It's Monday and there's something different about it. For whatever reason, Pie is excited to go to work today. She woke up early, had her breakfast, and left for office right away. She came in too early that she had the entire floor to herself when she arrived.

She immediately checked the list of her online friends in their internal messenger. Kim's status is still colored gray.

She's not here yet.

She stood up, retouched herself in the ladies’ room, grabbed herself a coffee in the pantry and went back to her table to check her friend's list again.

Still not in.

She checked her emails this time. Slowly, people are coming in one by one. Although her table is located at the center of the floor, she can't see who comes in and goes out because her back is facing the entrance.

"Good morning, Pie!" Puey, who just arrived, greeted her.

"Hi, Puey," said Pie, smiling at him. The lady-like guy stopped to stare at her. Pie noticed it. "What's the matter?"

Puey crossed his arms. "There's something different about you today, Pie."

"And what is that?"

"I'm not sure..." He walked towards her. "You just seem vibrant. You look blooming today."

"Does that mean I don't look blooming in some other days?"

"Oh c'mon, you're always beautiful, darling. There's just something different right now," he said, scanning her. "New haircut?"

"No."

He scanned her more. "Hmm, new hair color?" Pie shook her head. Puey held her chin this time and asked, "Are you using new make-up?"

"No."

"Don't tell me you already have a boyfriend?"

Pie smiled at that. She shook her head no.

"That smile, Pie, I knew it! There must be someone!" he exclaimed, pointing a finger at her.

Pie waved her hand. "Nah. I just had a great weekend. There's no special someone yet."

"Oh really? I don't know why but my intuition says I should not believe you."

"Oh, Puey, don't make a fuss out of it."

"Fine! Fine! I'll wait until you're ready to spill the details," he said, walking back to his station.

After the conversation, she checked her friend's list again to her disappointment.

Offline.

She shifted her eyes at the bottom of the screen to check the time.

It's already 7:53, what time does she usually arrives?

At that instant moment, she saw Kim's status changed color from gray to green. The little notification appeared.

Kimhan Buranaphan is online.

She moved her mouse on Kim's name and clicked it twice. A new window popped up to start a conversation. Her hands motioned to the keyboard. But then, she stopped the idea.

Wait, what am I doing? What should I tell her? Do I really have to message her now?

Pie found herself staring at her monitor, hands clasped on her chin. The only reason she added Kim before is for the lipstick project they worked on together. She can't remember the last time they chat, and the probable reason for that conversation was all regarding the project.

After a few seconds of uncertainty, she clicked the close button with her mouse. She leaned at the backrest of her chair and stared at the ceiling with both her hands on her tummy.

Kling!

The chat message notification made Pie rose up. A sweet smile flashed on her face after checking it.

"Good morning, princess :-D"

Without having second thoughts, Pie replied right away, "Morning, Kim :-)"

It took just a few seconds for Kim to reply, "How was your weekend?"

"Boring, Sunday was the worst. How about you, what happened to your tennis practice?"

"Just same ol' stuff. Got so tired after the practice. Sunday was boring for me too (T_T)"

"Ooh, poor Kim, always alone (>_<)"

"You should probably visit me more often ;-D"

"I think you should buy a pet, you know, so you won't get bored somehow."

"Come to think of it, I haven't thought of that until now, Pie."

"You love cats or dogs?"

"Hmmm... do you think turtles are going to be a fun pet around? :-P"

Pie glanced at Mrs. Lee beside the monitor. She's not aware that she's still smiling. She typed in her reply, "If you're patient enough to wait for it to greet you, I guess it's going to be fun around ;)"

"Cool! I'm gonna buy one soon!"

"So, how's you and Na—"

Pie wanted to ask about Nam but was hesitant about it. She deleted her message.

"Hey, Pie," a message appeared again, even before Pie was able to respond to the previous chat.

"Yeah?"

"Do you know what turtles use to communicate?"

"I have no idea."

"C'mon, make a wild guess : >"

"Mmm, are they using radio waves like bats?"

"No, they are using shell-phones! Hahaha :-D :-D :-D"

Pie couldn't understand how a simple corny joke like that made her smile. She was giggling silently in her station, trying to keep it to herself so no one would notice.

":-D I can't believe I bought that one, Kim XD"

"Have you had your breakfast yet?" Kim was typing too fast. It seems like she isn't doing anything yet.

"Yeah, I had it at home."

"Good for you."

"How about you?"

