When the Tables are Turned

Chapter 8

Gun's POV

By five thirty in the afternoon, the restaurant staff who were hired by my grandfather to cater for his birthday came in their company van and started laying out the assorted traditional Thai dishes on the long table in the spacious lawn of my grandfather's house.

I had invited Title to come to the party so I was expecting not only Mark but also Title to attend my grandfather's birthday party as well.

I was very grateful for Linda's assistance in preparing for my grandfather's party. She was a fast worker and I guess because her mom owns a bakery which is a food business, she knew just how to take care of things in the kitchen.

When she was out of earshot, my grandmother whispered to me, "She would make a very good housewife, won't she?"

"Grandma!" I protested, "stop matchmaking! Settling down is farthest from my mind right now!"

"Well, don't dilly dally," said my grandmother, "time flies fast. Before you know it, you're too old to father any children."

"Stop it, grandma," I said, starting to get nervous because Linda was coming back to the kitchen to get the large pitchers containing tropical fruit punch.

I helped her carry the other pitchers to the tables outside on the lawn.

Just as Linda and I had set down the pitchers on one of the tables, the gate buzzed. I went to open it. It was Title.

We gave each other a buddy hug. "I'm glad you could make it," I said.

I introduced Title to Linda because I noticed that he kept on looking at her. I wasn't surprised because Linda was a very lovely girl.

I asked Linda if she could entertain Title for me while I helped out my grandmother with the heavier workload in the kitchen.

I was carrying out the box containing the plastic tumblers for the drinks to the lawn when I noticed that Mark was already there. His back was to me so he didn't see me step out of the house into the lawn.

I caught the tail end of Title's introduction of Linda to Mark.

"...... and this is Linda, P'Gun's childhood sweetheart ...... " Title was saying to Mark.

I almost dropped the box of plastic tumblers that I was carrying.

"Oh, here is P'Gun now," said Title when he saw me walking towards them.

Linda immediately stood up from her chair and took the box from me.

"Why don't you join your friends while I arrange these tumblers on the table by the pitchers, sweetheart," she said.

I was taken by surprise by her addressing me as sweetheart, but she just gave me a naughty wink as if to tell me that she was just playing around with Title and Mark and not to take her seriously.

It was okay if I did not take her seriously, but the problem was Mark and Title seemed to have taken her seriously and they both had very serious expressions on their faces.

"How come you never told us that you have a girlfriend, P'Gun?" Title asked me reproachfully.

I wondered if I should correct the misinformation or if I should just play along with Linda's game. I decided to play along because it might embarrass Linda if I contradicted her information.

"Where is your grandfather?" Mark asked.

"He's over there on the other side with his friends," I replied.

"Excuse me then," said Mark, "I would like to greet him a happy birthday."

To my great surprise, Mark stuck to my grandfather and his friends throughout the party. He never once came back to Title and me. He and my grandfather seemed to have a lot of common topics to talk about.