Sunday Special: Guest Writer Jia on Khun Samee Kamalor Tee Rak, Episode 2

~ episode 2 ~

Don arrives at the resort and sees staff busy preparing for an event. After enquiring, he learns there will be an event tomorrow for a foundation which will be giving out money to last year’s flood victim. The resort staff does not remember the name of the foundation but Don’s alarm bells have already been triggered. Once settled in his room, Don quickly phones Min to check on Grandma’s whereabouts as Grandma’s foundation also give out donations to flood victims. Min merrily agrees to help her p’chai as she soaks her feet but after she hangs up the phone, she almost has a heart attack when she looks up to see Grandma herself standing there!

Grandma has caught Min saying goodbye to ‘P’ and sternly demands to know if Min was talking to her P’Don and if Don is back in Thailand. Min replies that she was talking to a senior colleague who called to ask about work but Grandma is not easily taken in. She demands to look at Min’s phone to check the last number dialled and the quick witted Min drops her phone into the water. Min 2, Grandma 0. Undeterred, Grandma marches to Don’s room and inspects it for signed of her precious grandson. Min continues denying the return of Don but the dust free room has already given Don away for if truly no one has stepped into this room since Don left, it wouldn’t be as speckless. Grandma doesn’t care for Min’s denials and says she doesn’t have time for this now but gives Min an ultimatum: she will come back in 4-5 days and by that time Min can choose to tell her the truth or she will force the truth out of Min.After Grandma storms off, faithful Min quickly calls Don with the house phone as she tries to salvage her cell phone with a hairdryer but dear p’chai isn’t picking up. Haa, Min is too adorable as she moans ‘I am SO dead!!’

In the morning, Pim jogs along the beach and calls Nen to check on work, while at the very same time, Don is working on his novel near the beach. Inspired by his surroundings, Don arranges for the p’ek to see the n’ek on the beach and in a strange twist of fate, Don looks up to see a familiar figure run into sight almost immediately after writing that line. Don’s heart leaps when he recognizes the person as his Sakura and looks on with a happy smile as Pim wades into the sea for a swim. Suddenly, Pim starts flailing in the waters and Don jumps in without hesitation to pull Pim back to shore. Pim lies unconscious even after pulled back to shore and such situation dictates that our p’ek apologetically (or maybe not so?) gives her the kiss of life.

As Don suspected, Grandma’s foundation is the very foundation slated to give out donations at the resort and she very conveniently walks by the beach at the same time Don bends over Pim, a scene which when taken out of context does not look very innocent. Grandma is too far away to realise that the man is Don but she is disgusted enough by these ‘shameless youngsters’ that she walks off quickly. For all the suggestive posturing, poor Don doesn’t actually get near enough to Pim’s face because she wakes up in time to shove him off instinctively. This time though she collects herself quickly enough to not jump to conclusions like at their first meeting and thanks Don for saving her life after she pieces things together. They introduce themselves to each other and Don looks so~~ happy at finding out Pim’s name.

Pim stumbles when she tries to stand up due to her calf muscles cramping and Don again is on hand to provide a massage to sooth her aching muscles. Despite Don’s best efforts, Pim is still unable to walk properly so being the gentleman, Don offers to piggyback her to her villa. After getting Pim back to her villa, Don bids her farewell but is stopped by Pim before he leaves.

‘Wait, I have something to ask you. You look familiar. Have we met somewhere?’

‘Yes, at Chiang Mai.’ Don says with a laugh.

Oh riggggggght. You’re that guy. Pim apologizes again sheepishly and it’s obvious Don has not made much of a mark in her life when she fails to remember his name (Rudchawee)but Don reassures her that it’s no biggie and how about we just be on nickname basis now? Call me Don! And p’ek leaves a happy man. Heeh.

Back at the office Pra faces a flurry of insults all around but we don’t really care about her right so it’s back to Don whose happiness as finding Pim is cut short when he spots Grandma at the resort. Don quickly hides before Grandma can make a positive ID but her suspicion has already been raised. Don searches for his cell phone to call and ask Min why she didn’t give him any warning only to realise it’s not with him. He finds his phone back at the villa and is shocked to see 100 miss calls from Min. Lol, he can’t fault his sister for lack of trying. It’s another round of funny sibling banter as Min nags Don for not picking up her calls and warns him about Grandma being on his trail, to which Don replies ‘I’ve already seen Grandma!!’

‘Is Thailand that small or you simply have bad luck?’ Min wonders aloud. Don says he checked in under the name of Ging’s friend so Grandma won’t be able to find him from that angle but Min still urges Don to return to Bangkok asap. Don reveals to Min that he has found Pim, the mystery lady love who has taken his heart, and he will risk getting caught by Grandma to chase after his happiness. As anticipated, Grandma gets the resort staff to check for any guests by the name of Rudchawee Wongboriboon or anything similar but none is to be found. Just when we think Don is in the clear, Grandma’s assistant rings to inform her that Don has taken a plane to this area. But before Grandma gets to her ‘stubborn grandson’ …

Pim is getting ready to go for dinner when her villa’s doorbell rings. She opens the door to find Don who has dropped by to ask about her leg. Uh huh, sure, the leg. After the leg question, Don gets to his objective and stammers to ask Pim out for dinner. Pim shows her decisive nature when she doesn’t wait for Don to squeeze out his invite and instead ‘invites’ herself for dinner to both apologize for hitting him in Chiang Mai and thank him for saving her. They settle down at the resort restaurant and starts chatting casually. Don tries to ask Pim about her wedding but chickens out at the last minute and turns the topic to their work instead. Don tells Pim that the real reason he’s here is because he is running away from his Grandma.

‘Running away?’ Pim is astonished at Don’s choice of words.

