As they entered the restaurant, people stared at the beautiful girl with two gorgeous men on either side. Manao approached the maître d'.

"Hello, we have a reservation under the name Manao Thakur."

"Yes, of course, please follow me," said the host, leading them to a table overlooking the Chao Phraya River. They chatted as they waited for their food. Manao asked about Lom's job, and he kept his answers as vague as possible without lying. She was confused but too polite to ask any further questions. Fah half-listened as he watched the birds swooping over the river, occasionally diving for a fish.

Fah let them chat and listened without interrupting. Holding Manao's hand, he laughed occasionally but never shared any stories or opinions of his own. He scrutinized Lom's facial expressions and his word choice, trying to determine the meaning of this visit.  

Once the food arrived, their table quieted down. Fah took turns observing each of them. He fed a piece of sushi to Manao and she put some pieces of negamaki on his plate. Lom thought he would vomit at the sickly-sweet sight of the doting couple but he remained silent.

"Manao? Is that you?" All three looked up at the girl asking the question.

"Oh my gosh, Kaew? Where've you been? I asked the teacher about you the other day; I haven't seen you in any classes lately," exclaimed Manao. She stood and hugged her friend.

"My parents couldn't afford to pay this semester so I had to take a break. Now I'm working to save money so I can return. By the way, my mom asked about you."

"Is she still in the hospital?"

"Yeah, unfortunately. They don't think she's going to make it. The doctor said they caught the cancer too late."

"Oh no, I'm so sorry! I want to see your mom, may I visit her? Your mom is so sweet."

"That's where I'm headed now.  I try to visit her every day since I don't know how much time she has left. I better go now before visiting hours end." Kaew turned to leave.

"May I go with you?" asked Manao as she held onto her friend's arm to prevent her from leaving.

"Yeah, sure, but aren't you on some sort of a...date?" Everyone laughed at Kaew's choice of words.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I've been so rude. Kaew is one of my oldest friends from elementary school. Kaew, this is my boyfriend, Fah, and his brother, Lom." 

Everyone exchanged pleasantries and Manao turned and spoke to Fah. "Sweetie, I'm sorry, but I'd hate to miss the opportunity to see her mom. She always treated me like another daughter."

"You don't have to be sorry; I understand. Go ahead, Lom and I can hang out together." His smile hid the fact that private time with Lom was the last thing he wanted. 

"Lom, it was a pleasure meeting you. I hope we'll get to spend more time together before you leave. Take care of Fah for me please."

"I will. It was nice to meet you, Manao, and you as well, Kaew." The two girls left.

"Do you want dessert?" asked Fah.

"Can we get out of here? The food is good, but I feel like I have to be too polite. Let's grab some beers and snacks and go back to the condo. Even with the air conditioning, it's too hot in here."

Fah paid the bill and they left. On the way back to the condo Lom asked him to drive to the beach instead. They walked to the water's edge and sat on the sand watching the waves in silence. Fah opened two beers and handed one to Lom who was busy pulling out a cigarette.

"I didn't know you smoked. You should quit." Fah tried to grab Lom's cigarette.

"Why? Because it might shorten my life? My life expectancy already plummeted due to my work," chuckled Lom as he effortlessly dodged Fah's hand.

"Don't say that. Please. I don't want to think about it." 

"It's the truth, whether you think about it or not. I face it every day." Lom looked up at the sky and exhaled, sending smoke rings to the stars above.

"I don't want to lose you." They stared at each other, saying nothing. "Lom, why did you stop hanging around with me? Why did you stop liking me?"

"What are you talking about? I never stopped liking you. I've always been here. You're the one who stopped coming home on breaks."

"I'll explain that later, but you stopped liking me in high school. You stopped hanging out with me, you made fun of me, and you never said anything kind. We'd been so close and then all of a sudden, you hated me. Or you were embarrassed by me, I don't know which. Maybe both." Fah's voice cracked as he spoke. He hadn't realized how much it had bothered him until he said the words aloud. Lifting his chin, he stared at Lom who regarded him thoughtfully.

"Did you ever think it was you who abandoned me in high school? We did everything together. Then you and Dad talked about you going to university and studying law. Suddenly I didn't matter to either one of you. You were the son Dad was proud of, and he was the one you wanted to impress. At school, you were always studying or surrounded by girls. You never looked for me. I can't believe you noticed I wasn't around."

"Are you kidding me? I noticed right away. At first, I thought it was a phase when you didn't want to hang out anymore. As time went on, you never invited me anywhere, you made fun of me in front of your friends at school, and you were never home at night. Don't forget the separate bedrooms. It hurt. A lot."

"I guess we thought the same thing. I'm sorry I teased you in front of my friends. It pissed me off that you were excluding me and only hanging around the popular kids. I was jealous because Dad saw potential in you but not in me. Also, I was mad at you because you used to always ask for my opinion on things. You stopped asking me and began asking Dad. Neither of you cared about me anymore."

They stopped talking and stared at the small waves breaking on the shore. Fah grabbed two more beers and handed one to Lom.

"It's weird how the moon up there affects the tides down here, isn't it?" asked Lom. "It's like our life. People see the ocean and forget something far away in the background controls it. We can try to do whatever we want but it's always the family business that controls us. If we try to escape it, we'll either be killed by other families or our own. We have to keep doing the same thing every day the way we're told; we have no other option." He took a long drag off his cigarette, exhaling slowly. Fah stared at him.

"I'm sorry, Lom."

"For what?"

"I'm sorry you feel trapped. I never knew how you felt. I'm also sorry you think your dad saw more potential in me, but he didn't. Sure, he sees me as a future legal asset but whenever we spoke, he'd laugh and tell stories about you. You amazed him with your quick thinking and ability to solve problems. He said you'd be a great leader one day. He thinks you're very funny; he'd share stories and laugh so hard he could barely speak. He loves you. Sure, he has you working for him, but he doesn't see you as an employee; I hope you know that."

"Fah, stop saying you're sorry. We were both wrong in the past. We can be close again if we're honest with each other from now on. If I piss you off, if I hurt you, whatever, just tell me. And come the fuck home, okay? No one understands why you're avoiding us."

"I wasn't avoiding anyone. Ever since your family took me in I've been a burden. I hate coming back and making people have to feed me and take care of me when I'm not even their child or responsibility. They're paying for school so if I stay here on breaks and get more hours at my job, I can help pay expenses so Ton doesn't have to pay as much."

"How is a child a burden? You might not be their biological child but Mom and Dad consider you their son. They love you and miss you. They've never thought of you that way. Do you see the size of our house and the servants we have? Dad makes plenty of money. Paying for you to go to school is something he's happy to do; it isn't a hardship for him. They think you're embarrassed by them and are trying to distance yourself. Come home and tell them how you feel."