The two of us stood there on the floor, looking at each other under the warm orange light. Khun Sam is so close to me, my heart is pounding like crazy. It is way over 160 now, I’m sure I'm going to pass out at any second. She is staring at me with her beautiful brown eyes, I feel like ice cream melting in the summer.

“Are you sleepy?”

“Y-Yes.”

“There’s gunk in your eyes.”

“Really?!” I quickly wipe my eyes while Khun Sam jumps on the bed and lies down on her side with her back to me. “There's nothing. Where did you see it?”

"Try again."

"You're just playing with me!"

“I don't know what you're talking about. I need to sleep. Sweet dreams.”

What? Why is she like this? I look at the person who suddenly has gone silent with a confused face. I then turn off the lamp light and cover myself with the duvet.

Well, what just happened? The atmosphere made me feel dizzy inside, I'm not sure how to explain it.

The next morning, I wake up to the light of the sun coming through the window. I sit up and realise this is not my house, but Khun Sam's. The noise of the shower in the bathroom brings me out of my lethargy.

Ah. It wasn't a dream. I did spend the night here at Khun Sam’s house and I’m lying in her bed.

I’m excited and confused at the same time, but this mixed feeling soon goes away when Khun Sam emerges from the bathroom wearing a gray T-shirt and navy blue sweatpants.

“You wake up late. You said that you wake up every day at 4 a.m. to get ready for work, but it seems that is not true. Did you lie to me?”

“Well, last night someone made me stay up late. But why did you wake up so early?” I’m noticing dark circles under her eyes even though she just got out of the shower. Her beautiful brown eyes don’t lie. She looks exhausted. “You look tired, as if you haven’t gotten any sleep.”

“No one can sleep next to you. You snore so loudly in your sleep, as if a buffalo and a myna sat down on a rice field and started chatting and gossiping.”

“Have you ever heard a buffalo talking with a myna?”

“It’s like Aesop’s fable.”

“Was there something like that in the fable?”

“There is a talking mother crab, why wouldn't it also have talking buffalo and myna?”

Why did I have to wake up early to discuss about talking crabs, buffalos and mynas on top of my snoring? I don't want to continue this nonsense talk and decide to cut it here and go to the bathroom to take a shower but...

“You can wear my clothes. It’s not good to wear yours again.”

“Why is it not good?”

“They are not clean. It wouldn't look nice.”

Oh, right. I nod in response, even if I am still a little bit confused, it is considerate of her and I agree. I take a 15 minutes shower and brush my teeth with a new toothbrush she left for me. Then I head to her closet. Inside, I see there are only clothes in gray tones.

Where are the red clothes?

In an interview, she said she liked flashy red clothes.

I pick out a comfortable T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants that matches the style Khun Sam chose to wear earlier. It would not be appropriate to wear jeans, they seem very expensive. When I come out of the bathroom, she looks at me for a moment.

“Are you trying to copy me?”

“Ah. It’s because they're your clothes.They're all just gray.”

“It's easy to wear.” She walks past me to the closet, grabs a sport jacket and puts it on. “Now we look different. We are not dressed like a couple anymore.”

I feel embarrassed after hearing her say that. Why do I feel like this? We're just wearing the same clothes.

While I feel uncomfortable and wonder what I should do next, Khun Sam's phone rings. She looks at it and seems to remember something. She then looks back at me.

“I forgot that I am meeting with friends today.”

“It's okay. I'll just take a taxi home…"

“Are you not hungry?”

“I am fine.”

“It’s free.”

“It’s also free at home. I better eat there.”

“And it’s delicious.”

“My mother's cooking is delicious too.”

“It is also quite expensive.”

“But...”

“You are poor, right?”

God.

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“Just tell me if you want to come.”

“I do not want to come.”

“It’s quite expensive. You wouldn’t be able to afford it. I will pay for you.”

“Then I am coming with you.”

“You're such a freeloader.”

A freeloader?

What's up with her.

I knew that if I tried to avoid the conversation, it would end up going into a never ending loop again, the same as what happened in the car last night. I feel like I got to know my boss a little better now. She will never directly say what she has in mind and will instead go around in circles until I lose.

Brilliant.

“The restaurant is not far from here. Let’s walk.”

“Can we get there by walking?”

“I can never find a parking spot there. If they had planned to meet somewhere away from here, I would not be going.”

“Why don’t you invite them over to you place?”

“I do not like to have people at my place.”

So why did I spend the night at her place? Ah, it must be because she was scared of the hungry ghosts, so she had me stay over. However, I don’t dare ask her about it and I just follow in her footsteps.

“Why are you walking behind me? Come, walk beside me.”

“Y-Yes, sure.”

She stops walking and waits for me to be by her side. We walk together in silence until we reach the restaurant. I wouldn’t say it’s far, we didn’t walk that much. There are many restaurants and shops around Khun Sam's residence.

We arrive in front of a Japanese restaurant that appears to be open for lunch. There’s only a small group of rowdy customers inside. They stop talking as soon as Khun Sam walks in.

