From Fire to Coffee
The new week started with the fire alarm going off at four-thirty in the morning, causing the entire hotel to evacuate. Zen and Tutor immediately found out that this made Pharm panic, having been startled awake, and Zen ended up carrying him out, where they sat him down once they were far enough away.
“Tutor, please get Del or Manaow, they know him” Zen asked urgently, trying to calm the smaller intern down by running his hands down his back. Tutor nodded and ran off. Pao and Pun came up, wondering what was going on. Zen noticed distractedly that Pun looked weirdly nostalgic.
“Hey, is everything okay?” Pun asked in concern once he noticed Pharm rocking, covering his ears and the tears running down his face.
“I don’t know, the fire alarm made him panic, we had to carry him out, so good thing he’s about the same size as my friend Zon because it made him easier to carry” Zen said in a rush.
“Hey, you need to calm down, Zen. You can’t help Pharm if you can’t help yourself. Breathe” Pao said, putting his hands on Zen’s shoulders. Zen nodded and focused on breathing, which was tough to do with the alarm, but Pun and Pao were patient. Zen calmed down after a minute, and they focused on Pharm, who had stopped rocking, but wouldn’t take his hands off his ears.
“Is Pharm okay??” Manaow asked, pushing away the boys in her haste to get to her best friend, followed closely by Zol.
“Manaow, please, let me deal with this” Del said. “P’Dean and Pharm’s cousin P’Sin taught me what to do”
Del sat with Pharm and held him close, letting him cry onto her pajamas. When the alarm turned off, she gently took his hands and lifted them off his ears, showing him that the sound was over.
“Hey, it’s okay” she said comfortingly. Win and Tops, who had clearly just found the others, came over.
“Khun Krit said that we can go back in, it was someone smoking a cigarette too close to the alarm” Win explained, looking grumpy and sleep-deprived.
“Where is Khun Krit? I want to ask him if Pharm can take the day off” Del asked.
“Over there” Tops pointed to where Krit was talking to the fire department. Del nodded in thanks and got up.
“Zen, can you help me get Pharm over to Khun Krit, please?” Zen nodded in response to Del’s question.
“Do you want to be on my back?” Zen asked Pharm. Pharm shook his head, his eyes still filled with tears. “Okay” Zen gently lifted Pharm and held him as they walked to Khun Krit.
“Khun Krit?” Del asked hesitatingly. “Pharm had a panic attack, is it okay if he takes the day off?”
“Will he be okay on his own?” Krit asked, looking over Pharm in concern. “Let me think...Zen, you’re in the same room as him, right?”
“Yes, I am” Zen answered. “I’m on housekeeping duty, as well, while Pharm is in the kitchen”
“Good, then can you stay with him today? I’ll tell Chef Man and P’Mod”
“Yes, I will” Zen replied.
“Sorry about all this” Krit said, running his hand through his hair “The customer in question has been asked to not smoke again, and if it happens again, we will ask them to leave. You guys can get an extra hour to sleep because of this, please tell the others.”
The three of them walked away from Krit, with Del updating the group chat as they walked. Pharm was clearly exhausted, as he fell asleep in Zen’s arms once they were back inside.
“Hey, thanks for helping him” Del whispered as they got into the elevator. “I’ll probably come and check on him during my break”
Zen flashed her a quick smile, hoping it would help calm her down. They went in the opposite directions once they hit their floor, Zen to the right, Del to the left. Zen took the sleeping Pharm and put him on his bed once he got into their room. He watched Pharm kick out in his sleep, and decided he better try and keep watch, in case Pharm needed help.
“Is Pharm okay?” Manaow asked once Del was back in the room, looking worried.
“He’s fine, he doesn’t have to work today. Zen is going to watch over him in case he needs anything” Del explained.
“Are you going back to sleep?” Zol asked, already under her covers. “It’s only 5:15 and you said we get an extra hour of sleep”
“Yeah, I will, but I need to make a reminder to tell P’Dean about Pharm first. Manaow, you can turn off the lights if you want”
Manaow obliged and Del made a draft to send to her brother before falling back asleep.
Oam was talking with the baristas when Pao and Pun showed up for their free drink before breakfast.
“I heard you guys got woken up by the fire alarm” Tom called out.
“At 4:30 in the morning” Pao said with a yawn. “So give me the strongest coffee you have, please”
“Pun, what do you want?” Phume asked.
“A hot chocolate, please” Pun answered.
“You don’t want caffeine? You sure?” Golf asked in surprise.
“No thanks, I’m okay” Pun replied.
“You’re strange, you know that?” Pao told Pun. “The alarm goes off and all I hear under your breath is ‘our love is so hot’ over and over again” as we evacuate”
“Don’t worry about it” Pun said with a small grin on his face. “Oh, speaking of not worrying, you probably already know, P’Oam, but Pharm isn’t going to work today”
“I didn’t hear this, no. Why not?” Oam asked.
