Nothing Without You | 2gether AU

15 - Go Forth

Tine's POV

I was wrapping up a meeting with the project group. Construction would begin two days later.

"Fong, please make sure everyone has a minute by minute schedule for the day of the groundbreaking ceremony. Everything has to be perfect."

"Type, we are counting on you to make sure security is tight. The maniac hasn't surfaced in the last few weeks, but there's no resting till he's been caught".

Fong and Type nodded in assent. We'd gone over all this before. They knew I was nervous and stood by me patiently.

"Let's do a dry run tomorrow, and we will be set for the big day. Good job, team", I said and we dispersed.

My phone chimed and my heart felt lighter. Wat had sent a picture of Win from that morning. "He says he misses you" read the caption. I hadn't seen Win today because I had an early morning site visit to get to.

We had settled easily and naturally into a routine where I dropped by Wat's home for breakfast every morning. I woke up every day in eager anticipation of seeing my boys.

We would drive Win to school and then to the office together. Wat had me added to the list of authorized picker-uppers and Win introduced me to his teacher as "my best friend". It melted my heart, which Wat immediately froze by saying it was probably all the snacks I fed him.

I tried my best to get free each night in time to tuck Win in. He would tell me all about his day and would crawl into my lap to be rocked when he got sleepy.

Holding Win in my arms was the greatest joy I'd ever felt. It was a golden warmth that sprung from the core of my being and spread to every nerve in my body. An overwhelming sense of contentment would fill me and I felt whole, complete.

Wat and I spent whatever time we could with each other, but it never seemed enough. I never had my fill of him, my thirst for him was insatiable.

I wanted to wake up beside him, spend the entire day with him, go to bed with him. Lather, rinse, repeat.

But I wasn't ready to move in with him yet. I had to do right by the Master and the Mistress first.

*

It had been more than two weeks since the stand-off with the Mistress.

Thankfully for Pear, she had reconciled to Boss soon enough. 

He ticked all the boxes - he had name, status, money and, above all, was fully and truly head over heels in love with Pear.

He was a millionaire in his own right, and his family was collectively richer than even the Master and Mistress themselves. There was no fear of him being a predatory leech chasing after Pear's wealth.

He was well-mannered and down to earth, rare qualities among the offspring of the super-wealthy who were usually plagues upon the earth.

For all her spit and fire, the Mistress even had a soft spot for Boss's father, Gun Attasaphong, who happened to be her godson, and Boss's late mother had been the Mistress's favourite niece.

I was truly glad for Pear, she'd lucked out. She deserved every happiness and Boss was a great guy. I knew he would cherish her and keep her happy, it was so clear in the way his eyes lit up every time he saw her.

Of course, nothing had changed where Wat and I were concerned. The Mistress had refused to see me when I went to apologize to her for sounding ungrateful and disrespectful.

The Master did not exactly approve of Wat, but he understood that Wat mattered to me, and he respected my choice.

"I hope you can see things from her perspective, Tine. There are too many risks, too many complications, too many liabilities. If this were an investment opportunity, you wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. Bear that in mind before you judge her too harshly" he said, wisely.