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Part 49

"You have something to say to me." I stated as a matter of fact as I opened the door of my bedroom, gesturing for Arthit to enter. I'm always the gentleman.

As we both sat down on the mat on the floor, I looked at Arthit. There was a sweet blush on his face and he was wringing his hands in his lap in distress. Quite obviously he was finding it hard to say what he wanted. I waited patiently for him to compose his thoughts – after all we had all the time in the world now.

Gosh, it felt great to say that...

"I ... I ... Can I ... CanIstayinyourroomtonight?" His words tumbled over one another as he finished the sentence in one breath and he looked down shyly, unable to meet my eyes.

My eyebrows lifted when I deciphered the meaning of his sentence.

"I ... ... I'm afraid." He blushed as he lowered his head. "I'm afraid that this is only a dream, that in the morning you'll be acting as cold as you always did and pretend that nothing happened..."

Arthit's insecurities ... ... disturbed me. I needed to show him how serious I was about this. But for now, I decided the easiest way to make him forget his fears, was to tease him.

"Arthit..." I almost purred. His eyes flew to my face when he heard the unnatural kind tone of my voice. They widened to their maximum circumference as I walked over to my bed and sprawled out lazily, propping myself up on one elbow. Pulling back a corner of my bedcover, I held out a hand to him, "Why don't you sleep with me tonight?" There was a subtle teasing smile on my lips and my voice had deepened in invitation. Although my IQ is about 200, I am still a man after all and my hormones responded accordingly at the naughty thought.

Immediately, Arthit blushed bright red as he jumped up to his feet and started backing away from me. "T-that's not what I meant!" He was shaking his head furiously and waving his hands frantically in the air.

With a sigh (though I was secretly extremely amused by his blushing reaction), I got to my feet and resumed my original sitting position on the floor, waiting for him to calm down.

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When I finally stopped shaking my head, I realized that Kongpob was sitting on the floor again, waiting patiently for me to sit down and resume our conversation. I gulped as I recalled how damn sexy he had looked holding one hand out to me with his long lanky body stretched out lazily on the covers, the sly invitation that was obvious in his eyes and the half-smile on his lips. It must really be a sin to look THAT good.

My face burned and I carefully avoided his gaze as I sat down again. I quickly shook my head mentally, trying to get the unsettling image out of my mind. 'Concentrate, Arthit!' I chided myself, bringing my mind back to the question on hand and immediately sobered when I succeeded. I was afraid of the answer yet this was something that I had to know.

"Kongpob Suthiluck, d-do you really want to marry me?"

There was the slightest pause, and then, "yes."

I lifted my head and met his gaze bravely, trying to decipher the enigmatic expression on his face.

"Why are you so unsure?" He asked me as he frowned slightly in apparent puzzlement.

"It's because," I swallowed a little nervously. "It's because I like you too much..." I admitted, my face flushing again. However, this time I refused to look away.

A happy smile appeared on his face, "I know."

I wanted to slug his smug expression, yet there was something more important that I had to find out. "And I... I don't know if you like me." I said hesitantly, bowing my head again as my courage failed me.

There was a silence, and then a heavy sigh, "I give up, you win."

I felt my forehead cease in confusion – what did that comment mean? Was there a competition between us that I had not known of?

Then, gentle fingers lifted my chin and I found myself looking straight into Kongpob's dark eyes.

"I like you."

The sincerity in his warm eyes was unmistakable. Then his hand slid down and caught hold of my arm, pulling me to him. I tripped (as per normal) and literally fell into his embrace as his arms wrapped around me, holding me firmly.

"I like you, Arthit," he repeated a little more huskily this time.

With a content sigh, I laid my head against his broad shoulders and slid my arms around his waist. My small frame fitted into his lanky figure perfectly. For the first time, I felt that I actually belonged in this pair of arms that held me so securely.

Let time stop, I thought dreamily, let this precious moment last forever...

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"So Arthit, what do you have to tell us?" Aya beamed at me when she saw me.

"Yes, what do you have to tell us?" May repeated with a mischievous smile on her face.

"Er ... erm ... erm ... like I got engaged to Kongpob Suthiluck last night?" I said a little weakly.

"Yaaaaaaaaaayyyyy!" They both pounced on me with squeals of joy but a strange lack of surprise.

Apparently, someone had already put up a poster of Kongpob Suthiluck declaring his feelings to me on the noticeboard. I groaned when I saw it – I knew he wouldn't be all to pleased when he sees the poster. I saw a person sneaking away from the poster and realized with a sinking heart that the tall slumped figure belonged to Max. He had seen the poster and...I raised a hand to call out to him only to realize that I didn't know what to say to him.

Perhaps, it would be better to let him get over the shock before speaking to him. Guilt overwhelmed me as I watched his figure disappearing in the distance.

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"Vanessa, I have something to tell you." I was a little nervous as I looked at her. She nodded and led me to the one of the empty meeting rooms.

"... ... and I really want to apologize to you. I'm so sorry and I hope you forgive me." I finally finished telling Vanessa about everything that happened between Arthit and myself. Strangely enough, although she looked rather sad there was no surprise or anger, instead there was a kind of calm acceptance in her eyes.

"There's nothing to forgive." She finally said. "I've always known that you liked Arthit."

This time, I was the one who was really surprised as I stared at her wide-eyed.

