Sam. Khun Sam. Lady Boss. The Honorable Lady Samanun Anantrakul.
Sam is many things, and in all aspects, she’s strong. She’s strong-willed, determined, relentless. She’d do anything to have what she wants, may it be investors or a project that she wants pursued. No matter what it is, Sam will get it, no matter what it takes. She’s the boss for a reason.
As much as the others are aware, she has no weakness. Her grandmother has accepted her for who she truly is, and is supporting her even more, and no one is absolutely holding her back aside from the pressure she has put on herself, but no one’s aware of this. She makes people perceive her as someone who’s strong and will not crumble under any circumstances, and so far, she has proven their thoughts correct.
Like right now. She’s in a meeting with some investors, Kirk doing a run through over the goals they have set for the following year. It’s falling into the late afternoon and Sam isn’t tired. She can’t be, not when she has a lot of things on her plate regarding her company. Her face is stoic and void of any emotion, as if everything is under her control and nothing will ever go out of her way. And so far, everything’s going smoothly. Kirk fortunately hasn’t fucked up yet, and if he had, Sam would’ve left him in a ditch.
“Our sales and profits of last year have greatly exceeded our projections and estimates. We are confident that this would continue and increase this year, as we now have more partners, and our goals for this company has increased dramatically to accommodate our significant growth, with all of our partners and the target market, which is still very much active in consuming every product that we post.” Kirk smiles as he points towards the projector, showing numbers and data about their performance in the previous year. Well, it has certainly been doing great. They’re getting more profit, which is great for both her and Kirk, as well as the whole company board; and the company has been expanding dramatically.
“I see.” one of the investors comment, “The Honorable Lady Sam is incredibly focused on making this company soar greater heights, and I’m glad that it’s showing on the figures you’ve presented. You truly are amazing, Lady Sam.” she flashes him a small smile of appreciation towards his nice comment. Honestly, everything is expected. It’s been planned, and her figures show her projected growth back when she first made a business plan. This wasn’t much of a surprise for her as she knows she’s been working extremely hard, and it’s only fair for the product of her blood, sweat, and tears to show.
“It seems like you have no weakness at all,” another comments with a chuckle, “Every year is a greater year for Diversity.” Kirk nods at his comment, agreeing with the elder’s words. Right after, she feels her phone vibrate in her pocket. It has only been a message since it was just a single ping, and she’d usually ignore it, but the notifications keep on coming that she can’t help but groan.
“Excuse me for a minute.” she picks her phone up from her pocket, expecting one of her rowdy friends blowing up their groupchat and she’s ready to scold them off and receive another ‘then just put your phone on do not disturb, lady stupidity!’ from her friends, but what she sees totally catches her off guard.
“Fuck.” she mutters under her breath as she hastily opens the messages. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” she’s typing furiously as she lifts her head up towards Kirk who’s still standing in front, looking at her with wide, curious eyes.
“Sam?”
“Kirk, continue the meeting without me.” she stands up from her chair as she looks back on her screen, seeing another flee of messages arriving at her phone. Her eyebrows are furrowed as she types, her thumbs moving faster than Kirk’s speed of processing information.
“Sam?” Kirk calls again as Sam starts to open the door with a free hand, “Wait! What’s happening?” he asks, motioning towards the important people in the room who’s looking at them expectantly, waiting for an answer from the young lady.
“Mon.” is all she says before she’s out of the room, and Kirk releases a knowing sigh. He looks back at the people blinking slowly, “Mon?”
“Sam’s fiancée.”
“Oh.”
“You can say she’s strong,” he chuckles, “But she’d totally bend Tungsten with her bare hands if Mon asks her to.” he scratches his nose, “And she’d totally eradicate half of the world for Mon.” he shrugs. “You can say she’s her kryptonite.”
He notices that they’re all just staring at him wordlessly, and he releases an awkward laugh. “I’m oversharing, aren’t I?”
“Chin, get my car ready. Please.” he stands up with confusion written all over his face, but as he hears the pleading in his boss’ words, he quickly catches the car key that’s thrown at him and he speeds through the building to start Duanpen.
Sam retreats back into her office to call Nop and get her things into her purse to leave.
Sam is the boss.
But Mon is Sam’s boss.
And if Mon needs her, she will be there. She will do anything Mon asks or needs her to do, because she will literally do anything for Mon, no matter what it is, even if her usual law-abiding self means breaking traffic rules because Mon needs her somewhere to be as soon as possible.
She sometimes scrutinizes herself for allowing herself to do such things just for a woman, but Mon isn’t any other woman. She’s Mon; she’s the love of her life—she’s her weakness.