"Nobody prepares food for me :'("

Pie was too busy on her computer and she doesn't notice the people around her arriving. "Don't tell me you're skipping breakfast?"

"No, I'm having a burger now ^_^"

Pie looked up, imagining Kim eating a burger in her station. "Is that what you're having every day?"

"Yeah, most of the time. Why?"

"Wow. You're killing yourself, Kim."

"I know. But I don't have a choice."

"Can't cook your own food?"

"Love to but don't want to. Cooking is only fun if you're sharing the food with someone."

"You mean you always go out even for dinner?"

"Yup, every single time."

"You must get some real food, Kim, even for breakfast only."

"I told you, I don't have time for that. Unless someone here is kind enough to prepare my breakfast ;-)"

Pie smiled at the idea. "Fine. I'll bring you breakfast tomorrow."

"WOW! Really???"

"Of course. Consider it as a token of gratitude for carrying me to your apartment."

"Yehey! \(^_^)/"

"Be sure to arrive here 7:15 tomorrow, okay?"

"I will your highness. Thank you! (^o^)"

"What time did you arrive today?"

"About ten minutes ago. I saw you talking to Puey."

"Oh, I didn't notice you come in."

"How would you notice; your back is facing the entrance XD"

"Yeah, I know that."

"Were you waiting for me?"

Pie's fingers on the keyboard were frozen. After few more seconds she replied, "No, why would I wait for you?"

Kim replied fast, "Aww, that's too bad :("

"Why is it bad?"

It took few more seconds for Kim to reply, "Because I miss you :">"

Pie instantly shuddered in delight after reading the message. She even had to look away from the screen just to contain the feeling. When she turned around she saw Jane looking at her.

"Hey, Pie, who's that? Why are you blushing?" Jane, who just arrived, dropped her shoulder bag on her chair.

Pie immediately shook her head, unaware that she cannot get the smile off her face. "It's nothing, Jane."

"Oh c'mon, I don't believe you! Why do you look so happy? Who are you chatting with?" asked Jane, coming over.

Without further ado, Pie closed the conversation window before Jane sees it.

Jane's excitement rose up when she saw the chat box closed. "Why did you close it? Who's that?"

"No one."

"No one? I don't believe you, Pie. I haven't seen you smile like that before. Who's the lucky guy?"

"No one important, Jane. Just forget about it, okay?"

"How can I forget about it? Look at yourself, you're blushing."

Kling!

Oh .

Pie and Jane stared at each other for a second, waiting who'll make the first move.

"Let me see! Let me see!" Jane grabbed the mouse right away.

"No! No!" Pie was doing her best, forcefully trying to remove Jane's hand from the mouse.

But Jane was stronger. She clicked on the notification and opened the conversation box.

"Good morning, Pie. How are you? ;)"

"It's Van?" Jane shoot Pie a suspicious look. "Did something happen last Friday that I missed?"

Oh, my... that was close…

"Nothing. Kim drove Van home first, and then she drove me home... after..." Pie lied. She doesn’t know why she was lying in the first place. Well, it's not purely lying. Kim drove her home after 15 hours.

"Ooh. You're hiding something from me," said Jane, still suspicious.

"I'm not."

"I'll ask Kim and Van about it."

"I told you, nothing happened." Pie got a bit worried what will happen if Jane asked Kim instead.

"But did you enjoy our little party last Friday?"

The party didn't matter to Pie, she had more fun after. "Yeah, I enjoyed it. How about you, I remember we left you and Zee at the bar, right?"

A wide smile slipped across Jane's face. "Zee is sooo sweet..."

"So... you're into her this time?" poker-faced Pie asked.

"I guess I am. I enjoyed her company a lot. After that, we went out to see each other again on weekend."

Pie can’t help but admire how fast things are going between Zee and Jane. "So... what about Kim?"

"I still like Kim, I really do, but I have this feeling that she's not into me.” Jane held Pie's hands. "I have a feeling that she likes somebody."

"Who?" asked Pie, pretending she doesn't have any idea about it.

"I don't know. I could ask Zee about it. But yeah, I think Kim is in love with someone else."

Pie didn't say anything. She knows who's that someone. She'd seen her. In fact, she'd shaken hands with her already.

Nam.

---

Pie couldn’t reply to Kim's message after that because she was afraid that Jane might look into her conversation again. Plus, she doesn’t know what to respond as well.

