pretend you're mine

i.

"OFF JUMPOL!!" a middle-aged woman barged into the said person's office. She pushed the door with all of her mighty strength, swinging the glass door while her other hand was clutching onto her purse as she stormed her way in. The woman stood in front of her son's desk and frowned when she saw at how composed her son was while she's standing there feeling the complete opposite and fuming.

'What a pleasant way to greet someone in the morning,' he blatantly thought.

"Mae, what brings you here?" the guy sitting behind the desk casually asked before his eyes met with his mother's raging stare. He set aside the report to the side and gave his full attention to the woman in front of him. His fingers began to twirl and play around with the pen patiently waiting for his mother to continue although he get the gist on the reason what led the elder to storm her way into his office.

"It's okay Preen. You can leave us," he turned to acknowledged his semi-disheveled secretary who was standing next to the door. She felt bad that she couldn't stop Mrs. Adulkittiporn from barging into the office without notifying him first. On the other hand, Off is aware on how stressful it must have been for his secretary to deal with the immense pile of work and managing the visitors in the office at the same time. He decided that he should really start to hire a personal assistant as soon as possible to ease up some of Preen's workload. Despite Off being a strict and perfectionist boss when it comes to work, he will never take his staffs' welfare for granted. He truly believe that his employees are the foundation of the company.

"Off," his mum called out gently to catch his son's attention when she noticed how Off was lost in his thoughts again.

She sighed dejectedly as she sat on the chair opposite of him, crossing her legs and placing her purse on her lap. The elder decided to give Off the benefit of doubt and a chance to redeem and explain himself. She knows that her son is a responsible gentleman and there will always be a reasonable explanation for his actions.

"What's your excuse for skipping the date I set up last night?"

Off froze in his seat and placed his pen on the desk, he should've explained to his mother last night after he had decided not to show up for the date and finish up on his work instead. He leaned back against his chair, fingers casually resting next to his ear. He looked up to his mother, although she looked a tad weary with lines at the side of her eyes, she is still looking as elegant as ever.

"Why didn't you show up? I had to calm down Mrs. Ayuthayya when she found out that you, stood her daughter up. She was not pleased at all," his mum asked with a slight hint of anger in her tone this time. She shivered at the memory of her constant string of apologies and feeling a sense of guilt towards her friend who were also disappointed.

"Mae, I was occupied with work."

"I know Off and that is exactly why I set up that date and all you need to do is to turn up," his mum reasoned out, "And I am also fully aware that you are not interested to get married anytime soon but do I need to remind you that you're in a race against time? You're turning 30 soon and I don't want my son to live his entire life as a bachelor with no one else by your side and taking care of you when I am no longer in this world. I am sure your Po would want the same thing too," his mum said in a sad tone and sniffled. She took a piece of tissue on the desk and wiped her teary eyes, when thoughts of her late husband flashed in her mind.