Page 2 of Baby Love

“After I read my lines for the other part, the director said he wanted me to read for Boom. He didn’t care that I didn’t have anything memorized. I read straight from the script.”

Cushion squeals and bounces in her seat, earning her a disgusted look from Daw.

“Who are you starring with?” Kiet asks me.

“Like you’d even know him,” Cushion teases. “You’ve never watched a boys’ love drama.”

“I watched the one Spin was in,” Kiet says, surprising me.

“Aww.” I stand up and hug him, ignoring Daw’s glare.

When I sit down again, I say, “Actually, you do know this guy.”

All eyes turn to me.

“Uh, do you remember Park Rardchawat?”

I see right away that Cushion does. It takes Kiet and Bass a little longer.

“Are you kidding me? You two were so good together in the play!” Cushion exclaims.

“You mean the guy who played Johnny? Didn’t you have a crush on him?” Kiet teases.

“No.” My denial is undoubtedly ruined by my expression as I remember how dancing with Park Rardchawat in that production was like a form of foreplay. Well, what I imagine foreplay to be like, anyway, as I’ve never experienced it.

“Kiet has an interview at my father’s company tomorrow,” Daw interrupts. “Don’t you guys agree he should dye his hair back to its natural color?”

I look at Kiet, whose black hair is currently dyed a light lavender. “I like his hair this color. What kind of company is it?”

“A very prominent design engineering company here in Bangkok,” Daw responds snootily. “Kiet’s a shoo-in because my father likes him.” She leans in to give Kiet a loud sniff kiss on the cheek as the waiter brings us another round of drinks.

I look at Kiet. “I thought you weren’t sure you wanted to go into that field after your bad experience with your internship.”

“Of course he wants to. Why would he not go into the field he got a degree in?” Daw snaps.

“Because he decided engineering isn’t for him and he wants to be happy?” I venture a guess.

“I’m going to give it a try,” Kiet says, ruffling my hair. “Who knows? I might like it better than the company I work for now.”

“Hasn’t your dad already seen Kiet’s purple hair?” Bass asks Daw.

“Sure, but now that Kiet will be an employee, it’s not acceptable.”

“I’ll color it black again,” Kiet says.

Annoyed with Daw and her manipulations, I ask Bass about his upcoming audition for a lakorn.

“It’s Thursday afternoon.” He looks at Cushion. “Are you still going with me?”

“I said I would,” Cushion says. She’s currently on a break from auditioning, busy with her job as a manager’s assistant of a hotel.

“You know what would have been funny?” Cushion asks. “If Bass auditioned for a bl and wound up shipped with Baby.”

Bass and I both make gagging noises, and Kiet laughs, snorting beer up his nose.

“I think you’ve had enough,” Daw says to him, wiping up droplets of beer from his chin with her napkin. He hasn’t even finished his second beer, and I wait for him to tell her that, but he just shrugs and pushes his glass away.

I look at my watch. “Damn, I missed the Skytrain! How did it get so late so fast?”

---