A Rose Amongst Thorns

Chapter Three

A/N: Poor Arthit. He's been through so much, hasn't he? He's a beautiful soul who needs to be loved. Will Kongpob be his savior? Let's find out, shall we?

Kongpob was exhausted when he entered his house that night. Although he was used to dealing with victims of domestic violence and child abuse, his session with Arthit had been particularly harrowing for him. There was something about him that tugged at his heart strings. The way he talked about orchids made him smile. Kongpob surprised himself when he caught himself smiling widely in the entryway mirror. He chuckled at bowed his head in embarrassment. Thinking of Arthit caused a tickly in his heart he couldn't explain. His thoughts were interrupted by the chirpy voice of his fiancé.

"Kong. You're home. I was expecting you earlier than this." Achara looked at her watch and placed her hands on her hips.

Placing his briefcase on the entryway table, Kongpob bent down and placed a kiss on Achara's cheek.

"I'm sorry, honey. Phana sent someone to me just as I was getting ready to meet you for our appointment at the florist."

"You seem kind of down. Was it a hard case?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary. It was nothing." Kongpob was unsure why he felt the need to lie to his fiancé about the emotions he was experiencing about his interaction with Arthit. He was taken aback by his own words, but he quickly dismissed it as a simple slip of the tongue.

"No worries. I received a call from them, and had it rescheduled for tomorrow. We can go then."

"Aw Achara I am slammed tomorrow. Can't you go without me?"

"Kong, you agreed to help me with all of the arrangements for the wedding." She pouted and walked towards the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Kongpob sighed and followed Achara.

"Why do I have to go with you to choose floral decorations? I'm not the one who needs a bouquet and I don't care what flowers you choose. Why don't you take one of your bridesmaids or maybe your mother? I'm sure one of them would love to go with you. I have clients to see. They need me, Achara."

"I need you too, Kong. You always give so much to your clients. They come first, and if I'm lucky, I come a distant second. I'm going to be your wife. When are you going to make me a priority?"

"Achara, we've had this conversation a million times. These people are suffering, and they need me to help them. How can I, in good conscience, put their mental health on hold to look at some damn flowers? Are you listening to yourself? How can you be so selfish?"

"Selfish? Selfish? How dare you? I'm talking about our wedding! This is a once in a lifetime event for us. How can YOU be so selfish? Are those people really more important than me?"

"This is NOT about YOU! This about flowers. For fuck's sake Achara. We're talking about goddamned flowers. We're not talking about the wedding. Why can't you see the difference? I am tired of having this same argument with you. Is that what our life is going to be like with you? My job is emotionally exhausting. I listen to horrific things all day long. When I come home, I just want to have my dinner, relax and get a good night's sleep. Why are you determined to deprive me of that?"

Kongpob pushed his chair back from the dining room table and stormed off. He went out the garden and sat on the bench to calm down. He inhaled the sweet scents of the various orchids around him and smiled thinking of Arthit and his love of orchids. He walked over to his collection of Lady of the Night orchids and sniffed them. The pleasant smell of citrus filled his lungs. He smiled picturing Arthit standing next to the window of his office. The sunlight met his milky white skin, making him look like an angel. It broke his heart to hear his story. Who could hurt such a beautiful creature?

He picked up the spray bottle to spritz the delicate flowers.

Achara looked out of the kitchen window with tears in her eyes. She didn't mean to be dismissive of Kongpob's work. She understood how important his work is to him, but she just wanted to be first in his life. Just once. His dedication to helping people was once of the things that made her fall in love with him, but she didn't know how all-consuming it would be. She believed the closer they became that he would eventually put her first. She didn't realize how wrong she would be.

When Kongpob came back to a darkened house. He walked into the kitchen and looked around. There was a note on the refrigerator letting him know Achara would be spending the night with her sister. He sighed, opened the refrigerator and took out the food she had prepared earlier that evening.

Sitting at the dining table by himself, he thought about Achara and what she meant to him. He thought about how they'd met, how she had chased him and how their relationship had unfolded.

Flashback begins...

"Oh my God! Did you see the Campus Moon?"

"He is gorgeous."

"I'm sure he has a girlfriend."

"No way he's single."

Kongpob could hear the comments coming from the groups of girls as he walked into the canteen. He scanned the crowd looking for his friends. He heard them before he saw them. He just followed the sound of Oak's laughter and sat down next to his best friend, M.

"Well hello Mr. Celebrity." Oak stood up and bowed in front of Kongpob.

Kongpob smacked him on his head making everyone else at the table laugh loudly.

"Shut up Oak." Kongpob scowled and turned his attention to the rest of the table.

"What do you expect Kong? Ever since you became Campus Moon, the number of girls, and guys, have coming after you has doubled. Quite frankly, I'm jealous." M chimed in, shaking his head.

"Oh, come one guys. It's not that bad. I mean I've seen some girls giggling and stuff, but that's it. You guys are exaggerating."

M, Oak, Tew and Prem all shook their heads. They can't believe how blind their friend is. Almost as if on cue, a girl walks up to their table with a gift in her hand.

"Kongpob?" She was a small girl who looked like a pixie, with short hair, white skin and shiny eyes. Her lips were bright red and her smile wide.

Kongpob looked up from his lunch and answered.

"Yes?"

"Can I talk with you for a moment? Alone?"

"Um, sure. Let's go over here."

Kongpob leads the girl over to a hallway leading to the canteen where they can speak in private. She turns to face Kongpob and hands them the gift she's been holding.

"What is this?"

"I was told you like tea cookies, so I made some for you. Please accept them."

"Thank you. I do like tea cookies."

"Kong, I like you. Would you like to go out on a date?"

Kong wasn't sure how to respond. So many girls have confessed to him and he always turns them down. This felt different, though. Just that morning his mother had talked to him about his need to get married after he graduated. The only way to satisfy that request was to start dating now. He looked at the girl. She wasn't a beautiful, but she was pretty in her own special way. Her smile was nice, and she was sweet. He couldn't think of a valid reason to turn her down, so he agreed.

"Um. I'll go out with you."

Flashback ends...