The Way to a Man's Heart

Chapter 4

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Pavel's POV

Khao was too shocked to answer my question.

I did not give him a chance to think of a lame excuse. I turned and walked away from him. Why wasn't I surprised that he did not run after me.

I lost my appetite.  I decided to skip brunch and went straight to the supermarket where I bought stuff to place in my empty refrigerator.

When I got back to my studio apartment, I quickly got to work sorting my purchases, placing some in the kitchen cabinets and the others in the refrigerator.

My stomach was already starting to grumble so I decided to fix myself a quick meal.

I made myself a quick and easy dish of macaroni and cheese.

I decided not to mope in my apartment. I was not someone who let a hurt or a disappointment get to me for long. I always found ways to set my mind back from negative to positive.

I spent the rest of the day and the following day doing stuff that I liked to do.

I hit the gym and spent several hours there.

When I got home I carefully chose what kind of dinner I wanted to make for myself.

For a brief moment I felt sad that my plan to cook dinner for Khao had not materialized but I shook off the sad thought and started putting together the ingredients for a chicken cacciatore dish.

I spent Sunday watching comedy shows and playing video games.

Khao tried to call me close to evening but I let his call get directed to my voicemail.

I woke up Monday morning unaware that my life was about to make an exciting turn.

I was halfway through my breakfast when my phone started to ring. It was an unknown number but I decided to take it because I had applied to several men's apparel fashion designing companies and this might be a call from one of them.

"Hello," I said cautiously into my phone.

"Hello," I heard a pleasant female voice. "Is this Pavel Promphaopun?"

"Yes," I said, still cautiously, not wanting to deal with a scam caller if that was who this person was.

"This is from Bangkok Sterling Men's Design. Our manager would like you to come in for an interview if you're still interested in working for our company," I heard her say. (A/N: fictitious company name, author does not know if such a company name exists.)

My heart started beating fast. I wasn't going to be unemployed for long. If I was lucky to get this job offer.

"When does he want me to come in for an interview?" I asked, trying to keep my nervousness and excitement from showing in my voice.

"Are you free to come in this afternoon?" the caller asked.

Wow that was fast but I didn't want to lose the opportunity of a job offer.

"Of course," I replied. "What time?"

"Is three o'clock a convenient time for you?" she asked.

"Not a problem,"I said

"Very well," the caller said. "When you get to the lobby ask the receptionist for me. My name is Alice."

"Thank you, Alice," I said. "See you at three."

I was aware that the company was located about less than twenty minutes from my apartment but I wanted to give myself some allowance to make my appearance impressive and also just in case I got into a traffic delay on my way there so I started preparing for the interview right after lunch.

I quickly sorted through my closet, taking several long sleeved shirts from their hangers and tossing them on to my bed. After putting one shirt on and discarding it and choosing another one, and so on, one after another, I finally settled on a pinstriped long sleeved navy blue shirt. I decided on a pair of light gray twill trousers to go with it.

"She's waiting for you," the lobby receptionist said to me, handing me a plastic laminated visitor's tag. "Her office is on the second floor, last door down the hallway."

"Thank you," I said, accepting the visitor's tag which I showed to the security guard before entering the heavy double doors.

My heart sank when Alice informed me that the manager who was supposed to interview me had to leave office early because of a family emergency.

"However, the owner of this company is still in his office and is waiting to conduct the interview," Alice said with a smile.

Oh, shit, the owner of the company himself. That made me very nervous.

Alice must have seen the expression on my face because she quickly said, "Don't worry, Mr.Jarujitranon is a very nice guy, very pleasant, very approachable, very easy to talk to."

"You have managed to convince me," I said with a smile. Somehow I felt that she was speaking the truth. All my nervousness melted away.

"His office is on the top floor, the door facing you when you step out of the elevator," Alice informed me. "Good luck."

"Thank you," I said to her before making my way to the elevator.

The top floor was actually just three floors higher. The building was a five story building.

I knocked on the door of Mr. Jarujitranon's office and turned the doorknob when I heard him say "Come in."

He looked up from some documents he was studying when I walked in.

"I've been waiting for you," he said with a smile, holding out his hand to me.

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.