Every Kind of Way

Now it's a date

The ride to Ayutthaya was very comfortable. Mon and I talked about our past. I told her what happened with my family, which I talk about with anyone. Mon talked about her dad and moving back to Thailand with her mom. We haven't even gotten to the restaurant, and we are already mentioning things you talk about on a first date.

We arrived at the restaurant. I touched Mon's arm to keep her from getting out of the car. I got out first and opened the door for her. She gave me a shy thank you. At the front of the restaurant the host greeted us with a smile.

"Do you have a reservation?"

"Yes, under Samanun Anuntrakul." The guy did a double take at my name. He realized who he was speaking to.

"P-perfect, let me take you to your table. Follow me please, Lady Sam." He grabbed two menus and lead the way.

Since I come to this restaurant often, my preferred table was already set up for us. I didn't like being crowded so nearby tables were empty. Mon and I looked at the menu for a few minutes. I already knew what I wanted, but I gave her a chance to see it in case she wanted something else. We ordered a variety of dishes and talked about work while we waited. The server then arrived and started placing the dishes in front of us. Mon got extra excited when she saw the river prawns.

"Wow! Let me take some photos." She quickly grabbed her phone and took about 20 photos of the plates. She really likes taking photos. "Looks so good and appetizing."

"Is it that impressive?" Since I eat these kinds of dishes all the time, I sometimes forget that Mon doesn't have that luxury. "Now I get why you got so upset when I didn't show up."

"Who says I was upset?" I could hear the sarcasm in her tone. She was still taking pictures.

"I want to be reborn as a river prawn. You only pay attention to them and ignore me." I pouted, but Mon didn't notice. I tried grabbing a spoonful of rice. Her hand stopped me.

"Just one more picture, please."

"Why do you take pictures before you eat? Are you a social media addict?"

"It's not every day that I get to eat an expensive dish, so I want to show it off to my friends. Do you want to upload some photos to Facebook, Lady Sam? You can use the ones I took."

"No need. Such a waste of time." She shrugged and looked at her phone for a moment. "Do you use Facebook a lot?"

"Yes, I use all social media. I'm also on IG, TikTok and Twitter."

That's a lot. I have Facebook, but it's handled by Kate. I checked with her, and Mon truly is my loyal follower. She liked and commented on every status and post that was made.

I have my own personal Facebook, but I rarely use it. I should add Mon later so I can see what she posts about.

"How often do you use it?"

"Quite often." At least she was paying attention to me now.

"Do you have a lot of friends on Facebook?"

"Quite a lot. Many of the seniors at the office have sent me friend requests." She finally started eating, thank heavens. "Chin sent me some stickers through Line to flirt with me. He's kind of cute." I rolled my eyes. Oh, he's trying to get fired. How many people are hitting on you Mon?!

"I sent you stickers too." Shouldn't I be seen as cute too? Hmm.

"Yes, you did. Quite a few at that and every day." She didn't say I was cute.

"Am I..."

"Here. This tastes really good, try it." She placed a piece of salmon on my plate. I didn't care about that right now. Ugh! I puffed up my cheek in frustration. "Lady Sam." I looked in her direction. "Please chew. It's not polite to pocket food in your mouth." I haven't even eaten anything and I'm already getting scolded. This is not going how I thought it would.

After we finished eating, we went to a park nearby. I sat down on a swing. Mon gave me her bag and said she would be right back, so I waited patiently for her. I started moving on the swing. I used to love these as a kid. I remember going to the park with Dad and being pushed on the swing. It went up so high that sometimes I felt like I could fly away.

Mon came back with two small cups in her hands.

"Lady Sam." I stopped moving the swing. "Here, my treat. Have something sweet to lighten up your mood." I was still a bit upset that she didn't call me cute like Chin. I will speak with him tomorrow about his "extracurricular activities".

"I don't want it." Lie.

"Which means you do." Damn it.

"I said I don't."

"Your friends told me your words don't match what your heart wants. If you say you don't want to eat something, it means you do."

I grabbed the cup of ice cream which was my favorite flavor. She remembers every detail. I love that. She sat down beside me on the swing. I placed her bag on top of her lap to cover her a bit. Her dress was a bit short today.

"What about when I say I don't like you? What does it mean?" I kept looking forward while grabbing a spoonful of ice cream.

"It means you do like me." Our eyes met.

"It's melted." The ice cream, my heart, my walls...take your pick.

"Sorry..."

While I ate, I noticed Mon took a big spoonful of her ice cream which got her face messy. I cleaned the corner of her mouth with my index fingers. She didn't flinch at my touch. I almost left my hand there longer than I should.

"You're a mess. You eat like a kid." Mon looked into my eyes. I don't care anymore. I'm going for it. "Which part of my face do you like the most?"

"Your nose, maybe." All natural, no surgery.

"Would you like to bite my nose?"

"I'd love to." Ok, this is going well.

"Should we do a trade?"

"What do you mean?"

"You bite my nose and I'll bite your lips." I leaned in closer, and I swear Mon leaned in as well.

"Lady Sam, you should stop paying attention to my lips." I moved away. "I don't know how I should react. Friends don't do this." I looked at her.

"That's the thing, Mon. You're not my friend. You mean so much more to me than that." I leaned in again, placed my hand on her cheek and pressed our lips together gently.

FINALLYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!