“He had a panic attack when the alarm went off. Zen is going to stay with him, since they’re roommates that have different duties” Pao explained.
“Oh no, I hope he’s okay” Oam exclaimed.
“He should be fine if he isn’t working today” Pao said reassuringly. “Thanks” he told Tom when he gave him his coffee, taking a sip and making a face when he burned his tongue.
“You shouldn’t drink it that fast” Tom said.
“I know, but I’m not awake” Pao shrugged. “We better go get breakfast, Pun”
“Okay” Pun grabbed his drink. “Your drinks are out of this world, guys, thanks”
The baristas and Oam watched Pao choke on his drink and shove Pun lightly with his shoulder before they left.
“The joke wasn’t that lame, was it?” Golf asked no one in particular.
“Maybe it’s an inside joke?” Phume offered. The others nodded and went to work when customers started coming in.
Win wasn’t happy to be doing the rooms on his own, even though he knew it was no one’s fault. He did his best, but wasn’t surprised when P’Mod inspected the rooms and took off points for slightly lumpy beds and messily folded towels. Still, when he took his break, he complained to Tops, who luckily had his break at the same time.
“I’m not good at keeping things neat, so I got four points taken off” he griped around his straw.
“Hey, we still have a long way to go. Ten points means nothing”
“You got that right” Tom reassured them, bringing Tops’ drink to him. “Oam probably remembers better, but our year, people were down to like ten points by the end, and the people who had lost points in the beginning ended up doing better than the ones who lost points near the end”
“How many points did you lose?” Win asked curiously.
“I think I had like...78? points by the end. Oam had something ridiculous like 96 or something, so imagine how bad the rest of our group was”
“While last year the lowest was like...65 or something” Phume said with a chuckle.
“How were Neung and Kay?” Win asked.
“They were both pretty good, actually. Kay was a bit better but he lost points when he wouldn’t blame the others in his group and because of a dumb prank Neung convinced him to do on another intern” Phume answered.
“Is it true another intern thought they were straight?” Win asked. “Because...how”
The baristas looked at each other, all amused. “It’s true” they said in unison.
“Win, did you think Neung was lying?” Tops asked with a smirk.
“Sorry for thinking it sounded a little unbelievable, have you seen those two??” Win asked indignantly.
The baristas laughed, knowing what Win meant. Win and Tops finished their drinks and went back to work.
When Pharm woke up a few hours later, he noticed that Zen had fallen asleep sitting up, probably from watching him. Pharm felt bad for making others worry and didn’t like that he wasn’t able to work. He sighed and messaged his cousin, not wanting to worry Dean, who was on a day trip with the swim team. When he got up to use the restroom, he woke up Zen by accident.
“Hey Pharm, how you feeling?” Zen said, feeling stiff and stretching.
“Better” Pharm said softly.
“Do you want to get food?” Zen asked.
“After I get dressed, I want to go to the cafe and get something hot to drink”
Zen nodded and went to get dressed. When both of them were ready, they went down to the cafe.
“Hey Pharm, hey Zen” Phume called when he saw them. “What do you guys want?”
“Hot tea with milk and honey” Pharm said.
“Coming right up. What do you want, Zen?”
“Lavender iced tea, please”
The two of them sat down, feeling a little awkward.
“I’m sorry for causing a fuss” Pharm blurted out.
“Why are you sorry for something you can’t control?” Zen asked curiously.
“He’s right you know” a tall young man with his long hair in a ponytail said from above them. “Don’t feel bad about circumstances being what they are”
“P’Sin!” Pharm said with a grin. “I didn’t know you were coming”
“I figured it couldn’t hurt. Dean heard from Nong Del, so he knows. He’s worried, but she convinced him to stay on the trip. Who’s this, by the way?”
“P’Sin, this is Zen, he’s my roommate. Zen, this is my cousin, P’Sin” Pharm introduced the two.
“I’ll sit with you, but let me get a drink first” Sin went to go order his drink, then came and sat down. “So this is where you’re working, Pharm? Nice place” he said while looking around.
“Yes, my friend Kay suggested it” Pharm said. “He did the internship last year”
Tom brought the three their drinks, looking curiously at Sin. The three of them thanked him and he went back to help other customers.
“Pharm, you’re sure you won’t be working too hard, right?” Sin asked, fixing him with a long stare.
Pharm blushed and nodded. “I am learning a lot from this, and I can use this information to help open my own restaurant someday. I know the housekeeping won’t be much help, but the front-desk will be and the whole internship looks good on my resume”
Zen fidgeted in his chair, unsure how to react in this conversation. He could tell that this cousin would do anything for Pharm and he knew that leaving would look bad if he was watching over Pharm right now. He listened to Pharm and Sin’s conversation, wishing he could go back to the room--actually, he was hungry, he wanted to get some real food. Fortunately, Pharm’s stomach growled, making Sin grin.
