Beauty from Ashes

A New Beginning

"I'm going to miss you so much Kong." The older woman embraced her son tightly, tears silently flowing from her eyes.

"Don't cry mae. This is a good thing. Chiang Mai is not that far. I'm only a few hours away. It's not like I'm moving to the States or anything." Kong chuckled while rubbing his mother's back to comfort her.

"Don't make it harder for him honey. He's not a boy anymore. You should be proud, not sad." The woman's husband delicately pulled his son away from his mother and hugged his wife from the back. She playfully slapped her husband's hands and smiled at home while wiping her tears.

"You two are too much. What do you expect? He's my baby and he's moving away. I have a right to be sad." She reached out to her son and smoothed his hair by placing an errant strand behind his ear. "Where has the time gone, huh? It seems like yesterday we were standing in this same spot sending off to primary school. Now we're sending off to a new life in another city."

The waterworks began again making her son and husband start to laugh.

"Hurry up and leave son before she tries to cage you in your room." He slapped his son on the back and embraced him. "Make sure to call us when you get there. You know your mother. If she doesn't hear from you, she'll call the Thai Army to look for you."

Kong laughed heartily while he embraced his mother one last time.

"I love you mae...por. Thank you for loving me and supporting me. I'll call you once I get settled."

Kong closed the car door and waved at his parents. Kerkkrai and Daw Suthiluck waved and watched their son until the car disappeared into the distanced.

"Kerkkrai?"

"Yes, my beautiful wife?"

"Do you really think he's going be okay?"

Kerkkrai held his wife's hand and pulled her towards the house.

"He's going to be just fine. After all, he's a Suthiluck. The boy takes after his father."

Daw shoved her husband and smacked his head.

"Oh! You are such a..."

"Wonderful husband?"

"Arrogant poop!"

"But you love this poop!"

They laughed as they walked into the house.

The sun was just setting as Kongpob Suthiluck arrived in Chiang Mai. He turned off his GPS as he pulled into his parking space of his new condominium building. Kongpob exited his SUV and stretched. Looking at his watch, Kongpob panicked and quickened his pace towards the building manager's office. After receiving his keycard, he grabbed several boxes and began the task of carrying his things to his new home.

Kongpob could barely see above the boxes as he heard the elevator's mechanical voice announce the elevator's destination. As he exited the elevator, he unexpectedly collided with someone.

"Oh my God! I am so sorry." Kongpob began apologizing as he immediately bent down and started collecting the items that fell from the stranger's bag. "I didn't see you over these damn boxes."

"Clearly." The deeply annoyed of the stranger's voice made Kongpob tense up as he stood to hand over the belongings he'd collected. "You should be more careful and watch where you're going."

As Kongpob straightened and met the eyes of the stranger, he was dumbfounded. Kongpob was met with the most beautiful brown eyes he'd ever seen. He was broken from his reverie when the stranger pushed his shoulder.