White Tulips and Daisies

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑

𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎: 𝑭𝒂𝒉

𝑴𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑬𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒖𝒑 𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒖𝒑 𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇.

𝐴𝑡𝑡𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡: 𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝐵𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑙𝑎𝑤𝑛, 𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑔𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑟𝑢𝑛 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑚. 𝐷𝑎𝑜 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑆𝑢𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒. 𝐻𝑎𝑙𝑓 𝑜𝑓 𝐵𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡'𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑑.

–

Build jolted awake. For the past few days, he had grown used to waking up with a warm body pressed against his, but today was different—completely different. The bed was cold. Empty. He immediately turned to the other side, only to find it neat and untouched. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he felt an unsettling weight in his chest. Something was wrong. He couldn't recall the dream he'd just had, yet his breathing was ragged, and beads of sweat clung to his forehead. The most terrifying part? He couldn't remember why.

He shrugged it off, maybe he was just overthinking. Maybe Wichapas is outside the bedroom cooking their breakfast in the kitchen. Build went out of the room, hugging himself because it was unusually cold inside the suite today. He heard shuffling from the kitchen and he smiled.

"Why are you here?" Build's smile slowly fades as he sees Sari placing take out boxes to the kitchen counter.

Don't get him wrong. He loved Sari and it is a good thing they finally saw each other after a few days but he expected to be with Wichapas.

"Hi. Good morning too." Sari said sarcastically. "He called me and asked me to come over. When I get here, he's already gone and you're sleeping. I bought breakfast, by the way."

"Where is he?" Build's heart is thumping on his chest. His blood runs cold as he realizes Wichapas is nowhere to be found.

"I don't know. Maybe he is at work." Sari shrugged, continuing to prepare the take out boxes.

Build ran back to the room. He fetched his phone on the bedside table and dialed Wichapas' number. His heartbeat went wilder when the IVR told him to leave a message in the voicemail. He tried again. Twice. Thrice. He got the same message. Build bit his thumb nail as he dials Prem's number instead. Prem's phone is off. Then he dialed Harris' number. However, he was routed to voicemail too. He thought more. Maybe Wichapas went home. He dialed Dao's phone but it was just ringing. Maybe Dao is busy with her morning duties with Suchin.

"Are you alright?" Sari asked softly, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Build paced the floor, back and forth, biting his right thumbnail while pressing the phone to his ear with his left hand.

"I don't know where he is," he mumbled, his eyes darting like he was searching for answers in the walls.

"Maybe he just went to work, Build," Sari offered, her voice calm but uncertain.