Since Miss Arun knows my story as well as her own, I'll let her take care of the food orders for me.
Now the three of us are sitting at the table, with me sitting next to
Mawin, as a couple normally does. I've never really understood why couples prefer to sit next to each other rather than across from each other, where they can see each other's faces more clearly. It's a question I've never been able to resolve, but in any case, it doesn't really matter to me where I sit. Besides, Mawin probably prefers to look at my secretary's face.
Arun Berkfeh open the menu and begin to look through it to choose the dishes, as her responsibility. I watching her every move until she call the waiter to take our orders.
"I'll have the crab soufflé and the garlic-roasted clams, please... For drinks, I'll have water and orange juice. Mr. Mawin, you can order now."
"And you, Miss Arun? Don’t you want anything?"
"No, thank you."
"Why aren’t you ordering anything?"
I frown at my secretary, confuse.
"I’ve already had breakfast at home. Besides, if I eat too much for lunch, I’ll get sleepy. I don’t know what else you want me to do today, Khun In. Just a glass of water is enough for me."
"Is that an excuse? Maybe you don’t know how to eat that kind of food."
Mawin looked at me disapprovingly as I teased my own secretary, but I said it because I wanted to see some sign of irritation or emotion from her. However, she just smiles and replies in a clear voice,
"Yes, I don’t know how to eat."
"Oh, I didn’t know. Next time, we should go to a restaurant where you can eat too."
"You invited me, but now you’re catering to my secretary’s preferences? What does that mean?"
I bared my teeth at Mawin, who seemed overly concerned about my secretary. He quickly corrected himself, realizing that he might have gone too far.
"That’s not what I meant! It’s just that if we all like the food, it won’t be weird. Look, Miss Arun is just drinking water."
"Isn’t there anything on the menu that you can eat?"
"No, there isn’t."
"Did you read it all?"
"Yes, I did."
Strange… She doesn’t seem to have any vision problems. If she can read the entire menu, that means she can see. But how could she not notice that Mawin is sitting by the window? It’s suspicious. There must be something going on.
As we waited for our food to arrive, the three of us chatted for a while, although Mawin directed his questions mostly to my secretary rather than me, even though I was the one he invited.
"Did you study specifically to become a secretary, Miss Arun?"
"No, I studied business administration."
"Then why did you become Miss In’s secretary?"
"Mr. Anek said he wanted Khun In to be prepared to take over the business. With the right consultant, she would be able to follow the right path."
"So, you’re saying that you’re such a good consultant that I should follow you, is that it?”
At that moment, the waiter come to serve us water before leaving. I take a small sip to wet my throat and continue,
“Even though you haven’t worked anywhere for a long time, what made my father trust you so much?”
Arun Berkfeh paused for a moment, then smiles, as if she knew I had dug a little into her background.