“P.P. is here! Oh, who did you bring with you?"

Everyone is looking at me in strangely before Khun Sam introduces me to her friends.

“My subordinate from work. Can she join us?”

I notice them look at each other before one of them gleefully stands up and pulls out a chair for me, as if we were in a country bar. Khun Sam’s friends are kind to me. One of them is an actress, she has been friends with Khun Sam since high school. I remember her because I often saw her walking with Khun Sam at school and my mother used to boast about how she used to talk to celebrities.

“What’s your name, P.P.'s subordinate?"

Khun Sam’s actress friend, whose name is ‘Kate’, asks me and makes me flinch slightly. Another friend tried to deter her by hitting her hand.

“Don’t be rude to her. She doesn’t know how obnoxious we are. What’s your name, honey? You’re so cute.”

I also remember this woman. She is a gorgeous tomboy and was very popular in high school. She is also the heiress of a billionaire.

That must mean that they are all high school friends.

“My name is Mon."

“Your name is cute like you. So, why are you here with P.P.? Oh, by the way I'm Kate. You can call me Kate. You must know my name already because of how famous I am.” She brags with a smile on her lips. On TV, she seems so quiet. But in reality, she is a very friendly person.

“Yes, I do know you.”

“My name is Tee.” The gorgeous woman introduces herself before introducing the third person. “And this is Jim.”

“I changed name. Call me Martha.”

“Gosh! It’s nonsense to change your name from Jim to Martha, it's too different.”

I look at them and feel nervous because they are having a casual conversation together and I don’t know what level of language politeness to use when talking to them. They graduated from the same school as Khun Sam, it means they either come from high society family, royal family or some famous family.

From what I’ve seen so far, they’re a friendly bunch.

“Be polite with her, don’t be rude please.” Khun Sam scolded her friends, but they all roll their eyes with their lips pursed.

“Oopsies! P.P. has become a good woman now.”

“You better call me Sam around Mon. By the way, is there a menu? Can you give her one?”

Everyone is fighting for the menu. Finally, P'Kate snatches it and hands it to me with a smile.

“You can order anything you want, Jim will pay for us.”

“I told you to call me Martha.” P'Martha interjects (I'll call her Martha). She smiles sweetly at me and says, “Go ahead, cutie, I pay. Today is on me. Because today is a great day.”

“Tell her. Today you are giving us your wedding invitations.” P'Tee tells me about the upcoming wedding.

“I’m happy for you.” I congratulate her.

“Why are you happy for her? She wouldn’t be getting married if she hadn’t gotten pregnant.” Khun Sam says with a grim face. P'Martha sticks her finger in her own drink and splashes it on Khun Sam.

“P.P.! Mon just met me. Show me some respect.”

“Then stop calling me P.P.”

"Kate, hand me the menu. I’ll order for our P.P.” Since P'Martha is the one inviting us today, P'Kate hands her the menu and starts asking Khun Sam. “What do you want to eat?”

“Please order. It's not like I've never seen the food before.”

“Want this, squid sushi?”

“Perfect.”

“Right. Then no.” P'Martha smiles and looks at another page. “How about this one, tuna sushi?”

“Looks good enough to eat.”

“Nope… how about this, shrimp salad?”

“So-so.”

“Okay then, no. These are uni sushi, like those in the movie Fanday.”

“They’re made from sea urchins, aren’t they?”

“Yes. Do you want that?”

“…”

“…”

“No.”

“Great, I’ll order them.”

Everyone applauds excitedly. Khun Sam crosses her arms and looks at everyone without saying anything. As for me, I just keep quiet. I sympathise with Khun Sam who is being teased by her friends ever since she arrived.

“Annoying. I’m going to the bathroom. I'll be right back.”

After Khun Sam goes to the bathroom and leaves me behind, they all look at me and then at their watches.

“How long do you think P.P. will take in the bathroom?”

“She didn’t have makeup on so probably around 5 minutes."

“Jim, go delay her." P'Kate ordered her friend. The person who was ordered around snorted.

"Why does it have to be me?"

"Because you're a soon to be mother, you can drag it out and be extremely annoying. Hold P.P. for as long as you can, we'll handle it here."

Even though P'Jim (well, I'll call her Jim) made a snorting noise, she gave in easily. The remaining friends pulled their chairs and sat around me as if to prevent me from escaping their prison.

"We probably have around 8 or 10 minutes. Mon, I’m going to ask you something.”

“Yes?” I look at the older women around me and start to feel a bit insecure. What is happening? “What is it?”

“What's going on between you and P.P.?”

“Eh? I am just her subordinate.”

“Really? Then why are you wearing her clothes? I know this, this is her signature colour. You two are dressed like a couple.”

“Uh...” I think for a moment and answer truthfully. “Last night I stayed over at Khun Sam’s place, she wasn't feeling well, she was having a headache so I stayed with her.”

“Did you two sleep together? She let you into her house?” P'Tee crosses her arms and looks at me in surprise after hearing my answer. “I have been friends with her for over 10 years and she never even let me take a step in her house. Even when we schedule something, we meet outside her place. She says she's afraid we will dirty her house."

