Petra's words made Rafah pause slightly, as if she had been caught. Although Rafah tried to hide it, Petra saw through her at once.
"I was just trying to make conversation."
Rafah's excuse made Petra smile. This was the first time she had seen a different side of Rafah. Part of Petra wanted to tease her a little more. Another part feared she might make Rafah feel awkward. In the end, she chose to answer smoothly.
"I don't really have a specific type. My preferences aren't that fixed. But if I had to answer quickly, I'd probably say... I like intelligent people."
"Intelligent? What kind of intelligent? A genius?"
Petra laughed.
"Not that kind. I mean someone who's intelligent about life."
"Can you explain that?"
Petra thought for a moment before answering calmly.
"I'm not sure I can explain it well either. At the very least... someone who doesn't keep dragging themselves into trouble, I guess. Someone who understands their own mind. If they're happy, they admit they're happy. If they're hurt, they admit they're hurt. And they know what their responsibilities are right now."
Rafah tilted her head slightly.
"That sounds like a difficult type to pin down..."
Petra laughed softly before continuing.
"If it were easy to find, I would've found someone a long time ago. I wouldn't still be single now. You've asked me a lot already, so let me ask you something. Why did you choose to work at the foundation, Khun Rafah? Didn't you want to go back and help manage your mother's family hotel business? The group has several five-star hotels. And that work should be a lot easier than working at the foundation."
Rafah paused, as if she had not expected Petra to know that much detail.
"You know quite a lot about me. Usually, almost no one asks me about The Éclat Group. That business belongs to my mother's side of the family. I'm not directly involved in managing it because my mother's older brother is already handling it."
She glanced at Petra.
"I think... you are actually interested in me after all."
Petra, feeling as if she had been caught, quickly defended herself.
"Well... I have to work with you. It's not strange to research my employer a little. There's nothing special about that."
Rafah smiled.
"Is that so?"
She met Petra's eyes, her voice low and soft, almost teasing.
"What a shame... I thought you might be a little more interested in me than that."
Petra went still for a moment.
That warm smile and teasing gaze made her heart beat faster before she even realized it. She could feel that something in Rafah had changed.
Petra quickly turned her eyes away, looking out the car window before speaking to change the subject.
"The restaurant we're going to... are we almost there yet? You said it was by the Chao Phraya River. I didn't think it would be this far."
...
After a short drive, Rafah brought Petra to a French bistro-style restaurant inside a luxury hotel by the Chao Phraya River.
The moment they stepped inside, Petra felt as if she had slipped into another world. A world that was elegant and filled with the unmistakable charm of France. The restaurant was not very large, but everything had been arranged with taste. Small chandeliers hung from the ceiling, intertwined with green artificial vines stretching overhead. One side of the wall was covered by a large painting of a Paris street in the rain, with shadowy figures walking beneath umbrellas among the glow of streetlights and the distant silhouette of the Eiffel Tower.
Petra sat down across from Rafah. The atmosphere around her made her feel nervous somewhere deep inside. This might be Rafah's world, but it was not the world of an ordinary person like her.
Petra lifted the menu and skimmed through it, mostly for show. The French dish names were so difficult to read that she could barely guess what any of them were. It made her think of the previous time Rafah had brought her to a French restaurant to settle things with Naphatsorn. Only that time, the meal had already been arranged as a course, not an à la carte menu like this.
Petra drew in a deep breath, trying to cover her nervousness with a smile. Since she had no idea what to order, she started a conversation to ease the awkwardness.
"Khun Rafah, you must really like French food, don't you?"
Rafah looked up from the menu, her expression interested.
"How did you know?"
Petra smiled.
"It would be strange if I didn't. This is the second time you've brought me to a French restaurant. The first time was when you invited me to clear things up with Khun Phat. And this time... it's French food again."
Rafah fell silent for a moment, as it only now occurred to her that she had never once asked Petra whether she liked this kind of food or whether she could even eat it.
"That's true. I invited you to dinner, so I should've asked what you wanted to eat first, or if there was anything you didn't like. If French food isn't your thing, we can still change restaurants."
Petra quickly shook her head.
"That's not what I meant. I can eat anything. I was just curious."
Rafah thought for a moment.
"Hmm. It's hard to say whether I like it or not. I lived in France for a while. My father was posted to the Thai embassy in Paris back then, so our family had to move there. I was probably around six or seven at the time. I guess I got used to the taste."
Petra's eyes widened in surprise.
"Wait. I didn't know you lived in France. Does that mean you speak French?"
"A little. I'm not that good."
Rafah answered simply, with no trace of boasting.
"Can you say something for me? Just one sentence."
