Alone I Break | LingOrm FF

~ Part 6 ~

"Lingling, man, what are you doing here?" Gunn asked as he took a seat on the locker room bench.

Lingling finished pulling several items out of her locker before turning to face her friend. She blinked her bleary eyes, trying to focus on Gunn. "Just picking up some stuff," she answered, her voice clearly showing her exhaustion.

After Orm had fallen asleep, she'd stayed by her bedside for over an hour, just watching the steady rise and fall of her chest. She could still remember the veiled hostility in her final words to her that night. Orm had such animosity towards her, and she couldn't blame her for it. She'd given her every reason to hate her. It still hurt, though, but it hurt more to know that she'd brought her such pain.

"You look like you need some sleep," Gunn pointed out after he finished tying his shoes. Standing, he pulled on his uniform shirt, waiting for Lingling to speak. "You alright?"

Rubbing a hand over her face, Lingling sighed. "Yeah, it's just been a long two weeks."

"Yeah," agreed Gunn. He hadn't known James that well, but they'd been casual friends. Gunn had always thought he seemed like a cool enough guy. "How's Orm?"

"She's...she's okay, I guess," Lingling said with a shrug. "Uncle thinks she'll be okay, and the shrink said it would just take some time for her to come to grips with everything."

"Right." Gunn nodded and gathered up the rest of his stuff. "Oh, before I forget, Chief's been looking for you."

"Great, thanks," groaned Lingling as she stood and followed Gunn out of the locker room.

Lingling walked down the hall, coming to a stop in front of a glass paned door with the words 'Anuwat Mongkolpecht – Chief of Police' painted in the centre. She knocked lightly, silently hoping the Chief had gone home for the night. To her dismay, a curt 'come in' soon followed. Turning the knob, Lingling walked into the room.

"Hey, Chief. You wanted to see me?" she asked, facing her boss.

Anuwat set down the file he had been reading and studied Lingling for a moment. "Yes. Please, have a seat." He waited until Lingling was sitting in the chair before continuing. "I understand you have requested some time off."

"Yes," Lingling replied bluntly. "I have some personal matters to take care of."

"And this 'personal matter' would be Kornnaphat Sethratanapong, would it not?" pressed Anuwat, seeing Lingling's hands tighten on the arms of the chair as he said Orm's name.

"That's none of your business," Lingling stated firmly, her mind flashing back to a conversation in this same office almost three years earlier.

"Lingling," Anuwat said with a sigh. "I understand your apprehension in discussing this with me, but I am granting your request for time off. You haven't used any of your vacation time in the past three years so I'm giving you a month, no more, to take care of your personal matters."

"You are?" Lingling asked, bewildered that her boss had given in so easily.

"Don't act so surprised. I'm not the ogre many perceive me to be," Anuwat defended himself.

"I know, but I also know how you feel about this...issue," Lingling clarified her shock.

"That was a long time ago, Lingling. Things are clearly quite different now. And I know you know what I mean," Anuwat said pointedly. 

Lingling nodded but said nothing. She'd had three years to reflect on what had happened between herself and Orm; the right, the wrong, the good, the bad. All of it. Would she change anything if she could? Probably. Would the outcome be any different? Not likely. No matter how she did it, she would have broken her heart. So, regretting her actions did no good.