27
The friendly Earn
At first, I was worried about 'A'. But now I'm more worried about the new hire. Though the woman with striking features had headphones on when she walked out of her stall, it doesn't mean that she didn't hear us. I have to prove it to ease my mind after a sleepless night.
"Earn."
"Yes?"
The one with striking features looks away from her computer and gives me a lively smile. She has a beautiful smile. It's a bit less beautiful than Aontakarn's, though.
Of course... I'm biased.
"How's it working here? Any problem so far?"
"No. Everyone is cute and friendly. I have to thank everyone for giving someone with no working experience an opportunity to work here."
"Are you hitting on the new girl, sis?"
Tem butts in. He asks as if he wants to tease me. I bared my teeth at him.
"Are you crazy? Am I hitting on everyone I talk to?"
"Your masculine aura is shining too brightly. If you don't want that, you have to be my wife."
I raise my leg in preparation to kick him, but Tenn sticks his tongue at me and runs over to hide behind Earn's back as if they are close.
This guy is a handful. He's taking advantage of the new girl without her knowing it... But I know because I'm enlightened, awakened, and delighted.
"Miss Kam does not come to the office today?"
Earn suddenly asks this curiously. I glance at her with distrust.
"She doesn't come in every day."
"Ah. Aren't you lonely then?"
"Why would I be?"
"Everyone says that you two are close... and dating."
Is she testing the water? I go quiet. I don't reply to her. When Tem hears that, he recalls the incident at the party when I lashed out at everyone, so he quickly puts a finger on his lips and tugs at Earn.
"Don't talk about this, Earn. She doesn't like it."
"Ops. I'm sorry. I didn't know that... Are you mad at me?" Earn raises her hand to apologize to me. I have no idea how to respond, so I simply wave my hands to reassure her that I am not angry.
"I'm not that easily aggravated, but I need to tell everyone not to go too far. They tend to tease until it's uncomfortable for others. No one has teased us for a while now, so I was surprised when Earn said that.
"Ah. I heard them gossip that you two like each other. But do you really like women?"
"Why do you ask that?"
"If you like women, you would be the cream of the crop. I had a female lover when I was in school. She had short hair and was very cute." And the one with striking features winks at me, half playfully and half seriously. "If it's you, I'm okay."
"Crazy."
"HAHA."
"Hey, don't flirt with each other in front of me. If women like each other, what are men for?"
"For us to swear at." I say that as I shrug. "I'm going to get to work."
As I'm about to go to my editing room, of which I'm not sure why we need one aside from to waste space, Earn calls me.
"Let's do lunch."
"Huh?"
"There are only men here. I'm a bit uncomfortable around them. Talking to a woman is better."
Tem looks like a lost dog. Earn looking past him makes me laugh. I nod and accept the invitation.
"Okay. Let's do lunch."
The new hire surprises me a lot. She's very friendly. She talks nonstop. She's clingy, and she's good with words. I believe if she talks to a monkey, the monkey will fall asleep because she does not stop.
"Eat something. I haven't seen you stop talking."
"Ah, I'm sorry. I talk a lot"
"You must have a lot of friends."
"Yes, but I only have a few close friends... I want to be close to you too." The one with striking features smiles at me a bit. "It's like I'm talking to an older sister. I want to be your younger sister."
"Are you trying to get on my good side? How can I turn you down when you ask like this? Are you uncomfortable working in a company full of flirty men?" I point my head to Tem, who's glancing at us from a table farther away from us. "You have to make do because we have very few women in the company. Tern was clingy to me for a while, but he will let you be once he's bored."
"I'm not uncomfortable. It's fun. Being a flower among the bees makes me feel special. Ah, I forgot... You're also a flower."
"Ah... which flower should I be?"
"A golden flower20".
" Sure. Bitch...
"I'm kidding. HA." And the one with striking features laughs loudly when she sees me bare my teeth at her. "I feel like I've passed your test."
20 A term used to refer to a woman as a slut.
"I'm a test for you?"
"A bit. Let's say that you're not one of my obstacles anymore."
Earn still babbles on. It seems odd what she just said, but I'll disregard it due to the fact that she babbles ceaselessly.
As I eat and listen to Earn, I notice someone standing farther away in the corner of my eye.
Gasp!
I feel a shiver running up my spine. I immediately know that it's a cold shiver from the most sulky woman in this world... and that woman is MY Aontakam!
"You two seem to be having a lot of fun."
As soon as the sweet-faced woman shows up, Earn smiles widely at her and invites her to sit with us.
"Please have a seat. I thought you weren't coming to the office today."
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Chris said that you don't come in that much."
"Really."
I feel insecure, though I'm sure I didn't do anything wrong.
