."

Everyone agreed to Well. They had seen most of the young staff trying to catch Boun's eye. As he had already announced that he was bisexual, both girls and boys wanted to try their luck to be his lover.

"Please don't mind me asking Khun Boun, but I really want to know why you are not publicising your relationship with Khun Prem. If they get to know that you are taken, maybe they will stop pestering you." Pae asked.

She almost threw up earlier at the meeting with the marketing department where those young girls were acting coquettish in front of Boun.

"That right. I too have the same doubt" Rang turned to Boun "Don't you guys have a lot of fans shipping you together? I am sure that they will support you"

BounPrem was one of the strongest BL ships of the country. They had even more fans abroad.

"It's not that I don't want to go public. It's just that I can't." Boun said leaning comfortably against the backrest of the swirling office chair.

"Why? What is the problem?" Pon asked, completely forgetting the smack he got.

"As you know, my Pao is an athlete. For an athlete, coming out as gay is a big deal. You know the bullying in the sports sector against homosexual people is..." Boun let out an audible sigh. "Not that he cares about all those. But I do. I don't want him to be targeted because of me."

"But how long are you planning to keep it a secret? You both are public figures. One or the other day, someone will find out" Meg said seriously.

"Then... I will have to have all of you help the PR department handle the news. I don't have any plans on hiding our relationship from the public eye if we ever get caught" Boun said with a smirk. 

James's phone beeped indicating an alarm "Khun Boun, it is time. We have to leave to pick up Bew from school." He remained.

They had a fixed timetable for picking up Bew from school every week. Boun, Prem and Koi had their own turns for the week. It was Wednesday and it meant that it was his turn to pick Bew up.

"We don't have to go today. His Dami will pick him up. They are going on a date today." Boun didn't bother to act civil and hide his jealousy towards his son, even in front of his staff.

"Please spare that kid, Khun Boun. I am sure that he wouldn't steal your man away from you" Meg adored Bew so much. Unlike the brat kids she had, Bew was a very obedient one. He was well-mannered and respectful, all thanks to the effort of the two people raising him.

"You are saying this because you haven't seen Bew around Khun Prem" James giggled. He had seen how Bew's attitude takes a hundred-and-eighty-degree turn when Prem is around. Till he sees his Dami, the little one would be all over him and the moment Prem arrives both himself and Boun will be mere strangers to him.

James could see that the kid had inherited good acting skills from the family.

In reality, he envied the family of three. He too wanted to have a family like that. The more he saw them, the more he envied Boun for having Prem in his life.

His boyfriend was a good person but he was nowhere near Prem. If one day he had to adopt his niece or nephew, he didn't think that his boyfriend would be supportive of the idea.

The way Prem treated Boun and Bew, the way Prem created a safe haven for the child, the way Prem became the support system for Boun, all these made James respect him more and more.

He knew that the praises his boss sang about Prem weren't made up