She cannot just resist her.
She always pines for her.
And no matter how strong she is, she always has a weakness. She’s just human, after all.
And out of all things, Mon just happens to be her Achilles’ heel. She can be the reason for her great success or for her downfall.
She’s scared. She’s scared of Mon because she has her heart in her hands, but she trusts her with all of her heart and soul, and she lets Mon keep her heart until the end of time.
Mon can absolutely destroy her but she could also absolutely build her right up.
“I don’t know, Khun Sam, I—…” she hears Nop say on the other side of the phone. His voice is shaky and Sam can tell that he’s panicking. As she speeds through traffic lights and overtaking several vehicles, she doesn’t let their annoying honks stop her from speeding through the highway to reach their home as soon as possible. “She’s convulsing. I think she has a fever, I don’t know, I’ve never seen her like this.” he quickly says, “Yuki called me when Mon called her with a weak voice. She couldn’t come over because she’s stuck at work, and Yuki told me Mon didn’t tell you because you were in a meeting.”
“Okay,” she takes a deep breath as she makes a turn into their gated neighborhood, passing through the street filled with grandeur houses on either side. “I’m almost there, just 2 minutes.” she huffs as she speeds even more, putting her sports car to work. “Can you put the phone to Mon’s ear?” she hears shuffling in the background before she’s greeted with Mon’s heavy breathing. Of course, the sound is very familiar to her.
“Baby, hi,” Sam’s voice softens as she talks, “I’m almost home, okay?”
Mon sounds a weak hum, “Aren’t you…aren’t you in a meeting?” her voice is weak and raspy, and Sam makes a mental note to grab a pitcher of water as soon as she’s home.
“I left as soon as I could. It was about to end anyways.”
“You walked out?”
“You need me, Mon. Even if I stayed there, knowing your condition, I wouldn’t be able to focus.” Sam reasons out as the automatic gates to her house open. “I’m just going to park, darling. I’ll be there really soon.”
As soon as Sam’s car comes to a halt and she’s parked in front of their home, she exits in a haste. She opens the door, with her heels having been discarded in the foyer with a kick of her feet. She runs to the kitchen while dropping her purse, phone, and keys on the counter. She picks up a pitcher of water and a cup, then she runs up the stairs.
“Mon?” she calls as she opens the door. She spots Nop first, standing over the bed. The room is cold and dark, with the lights all closed and the curtains all drawn in. The only light that entered the room is from the hallway that creeped in when Sam opened the door. “Oh, darling.”
Mon tries to sit up, the damp hand cloth on her forehead slipping as she does. Sam walks over with big strides and places the water on the bedside table before gently pushing Mon to lay back down. She sits beside her on the bed, her hip pressed against Mon’s.
“Khun Sam.” Nop greets him with his palms pressed together, “I’m glad you’re here.” she gives him a small smile.
“I’ll go out.” Nop says as he walks out of the room, leaving the two alone.
“Sam…” Mon croaks out, “What about work?”
“You are way more important than work, Mon.” she takes the damp cloth from her forehead and moves it to press it on her cheeks and neck, and she sighs at the cold temperature pressed against her hot skin. Sam helps her sit up with one arm while the other pours water into the cup.
“Take your medicine then you can go back to sleep.” Sam says as she pulls out a pill from the drawer, “I’ll take care of you.”
Mon lays her back against the headboard, the cloth still pressed against her neck. Sam hands her the pill and when she puts it on her tongue, Sam hands her the cup of water. She downs it with one gulp.
Sam helps her lay back down, and she pushes some strands of hair away from Mon’s face before leaning down to press a lingering kiss on her forehead. She hisses when she feels the extremely hot skin.
“You’re so hot.”
“I know.” Mon says with a small, weak smirk. Sam rolls her eyes before leaning down to wet the cloth again, thankful that Nop left the bucket of water so she wouldn’t have to leave Mon to get some. She squeezes the remaining water away before folding the cloth neatly and placing it back on the younger woman’s forehead.
“You’re scalding, Mon. Hot meaning scalding!” she scolds, crossing her arms as Mon looks at her with a funny look. “What happened? Why did you suddenly get sick? Baby…”
“I just woke up with a fever,” Mon explains. “Maybe it’s a good thing I took the day off.” she says with a chuckle.
“Mon…” Sam sighs, pulling the comforter up that it touches Mon’s chin, seeing that the younger woman is shivering. Mon pulls her arms out to rest on top of the comforter, her other arm automatically reaching out for one of Sam’s crossed arms. Sam uncrosses her arms and lets Mon take her hand, tracing small circles on Sam’s palm as she does so. Sam looks down at their hands and huffs, looking up again, staring into Mon’s dark orbs. “I’ll take care of you until you get better.”
