What I Failed to Do

Chapter 8

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Third Person POV

"Good morning, Saint!" the lobby receptionist greeted me with a bright smile when I walked into the building.

I was surprised that she knew my name. I had just started working last Friday. We were introduced to each other only once and I can't remember her name.

"A happy Monday to you!" I greeted her with a friendly smile. "You'll have to forgive me but with so many people being introduced to me last Friday I 'm now unable to remember your name."

"No problem, Saint," she said pleasantly. "My name is Cynthia."

"Oh yes, Cynthia!" I said with an embarrassed smile. "I'm happy to see you this morning!"

"Thank you, same here!" she replied. "By the way, Mr. Suwanacheep instructed me to tell you to go see him as soon as you walk into the building."

"I will do just that," I said, hurrying to catch the elevator whose doors had just opened.

There were two other employees waiting for it. I walked into the elevator with them.

I nodded to them in greeting and they did the same. Their faces looked familiar but sadly I couldn't remember their names. There were so many people that I had been introduced to by Mr. Suwanacheep last Friday. I should be forgiven for not remembering all the names.

"Hold it, please!" someone called out just as the elevator doors were starting to close. Actually there were two voices who had called out and two sets of running feet that I heard.

I pressed the hold button.

"Thank you!" one of them said while taking in gulps of air.

"Pluem! Chimon! Good morning to both of you!" I greeted them as they hurriedly stepped into the elevator.

"Good morning, Saint!" they said in unison.

I tried not to notice that their clothes seemed to be a bit wrinkled and their hair seemed to have been hurriedly combed.

When the elevator dinged on the floor that we were supposed to be, Chimon and Pluem stepped out first. I noticed that Chimon had tugged his hand away from Pluem. Wait, had they been holding hands in the elevator? Oh well, none of my business. I had to see Mr. Suwanacheep right away as he had instructed Cynthia to tell me.

I knocked lightly on his door.

"Come in!" Mr. Suwanacheep called out from inside his office.

"Good morning, sir," I greeted him as I stepped into his office.

"Good morning, Saint," he greeted me back. "I wanted to discuss with you how we are going to go about with the new project that you and Perth will be in charge of. Did you notice if Perth has come in already?"

"I haven't seen him yet," I replied. "I came straight here from the lobby as Cynthia instructed me to do."

Mr. Suwanacheep leaned forward and pressed on his intercom button.

"Cynthia, have you seen Perth walk in yet?"

"Not yet, sir," Cynthia replied. 

"As soon as he comes into the lobby tell him to come straight up to my office." Mr. Suwanacheep said.

Then he straightened up and said, "Let me give you a quick background of our new project while we're waiting for Perth to arrive."

"Okay, sir," I said, looking at him expectantly.

"You and Perth will be surveying the property of Bartholomew Incorporated (A/N: this is a fictitious company name. Author does not know if such a name exists, if it does it's purely coincidental.) It is located outside of Bangkok but near its perimeter. You will be assessing its value. It is a fairly large property and it's not the only one that you will be..."

Mr. Suwanacheep was interrupted by a knock on his door.

"Come in!" Mr. Suwanacheep called out.

"Good morning, sir," Perth said as he walked in with his chocolate brown leather satchel.

"And good morning, Saint," he said upon seeing me already seated across Mr. Suwanacheep's desk. "You're an early bird, aren't you?"

"And that's what I would like you to be as well, Perth, an early bird," Mr. Suwanacheep said in a reproachful tone of voice.

"I'm sorry for being late, sir," Perth said with an apologetic smile.

"That's okay, just don't make it a habit, though," Mr. Suwanacheep said. "Now to continue the discussion that I have already started with Saint. Since the property that you will be surveying is quite a distance from here and since the work that you will be doing there will stretch through evening, I have instructed Mr. Watthanasetsiri to get you a reservation at a nearby hotel. He will be instructing Pluem to allocate the funds for your daily expenses as you go about performing your duties over there."

Perth and I nodded to let Mr. Suwanacheep know that we understood what he was expecting us to do.

After a few more instructions, Mr. Suwanacheep said, "I will be expecting you to start working on the project tomorrow. Today, coordinate with Pluem regarding the finances involved and with Mark who will be preparing the materials that you will be needing to take with you."

I turned to Perth with a blank stare.

"Mark is the head of our requisition team," said Perth. "You might have met him already last Friday but I will introduce him to you again today."

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

For those who might not know him, his name is Mark Siwat Jumlongkul. He appeared in the BL series "Love By Chance" in the role of Kengkla.

"Sure," I said.

"That will be all," Mr. Suwanacheep said. "Let me know if you have any questions or if you encounter any concerns or difficulties."

"Yes, we will, sir," both Perth and myself said as we stood up to leave his office.

"Mark!" Perth called out to Mark who was standing by the cooler when we walked into our work area.

"You remember Saint, don't you?" Perth asked as we approached him.

"I never forget names and faces," Mark said as he stepped forward.

I extended my hand to him but he ignored it, giving me a buddy hug instead.