Sugar Baby (KaoXEarth)

Chapter 23 (18+)

"Have you seen Nong'Earth?" Kao asked Kessa quietly, leaning over to whisper in her ear.

"Not in a while. Have you lost him?" She asked, smiling politely at an older gentleman who inclined his head in their direction.

"He said he was going to the washroom, but that was a good twenty minutes ago. Do you think he got lost?"

"This place is big, but it's not that big P'." She rolled her eyes at him. "Maybe he spilled something on himself and is cleaning up, why don't you go check on him?"

"Fair enough." Kao replied, gently waiing to excuse himself from the group of people they were standing with, making his way toward the bathroom. On his way he passed Nong'James' pregnant wife, who was gently fanning herself on a bench, clearly overheated in her pregnant state. She gave him a happy little wave and he waved back.

He made his way into he bathroom, seeing the room empty. One stall at the end of the line had the door closed, and he walked over to it, knocking gently on the door.

"Excuse me, is Nong'Earth in here? I'm looking for someone." He asked.

Inside the stall Earth quickly scrubbed at his face with his hands, rubbing the tears off from his eyes and cheeks, thankful that he hadn't worn a lot of makeup that could be ruined by his crying.

Stop being such a little baby. So what if your ex said mean things to you? You know what sort of person you are, and that you and Kao really care for each other. He told himself, clenching his fists together in an attempt to pep himself back up.

"Hi P', it's me." He said, trying to quell any shaking out of his voice.

"Are you okay? You've been gone for a while." Kao asked.

"Yes, sorry!" Earth apologized, opening the door. Kao stared down at him, his eyes narrowing.

"Your eyes are all red, have you been crying?" He asked, frowning. "Did someone say something mean to you or something?"

"Oh! No. I accidentally whacked my elbow and it hurt a lot. I'm a bit of a baby about pain. I didn't want to come out until my eyes were less red, because people might talk and I don't want them saying anything bad about you." Earth said with a smile.

"Are you okay? I don't care if people say anything. Do you need to go to a doctor or something?"

Earth let out a little laugh, playfully smacking Kao's chest.

"Oh please. For smacking my elbow? Don't be a worry wart. I've done worse things in my life. Besides, that's why I always bring supplies with me." He said with a laugh, reaching into his suit jacket and pulling a foundation compact from an inside pocket, leaning over into the mirror and beginning to cover up his ruddy cheeks.

"Are you sure?" Kao asked.

"Of course! Don't worry."

But Kao couldn't help but worry. The rest of the evening he watched Earth flit around him, being quietly friendly, smiling with the wives of the various businessmen, looking calmer than Kao had ever seen him. Usually Earth's hands would flutter around himself, reaching out to touch the people he talked to in a friendly manner. For the evening his kept his fingers tangled together at his front politely, being every inch the graceful and quiet date that was expected of businessmen.

It was on one hand exactly what he needed, but on the other hand seemed so intrinsically wrong to see Earth tamp down his inner sparkle to fit into a world so divergent from his own.