“You have a job to do, Khun Sam.”
“And my job is to take care of you.” Sam puts their intertwined hands to her lips and presses a lingering kiss. She stands up after leaning over to kiss the tip of Mon’s nose. “I’ll just change into my nightgown then I’ll be back. Just sleep, baby. You’ll wake up with me by your side.”
Mon nods and Sam picks out a nightgown from her closet then retreats into their bathroom to change. She undresses herself and changes into the comfortable sleeping wear, forgoing her usual relaxing bath because Mon needs her.
She comes out of the bathroom and smiles contentedly when she spots Mon sleeping, eyes closed shut but her eyebrows furrowed. She frowns when she notices the crease in between Mon’s eyebrows and walks closer, putting her index and middle finger on her fiancée’s forehead to soothe the tense muscles. Mon sighs in her sleep.
She grabs her laptop from her drawer and slides into the bed beside Mon, opting to finish her pending work while Mon is sleeping and doesn’t directly need her yet. She checks her emails and does paperwork, sending some emails back to some people in the office and to Kirk. She then checks her phone for any important messages or updates.
Kirk: the meeting went well. it ended on a good note. we’ll have another meeting to finalize some details when u’re free.
Kirk: altho some investors are expecting an invite to ur wedding 😂 maybe i overshared when i explained why you ran out. don’t worry, they understood.
Kirk: i heard from tee that she’s sick
Kirk: tell her to get well soon. i’m not expecting you tomorrow in the office if mon is still sick. focus on ur wife-to-be.
Kirk: i’ll leave u and mon alone now.
Me: Thanks, Kirk. She’s sleeping beside me now. She’s having a fever. Right, don’t expect me in the office tomorrow. If Mon’s temperature doesn’t go back to normal by then, I’ll stick by her side.
She answers all in one message, not wanting to spam the man.
Kirk: oh no! i wish her a speedy recovery.
She turns her phone off and closes her laptop. She places the laptop on her bedside table and places her phone on top of it, phone on do not disturb and the screen facing down. She turns her body to see Mon’s shifting in her sleep, face scrunched up. She’s clearly uncomfortable.
She brings her hand to her face and caresses her cheek, and Mon visibly relaxes. Sam gets out of the bed and walks to Mon’s side, taking the towel on her forehead and dipping it back into the water to place a damp towel again. She reminds herself to get packs of Kool Fever, as water trickling down Mon’s face and onto the pillows could get uncomfortable. She doesn’t mind getting out of bed every several minutes to replenish the water in the towel, she just doesn’t want Mon to feel uncomfortable with water trickling down her face and her movement being restricted since the damp towel could very easily slide off of her forehead.
She looks between the clock at her wall and back to Mon, and she makes a decision. It was just past 5 PM and Mon’s deeply asleep. If she grabs a coat and drives her car as fast as she could without getting into an accident, maybe she can grab a pack of Kool Fevers from the pharmacy just by the gate of their gated village in less than 20 minutes.
She grabs her coat and exits the bedroom but not before leaving Mon a note, as she briskly walks down the stairs trying not to make a single noise that could shake Mon awake. She peeks into the living room when she sees that the lights are on.
“Nop?” she’s quite surprised he’s still inside. Nop looks up from the couch and stands up, and Sam walks closer to him. She wraps her coat tighter around herself.
“Khun Sam,” he chuckles, scratching at his arm. “How’s Mon?”
“Sleeping. What are you still doing here?”
“Oh, uhm…” he trails off, looking away. He gulps before facing Sam, quite surprised that she’s calm and not tense, as if she doesn’t mind his presence in their house. “I was just wondering if… I can get Mon anything? I mean, it’d be better if you stay with her all throughout, you know? She might stir awake and she’d wonder where you’ve gone to—“ he explains and Sam puts a hand up to stop him from stammering even more, an amused smile on her face.
“Nop, I’m not going to eat you alive. Calm down.” she laughs. Nop stops and looks everywhere but the noble woman’s face, “It’s good that you’re still here.” she continues, and Nop looks back at her. He cocks his head to the side in confusion.
“Can you drive?” he nods, still a quizzical look on his face. “Good,” she nods, picking up the car keys on the coffee table before handing it to him. He looks at it with furrowed eyebrows.
“There’s a pharmacy by the entrance of the village. It’s a little far if you’re going to walk, so take my car; it’s faster.” she nods at the keys, “I want you to get some a pack of Kool Fever and some tea.” she hands him a card, “And anything you want. You can buy some snacks for yourself or whatever.”
