Chapter 8 - The Soft Side of Ling #2
Orm was halfway through her meal when she heard a commotion.
A small brown dog had wandered into the courtyard.
It looked nervous.
One of the children immediately tried to approach it.
"Careful," Ling said.
The child's hand stopped.
Ling crouched down.
"Let it come to you."
The dog stood several feet away, watching.
Ling held out her hand.
She didn't call it.
She didn't chase it.
She simply waited.
"Come here," she whispered.
Orm watched.
The dog took one cautious step.
Then another.
Ling remained still.
Eventually, it approached and sniffed her hand.
Ling smiled.
"Hello."
The dog wagged its tail.
Orm's heart did something strange.
Ling gently stroked its head.
The dog immediately leaned into her hand.
Everyone laughed.
Ling laughed too.
The sound was soft.
Happy.
Completely free.
Orm lowered her camera.
She didn't want to photograph this.
Not because it wasn't beautiful.
Because it felt too private.
Even though there was nothing private about it.
Ling was sitting in a public courtyard with a stray dog leaning against her knee.
Yet somehow, Orm felt as though she were witnessing something she had been trusted to see.
The dog suddenly placed one paw on Ling's leg.
Ling laughed.
"You're very demanding."
The dog wagged its tail.
"See?" Fluke said. "It already likes you."
Ling looked at him.
"Animals have good judgment."
Orm laughed.
"That explains why it chose you."
Ling looked toward her.
Their eyes met.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Ling smiled.
Orm's heart skipped.
She looked away first.
?
Later that afternoon, the children convinced Ling to join a game in the courtyard.
Orm was standing with Bow near the camera equipment when she heard shouting.
"Come on, Ling!"
"You have to run!"
"No cheating!"
Ling laughed.
"I haven't even started!"
Orm turned.
She nearly dropped the camera.
Ling was running across the courtyard.
Actually running.
Her hair had come loose from the neat style she had worn earlier, her sleeves were still rolled up and she was laughing as a group of children chased her.
One of them caught her hand.
Another grabbed her sleeve.
Ling pretended to stumble.
The children screamed with laughter.
Orm stared.
Bow leaned closer.
"You're doing it again."
"What?"
"Falling."
Orm frowned.
"I'm standing."
"Not physically."
Orm looked at her.
Bow smiled.
"You know what I mean."
Orm's expression softened.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Bow laughed.
"Sure."
Orm returned her attention to Ling.
She couldn't look away.
There was something almost startling about seeing Ling without her usual control.
At Veyra, Ling carried responsibility like it was part of her body. She walked into meetings already knowing the questions people were going to ask. She could silence an entire conference room with a glance. She rarely raised her voice because she didn't need to.
Here, none of that existed.
There was no Executive Director.
No intimidating boss.
No woman everyone whispered about when she walked down the corridor.
There was simply Ling.
A woman who laughed too loudly when a child caught her.
A woman who pretended to lose a game because the children looked so pleased when they won.
A woman who let a dog sleep against her leg while she continued talking.
A woman who seemed, for the first time, completely unafraid of being seen.
And Orm realised she wanted to know her.
Not the version of Ling that existed for the company.
Not the version of Ling that existed for the campaign.
Not the version of Ling that the public had come to believe they knew.
Her.
The real one.
That thought frightened her.
?
The afternoon sun began to soften as the team prepared to leave.
The children gathered near the entrance to say goodbye.
One little girl hugged Ling tightly.
"Come back soon."
Ling crouched and smiled.
"I will."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
The girl held out her pinky.
Ling hooked hers around it.
"Promise."
Orm watched from a few feet away.
Something in her chest tightened.
It wasn't jealousy.
It wasn't exactly sadness.
It was something deeper.
Something quieter.
She suddenly understood why people trusted Ling.
Why people followed her.
Why she had been given so much responsibility at Veyra.
Ling wasn't simply intimidating because she was powerful.
She was intimidating because she cared so deeply that she had learned to protect it.
The softness was there.
She had simply hidden it beneath layers of discipline.
Orm understood that instinct.
Maybe that was why seeing it made her feel so vulnerable.
Ling stood.
The little girl waved.
Ling waved back.
Then she turned and caught Orm watching.
Their eyes met.
Orm looked away.
Too late.
Ling walked toward her.
"You've been quiet."
Orm adjusted the camera in her hands.
"I'm working."
"You've been watching me."
Orm nearly dropped the camera.
"I was documenting the project."
Ling smiled.
"Of course."
"I was."
"I believe you."
"You don't."
"I do."
Orm narrowed her eyes.
"You're teasing me."
"A little."
Orm smiled despite herself.
Then Ling looked toward the children.
"They're wonderful."
"They like you."
Ling's smile softened.
"I like them."
"I noticed."
Ling looked back at Orm.
"What?"
"You were different."
The words slipped out before Orm could stop them.
Ling's expression changed.
"Different?"
"At the office, you're..."
Orm struggled.
"Scary."
Ling laughed.
"Scary?"
"Very."
"I see."
"But here..."
Orm hesitated.
"You're not."
Ling looked at her.
"Is that a compliment?"
"I think so."
Ling smiled.
"Then I'll accept it."
Orm laughed softly.
For a moment, they stood there in the fading afternoon light, neither needing to say anything else.
Then Ling asked,
"Does it change your opinion of me?"
Orm looked at her.
She could have joked.
She could have said no.
She could have reminded Ling that she still found her irritating.
Instead, she told the truth.
"A little."
Ling smiled.
"Good."
?
On the drive back to Bangkok, Orm sat quietly by the window.
Bow sat beside her, scrolling through the photographs they had taken.
Fluke was asleep in the row behind them.
P'Cherry and Khun Dew were discussing tomorrow's schedule.
Ling was sitting in the front.
Orm watched the city pass outside.
She kept thinking about the children.
The dog.
The laughter.
The way Ling had looked when she thought nobody was judging her.
She remembered the sound of Ling laughing.