It was already beyond my wildest dreams to be able to work in the same place as Khun Sam. And today, I am sleeping in the same bed as her. The woman I look up to, who is my role model both in education and in life. But honestly, her house is not what I imagined. The style and tonality are so different from what I read in her interviews. They said that her style is contemporary and colourful.

It is contemporary indeed and definitely minimalist. But the colours are entirely comprised in shades of gray. The only colourful thing I see in this house is the red lipstick displayed on the table near the dressing. Even the pajamas I borrowed from her is gray.

“Do you like pink?”

“What?”

“Seeing your underwear, it seems like it.”

With two fingers, she lifts the bra that I forgot in the bathroom. I run over and snatch it from her hands with a flushed face. How embarrassing.

“Sorry, I forgot it in the bathroom and made you pick it up.”

“You did not make me pick it up. I just wanted to know, so I asked. I've always wondered why girls like pink so much.”

“Just because I wear pink, doesn't mean that I like it.”

“You don't? Your purse is pink, your compact powder case is pink, you pen is pink, everything is pink.”

“You know me well.”

She stops for a moment and smirks.

“I’m becoming a fan, maybe.”

How long will she make fun of me?

“I am tired.”

I put an end to the conversation and tuck my bra in my work dress before folding it, then I put my clothes away in a drawer.

“You go to bed early. Usually you answer my messages at 1 a.m.”

“You text me first, of course I would reply. On which side of the bed can I sleep?”

“On the other side.” She points to the side of the bed next to the window. I throw a knowing look towards her.

“Afraid the hungry ghosts will be watching you, huh?”

“I’m going to hit you.”

Khun Sam turned around to face me and shot me an evil glare. It doesn’t scare me though, I start to giggle softly as I lie under the comforting white duvet, which makes me feel like I’m sleeping in a hotel room. The unique scent of the owner of the house makes my heart flutter a little.

Her scent smell so good.

While I’m lying in bed, she paces around the room to pick up several things here and there. I sit up ad look at her curiously.

“Are you not sleepy?”

“It’s not my bedtime.”

“You sleep too late. It must be the cause of your headaches.”

“I can’t sleep without sleeping pills."

“This is not good for you. Come and lie down. If I fall asleep first, you’ll be alone seeing the hungry ghost.”

Khun Sam gasps and climbs on the bed. She turns off the main light and leaves the bedside lamp on. The light is too bright for my eyes, so I reach over her to turn it off.

“I am going to read a book. Why did you turn it off?”

“I want to sleep. You need to sleep too.” I take the book out of her hands and place it on the nightstand. Then I pull her body down on the bed with mine.

“You are brave. Is this how close you want us to be, my fan?”

Upon saying that and catching my eyes, I’m struck and flinch as if I’ve been electrocuted. Realising that, I move away from her.

“Sorry.”

“Why were you shocked like that?” She drapes an arm around me and brings me closer. “You told me to sleep, so then sleep with me.”

“Y… Yes.”

And finally, Khun Sam and I are both lying down in the same bed, confused at 11 p.m. on a Friday night. I feel thrilled because of the unfamiliar feeling of sleeping with someone, and that someone being my idol whom I love so much. I normally tend to fall asleep quickly, but the restlessness has me tossing and turning over and over again until I’m surprised by her face right in front of me.

Even though we’re in the dark, my pupils have already adjusted to the lack of light and I can see my beautiful boss clearly in front of me. And yes… Khun Sam still hasn’t fallen asleep.

"I've been looking at you and you don't seem to be able to fall asleep. Are you afraid of ghosts too?"

She's too close...

I swallow down hard and the sound is all we can hear in the silence.

"No, I'm just not used to this."

"We're both not familiar with sharing a bed."

Pit-a-pat...

Pit-a-pat...

My heart is poounding so hard that I am afraid Khun Sam would hear it, but of course since it is an internal organ, she wouldn't be able to hear it. Unlike the sound of my stomach growling or me gulping down.

“I better sleep downstairs.”

“No.”

“But I’m going to keep you from sleeping because I keep tossing and turning.”

And then.

Khun Sam wraps her arm across my body to hold me down. That action makes me jump a little, another electric shock.

“If I wrap my arm around you like this, you’ll be feeling too considerate of me and you won’t even dare get up to go to the bathroom. So you won’t be able to turn around anymore.”

“You are cheating.”

