The hairstylist deftly smoothed a strand of hair back after spritzing it in hair spray...

"There it's done, take a look" she said as she turned the chair towards the mirror..

Krist looked at his reflection ignoring the drab cape over his evening suit..he looked perfect..a dash of gloss on his lips highlighted them...make up hid his faint scar and mole..his hair was smooth and styled back...

He nodded at the stylist smiling his approval of her work...thanking her by joining his palms..

"I am a great fan of ur drama Krist" she said waving away his thanks.. "styling u is like my dream come true..so the pleasure s all mine.."

Krist beamed wider at her compliment..he was happy when anyone appreciated his work...

He picked up the platinum studs as she started packing her stuff and clipped them to his ears..those and the coat pin were his only accessories tonight..

He smoothed the black suit over his stomach, feeling the anxious butterflies in there everytime he thought of Singto..

He knew Singto and Papa Boon would surely be there. They had been ardent supporters of the Thai Cancer Society since Singto's mother had been the victim of a malignant tumor..

In any case he would be running into Singto a lot while he was here in Phuket, not just because it was inevitable but as it was necessary..

Firstly they were neighbors and he was the one who had been caretaking the plantation when he was away...secondly he was also the legal executor of his father's will and if he needed to sell the place he would have to go through him...

Seeing him would be tough...it always was....even if ten years had gone by...

Wounds always healed with time, but sometimes the wound was so deep that it left a lingering ache which would torment us for a lifetime...no use on brooding over it..it was something he just had to suffer along...

He rose from his seat, looking for his pocket square..he folded it neatly. As he stuffed it into his pocket he heard a knock on the door, followed by Earth's deep voice "Krist can I come in?"he asked..

"Yes P'..come in" Krist answered as he checked the clock..good he was ready before time..

Earth walked in shutting the door behind him..

Krist turned to face him.."You look dashing P'Earth" He said a mischievous glint in his eye..

Earth smiled and touched his forehead to adjust a stray strand of hair..it then trailed lower to cup his cheeks as Krist leaned into the elder's warmth...

"So? How do I look?"Krist asked back, looking up from his hand...with puppy eyes..

Earth took a step back and contemplated his hairstyle and suit..."something s not right..have u put on all ur accessories?"he asked frowning...

Krist turned to the mirror and checked, his earrings were there and the coat pin..wat else did he need?

"I think this will make it perfect," Earth whispered in his ears as he slipped a platinum bracelet into his slender wrist..

"But P'Earth.."Krist started to protest..

"Shhh...please...as a token of our friendship..."he pleaded and Krist couldn't say no to those pleading eyes...

"I don't care if u have said that to every faen of urs..I love it..and I love the present..thank u" he said admiring it.

Turning to the elder he dropped a chaste kiss on his cheeks. As he turned to pick up his perfume, Earth snaked his arm around Krist's waist and pulled him closer,smashing their lips in a passionate kiss..

Desire flamed in Earth like a bale of cotton catching fire..krist's lips tasted like a heady wine and he wanted to get drunk on it..so drunk as to not remember who he was..he wanted to forget for a short-time all the stress he was under...

Hearing a noise in the corridor outside they broke apart...

"Do you realize how much I want to skip tat dinner tonight?"he complained to Krist, who had turned back to spritz his perfume..

Khun Chan had ordered it and they had to be there..they couldn't avoid it..

"It's very tempting isn't it?" Krist muttered as his thoughts lingered on the breathtaking kiss they had just shared..it had evoked strange longings in him and the need to be held in his arms was too strong..almost like an ache...

"But u're right we need to be there so let's go.."he said offering Earth a tissue and gesturing to the smudge of gloss on his cheek...

Earth took it and first wiped Krist's smudge before doing his own face...

"Isn't it funny P'Earth, I usually like parties but tonight even I don't feel like going.. I would really enjoy a walk in the moonlight along the beach though.." he sighed..

"Moonlight is for adolescents Krist..U and I are fully grown adults, it's time we move on to something more real than that.."

"U have a way with words which sweep people off their feet P'." Krist smiled..

"Why do u always throw that at me?"Earth asked annoyed, but he knew why...His public image of a play boy had been something he had taken a lot of effort to create.. After a dozen affairs he had just taken to dating his current leads in the movies he did..most of them had been after fame and the others after his money..but with Krist he felt something different..

Krist neither craved fame nor was he greedy for money..for him there would never be a casual affair..he gave his all or none at all..

"Maybe to protect myself from u P'Earth " Krist chose tat moment to reply to the question..

"From whom?me?" Earth asked innocently..

"Don't look so innocent P'.. You very well know the image u have created and I am afraid I ll fall for your charms.." Krist mocked .

"Maybe I have already fallen for u Krist..after so long my heart feels different " Earth whispered as he came closer..

Krist stared back into those eyes which were so inviting him to get lost in them..how easy would it be to loose himself and not think of anything...

He sighed hiding his desire and linking their arms.."life s full of risks P'Earth..tats wat makes it so exciting..come on..."he said pulling him out the door ....