"I haven't used French in a long time. I barely remember any of it."
"That's okay. Just say something, Khun Rafah. Speaking several languages is so cool."
Rafah lowered her eyes and smiled faintly, as if giving in, before speaking in a soft voice.
"Je suis heureuse que tu sois venue dîner avec moi. Ce dîner sera un autre beau souvenir."
"What does that mean?"
"I'm happy you came to dinner with me. This will probably become another good memory."
After saying that, Rafah met her eyes with a mischievous smile.
Petra did not know how to deal with this version of Rafah at all. She quickly looked away, trying to hide the heat rising uncontrollably to her cheeks. Now she was no longer sure what Rafah had meant when she said she wanted to get to know her again as a colleague.
Because whatever Rafah's definition of colleague was...
From the car ride until now, Petra felt as if Rafah had been flirting with her nonstop.
In the end, with no idea how to handle the situation, Petra decided to change the subject as usual.
"I want to try this one, Khun Rafah."
She randomly pointed to a picture on the menu and showed it to Rafah.
"Could you order it for me?"
Petra asked with a smile.
And that left Rafah with no choice but to follow the change of subject, because Petra was far too good at slipping away from her.
Not long after they ordered, the servers began bringing out the dishes one by one. Most of them had been chosen by Rafah, since Petra herself had no idea what to order. But as it turned out, every dish Rafah picked was delicious.
The two of them ate in silence.
Only their gazes met from time to time.
Petra quietly noticed that Rafah never let her wineglass stay empty for long. Every time a server passed by, her glass would somehow be filled again. Yet even though she kept drinking, Rafah's gaze remained perfectly still, without the slightest trace of intoxication.
As the food on their plates gradually lessened, Rafah spoke.
"I usually think I'm good at reading people. Knowing what someone is thinking when they look at me."
Rafah's sharp eyes fixed on Petra.
"It was the same with you... When we first met, I thought you were attracted to me."
"Maybe you were just imagining things, Khun Rafah."
Petra shot back immediately. Although her words sounded like a denial, her eyes carried a teasing glint.
Rafah smiled.
"I don't think so."
"Really? What made you think that?"
"Because at the fundraising gala that night, you kept sneaking glances at me all evening."
Rafah's answer made Petra go still.
She had been caught completely.
That night at the fundraising gala, Petra really had looked at Rafah throughout the entire event. Even Tharin, her best friend who had gone with her, had teased her about it. She simply had not thought Rafah had noticed her too.
So Petra tried to defend herself.
"That night... I was doing my job."
Rafah tilted her head and looked at Petra with a smile.
"Then I'd say you were very dedicated. You couldn't take your eyes off me all night."
Rafah's gaze and tone left Petra almost unable to continue, but she still tried to talk back.
"I think you're pretty full of yourself, Khun Rafah."
"So I misunderstood?"
"Yes. You misunderstood."
Rafah pretended to nod as if accepting it, but there was not a trace of belief in her eyes. Still, she played along, as someone who always liked to stay in control of the situation.
"Then I guess I really did misunderstand. I'm probably just used to it."
"Used to it?" Petra repeated.
"In the past, people were always the ones approaching me. So I got used to assuming everyone would be interested in me. You're the only one, Petra... I've had to approach first."
Those words made Petra fall silent for a long while.
Rafah had been pushing hard from the car ride all the way to the restaurant. But Petra was not a young girl just learning about love. She was tired of ambiguous words that made her think too much, and even more tired because those words were coming from Rafah's mouth.
So she spoke calmly.
"Khun Rafah, you're the employer, and I'm just the contractor. You don't need to try this hard to approach me."
Rafah looked straight back at her.
Those sharp eyes were so still they were almost impossible to read.
"And who told you I only wanted to be your employer? Right now... I don't think I'm acting that way at all."
Rafah's words had practically revealed everything.
And Petra no longer needed any further explanation.
In truth, she had once thought Rafah had backed down after the night they cleared things up in the car. But now Petra knew that Rafah had never once thought of backing down.
Rafah had simply behaved one way during working hours. Professional, proper, and careful. Nothing more than an employer and a contractor.
But after work, Rafah went fully on the offensive.
"If you don't want to be my employer, then what do you want to be?"
The question sounded like a test, but it also gave Rafah a chance to reveal her intentions.
Petra truly wanted to know what Rafah wanted.
Rafah smiled.
"Why don't we talk about that after dinner, in the car?"
She said it, then calmly continued eating.
Petra watched her with the sinking feeling that she had made a terrible mistake.
She should never have agreed to come to this dinner with Rafah.
...
At the hotel's VIP parking level, Rafah led Petra back to the luxury car. The soft beep of the remote unlocking the doors sounded before they both stepped into the cabin.
