Lights! Camera!....Love! [Complete]

The Confession: Four years ago

I straightened the knot strangling my neck for the hundredth time, adjusting the tie over and over again, the only thing my nervous fingers chose to do. Well, that and drumming an awkward beat on the table as I kept checking the watch. Along with the empty seat across from me in this fancy restaurant. Well to be fair fancy-ish. I don't have a very hefty bank account you know and I was already about to spend a majority of the month's grocery budget on this one meal. Anyway, back to empty chair in front of me.

Arthit was late. Again. My internal voice growling in frustration as I kept watching the minutes tick by. Seriously today of all days? I had made sure to put at least five alarms and reminders on his phone just so that he wouldn't forget tonight's dinner. It's not that we don't have dinner almost every day together, but obviously tonight was a little extra special.

You see tonight happens to be the day exactly five years ago that Arthit decided he would talk to the awkward shy boy standing in corner of the room filled with people begging for any scraps of work in the new movie they were about to shoot.  And it seems from that day onwards Arthit has learned to never stop talking. Not that I am complaining though. Infact probably there were very few things in the world I enjoyed more than hearing his voice. What was better for a hardcore introvert who practically lives within his own head than to have a friend who had this unique ability to quiet down all those noisy conversations I had with myself. As odd as our friendship was, at least in my books, it was perfect. And I never wanted a thing to change.

At least till about a month ago when the man was still chattering away a mile a minute, interjecting curses in all languages he had ever heard, as he grabbed my hand in one bone-crushing grip while we were getting his hairy leg waxed. I have no idea why in the middle of him sniffling as a 5-year-old, blowing comforting breaths on the reddened patch of his now hairless shin was the exact moment I finally realized that I was in love with him, but there you have it. Love certainly is blind.

To be fair it wasn't only blind. It was also a fucking idiot. Cause after one whole month of trying to convince myself to get rid of these thoroughly inconvenient emotions I had completely failed. Which meant there was only one thing left to do.

Confess.

Turns out I would rather march into war than actually talk. About anything. Let alone my feelings. Having done a thoroughly brilliant job all my life of masking my insecurities and self-doubts and those jumbled mess people call emotions behind an expressionless mask had convinced the world that nothing fazed me. And in most cases nothing did. My stone-cold heart hardening instantly whenever I was around what other normal people call pesky human interaction. Obviously not with Arthit though. Every new antic from him only results in crumbling all my defense structures more. Hopefully, he doesn't do anything too crazy tonight.

I took another deep, calming breath, closing my eyes briefly as I gave myself another pep talk. My whole body itching in this stupid suit I had decided I must wear for my one and only love confession.

"Whoa, why are you so dressed up?"

My eyes snapped open as I watched him slump down in the empty chair, clad solely in his smelly gym clothes, hair plastered against his head dripping with sweat.

"What the fuck are you wearing?"

"Ummm...clothes? The bigger question is what are you wearing? I didn't even know you owned a suit? Did you rent one? Next time get a darker color, please. I think a deeper blue would probably look..."

I closed my eyes once again gulping in one lungful of air simply so that I didn't launch into snappy comeback at the moron in front of me while he was still spouting out something about better color choices against my skin tone. Sure this suit was really a rental, but who comes to a fancy-ish restaurant neither of us could normally afford in gross gym shorts stinking up the place.