"Yes," she continued when she saw the shock on my face. "Don't you know why you are always mean to Arthit and to him only? It's because you notice him too much. And quite frankly if I were Arthit and you treated me that way, I would have given up on you a long time ago."

I nodded, realizing that her observation was completely right. Wow, had I really been that obvious, yet so oblivious to my own feelings?

"We're so sorry," I heard my parents apologizing to Mr Pakorn when I stepped into his office after leaving Vanessa.

"I really do apologies, Mr Pakorn," I added as all eyes turned to me. "Your granddaughter is a lovely young lady, but the truth is that I already have someone that I like very much and I realized that I can't give him up now that I've finally realized my true feelings for him. However, I promise that I will work very hard to help out with my father's business. I have decided to defer my medical studies to work by his side."

He was silent for a moment, "Is the guy you are speaking of the same one that we met the other time at your home?" I was taken aback by his perceptiveness.

"Yes." I admitted.

He nodded slowly and continued, "I already knew then that you like him, despite treating him coldly. Regardless of this, I will still support your father's company."

I looked up in surprise at Mr Pakorn. I could tell that he was disappointed with my decision, but he still smiled a little, "You're an extremely capable young man and I believe you can carry your father's business to greater heights. I firmly believe that you will prove to be one of my greatest investments – don't disappoint me." He clapped me on the back with a smile.

"I promise that I will never give you any cause to regret your decision, Sir." I replied firmly. His smile widened and we left his office soon after.

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"Kongpob, I want you to go back to university eventually and be a doctor." My head shot up when I looked at my father.

"Who will take over your business then?"

"Me," my little brother pipped up. "I will!" Gosh, how smart my brother is.

"Don't worry, I can handle things with our team. There's no use you taking over when your heart is set on something else, Kongpob. Please promise me that you'll never keep anything from your family again." My dad looked at me firmly.

After a moment of thinking, I finally nodded.

My heart was set on Arthit and on one mission only: proving to him how much I had really loved him over these years.

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"Max..." I began for the third time as he suddenly jumped up and rushed off to welcome another customer. I was starting to feel frustrated. I had come to my father's restaurant with the sole intention of apologizing to Max. However, he was trying his best to avoid me by pretending to be exceptionally busy today, doing all kinds of chores around the restaurant, preparing meals and even running errands which I knew was not part of his job scope.

Finally he came back to me, but just as I opened my mouth, he cut me off rather abruptly, "Sorry, Arthit, please go back, I'm very busy today." Then his eyes narrowed as they fixed on something behind my back.

I turned to see Kongpob Suthiluck entering the restaurant, calmly walking up to me. I silently heaved a sigh of relief, grateful that he had thought up of this plan for me to try apologizing to Max first, and then if I failed and did not return within twenty minutes, he would turn up and try to apologize on my behalf.

"What do you want?" At least Max was speaking now, or at least growling, at Kongpob Suthiluck.

"First, I would like to apologize to you. I'm sorry for what we have done to you," Kongpob Suthiluck was always direct. "I guess you are aware that Arthit is engaged to me now."

"You asshole! You aren't worthy of him at all!" Max exploded, raising an accusing finger at Kongpob. "I mean look at how badly you've treated him in the past! You insult him all the time, hurt him over and over again, have broken his heart countless times leaving him crying in the arms of his friends..." He shook his head, breathing heavy. "And I have always liked Arthit, I have liked him for six years! I will never forgive you!"

For a moment, they both glared at each other in tense silence.

"Max, I'm so sorry, I'm really really so sorry." I bowed to him. "Please don't be angry with Kongpob Suthiluck, it's not his fault. I'm the one who couldn't choose anyone else." I looked at Max pleadingly.

There was clear pain in his eyes when he finally looked at me. "That's one more reason why I can't forgive you," he turned to Kongpob Suthiluck. "The fact that Arthit has liked you for six years. If you ever make him unhappy..." he paused for a moment before continuing, "...I will NEVER forgive you!" He glared at Kongpob Suthiluck.

"I know." Kongpob Suthiluck met his gaze unflinchingly. "I won't hurt him ever again. I promise."

"Thank you, Max. Thank you." I was moved to tears by Max's everlasting care and friendship towards me. In spite of how much I have hurt him, Max still cared about me. His eyes finally softened a little when they turned to me.

"Goodbye," I said softly as Kongpob took my hand and led me out of the restaurant. I thought I heard him mumble something like goodbye, but I wasn't sure.

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"Wow you were really cool there, man!"

"You're fantastic!"

"Boy were you impressive!" I was bombarded with compliments the moment Arthit and Kongpob left. I didn't know that all my colleagues were listening to our conversation.

"It's nothing," I boasted and hurriedly excused myself. I managed to reach the sanctuary of one of the empty stall in the bathroom, before I started bawling my heart out. Even though I knew it was going to happen, I knew Arthit's heart had always been fixed on Kongpob, it still hurt like a motherfucker.

It hurts to lose someone you love, it really hurts so bad...

But it hurts less when I know that that person has finally found their true happiness. And Kongpob has promised to protect Arthit in the future.

Be happy, Arthit. Truly. I wish you all the best.

Cause now, I can finally find my own happiness as well.

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Next part is the final part! Thank you all for sticking around until then and I hope you enjoy the new romantic comedy story "The Devil Wears a Tie".