Chapter 19 Us #3
"Do you remember the rules?"
Ling smiled.
"All of them."
"No unnecessary touching."
Ling looked down at their intertwined fingers.
"We broke that one."
"Immediately."
"No jealousy."
Orm laughed.
"We definitely broke that one."
"No falling in love."
Ling smiled.
"That one didn't stand a chance."
Orm's cheeks turned pink.
"And the last one?"
Ling looked at her.
"Don't look at me like that."
Orm smiled.
"You still haven't told me what that means."
Ling leaned closer.
"Neither have you."
Orm's smile widened.
"Maybe it's this."
She kissed her.
Ling smiled against her lips.
"Maybe."
?
The following morning, the public conversation continued.
But something had changed.
Not online.
Inside them.
They no longer checked every headline.
They no longer wondered what people were saying.
They no longer tried to predict what the next photograph would look like.
They had spent too long living inside other people's expectations.
Now they wanted something simpler.
A life.
Their life.
There would still be difficult days.
There would be criticism.
There would be people who misunderstood them.
There would be questions they didn't want to answer.
There would be moments when privacy would matter.
They knew that.
But they also knew something else.
They didn't owe the world a performance.
They didn't owe anyone proof.
They didn't have to convince strangers that their love was legitimate.
They didn't have to explain when it began.
They didn't have to justify why it happened.
They didn't have to turn their relationship into a brand.
They didn't have to make it perfect.
They only had to make it honest.
And that was what they chose.
?
A week later, they attended a small Veyra event together.
It wasn't a romantic event.
It wasn't a campaign.
There was no reason for them to be paired.
Yet when they arrived, Orm instinctively reached for Ling's hand.
Ling took it.
They walked inside.
Fluke saw them first.
He grinned.
"Finally."
Ling frowned.
"Finally what?"
"Nothing."
Cherry appeared behind him.
She looked at their hands.
Then smiled.
"Looks like the crisis is over."
Ling laughed.
"There was never a crisis."
Cherry raised an eyebrow.
"There was absolutely a crisis."
Orm laughed.
Ling squeezed her hand.
"Not anymore."
Cherry smiled.
"Good."
She walked away.
Fluke leaned toward Orm.
"She's been smiling all week."
Orm looked at Ling.
Ling was talking to a client.
Her expression was professional.
Composed.
But when she glanced back at Orm, her face softened.
Orm smiled.
"I know."
Fluke nodded.
"Keep doing that."
Orm looked at him.
"Doing what?"
"Making her smile."
Orm looked back at Ling.
"I will."
?
That night, after the event, they stood outside beneath the city lights.
Orm slipped her arms around Ling.
Ling held her close.
"Do you think we'll ever get used to this?"
Orm smiled.
"Probably not."
"Good."
"Why?"
"Because I don't want it to become ordinary."
Orm looked at her.
"But I want ordinary with you."
Ling smiled.
"What do you mean?"
"Going grocery shopping."
"Romantic."
"Cooking."
"You don't cook."
"I'll learn."
"That's dangerous."
Orm laughed.
"Watching movies."
"Okay."
"Fighting over blankets."
"We already do that."
"Exactly."
Ling smiled.
"More coffee."
"Definitely."
"More dates."
"Absolutely."
"More mornings."
Ling's expression softened.
"More mornings."
Orm kissed her.
And for a moment, the entire world disappeared.
There were no headlines.
No rumours.
No comments.
No campaign.
No contract.
No audience.
Only two women standing beneath the Bangkok night sky, holding onto each other because they wanted to.
When they finally pulled apart, Orm rested her forehead against Ling's.
"We're really doing this."
Ling smiled.
"Yes."
"No pretending."
"No pretending."
"No hiding."
"No hiding."
Orm laughed.
"And no campaign."
Ling laughed with her.
"No campaign."
Orm squeezed her hand.
"Just us."
Ling looked at her.
Just us.
The words were so simple.
And yet they contained everything.
All the mistakes.
All the fear.
All the laughter.
All the jealousy.
All the nights when neither had known what to say.
All the moments when pretending had become too close to the truth.
All the times Ling had stepped away because she was afraid.
All the times Orm had stayed because she wasn't.
They had begun as strangers.
Then colleagues.
Then reluctant partners.
Then pretend girlfriends.
And somewhere along the way, without either of them noticing exactly when it happened, they had become home to each other.
Ling lifted Orm's hand and kissed her knuckles.
"I love you."
Orm smiled.
"I love you too."
No cameras captured it.
No journalist wrote about it.
No brand benefited from it.
No campaign needed it.
And that was exactly what made it perfect.
For once, their love did not belong to anyone else.
It belonged to them.
And they were going to keep it that way.
Together.
Simply.
Honestly.
Us.