“Well... uh... I didn't know.”

“You're really just a subordinate?”

“Really. What else could I be?”

“Her girlfriend? Ah. Or her boyfriend. But your fingernails are quite long.” P'Kate speaks excitedly at first but then with shock. But while I’m hesitant to speak, she raises her hand and scratches her head. “Why make this complicated? Are you P.P.’s girlfriend? Just answer yes or no.”

“No. I’m just an employee. I’m not lying to you.”

“It might be true. P.P. doesn’t know how to do these sorts of things.” P'Tee agrees with me “She's too oblivious. When Jim called Mon cutie, she made a disgusted face.”

“Everything is possible. Mon has such a cute face. But didn't anything happen last night?”

“I am a girl. What would happen?” I say this without really understanding. They look at each other before getting up and sitting together to talk.

Phew... I'm fed up with this.

“Weird. P.P. let someone into her house and nothing happened. Why?” P'Kate keeps a confused expression on her face as the others keep silent, so I ask.

“Is it really that weird? I just stayed the night."

“It truly is weird. She doesn’t let anyone inside her private space. This is why we are all shocked... She doesn’t normally introduce anyone to us. She must be scared of people seeing this side of her when she is with us wild gals, but she introduced you to us.”

Yes, I also am shocked.

“Even Mr. Kirk. What's up with that? We haven't met him yet.” P'Tee said.

“Really?” I find that interesting. “That’s really weird.”

“Yes, very much so.”

“But P.P. has always acted strange like this. We could never understand her.” P'Tee touches her chin gently. “She doesn’t say what she thinks so we must interpret what she says, it's difficult. People don't get her.”

“Is it that bad?"

“Did you not notice it yourself? If there is something she wants, she will not say it directly. She avoids getting to the point and keeps beating around the bush. In the end, you'll be feeling so annoyed that you will give in. She's a quiet dictator.”

I think I've seen it happen a few times. When I insisted on going home, we argued endlessly.

“But we understand. She grew up under a lot of pressure and couldn't be herself and isn't allowed to be what she wants to be. She’s the type to circle around. See, when we ordered food just now, it felt like we were teasing her but we were actually helping her choose.”

“Eh?”

“If she says a dish looks delicious, it means she doesn’t want it. While if she refuses, says it doesn't look interesting or isn't edible, it means that she wants it or at least that she wants to try it out but doesn't dare say so.”

This is something I never realised. Is she really like that?

“Yes. When we were at school, we once walked past this restaurant and had spicy papaya salad with fermented fish. While we were eating she just stood there and kept saying it wasn’t clean and blah blah blah. But the next day, we saw her eat it in secret behind school. When she was caught, she made a stupid face and avoided the matter, saying that her body was very clean and that she should eat something dirty from the streets to balance her immune system.” P'Tee laughs as she reminisces about her school days. I also crack a smile because I found the story very cute.

“You know her well.”

“Clearly. We’ve been friends for a long time, so we know her well. She is the type we love to tease the most in this world. No matter what we do, she doesn’t get mad. And even if she does get mad, we don’t even know if she is because her face doesn’t change expression. We just know she’s cute. If she wasn’t my friend I’d hit on her.”

“Then why...” I feel a little embarrassed to ask this question as I’m sitting in this restaurant. “…why do you call her P.P.?"

“Poopy Poop*."

*TL Note: Poopy Poop – in Thai "Yi Moi" is a pun on Sam's title of mom luang

P'Kate responds without hesitation. But it’s hard for me to repeat those words out loud, even though I know what they’re saying.

“Huh?”

“We call her P.P. It stands for poopy poop. Just a nickname we gave her when we were younger."

“When we first called her that, she didn’t get mad.” P'Tee laughs. P'Kate tells me more to understand the story.

“At first, nobody liked her because we thought she would be arrogant because of her Mom Luang status. But then we realised that she’s a nice girl. Wow! We missed the time, she’s coming back. Quick, give me your number.” P'Kate said. “Do you have Line? I will add you.”

“Ah. Okay.”

“Quick!” I hurriedly gave her my phone number. She saves it and winks at me. “Thanks, whatever you want to know I’ll tell you via Line. By the way, let’s play a prank on Sam.”

“Just for fun?”

“I want to know how she feels about you. She’s coming back.”

Khun Sam comes back. When she sees that P'Tee is sitting next to me, she pulls her friend to another seat and then sits down next to me. P'Kate and P'Tee look at each other for a moment and ask.

“P.P.”

“My name is Sam.”

Even though she warned them, they ignore her and keep calling her P.P.

“Do you think Mon is cute?"

What crazy question is this? Khun Sam looks at her friends for a moment and looks up at me with a downward smirk.

“No, she’s not cute at all.”

“You don’t like her?”

Khun Sam is silent for a moment, then answers clearly.

“Um, I don’t like her.”

Her friends smile and so do I, as I just received information that she is the type of person who says the opposite of what she thinks.

Pit-a-pat.

Pit-a-pat.