“You haven’t eaten, Nong Pharm? Are you allowed to leave?”
“Yes, they give us two meals, breakfast and either lunch or dinner, depending on our shift” Pharm explained. “And I’m sure I’m allowed to leave if I’m not working at all today, but I think they’ll want Zen to come too, if he’s in charge of watching me” Pharm ducked his head, embarrassed.
“Well, ask someone and I’ll take you two to Sorn’s place if you get permission” Sin suggested.
Pharm nodded and got out his phone.
“Zen, who do you think I should ask? Khun Krit?”
“I think you can ask P’Valen” Zen said after some reflection. “He can ask Khun Krit if he isn’t sure”
“Oh, that’s a good idea” Pharm said. He sent a message and a few minutes later he got a response.
“P’Valen said it’s fine”
“Okay, let’s go then. You too, Zen. Feel free to invite someone if you want, I can give you the address and they can meet us there”
Zen smiled, knowing exactly who he wanted to invite.
“Nong Del, you need to concentrate” Oam said gently.
Del looked down at the lettuce she was supposed to be washing and realized she had accidentally torn it into pieces.
“I’m sorry P’Oam. Just worried about Pharm” Del explained.
“I know, but he is going to be fine. He will be back and working with you tomorrow” Oam said reassuringly. Del’s phone went off and Oam indicated she should check it. He noticed that she relaxed when she saw the message, so he asked what the message said.
“Pharm is going to go to his cousin’s boyfriend’s restaurant with Zen. His cousin is very nice and knows everything, so that’s a relief”
Del went back to work, much more focused now that she knew what was happening with Pharm.
Tops was helping a customer check in when the shouting started. He looked up, startled to see that it was Tutor shouting at someone. Since it was in English, he wasn’t entirely sure what was happening. P’Tuck came over and led Tutor away, but once she had heard the angry, whispered explanation, she got a tight look on her face and told the customer something that made the customer leave in a huff. Once the customer had left, P’Tuck went over to Tutor and asked for his book. Tutor looked mad but did as she asked. Once he had it back, he came to the front desk, glowering.
“What happened?” Tops asked in a low whisper once there was a break in customers.
“The customer was being racist and homophobic and thought we couldn’t understand because we’re Thai and I started calling them out but it escalated. So now I’m down eight points” Tutor scowled.
Tops was surprised to hear the usually polite Tutor speak like that. Then again, it was only the second week, he didn’t know anyone all that well yet. Zol, having missed the entire thing because she had been helping a customer find their room, looked curious, but a new customer stole her attention. When a new customer came, Tutor looked like his usual polite self. Tops made a mental note to never get on Tutor’s bad side as he looked up the available rooms when Tutor asked.
“Wow, this is a nice place” Champ said when he arrived at Sorn’s restaurant, sliding into the seat across from Zen.
“Yeah, it’s my roommate’s cousin’s boyfriend’s place, apparently” Zen, nodding towards Pharm and Sin, who were at a separate table, sitting with a young man with dimples that Zen assumed was Sin’s boyfriend.
“Let me tell you, I was surprised to get your message, but thankful too. I was just going to go home and be bored if I hadn’t seen the notification”
“You weren’t going to hang out with Dew?”
“No, he had some family thing”
Zen nodded and looked over the menu. He was glad to be here with Champ, as he wasn’t sure when he would be able to see him while doing this internship, even though these weren’t exactly the conditions he had thought of.
“So what happened?” Champ asked in a low voice.
“Pharm had a panic attack when the fire alarm went off. It wasn’t an emergency or anything--just a stupid smoker. But the alarm panicked him so he got the day off and since I’m his roommate, I offered to look after him”
“Such a nice, polite, young man” Champ teased, squishing Zen’s cheeks.
“P’Champ” Zen said reproachingly, although he smiled shyly once Champ let go of his cheeks.
They ordered their food and had a pleasant chat about their work. All too soon, Sin was coming over, saying that he had to get Pharm back to the hotel. Zen nodded, bending down to kiss his senior on the cheek.
“See you next time, Phi” Zen said, waving as he followed Sin and Pharm back to the car.
The ride back went by quickly, and as Zen and Pharm got out, Sin grinned and waved.
“Text me if anything happens again, okay Pharm? And make sure to take your medication!”
“I am, Phi” Pharm answered seriously.
“Good” Sin said, backing up and driving away.
“Ready to go back to the room?” Zen asked, noticing that Pharm looked tired.
“Yes, I think I’ll take a nap”
The two went back to the room, and Zen wrote a note on the door so that Tutor would know that Pharm was sleeping and not come in too loudly.