“It’s so nice that you are shorter. Very convenient.”

“Oh. You are so tall. As tall as the hungry ghosts of Suthat temple.” As soon as I finish my sentence, my boss pulls me closer to her. We are so close that our noses are touching. “Ah.”

“If you mention ghosts again, I will bite you.”

“I'm... scared.”

I use both my hands to gently push Khun Sam away from me. Seeing what I am doing, Khun Sam looks displeased and instead hugs me even tighter.

“If you move, I will reduce your salary.”

“Aren’t we too close? It's weird.” I try my best to stay calm as I speak. Khun Sam frowns at me, looking like she doesn't understand.

“Weird how?”

“The truth is, I feel shy. We’re too close. I will speak no more of the hungry ghosts.”

Now I'm feeling very hot. Luckily for me, the lighs are off otherwise Khun Sam would have seen that my cheeks have turned as red as tomatoes. My shaky voice makes her let go of me, but she doesn’t pull away.

“Are you nervous? It’s okay for girls to hug each other.”

“Friends hug each other. But we’re not friends. I don’t want you to think I’m trying to get close to you.”

“You're still thinking about that.” She said as she turns her head to hide half of it with her pillow, the other half is looking at me. “I said that but it was not to hurt you.”

“Your words mean a lot to me and they hurt me then. I don't want to do anything wrong. It’s late now. We better sleep.”

I cut in and try to turn the other way in order for us not to be staring at each other but it is vain. The same as a master, Khun Sam does not allow me and instead, she locks her arm around my body again to keep me in place. It's not easy to free myself from her grip.

“I cannot sleep.”

“Uh... okay. What should I do?”

“Tell me a story.”

“A story?”

“Tell me a bedtime story. It might help us sleep. Or do something to make me forget about the hungry ghosts looking behind the window. You're responsible.”

Right. If I hadn’t brought up the hungry ghosts, the situation would have been different, I wouldn't have ended up in bed like this and would have been home. So much responsibility. Looking at it this way, I smiled and thought about what story to tell.

“It’s a story about a crab family, Aesop’s fable.”

“Continue.”

“Once upon a time–”

“Why do stories always start with ‘Once upon a time’? Why don’t we talk about the present? How outdated.”

“Okay, I will narrate in the present. Not so long ago... is that good? It’s the story of a crab.” I sighed, starting to feel annoyed. “There was the mother of a crab.”

Aesop’s fable is simple. As far as I know, the story is about the mother of a crab who wanted to teach her son to walk forward, not sideways. But the crab’s mother couldn’t walk forward either.

And when I near the end of the story.

“The moral of the story is...”

“Keep walking forward even if you can’t, or your mother will hit you.”

“...”

“...”

The answer she gives me makes me burst out laughing. She looks at me incomprehensibly and the face she makes is one I would never be ble to find in any magazines.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“That...” My lips tremble because I cannot stop laughing.. “That is not the moral of the story. The moral of the story is, ‘Do not tell others how to act unless you can set a good example.’”

“You are a terrible storyteller!”

She turns away from me when she sees me laughing. I want to apologise but I can’t stop laughing at her, she’s really cute when she’s mad.

“Khun Sam, I didn’t mean to laugh at you. I’m sorry, you’re just so cute.”

“You did the same thing as what my friends do. They say it's hard for me to understand things.”

“It’s not like that. Oh.” Khun Sam starts pushing me with her back, so I hold onto her. If I fall out of bed, she will fall with me.

“Will you stop laughing?”

“I will. Please don't. I am going to fall. If I fall out of bed, you will fall with me and you will get hurt too.” I cling to Khun Sam like a baby monkey. I want to win this battle, but so does she. And finally, she makes us fall over with a scream.

We both fall out of bed and my head hits the ground with a loud thud. Khun Sam, who was on top of me, is startled by the loud sound and runs to see me after turning on the bedside light.

“Are you okay? I heard your head hit the floor.”

”It.. hurts.”

“How is the floor?”

“Khun Sam!”

“I’m just kidding.” She said while holding my head with both hands. “Will the pain go away if I blow on your head?”

I am stunned by her cute side. Now she is taking care of me like she is taking care of a child and blows on my head. Then she looks at me in the eyes and the world seems to stop.

Pit-at-pat.

Pit-a-pat.

My heart.

“When I look into your eyes...”

“Yes?”

“My heart races.”