The moment the car doors closed, Rafah's voice came before Petra could even prepare herself.
"I'll answer the question we left unfinished back at the restaurant. I want you to be my girlfriend."
Petra turned sharply to look at her, her eyes widening at once.
"What did you just say, Khun Rafah?"
Rafah leaned back against her seat comfortably, tilting her face slightly toward Petra. Her sharp eyes fixed on her, the corner of her mouth curving into a dangerously sly smile.
"I think I said it clearly enough just now."
"Khun Rafah, we just cleared things up the other day."
"You mean when you told me you could only give me a chance for work?"
"Yes."
Rafah let out a low laugh and gave a light shrug, as if what Petra had said was not a problem at all.
"Well... I want more than that."
Petra turned to stare at her in disbelief, too many feelings tangling messily in her chest. She wanted to claw at her own head, scream, and ask Rafah whether she had actually understood anything Petra had said to her before.
"Khun Rafah... you're just...!"
Petra pressed her fingers hard against her temple.
"God! I don't even know what to say to you anymore. What kind of person are you?"
Rafah met Petra's eyes directly.
"The kind of person who becomes self-aware and figures things out quickly. I figured it out after you scolded me that night. But I'm also serious and honest with myself. At least... I've never lied about my own feelings... unlike someone sitting right here."
Petra froze.
She knew very well who Rafah meant by someone sitting right here.
"Listen carefully, Petra. I may have said this to you several times already, but I'll say it another million times if that's what it takes. Petra... I'm truly sorry for the way I treated you. I hope that, with everything I've done since then, you can forgive me."
"Please forgive me."
Petra let out a long sigh.
"Do you really think this will make me stop being angry?"
But that question only made Rafah smile.
"It should, shouldn't it? You agreed to dinner with me."
Petra frowned, her voice turning stern without her realizing it.
"Khun Rafah!"
Rafah still did not let the smile fade. Her sharp eyes rested steadily on Petra, as if reading her thoughts.
"I'm really sorry. I just... I didn't want you to be mad at me anymore. I've been trying, okay? Can you just... forgive me a little?"
Rafah said it in English, her voice turning soft and coaxing.
Those words made the conversation between them fall silent at once. Petra lowered her eyes, her heart pounding so hard she could hear it echoing in her chest. She wanted to snap back at Rafah like she had every time before. But the only thing that slipped from her lips was a faint, trembling voice, confused and unsteady.
"Khun Rafah, let me ask you honestly. What exactly do you want from me? You said you wanted to get to know me as a colleague, and I gave you that chance. But you keep saying sweet things to me. And now this? Asking me to be your girlfriend like it's half serious, half a joke... To be honest, you're confusing me, and I don't know how I'm supposed to act around you."
When Rafah heard that, she shifted closer to Petra. The distance between them narrowed until Petra could feel Rafah's breath. Rafah gently tipped Petra's chin up, making her turn back and meet her eyes.
"You know, all that confusion is very easy to fix. Just say yes and be my girlfriend. Then you can act like Khun Rafah Witchakornin's girlfriend."
Petra froze, feeling as if the whole world had stopped for a moment.
"You..."
Rafah cut in immediately.
"Just answer me. Yes or no?"
"No," Petra refused firmly.
Rafah looked at Petra in silence, as if trying to see through to the feelings Petra was trying to hide.
"But I think we both feel the same way. Even if you pretend you feel nothing for me, I can still see you're lying to yourself."
Petra did not answer, because every word was a truth she did not want to admit.
"It's just..."
"Just what?"
"It's just too fast, Khun Rafah," she answered. "It's too fast."
Rafah drew in a deep breath. The silence this time lasted several seconds before her voice softened in acceptance.
"Okay. Then what should we do?"
Petra looked out the window. The lights from the river shimmered like a dream too far to touch, blurred like the relationship between them, still without a name.
"Let's stay like this for now."
"Like what?"
"Employer and contractor."
"And... is there any chance it could become more than that?"
"That... depends on you, Khun Rafah. On how far you can take it."
Rafah was silent for a moment before a smile slowly spread across her face, as if she was satisfied with that answer.
"Then that's settled, my lady."
She answered Petra in a cheerful tone, then turned back to the road ahead. One hand tightened slightly on the steering wheel, but the smile never disappeared from her lips. The engine of the luxury car came to life, and the jet-black vehicle slowly pulled out of the parking area.
Petra sat still beside the driver, her gaze still turned out the car window. She had no idea whether this decision was right or wrong.
But one thing was certain.
Right now, she had already opened half of her heart to Rafah.
.
.
Hojicha Writer
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