It's nearly the end of the day and she hasn't gotten a glimpse of Kim yet. Something inside her wants to see how Kim looks today. What kind of shirt she's wearing, or if she’s wearing her favorite cap again. She was also asking herself why Kim didn't bother to visit her when she said that she misses her.

It came to a point where Pie was already thinking of excuses to go to Van's department. However, she kept on suppressing the thought because she doesn't want to be branded as one of Kim's fangirls.

"Hey, Kim, I haven't seen you fooling around here today, huh?"

Pie whipped her head around when she heard Jane spoke. Jane happens to see all the people who walk in and out of that area.

Kim, who's just passing by after getting water from the pantry, stopped in front of Jane's terminal. "Yeah, just busy, you know, Monday."

"What happened to you guys last Friday? Did I miss something?" Jane asked.

Kim got interested. She placed her tumbler above Jane's terminal. "Nothing important, why?"

"Well..." Jane turned her body to Pie. "Someone's acting different today..."

Kim glanced at Pie for a second but immediately looked away when their eyes met. She had to avert her gaze because she feels too shy to look at Pie who's so stunning today.

That morning, when Kim came, she saw Puey and Pie talking. Anyone who enters through the door will immediately get a glimpse of Pie's back. It is a view that Kim is starting to love looking at each time she passes the hallway.

"And what's different about her?" Kim asked.

"Well... there's someone making her happy..." said Jane, teasing.

Kim looked back at Pie and saw her already doing something in her station. "Is this someone I know?"

"Jane, stop it," Pie warned.

Jane hesitated for a moment to speak. She knew she'll be dead if she disobeyed.

"What's that?" Kim asked. She can't control her curiosity.

Jane let out a soft giggle. "It's just that I caught Pie this morning, blushing while chatting with Van."

Kim's eyebrows furrowed. The entire morning, she thought that the reason Pie didn’t respond to her is because she felt uncomfortable. And because of that notion, Kim felt shy of what she did to the point that she lost the guts to visit Pie in her station even if she wanted to.

And now, hearing from Jane that it was because of Van made her feel uneasy.

"It's not like what you're thinking, Jane," said Pie, covering her face with her palms.

"Then why were you blushing like a teenager earlier? Stop denying it," Jane accused. She turned to Kim. "Did something happen to your two drunk passengers last Friday, Kim?”

Kim shook her head. "I drove Van home first, then I drove Pie home..." she paused a bit, then continued, "...after. Nothing really happened."

Kim noticed Pie's shoulders moved, like she’s giggling. Pie glanced at her quickly, smiling. Kim smiled back.

"Hmm, maybe Pie and Van had a date last Saturday? What do you think, Kim?" Jane, who's unaware of what happened, asked again.

"I have no clue, Jane." Kim shook her head to make it look more convincing.

"I'm just curious..." Jane was thinking out loud, "I thought Pie didn't like Van, but this morning, she's really blushing, Kim. I saw it."

"It wasn't Van, Jane," said Pie in a flat tone, facing her monitor.

Both Kim and Jane's attention were on Pie who doesn't seem to want to face them at the moment.

"Then who is it?" asked Jane.

"It's... somebody else, not Van," Pie admitted, her back is still on Kim and Jane.

"Oooooh, I see..." Jane let out a teasing tone.

Kim’s jaw dropped slightly. Her heartbeat rose. She tried to hold off her smile after finally understanding the reason why Pie couldn’t respond to her.

"Then who is it, Pie?" Kim thanked Jane in her mind for the follow-up question.

"Eeee... I'm not telling you that..." Pie yowled, still facing her monitor, covering her face with her palms.

Kim is secretly smiling now. She couldn’t help it. On the back of her head, she doesn’t want to hear Pie admit it in front of Jane as it will be hella awkward.

"I-uh... I think I'm going back to my station. It's already five o'clock," said Kim.

"Ugh. Saved by the bell. Okay, Kim, we'll resume interrogation tomorrow," said Jane.

"Yeah." Kim waved goodbye and left right away.

Pie felt relieved after that. She doesn't know what to do anymore. She doesn't want them to think that it was because of Van but she was also too shy to admit that it was because of Kim.

She tried her best to hide her blushing face from Kim and Jane. She was also hoping that Kim would have at least an idea that it was all about her. But the idea of letting Kim know about it makes her want to disappear from where she's sitting.

Kling!

Pie is still scratching her head from embarrassment when she heard her new message notification. She opened the message.

"I'll see you tomorrow 7:15 am for breakfast. Ciao!"

Then Kim went offline.

Pie smiled.

Oh, Kim.