“Okay. Is there something you want?” Nop asks before turning on his heels to walk to the front of the mansion where the car is parked. “No, just go.” Sam shakes her head and waves him off.
As soon as Nop’s off, she runs into the kitchen and grabs some ingredients for congee. Just a small batch since Mon doesn’t eat much, especially when she’s sick. She grabs a healthy amount of rice granules, ginger, salt, and a piece of chicken cube. Making a stock, even if it would taste better, would take longer and she doesn’t want Mon to starve.
She grabs a pot and puts the ingredients together with water. She brings it to a boil and eventually into a simmer, stirring it occasionally to avoid the rice from sticking at the bottom. By the time she was almost done, Nop’s back carrying a bunch of plastic bags.
He places them down on the counter in the kitchen alongside the car keys and the card he used to pay. He takes a 2 bottles of cold tea out, one for him, and one for Sam. He then takes out some tea that needs brewing. She looks over her shoulder to see Nop arranging the things he bought. He places the Kool Fever alongside the bottle of tea for Sam. “That’s for you.” he points at the bottle, and she nods.
“Where’s your kettle? I can brew some tea for Mon while you cook.” he asks while looking around. “It’s on the pull-out shelf, the middle one.” she motions towards the wall of the kitchen, shelves hidden into the walls to disguise themselves as normal paneling to keep the minimalistic look of the mansion. It’s a cabinet, really.
He nods and grabs at the bottom part of the shelf before pulling it out, mesmerized but quickly understanding the simple mechanism of the said shelf. He carries the kettle carefully before he plugs it into on one of the sockets at the backsplash on the right side of Sam. He puts water into the kettle itself and turns it on.
“Congee?” he asks, attempting to make small conversation to dilute the silence that is on the cusp of being awkward. She nods, turning the stove off.
“Yeah. The recipe is from Auntie Phon, you know? She taught me when Mon first fell sick.”
Once the water has boiled in the kettle, Nop grabs a cup and puts a tea bag in before adding hot water to seep the tea. Sam takes a bowl and places a generous serving of congee before placing the said bowl onto a tray, while Nop takes the opportunity to put the cup of tea at the side of the tray. He takes the initiative to carry the tray to the bedroom.
“Thank you, Nop.” Sam thanks him while they were walking up the stairs, Kool Fever in one hand as Nop trails behind her. “It’s no problem, Khun Sam.” he chuckles wryly, “We all just want for Mon to get better here.”
“Right,” she nods. They take a turn and Sam opens the door for Nop, “You’re such a good friend for Mon.”
“Well, she’s a great person and a great judge of character.” he glances at Sam before placing the tray onto a nearby table. “She just deserves it.”
Sam carefully removes the now-almost dry towel and replaces it with a Kool Fever, and Mon jolts awake at the temperature on her forehead. “Sam…” she blinks, touching her forehead. “Oh.” she looks to her side when she hears shuffling behind Sam. “Nop, you’re still here.”
Sam helps Mon sit up. She takes the bowl of congee while Mon makes herself comfortable, already feeling a little better. “Here, have some congee.” she sits by her thighs and takes a scoop of the food, blowing on it lightly before feeding it to the sick woman. Mon takes it eagerly and swallows, “It’s tasty.”
“Good.” Sam hums, taking another scoop. Nop looks at them and smiles to himself. “Khun Sam, Mon, I’ll take my leave.” the two women look at him and nod, “Thank you again, Nop.” he grins and leaves the room.
“Did you cook this?” Mon asks. Sam nods before feeding it to her, “I did, when you were asleep.” she says as Mon swallows. “Nop bought some stuff from the pharmacy while I cooked you food.” she takes another scoop, blows on it, and feeds it to Mon. She does that again and again until the food on the bowl is finished.
“Good girl,” Sam sets the bowl down and shuffles closer to caress her cheek, “I couldn’t let you go hungry.” Mon grins, “Thank you, darling.”
Sam smiles and stands up, taking the tea. “Here, baby,” she hands the cup to Mon, “It’s still a little hot, but it’s not scalding. It should warm you right up.” Mon holds the cup with both hands and looks up at Sam.
“I’ll just wash the dishes and be right back, okay?” she says, and Mon nods. She starts to walk away and is about to exit the room when she hears Mon say something that made her heart leap.
“I can’t wait to marry you, Sam.” Mon says with so much adoration, “You’re going to be such a great wife.” she adds on.
Sam looks at her with a big, sweet smile on her face. “I love you, Mon.”
“I love you, too, Sam.”