Chapter 01
Arthit’s POV
I have a crush.
Yes, I know that’s nothing new and everybody at some point in their life has had a crush. But anyone would agree that every crush is important not only to the person with a crush but also to his/her friends.
It’s important to you because you are the one in love, the one whose heart race when he’s nearby, the one who blushes with just a hello, the one whose life brightens when that person smile, whose thoughts bring a smile to your lips no matter where you are and all the sappy shit.
It’s important to your friend for one of two reasons. One, they know when to be supportive with either a scheme to make your crush fall for you or some snarky comments when things go south. Two, they will, always, always, embarrass you to death no matter the circumstance or the people involved. Especially that one friend who, once they realize about your crush, the next moment it’s like breaking news. You are added to a new chat group that is solely dedicated to you and your crush. All the social media stalking you did on your own is now a group activity. Friends! You can’t live with them, you can’t live without them.
So my not so important crush began on the very first day of my new job. I was fresh out of college and starting my work as an engineer. He was the owner’s son and the Boss Man. Typical.
Since it was my first day at my first job I woke up extra early and reported to the HR department. The nice HR lady P’Durian, took me around the company introducing me to 100 odd employees whose names I forgot the next minute. And then we climbed to the third floor where the finance department was. That is where I met Khun Paka aka Godzilla or simply referred to in conversation as Khun Terror.
When P’ Durian introduced us Khun Terror looked me over with the coldest of gazes. From top of my head which I had taken extra care with in the morning in order to look professional, to bottom where my extra shiny shoes were. Have you ever felt a cold sensation running from the soles of your feet to the top of your head making all the hair in your body stand? That was exactly how I felt at that moment. In fact I was waiting for the signature fog to cover the surrounding and for it to get pitch black and when I look around and at Khun Paka again for her to have developed red eyes and pointed canines.
I was snapped out of my imaginary horror show when I felt a slight nudge from P’Durian. But given the fact that she was exactly twice my size I almost lost my balance. And when I regained it, the look on Khun Terror’s face has gotten even colder. Which couldn’t have been humanly possible, which also prove my theory that she is not. Human that is. Not human.
However I was able to timidly great her and introduce myself. I even managed a “nice to meet you, please take care of me” At which point she just huffed and walked away.
I exhaled only then realizing I’ve been holding my breath. Then turned to P’Durian only to realize that her state was not any better than mine. In fact she even had a hand on her heart. And she’s been an HR executive in this company for five years! Is it any wonder that I just wanted to lie on the floor and never get up?
Anyhow after that horror attack P’Durian took me to a different section in the same floor. This section is separated from the rest of the third floor and this is where the person who is currently dominating my mind at every waking moment has his office. Now you might be wandering why the newbie engineer, the one at the bottom of the food chain, gets to meet the Boss Man. Well apparently, this company is big on open door policy. Which means that the boss can not only approached by the managers but also by other team members if they think their issue is not given enough attention by the immediate supervisor. This doesn’t mean you get to meet the boss man whenever it takes your fancy. If you cannot find a satisfactory solution by talking to your manager or other relevant departments (HR, Finance etc.) you can direct your grievances to the boss man. But first you got to get past the Dragon.
The Dragon is the Boss Man’s secretary. She is mid fifty’s with specs and a very strict demeanor. She has a habit of looking over her specs, which is what she did when we entered the office, and looks more like a principle whose looks can put you in line. She is nobody’s fool and has been secretary to CEO for 30+ years, from way before Boss Man was even born.
P’Durian introduced me to Khun Suruchi, aka the Dragon, who gave me a once over. Which was the second time a female co-worker has given me a once over, but this time instead of going to cuckoo land, I looked her in the eyes and smiled with a ‘Nice to meet you, please take care of me’, which I have been doing for everyone I met that day with the exception of Khun Terror. And then she smiled and said ‘Call me P’Suruchi’ and then asked us to wait while she check if the Boss Man was ready. So P’Durian and I sat on the couch that was in the office while P’Suruchi knocked and entered the Lion’s Den.
I looked at P’Durian only to see her gawking at me, literally with her eyes bulging and mouth open.
‘P’ are you Ok’ I asked taken aback. She seems to visibly shake herself awake, looked at the door P’Suruchi disappeared to and then at me again. At this point I was even more confused than I’ve been the entire day. Which is quite a feet if you’ve ever experienced an orientation like mine. Multiple emotions ran through her face. Incredulity, a hint of fear and maybe even jealousy, of which I’m not sure because of the most part she just looked amazed and asked ‘What just happened?’
Seriously. She’s asking the newbie who just met P’Suruchi two seconds ago what happened?
‘What do you mean P’? What’s wrong?
’Did Khun Suruchi just ask you to call her P’Suruchi?”
Is she hard of hearing? Did she hit her head?
‘Umm... I think so. Why P’? What’s wrong?′
But before she could say anything the door opened to reveal P’Suruchi who ushered us in to the room and closed the door behind us. The room was so bright and the windows covered an entire wall from ceiling to floor showing a perfect view of the workshop and factories below. The Boss Man sat behind a mahogany desk which was neat and tidy, probably curtsy of P’Suruchi, and was looking through some papers. When P’Suruchi closed the door he looked up and my first thought was ‘Hot damn!’