****

Singto stood in front of the mirror buttoning up his white dress shirt..His room was sparsely Decorated with only the bare necessary furniture and it was very tidy. Not a book out of place nor a cushion crushed or wrinkled..he loved to keep it perfect and neat...

"Hi"..Waan bounced in jumping on his bed and wrinkling his perfect set up...

"Hi" Singto smiled at her playfulness...he could never reprimand her innocence..."Are u done packing?" He asked..

"Yep, I packed my toothbrush too."she replied, "are you done Daddy?"

"Yep almost done honeybee,"Singto replied picking up the bow tie and wrapping it around his neck...

"Grandpa s dressed and admiring himself in front of the mirror "she said with an 'I told u so 'look..

"Did u eat something?"

"No Buffy and I are gonna make pizza once I go over."she said excitedly, scooting over the mattress to look at the framed picture on the bedside table..

Singto's hand froze on his tie, he saw her reflection in the mirror as she reached out to touch the frame..

"Do you think I look like her Daddy?"She asked innocently running her fingers on the picture of her mother taken at her wedding...

Singto walked over to sit next to her on the bed.."when ur 19 u ll be exactly like her honeybee..tat s how old she was when tat picture was taken.."he replied softly..

Waan sighed "I wish mother was here".

The words hit Singto like a blast of cold air...they were filled with loneliness and longing...a longing for the love of a mother, that she craved and he couldn't fulfill..how much ever he tried...

His thoughts raced back to that night in the beach that he had first laid eyes on Neen..she had smiled at him from across the sands putting her everything into those sparkling eyes...

Singto had been 20 and Neen the kind of beauty every young man dreamt about..he hadn't cared that she was with her boyfriend..

Hadn't cared that the guy was shooting daggers at him for trying to hit on his girlfriend...all the etiquette and manners of courting he had learnt, he threw out the window and brought out all his cunning charms to woo her..

He stuck to her side, showed off his local knowledge of the place, filled her glass with juice or mojitos whenever it was empty..in the end he had even persuaded her to float a lantern with him..at the beach..

Among all the drugs floating around in the party Neen had gotten high on Singto's words and perfect smile..She had ignored her boyfriend Jay, irking the man's ire...Jay had tried desperately to pull her back but she had ignored him..

Singto knew he was breaking the rules and stealing another's girl but he didn't care..

As they floated the lantern and stood watching it's journey, Neen had leaned back in him and wrapped his hand around her hips.. tat was all it had taken for Singto to pull her around and kiss those luscious lips...they tasted like ambrosia making him delve deeper into them..losing all his sense of reason...

After tat night he had spent every single moment with her till he left for Bangkok, back to college...to finish his master's in law...Even then he visited her at her dorms every weekend. Ignoring his fatigue and heavy assignments he kept going back to her for more..He knew it was madness,yet he was powerless against the attraction Neen held for him...she was always so happy to see him and equally tearful when he left...

Four months later, they had eloped..to his father's dismay and her father's joy..a month later she was pregnant..

Unable to cope with her morning sickness, sour moods and his studies, he took her home to the farm and left her there in the care of his father and the caretaker P'za...three months later he had joined her there with his law degree in hand..

By then her sickness had toned down and she missed the busy city life..she felt lonely and missed her friends and all the fun. It was a suffocation she fought against and complained about to the whole town...

Then one day Jay had visited..Singto had heard Neen's laugh as he walked in from the stables...he realised it had been ages since he had heard her laughter...and it stopped the minute they saw him...

"Hey Singto, how come you're staying so close to the house? Don't you trust your wife?" Jay teased..

That s all it had taken to break Singto's temper and he had punched him..right in the face breaking that asshole's nose..

Neen had rushed to help him,turning her eyes glaring at Singto...he felt so empty then...he may have won the fight..but he felt like the biggest loser ever...

He tried to change it over the months,but after Waan was born and Neen was recovering from the c-section in the hospital, she had again turned angry accusing eyes at him and said "I was wrong to marry you P'Sing..I should have married Jay..how could I have ever thought we were alike...God I hate u for this.."she said her eyes filled with hate...an hour later she had died...the cause of death was unknown and many held him responsible..Maybe he was and till now the guilt had never fully left him...

"She was very beautiful wasn't she?"Waan asked dreamily breaking into his thoughts...

Singto struggled to come back to the present and turned to face his daughter...anyone could tell the child had created a wonderful image of the woman supposed to be her mother in her head...

"She was very beautiful honeybee..just like u she had straight dark hair and beautiful eyes with a cute lovely smile..she loved you very much....she loved us both very much.."he lied..

Waan smiled softly, letting Singto to pick her up from the bed and carry her out of the room...satisfied with the image of her mother tat he had just given...

Singto knew he had lied,but her smile and peace was all that mattered to him now..nothing else mattered...he regretted the kind of young man he had been..the hurt he had given to his family and friends. His youth and zest for life had been lost with that..now all that remained was the pain and emptiness...