When The Spring Arrives (Ohmfluke)

62. Bad news

Fluke was pleasantly surprised to see Ohm talking to the director.

It had almost been four months since he had last seen Ohm. He had been counting each day as each of them felt like a million years.

Fluke almost couldn’t contain himself seeing Ohm sooner than he had expected. He had a hard time stopping himself from running over to Ohm and jumping on him.

Fluke adjusted his clothes and rechecked his appearance in his phone camera as he waited for Ohm to finish his business with the people around him.

Fluke bit his lip to prevent himself from smiling like an idiot when he saw Ohm walking over.

Ohm paused for a second when he saw Fluke standing there looking at him.

Taking deep breaths Ohm resumed his walk.

“Swadee Khrab P’ Ohm,” Fluke said with a bright smile.

“Swadee Fluke,” Ohm replied expressionlessly.

Fluke’s smile faded a bit upon hearing Ohm’s reply.

‘Fluke? Not Nu?’ Fluke thought. The tone used also didn’t seem right. Many questions were raised inside his head. But since Ohm seemed to be in a hurry, he swallowed his concerns.

“Didn’t you say you would take another two months to return? When did you return?” Fluke tried his best not to show the worries on his face.

“I finished everything early. I came back last week.”

‘Last week? He was back since last week? Was he that busy to just send me a text?’ Fluke’s thoughts ran wild again.

“There must have been so much piled-up work for you,” Fluke said almost wanting to grab the empty plastic bottle on the table and smack some sense into the big guy’s head.

Ohm didn’t seem to know how much he had missed the older.

Fluke was waiting for Ohm to apologise to him for not contacting him once the latter was back in town. Instead of an apology what Fluke received was heartbreaking news.

“I hadn’t resumed my work yet. I was a little busy with the preparations for my engagement.” Ohm said avoiding direct eye contact with Fluke.

Ohm knew that Fluke was upset for not contacting him once he reached Thailand. He really wanted to. He wanted to contact Fluke more than anything once he returned. But the sudden turn of events had stopped him from doing so.

Ohm felt that if he contacted Fluke right away, he might not be able to compose himself and may end up doing something stupid. He took a whole week gathering courage to face Fluke again.

“Engagement?” Ohm’s words left Fluke shell-shocked. He felt like the whole sky was crashing down on him.

After having a conversation with Prem about his feelings towards Ohm, Fluke made up his mind to take the risk and confess his love once Ohm was back.
But the sudden change of course of events caught him off guard.

“I am getting engaged to Fame,” Ohm said finally looking at Fluke’s face for the first time since they started the conversation, trying to find a trace of discontent in Fluke’s face.

He could see that Fluke looked a little shocked. But he didn’t see the emotion he wanted to see deep within his heart.

“Congratulations P’ Ohm.” Fluke forced a smile. “Have the date been fixed?”

Ohm nodded. “Twentieth of next month.”
“Oh. There isn’t much time left then.” Fluke chewed the inside of his lips.

“You are right. By the way where are the others? I haven’t met them yet.” Ohm asked in a casual tone.

“All of them are in the resting area over there.” Fluke pointed in a direction.

“Are you leaving?”

“Khrab. My part for today is done. I need to get going.” Fluke waied and left in a hurry.

Ohm stared at the disappearing back of Fluke.

‘I was right. The few months had indeed created distance between us. It is better this way.’ Ohm shook his head and headed to the resting area.

When he entered the resting area, he saw Boun, Earth, Prem, Sammy and some other unfamiliar faces.

Everyone noticed Ohm’s presence and greeted them.

The other people left the area to the group, not wanting to disturb Ohm who they had just met.

“P’ Ohm, if you had come a few minutes earlier, you could have met Fluke as well. He just left.” Sammy said enthusiastically with a tone of regret.

“I met him on the way. He was in a hurry and left.” Ohm took a seat next to Boun.

“He left? Just like that? After meeting you?” The three friends looked at each other. They got a feeling that something wasn’t right.

“How come you are here? Didn’t you finish your part?” Boun asked slapping Ohm on his shoulder.

“I just wanted to check out the progress. I may not have time to do so afterwards.” Ohm pushed away his annoying cousin.

“Are you going to get back to work as soon as you return, Phi? Didn’t P’ Yacht clear your schedule for two more months?” Earth asked munching on the peanuts.

“It is not work. I am getting engaged to Fame on the twentieth of next month. There are a lot of preparations to be done.” Ohm said looking at the floor.

“WHAT? YOU ARE GETTING ENGAGED? THAT TOO WITH THAT WITCH? HOW COME NOBODY SAY ANYTHING TO ME?” Boun jumped up from his seat giving the most dramatic reaction to the news.

“Keep it low, Boun.” Ohm looked around and saw that Boun’s actions had attracted the attention of many crew members.

Boun apologised to them and sat back.

“When did this happen?” Boun lowered his voice and asked.

“Everything happened in hurry. The date is fixed. I will give you guys the invitation cards another day.”

“Does Fluke know?” Boun asked trying not to let the three young ones hear.

The three of them heard the question and stared intently at Ohm waiting for an answer.

Ohm nodded. “I told him when I met him today.”

Realisation hit the three friends. Now they knew why Fluke had left despite Ohm being there.

Prem almost got up to punch Ohm in the face but was held back on both sides by Sammy and Earth.

“Congratulations P’ Ohm. You two are a match made in heaven.” Prem’s voice was dripping with sarcasm.

The other two followed the suite and congratulated Ohm before finding an excuse to leave.

The two cousins were the only ones left in the room.

“What the heck Ohm? Weren’t you head over heels for Fluke the last time we met? I was hoping to see the two of getting married and giving birth to a bunch of kids as soon as you returned. Now, what on earth happened that made you say something so stupid. Don’t tell me this is your strategy or something. If it is, then this is an absolute blunder.” Boun crossed his hands over his chest.

“Neither is this a strategy nor a blunder, Boun. I am really getting engaged to Fame. Don’t ask me what happened.”

Boun could sense that something major had happened that made his cousin had taken such a huge step. He acted like an understanding big brother and patten Ohm’s back trying to console him.