HERSHE - TIAOM

Special

"Mom, I'm not sure if I still like him in the same way I did before, okay? May I remind you that it was like 10 years ago?"

"I know, but at some point, you're still fond of him, right?"

Pie stared at her mom for a long while and breathed out uncertainty. She knows her mom is right. There's this part in her, no matter how little, that is still attracted to Mike. And she doesn't know if it will continue to shrink or — who knows — grow eventually.

"Just try going out with him for like a month and see if anything would spark between you two. If it doesn't then you tell him. I believe it's enough time for him to rethink his feelings too, right?"

"Mom —"

"A month won't hurt you, Pie. The least I could hope is for you to become good friends if this really won't work out. If after a month you'd realize that he's not the right guy, then fine, I'd stop bugging you."

Pie knows that there's no way she could win this argument. "You promise?"

"Yes, just for a month. I just don't want you letting this chance pass by."

---

Pie is staring blankly at the ceiling, reflecting on what she and her mom talked about earlier. Her mom snooped on what happened after Mike dropped her home. Pie told her everything, making her mom squeal with glee.

Just for a month? Urgh! Why am I not feeling right about it?

She is supposed to be happy too because this is what she wanted before — to get his attention. And the fact that her mom has two thumbs up for him should be good news. But instead of being joyful with the turn of events, she's in a dilemma instead. No matter how much she tried to convince herself that she's morally better off with Mike, she can't set aside the fact that she's still feeling something for Kim too.

The problem is she's not sure how serious her feelings are for Kim. It's too underrated to call it a crush but is it that serious to call it love? How would she know if it really is love? And what would she do if it really is love? She can already imagine her mom objecting to it.

Pie turned to her side and curled up against her body, hugging herself in anxiety. Sleep won't come to her yet. She was hoping that Kim would call her just to confirm if she's arrived or what. She feels so lost right now that all she wanted is to ear Kim's voice.

She glanced at her phone to check the time:

12:07 am

She buried her face in the pillow and sighed.

Please let me see you tomorrow, Kim. Please.

---

Bangkok International Airport

"Good evening. This is the pre-boarding announcement for flight 89B to Chiang Mai. We are now inviting those passengers..."

Kim let out a sigh of relieved after finally setting foot on the ground.

Phew! Home sweet home!

If she had known how much of an encumbrance that storm would be, she would not have gone to Indonesia in the first place. It was torture missing Pie for a week, and what's making it worse is she can't even make a call because the electricity was cut for days due to the wide damage the storm caused.

But her agony is over. She's finally home. Her enthusiastic is building up on the thought that Pie has been missing her too. She couldn't believe it herself at first, but after their trip from Pattaya, everything seemed to have changed between them. They grew in closer, in a more special way than friends could be. She knows it's too early to assume anything but she can't help raising her hopes up.