Five Minutes In Summer

1. Bad Joke

"What? Mom, did I hear you right?" 

Moira smiled at the question of Beam, her only son. 

"Of course not, honey. You heard exactly what I said." 

Beam's thick eyebrows furrowed. "Then you must be joking, Mom." 

"Oh, come on, Beam. You heard that right and I'm not kidding either. You. Will. Be. Engaged. To. Elena." 

Beam looked at his mother with a look as if her mother had a horn on her forehead. 

He and his mother rarely saw each other. Moira Vongviphan is a famous archaeologist and she has been traveling the world doing her work since Beam was twelve years old. 

Beam has lived with his grandmother since then and when he graduated from high school, his grandmother died and Beam decided to use the inheritance money given to him by his grandmother to buy his own apartment. 

The last time Beam and his mother met was when his grandmother died.  Moira immediately flew from South Africa and stayed for one week to accompany Beam to take care of everything related to his grandmother, then left again. 

Their only communication is via Skype, which is very rare because Moira is often in remote areas with poor signal. 

Beam and Moira love each other as mother and son, but they are also used to living apart. 

Moira considers Beam to be an independent and mature child, so she is not too worried about the life of her only son. 

Beam considers his mother to be an active and intelligent woman, so he doesn't want to be an obstacle to the woman who gave birth to him from working according to her wishes. 

It had been almost three months since Beam and Moira had communicated because of Moira's work in the Brazilian jungle, and when Moira suddenly contacted Beam, she said something that made no sense to Beam. Got him engaged to a girl named Elena. 

"Who is she, mom? How could you suddenly ask me to get engaged to someone I don't know?" Beam asked angrily. 

Moira chuckled. "Don't worry, honey. It's all been arranged. I'll send you everything you need to know about Elena and not only that, I've also arranged for you to meet on summer vacation in two weeks. You'll meet at Malibu beach and get to know each other," Moira said cheerfully. 

"Wait, wait, mom? Malibu? You mean, Malibu beach in America?" Beam asked in surprise. 

"Yes. Moira will be on holiday there with her cousin before she moves to Thailand and settles there. She has been accepted to study at a university in Thailand, what is it called... err... ah, I forgot. What is clear is that her parents entrusted her to you, that's why you two have to get engaged so that Elena's parents can calm down," said Moira cheerfully. 

"Mom, I can't!"  Beam argued irritably.  "If she just wants to be friends with me and her parent need me to look after hee because she's a stranger in Thailand, there's no need to get engaged!" 

"Beam, honey, listen first. Her parents are sponsors of the research trip I'm going on this time and there are still two other projects that need to be completed. Her father saw your photo and when I told him about you, he became very interested and wants you to get engaged to Elena," Moira said in a light tone. "I know Elena. She is a very beautiful, intelligent and kind girl. Unfortunately, she is a bit frail because she has had asthma since she was little. That's why her parents are obsessed with having a doctor as a son-in-law so you can look after Elena." 

Beam gritted his teeth. "Mom, you sold me for your research funds?" Beam snapped. 

"Oh, come on, honey, don't say things like that. Besides, it's time for you to be more serious now. You're an adult and it's not good to keep playing with those girls," Moira replied sharply.  "Never mind, just meet and get to know Elena first. I'll contact you later. Bye, honey." 

Beam stared blankly at his dark laptop screen.

After a while, Beam took the car keys and left his apartment. He looked at the watch on his hand and cursed in his heart. 

He was almost late for his advanced post-mortem practice course and this was because his mother liked to joke around. 

"Beam, you are a lucky person," said Kit, hitting Beam on the shoulder when he arrived in the practice room, five minutes before the stern lecturer entered. 

Beam was still panting after running from the parking lot to the practice room on the second floor and he grabbed the bottle of mineral water that Kit had handed him. 

"If Phana finds out, she will scold you severely," continued Kit.  

"Don't say anything to him, then." 

The lecturer who entered the practice room stopped Beam and Kit's conversation for a while and they concentrated on completing the last practical assignment for today, before starting the residency after the holidays. 

Phana was waiting for Beam and Kit in the cafeteria, at their usual table. 

"How?" Phana asked, seeing Beam's wrinkled face. "Don't tell me you got a B?" 

Kit snorted in annoyance. "You think we would dare to meet you here if our grades were only Bs?" 

Phana smiled happily. "Good! It wasn't in vain that I forced you to study for two days in a row. But, why do you look annoyed, Beam?"

Beam put his bag on the table, then put his head on the bag and closed his eyes. 

"Can I sleep for ten minutes before telling the story?" Beam muttered. 

He closed his eyes, even though he wasn't really sleeping. Phana looked at Kit and raised an eyebrow. Kit shrugged. 

Phana folded his arms in front of his chest and looked at Beam, as did Kit, following his movements. 

Beam sighed and opened his eyes. He knew that his two friends were looking at him with demanding eyes. 

He pushed his bag to the side and looked back at Phana and Kit. "Okay, I'll tell you what happened," said Beam in a languid tone. He took a deep breath.  "I'm getting engaged to a girl named Elena." 

Phana and Kit exchanged glances for a moment, then burst into laughter. 

"Beam, Beam, that was a bad joke!"  said Phana amused.

Beam sighed. "I hope it was just a bad joke, but ...."

***