"You two become close so quickly." Aontakarn says that without wanting any answer. Yet the person who doesn't know what's going on, like Earn, quickly replies.
"Yes, we're close. I'm sorry that I thought that you two were dating. It was a misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding?"
It seems like Aontakarn's question is directed at me. But Earn nods vigorously.
"Yes. The team members like to say that you two are probably dating. But when I asked Chris, she said that it's not true... Geez. Men like to babble, huh? How can two women be dating, right?"
You're talking too much. There's no need to talk nonstop like this. Aontakarn goes quiet for a bit before she gets up and excuses herself.
"I'll go to the office first. It's hot here."
"You're not eating with us?" Earn asks, but Aontakam shakes her head.
"Ifs okay. I've lost my appetite."
The sweet-faced woman walks away. And as soon as she does, the food on my more than half-full plate suddenly loses all its flavors.
"I'm full. Let me excuse myself."
"You just ate half of it... But, okay. Feel free to leave."
The woman with striking features waves me goodbye and continues to eat her food. For a split second, I think I see her smile as she's about to put food in her mouth, but I don't have time to observe her further because I have to hurriedly explain things to Aontakarn.
"Karn... hey, what's the matter?"
I grab the arm of the sweet-faced woman who's standing in front of the elevator. Aontakarn pulls her arm off my grip and crosses her arms across her chest.
"Nothing."
"Nothing means it's something. Hey... Why are you mad? It is because I went to lunch with Earn?"
"Yes."
Ops... She's so direct today. She's not dodging.
"I told you that I would try to find out if she knew about us."
"I could see that she doesn't because you told her that there's nothing going on between us."
The frustrated voice makes me let out a huge sigh. When Aontakam hears that, she glances at me and speaks with a very stem voice. "What's that sigh?"
"I don't know what to do."
"You're very weary of me, huh?"
"Karn."
Ding!
The elevator arrives. Everyone who comes down gets out before we get in and close the door. It's more quiet when we're in a small space.
"Let's not fight. It was nothing."
"…"
"Karn."
"Don't be loud. It's annoying."
"What? Annoying? You're not being cute, Kam."
"Of course, because there's someone cuter around here."
"What's the matter with you, Karn?"
Ding!
And we arrive at our floor. Aontakarn walks swiftly to our office. As she's about to open the door, I grab her arm and force her to go talk with me in a quiet place, which is the fire escape staircase.
Bang!
As soon as the door closes, I pull her up the flights of stairs to the floor above our office because I'm afraid that someone will hear us fight and come to look for us. Aontakarn twists her arm off my grip and crosses her arms across her chest again.
"What is it?"
"Kant.. you know that I talked to her so that I could find out if she knows about us."
"Ah-huh."
"Ah-huh, what?"
"Yes, I know."
"Then why are you still sulking like this?"
"…"
"Speak!"
I raise my voice, and it startles the sweet-faced woman. She shoots me a furious stare. I'm as shocked as she is. I almost raise my hand to apologize to her, but because I already showed her how serious I am, I have to keep going.
"You're probably very afraid that everyone will know about us, huh?"
"Aren't you afraid?"
"No! For me, it doesn't matter whether everyone knows or not. I never thought of going that far to try to hide it. Is it embarrassing to be with me?"
"No."
"No? Then why do you have to act as if it's a big deal? Karn... Karn..." The sweet-faced woman breathes so heavily that it's as if she's sobbing. I rush into her and wipe away the tears that are forming on her face because I cannot bear to see her cry. Yet she pushes me away. "Don't touch me. Sob..."
She cries...
"Did I make you feel bad?"
"Karn doesn't understand why it is so embarrassing to be with Kant. You're thinking of being with someone else, aren't you? Is that why you're so afraid that people will know about us?"
"That's taking it too far. I don't want people to know because..."
Creak...
The sound of the fire escape door opening makes me put my hand over Aontakarn's mouth to silence her. I'm surprised to hear people talking. And those people are...
Puth.
"Chris and I get along very well. You don't have to worry." Earn uses her high-pitched voice. Her back is pressed against the well. "You're in such a hurry."
"I miss you."
"Ah... don't you want to talk first?"
"I wouldn't remember a word."
They kiss passionately. It seems like Puth is in such a hurry that he doesn't care about anything, even what Earn wants to update him on.
"We should tell people that we're together."
"Chris is a handful. If I tell her I'm dating someone in the company, she will quit."
Aontakarn and I hear everything. We slowly lean down to look. I see my brother and the new hire make out. I hear them pant. I see their hands reaching in and grabbing places deep inside their clothes. I have to lean back because it's too embarrassing to watch. I turn to look at Aontakarn, who's as stunned as I am.
Wow... the only person with more perfect sitcom timing than me is my brother!