A Rose Amongst Thorns

Chapter Ten

"Okay. Love you Kong."

"Umm. I'll see you later Achara."

The call was disconnected. Achara stared at the black screen and cried.

"He can't even tell me he loves me." She picked up a throw pillow, leaned forward and screamed into the pillow until she was almost hoarse.

Achara walked over to the kitchen, poured herself a glass of wine and dropped into the overstuffed couch in front of the fireplace. She picked up the photo album on the side table and started thumbing through it. Her relationship with Kongpob was chronicled from their first date through their engagement dinner. For the first time, she paid attention to the photos. Typically, she saw the pictures through the eyes of love, cooing over how pretty she looked, the other people in the photos and imagining her wedding day.

Now, she focused on Kong's face in every photo. In the early photos, he was smiling and happy. As the pictures came closer to the present, the smile in his eyes disappeared. She could see it now. Kongpob was just going through the motions. He wasn't present. He loved her, but she doesn't believe Kong is in love with her. As she continued to flip through the album, her sadness gave way to anger. She threw the album on the floor and threw the wine glass into the fire.

"Damn you Kong! I've given everything to you. What do you want from me? What do I have to do to make you love me?"

She sobbed into her hands, hating herself for being so pathetic. Her head snapped up when she heard the doorbell. Wiping her face and pulling her hair into a messy bun, she walked to the front door. Achara was surprised to find Phana standing at her door.

"Phana, what are you doing here? Is Kong with you?"

"No. He's not. May I come in?"

"Of course. Come on in. Can I get you a drink? I was just having a glass of wine in front of the fire."

"Sure, I'll have whatever you're having."

"Great. I'll grab you a glass. Have a seat in front of the fire."

Phana saw the photo album askew on the floor and shards of glass strewn about in front of the fireplace. He didn't have to be a detective to figure out what happened before he arrived. He picked up the photo album, straightened it out and placed in on the side table. He was picking up the remnants of the wine glass when Achara appeared behind him.

"You don't have to do that Phana. Let me get a broom and a dustpan. I don't want you to cut yourself. You need those hand to heal people, you know."

He chuckled.  She went to the pantry and returned to start cleaning up the mess.

"What happened Achara? Wanna talk about it?"

She placed the dustpan next to the fireplace with the broom and slumped into her chair.

"I just don't know what else to do Phana. I feel like an idiot for loving him, but he's the only man I've ever loved. Why can't he love me back? We were so good once. If I could figure out what happened, I can fix it and things will be okay again."

Phana sat next to Achara and held her hands in his own. He hugged her and rubbed her back.

"Achara this is not your fault. You've done nothing wrong. This is all on Kong. I swear to God he doesn't deserve you. You are a wonderful, vibrant, loving woman who has a lot to offer. My friend is an idiot not to appreciate what he has."

"Why doesn't he know that? What's wrong with me?"

Phana pushed her back and looked her in the eye.