Chapter 10 It Wasnt Supposed to Happen #3
The way everything else had disappeared.
Orm pressed her palms against her eyes.
"This is a disaster."
She turned onto her back.
The ceiling stared back.
She wondered what Ling was doing.
Probably sleeping.
Probably not thinking about her.
Probably regretting everything.
Orm frowned.
Then she remembered the way Ling had looked at her afterward.
No.
She wasn't sure.
That was the worst part.
She didn't know.
And she couldn't ask.
Not yet.
Maybe not ever.
?
Across the city, Ling wasn't sleeping either.
She sat on the edge of her bed, staring at her phone.
Orm's name was at the top of her recent messages.
She opened their conversation.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
She typed:
I'm sorry.
Deleted it.
Typed:
About today...
Deleted it.
Typed:
I didn't mean to cross the line.
Deleted it too.
Because that wasn't true.
She had meant to.
Maybe not consciously.
Maybe not deliberately.
But when she kissed Orm the second time, she hadn't been thinking about the campaign.
She hadn't been thinking about Aurelia.
She hadn't been thinking about Veyra.
She hadn't been thinking about the rules.
She had simply wanted to kiss her.
And that truth terrified her.
Ling placed the phone face down.
She stood and walked to the window.
The city was quiet beneath her.
She remembered Orm's voice.
You don't have to pretend with me.
Ling closed her eyes.
That was exactly what made it dangerous.
Because she had spent years pretending.
Pretending she didn't need anyone.
Pretending she didn't want to be loved.
Pretending she had moved beyond the person she used to be.
And now Orm had somehow slipped through every wall.
She had done it without forcing anything.
She had simply stayed.
She had argued.
Laughed.
Teased.
Listened.
She had seen Ling with children and animals.
She had seen Ling afraid.
She had seen Ling vulnerable.
And somehow, instead of using those things against her, she had looked at Ling as though none of them made her weaker.
That was the terrifying part.
Orm made Ling want to trust again.
And Ling didn't know whether she could survive doing that.
?
The next morning, Orm arrived at Veyra determined to behave normally.
She failed within thirty seconds.
Ling was already in the lobby.
They saw each other.
Both stopped.
"Morning," Ling said.
"Morning."
There was a pause.
Ling looked like she wanted to say something.
Orm did too.
Neither did.
P'Cherry appeared behind them carrying a folder.
"Good. You're both here."
They turned.
"The client loved yesterday's footage."
Orm's stomach twisted.
P'Cherry smiled.
"They want to move forward with the final stage."
Fluke appeared beside her.
"Apparently the chemistry was incredible."
Orm nearly choked.
Ling gave him a look.
Fluke immediately became fascinated by the ceiling.
P'Cherry continued.
"The kiss scene is the strongest part."
Orm and Ling looked at each other.
Neither smiled.
Khun Dew approached.
"The client wants to build the next phase around the emotional progression between you."
Orm's heart sank.
Ling's expression remained unreadable.
Khun Dew looked between them.
"Is there a problem?"
"No," Ling said.
Orm swallowed.
"No problem."
Khun Dew nodded.
"Good."
She walked away.
Orm looked at Ling.
Ling looked back.
There were a thousand things between them now.
And none of them were part of the campaign brief.
?
That night, Orm returned home.
She showered.
Changed.
Made tea.
Turned off the lights.
And climbed into bed.
She stared at the ceiling.
Again.
Just like the night before.
Only this time, she didn't try to deny what she was feeling.
The kiss had happened.
It had been supposed to be fake.
But the second one hadn't been.
The cameras hadn't been recording.
No one had been watching.
There had been no reason to perform.
And yet Ling had kissed her.
Orm smiled faintly.
Then the smile disappeared.
Because Ling had also walked away.
She turned onto her side.
Maybe that was the part she needed to understand.
The kiss hadn't frightened Ling because it was meaningless.
It had frightened her because it meant something.
Something neither of them was ready to name.
Orm closed her eyes.
She could still feel Ling's hand against her cheek.
She could still hear the quiet sound of her breath.
She could still remember the moment when everything else disappeared.
She whispered into the darkness,
"Why did you kiss me?"
There was, of course, no answer.
Only the quiet hum of the city outside.
Only the darkness.
Only the memory.
And somewhere across Bangkok, another woman was probably staring at another ceiling, asking herself the exact same question.
Neither knew what would happen next.
But one thing was certain.
The campaign had asked them to pretend to fall in love.
Somewhere along the way, they had forgotten which part was pretend.
And the kiss they were supposed to fake had become the one thing neither of them could pretend hadn't happened.