I was up bright and early the next morning, it was the weekend. I stretched, did my morning pushups, stared out the window to take in the beautiful view. Because I had been sleeping in my office for a week, there was a ton of laundry to get through in preparation for the new week. I sorted my clothes into a basket, walked over to my door half naked, a towel around my neck.
I opened my door and lo and behold, so did Jaran. Our eyes met and immediately traveled to each other's laundry basket. As if communicating telepathically, it was on! We took off, running down the hallway, then the stairs. There was an unspoken competition between us to see who would reach the laundry room first and claim the washing machine.
I easily could've outrun him if I knew where the laundry room was, but I didn't. My plan was simple: stick to his side, pretend to know where the laundry room is, once at the door, shove him and get in first.
For the most part, my plan worked. Throughout the race, he didn't suspect I didn't know where the laundry room was. But when we arrived by the entrance, he was quick to hold onto one end of the door panel and I held onto the other. It was too small to fit two bodies, but that didn't stop us from attempting to squeeze through at the same time. We cursed at each other as we struggled through.
It was painful, but I was determined.
He began to get a head start, almost pushing through. There was no way I was going to let him win. Instead, I threw one of my clothes at the washing machine.
"First! First! Claimed it!" I proclaimed. He reached for his own cloth to throw, but I grabbed his hand in time, holding it down. "Don't you dare!" I glared at him.
"Let go!" he protested.
"I already claimed it!"
Jaran wouldn't budge, so we continued dragging and pushing till Phi Janya arrived and offered to do the laundry.
The rest of the day continued in the same manner, filled with little squabbles: who got the last orange juice in the fridge, who got to use the treadmill first, long spiteful stares across each room we happened to be in at the same time. I couldn't stand being in the same space with him.
With only a few days left to present the mock design to the board, there was still so much to do. As much as the soft sheets that covered my bed kept calling my name, I resisted, moved over to the kitchen counter and made it my workspace. I worked through the weekend and into the new week, only taking short breaks for the bathroom and a few naps.
Varawut and Nat went back to a regular work schedule, focused on smaller projects. Every now and then Phi Janya would make something small for me to eat, but digesting slowed me down, I opted for liquid nourishments instead. It wasn't ideal. I knew that, but there was only little time to spare.
The night before the presentation, I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. My whole body ached, my hands were shaky, and my mind couldn't focus on anything long enough.
I had finished my designs, but my presentation speech was far from completed. Just for a minute, I told myself as I slid my laptop to the side and rested my head over the table, giving in to overdue rest. Not long after, I felt a warm tender palm on my forehead and tried to open my eyes. Everything was foggy.
"Nat..." I weakly called. "It hurts."
"That's enough. Rest," his voice was gentle and kind.
"It hurts."
"Where?"
"My back."
He tried to move his palm away, but I stopped him, pressing his palm on my forehead. He felt comforting, warm and soft. It didn't smell like Nat's usual over sanitized hands. It smelt fruity, like grapefruits. It was endearing.
"Please... Keep touching me. You feel so nice," I murmured.
"Okay."
***
My phone alarm buzzed, and I jolted up from the counter, holding my head as a sharp pain shot through it. Still half asleep, I opened my eyes slowly, struggling to adjust my sight to the beaming sunlight streaming into the kitchen. I looked over at the time. 7:55am. I nearly screamed. The presentation was set to hold at 9am. I leaped from my seat, hurried out of the kitchen, making my way to Nat's room. Back in our smaller apartment, it was easier to get to Nat. I always woke him up in the mornings. But in Varawuts' home, there were stairs and hallways, a far longer journey.
We rushed getting ready. In under forty-five minutes we were out the door and on route to Sathorn Global. By the time we arrived, we were late, the presentations had begun. Jaran was making his presentation when we sneaked in and took our seats. It was at that moment I realized my presentation speech was still not done. My one-minute rest turned into an overnight slumber, leaving me without a speech. I quietly sighed, making several calculations in my foggy brain on what was possible.
Jaran concluded his presentation, and the room applauded him. I was next. I swept my hair back. It was a mess beyond fixing; there was no point trying not to fuss. My steps to the front of the boardroom were slow. I was disorganized, it made me lack confidence. I handed over the flash drive containing my designs to the secretary assisting and proceeded to turn on my laptop. It was dead and I didn't even realize. I couldn't have appeared more unprepared.
I scurried back to my seat, retrieved its charger from my bag and scurried back to the podium, all while feeling the judgmental stares of the dead silent conference room. I cleared my throat and bowed, apologizing.
I was just going to wing it with my speech, using whatever I had written before as a guide. My laptop came on and my speech popped up.
It took only a quick glance at the speech to realize it was completed and I raised a brow in surprise. I had only gotten as far as a paragraph.
Someone cleared their throat. "Khun Kittisat?"
"Yes! Sorry!" Without further delay, I dived in, breaking down my design and concept.
The speech was so beautifully written; it made my presentation super easy. I couldn't remember completing it, so I figured Nat must've. No one else understood my ideas better than Nat. With every sentence, my confidence soared, I felt like a star.
I wrapped my arms around Nat as we exited the boardroom, sniffing his cheeks and shaking him excitedly.
"What do you want to eat? Anything! Chicken! Fish! Anything! Name it!"
"Argh! You're squeezing me! What's gotten into you?" Nat complained.
"Didn't you see me back there? I was amazing! We are going to win this thing, Nat! I feel it in my bones!"
"I'm the one feeling it in my bones!" He shook me off him.
I smacked his head before reattaching myself to him. Squeezing him tighter and continued to gush. Jaran strutted past us, pretending we were invisible.
"Hey!" I called. He stopped, turning around slowly. "Don't think I didn't notice the stunt you pulled this morning!"
"Stunt?"
"You let us oversleep on purpose! You could have woken us up. Are you really that insecure about your ideas?"
"Since when am I your mother? Wake yourself up!" He turned and continued his journey. I removed my right shoe with haste and threw it at his back. "Argh!" he groaned, turning and glaring at me.
"What?" I smirked, moving forward to pick my shoe up.
Before I could reach it, he picked it up and placed it under his armpit then turned to leave. Nat and I rushed to him, trying to retrieve my shoe. It led us into a Merry-Go-Round tussle. Jaran ran around in a circle, Nat and I chased, jumping to retrieve it. Our voices echoed through the company hallways.
The few staff members marching along paid us no mind. Jaran didn't budge with the shoe, so I jumped on his back, wrapped my arm around his neck and pulled his perfectly styled hair. Nat clapped and cheered me on. I was persistent, but Jaran was resilient.
I looked up from pulling his hair and saw the chairwoman approaching, accompanied by her assistants and bodyguards. Shocked, I jumped off his body Instantly, taking a bow. A cold sweat dripped down my back. It seemed as though she always showed up at the worst times, making me look unprofessional.