My New Neighbour

Chapter 9

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Manee says, "My silly friend seems to have made you upset, P'. Am I wrong in thinking that?"

Tee smiles and says, "I just wanted to have a chat with you about Tae. I just want to know more about him."

Manee figures that it is better to leave asking more questions. It is anyway better if P'Tee gets to know Tae better so he can understand why he does what he does.

Manee asks, "Okay.. then I will tell you how I became friends with Tae.. but this one will take some time so why don't we order something to eat and drink?"

The orders are placed and while they wait for the orders to arrive, Manee starts talking.

"Tae and I, we both were in the same school since elementary. We were the troublemakers of our class so it didn't take long before we both became good friends and made mischief together. We both were good in studies and extra curricular activities so the teachers did not punish us. But this made us even more reckless."

Tee feels a bit better as he listens to Manee talk about their mischievous pranks in school.

Manee laughs recalling all the past memories then she gets a bit serious.

"In high school, I brought my cousin's cigarette box to the school and asked Tae to try smoking with me. So there we were at the back of the school, trying our first puffs and coughing like crazy. Just then our homeroom teacher suddenly appeared in front of us and started scolding us. On top of the bitter scolding we got, our parents were also called over the next day. It turned really bad too soon. My mom blamed Tae for turning her daughter bad. Before I could jump in his defense, Tae's father slapped him right then and there as he also thought the same as my mom. Tae just stood still, too shocked to react. I had started to cry looking at Tae's red cheek."

Manee frowns as she slowly says, "I felt extremely guilty for the whole incident. I apologised to Tae but he just shrugged it off with a sad smile... that made me feel even worse."

Tee just sat listening to Manee, with a serious expression, without saying anything.

Manee continued,"...I didn't know so many things about him and I acted so foolishly at times that hurt him. After that incident, I stopped making mischief and made sure that we both don't get in trouble at school. I thought all was well until I visited Tae's house. Only then I realised that his father had always considered Tae very troublesome and compared Tae to his elder brother, Niran, who had always been the top student and an obedient son."

"Nothing seemed to satisfy Aroon uncle (Tae's dad), be it Tae's grades in school or his general behaviour. Even though Tae was among the top rankers in his class, Aroon uncle wanted him to follow on the steps of P'Niran, be a model student, an obedient son and never cause trouble to his parents."

Tee frowned as he heard more about Tae's childhood.

"..Tae likes to do things his way and when someone finds faults in the way he does things, he gets angry. So P', you might have to be patient with him."

Just then the waiter comes to their table and places their drinks and snacks on the table. This gives a break to the conversation which makes Tee curious to know more. But then Manee starts talking to the waiter to give him some message to deliver to P'Kim.

Tee sips on his drink and slowly nibbles on the snacks.

After finishing her talk with the waiter, she turns to Tee and apologises for ignoring him for a while.

Tee says, "No, please don't say sorry. You are busy helping your brother here at the cafe and I am intruding on your work time."

Manee smiles and says, "Because you came, I could take this break otherwise P'Kim treats me as an unpaid labourer."

Tee looks surprised and Manee starts laughing.

"I am joking, P'Tee. Please don't tell this to P'Kim otherwise I would be in deep trouble. I begged him to work here as part of my work project. Also, I quite enjoy working here."

Tee ends up smiling as he talks more with Manee. The conversation does not return to Tae for quite a while as Manee asks Tee about his work and his friends. Later the conversation turns to the upcoming party and the work that is dumped on her.

Manee also invites Tee to come to the upcoming parties at the pub and bring Tae along. Tee hesitates to respond as he is still not sure about the future of their relationship - whether it is just the silliness of the first fight or the verge of breakup.

Tee finally says, "I am not sure..."

Manee tries to convince Tee as she says, "P', my friend likes you a lot. He might be rash at times but just trust him... I think you also like him a lot, otherwise you would not have come here to talk about him."

Tee smiles and says, "Thanks Manee for talking to me, even though you were busy with your work."

Manee says, "Please P', don't be so formal with me. You are always welcome here anytime. I'm looking forward to seeing you both here soon."

Tee does not confirm anything, just smiles and leaves from there.

Manee lets out a sigh and calls up Tae.

"Taetae, I think now it's your turn to talk to P'Tee. Do anything it takes - seduce, convince or whatever. He is a keeper, don't let him go."

Tae says, "Yeah, I already know that. But what do I do now? He has not yet replied to my message. I have my exams starting next week and I just can't concentrate on my studies."

Manee is curious as she asks, "So do you want to wait till after the exams or you want to figure things out with P'Tee before that?"

Tae, "......."