After Dad found out what his precious daughter had done, he flew into a rage and punished me by confiscating six of my credit cards, leaving me with only one, which he said was for food. (At first, he took them all because he was really mad, but when I gave him my best puppy dog eyes, he agreed to give me one back.)
Then he forced me to go apologize to Khun Pear, who was in the hospital, and confess everything I had done, as well as give her an all-expenses-paid voucher for a trip to the Maldives at one of our hotel branches there.
.
"I have to apologize to you, Khun Pear, for letting this situation get so bad. It’s my fault for not raising my daughter right… In, bow ninety degrees!”
Dad lowered my head to bow gracefully, and by the time I managed to lift my head, Pear was saying,
“It’s okay,”
Which took a good two minutes. I felt the blood rush to my head, I almost fainted and had to be taken to the emergency room. But overall, everything went well. We apologized sincerely, and the victim received proper compensation.
"This isn’t over yet. There’s still one more person Nong In needs to apologize to.”
Dad, who had been pretending to be serious since we left home, said as we sit in the van as we prepared to go back together. I puffed out my cheeks a little, wanting to look cute in front of Dad. I could tell he was secretly smiling, but he quickly hid it the moment our eyes met.
"Yes, I know I need to apologize to her."
"What are you waiting for? Call her now."
"I want to talk to her in private."
"You can talk to her in front of me. Call her right now. Right now!"
I wrinkled my nose in a small pout, but since Dad looked so serious, I couldn’t challenge him.
"But you said she’s not your lover."
"In."
"I’m just kidding!"
I pretended to put on a high-pitched voice and pressed the call button on the phone for my competent secretary, who, for some reason, hadn’t come to pick out clothes for me as usual. I had to admit, it felt a little strange. Someone I used to see every day, suddenly no longer there because she wanted to confirm that she's really going to resign.
"What are you looking at?"
Jenpob, who was driving, glanced at me through the rearview mirror. When I turned to meet his gaze, he stared at me with wide eyes. He could only smile and say nothing. Yes… it wasn’t just Dad in the car; there's Jenpob too. Having to sweet-talk in front of two people make me a little uncomfortable, but I have to move on.
As soon as I pressed the call button, Arun Berkfah answered the phone with a businesslike tone.
[Arun Berkfah speaking.]
"It’s me, Intuorn."
[I know.... I saved your number.]
Whenever I heard the word "I," it felt like I was in a drama after the news.
Do people really talk like that these days? But whatever. Even when I went to the mall, the staff still called me "ma'am" as a sign of respect, even though it made me a little embarrassed.
"Why didn’t you come to work today?"
Dad, hearing my short question, raises his hand to gesture as if he want to speak. I dodged a little and put my finger to my lips to signal “shh” so he wouldn’t speak loudly.