‘Yes! Exactly like a novel where the Grandma arranges a suitable marriage for her grandchildren.’

‘Are there still such things as arranged marriages now?’ Pim asks incredulously. ‘I say you should try having a good talk with your grandma and she will probably understand.’

‘Oh no Khun Pim. My Grandma is different. We have to do whatever she wants us to. If we refuse, she will try ways and means to make us submit. Especially her killer move! I can’t even say it.’

‘And what is that killer move?’

Don gets up to show Pim and turns around to see Grandma walking into the restaurant. Ah, the guy just can’t catch a break. He whispers to Pim that the very same Grandma they were talking about is now seated a few tables away from them and he needs to get out of the place before he gets spotted. Problem is, Grandma is seated near the entrance and Don will have to walk pass her to leave. Whilst Don is in a fluster at the prospect of being caught by Grandma, Pim has already formulated an escape plan. She orders a lemon soda and purposely bumps into the waitress so that the drink spills onto Grandma. Don manages to slip past Grandma in the ensuing commotion and peeks at Pim from afar. Pim plays the apologetic part for a while until Grandma steps on Pim’s ‘landmine’ when she fumes that Pim has no proper upbringing.

‘I’m so~ sorry. I was only clumsy. I didn’t kill anyone. I accept that I was in the wrong and hope that I can get your forgiveness. It’s just a little kindness, can I get it from you? I apologize again but I’m not your granddaughter or your servant whom you can use such a harsh tone with. We can forget about the kindness but can you leave some respect for others?’

Grandma sputters indignantly but Pim gets the last word.

‘If you don’t need me to compensate you, then I’ll take my leave. I apologize again.’

Don and Pim retreat to the safety of Pim’s villa where he apologizes for putting her in a spot. (lots of apologizing going on huh??) ‘I finally understand why you are afraid of your Grandma. If I was any weaker I probably would’ve cried.’ Pim rolls her eyes at the recollection of her face off with Grandma.

Don laughs and says it’s the first time he has seen anyone stand up to Grandma. Pim apologizes for being rude to Grandma but Don understands that she got into trouble with Grandma for his sake. As they didn’t manage to eat anything at the restaurant earlier, Don proposes that they head somewhere else for a meal but Pim says they should just order room service since they will have to be on a constant lookout for Grandma once they are outside. Don hems and haws about them being alone in the villa but Pim takes charge again by firmly saying, ‘I’m not a celeb or a big star. I’m just an ordinary woman who happens to be very hungry now. OK?’

At night, Don and Pim enjoy dinner under the stars and he is overjoyed when she agrees to go shopping at the morning market with him tomorrow. At this point Don is like the overeager puppy who is panting and eager to please at every point and Pim, while amused and perhaps is even a little intrigued by him, is still keeping her distance.

Pim calls Nen before bed to check on work and updates her friend on the guy she met at the resort. Nen teases Pim about it and tells her to put a facial mask on tonight so she can look pretty when she meets Don tomorrow. Pim claims she didn’t even doll herself up specially for P’Eg, so why would she do that for a guy she just met? Hah, that being said, Pim heads to the fridge to get her mask all the while telling herself that she’s making herself pretty for HER, not a guy.

Unfortunately, their date was not to be when Don receives an urgent phone call from Ging informing him that his cover at the resort has been blown. He leaves hurriedly overnight and Pim is disappointed when she receives a bouquet of lilies with a note from Don in the morning. She chances upon Grandma making a fuss at the counter when the staff informs her that Don is no longer in his room and realises why he had to go.

Pim brings the bouquet and note back to her apartment in Bangkok where Nen teases her about keeping both items even though she says she does not care for Don.

‘Do you know what lilies stand for? It means I’m sorry. This guy is pretty thoughtful!’

Despite herself, the ends of Pim’s mouth curve up uncontrollably at Nen’s explanation. Nen asks if Pim has called Don but Pim says as a girl she will not make the first move and besides, she wants to concentrate on work now and she’s ready to face up to the gossip at the office.

As expected, Pim’s day starts off with a barrage of sarcastic remarks from Lan which she calmly (and hilariously) rebuts. Their war of words is cut short by the arrival of Khun Suk who calls everyone, including Pra to the meeting room where Khun Suk allows Pim to decide Pra’s fate. Pim assigns Pra to a branch at the outskirts and the indignant Pra accuses Khun Suk of being biased towards Pim and threatens to resign. Khun Suk smiles and reply, ‘Yes I’m biased and you can type up your resignation letter. I will accept it.’

Though Pim has presented a strong front so far, her calm demeanour starts to falter as Lan continues to pour fuel on fire by making snarky remarks on how her friend’s husband is also her husband. Back in her office, Pim and Nen learn from an office aunty that Lan and Sucee has been spreading news of her wrecked marriage around the office and a ticked off Pim vows revenge. Pim notes that the inflammation medication which the office aunty was bringing for Lan causes drowsiness so she sneaks into Lan’s office with Nen to fiddle with Lan’s clock and also help ‘touch up’ Lan’s make-up. Pim manages to embarrass Lan in front of Khun Suk and gets assigned a project that was originally under Lan. Once out of Lan’s sight, Khun Suk indicates that she’s not as clueless as she seems and today she will treat it as Pim hitting back at Lan for Lan’s unkind words but if such a thing happens again, she will fire Pim.

Lan angrily confronts Pim over the prank but Pim says she’s not afraid of Lan even if Lan is the daughter of the company’s shareholder because Khun Suk looks at a person’s capabilities and not connections. Lan stalks out in a huff to be greeted by the funniest pick up ever from Pad.

‘Hello, I’m Padtrapon. I may not be handsome but my dad is very rich. My phone number is 0811111234, available 24 hours. My email is …’

Lan is about to tell this crazy stranger to take a hike when she hears Pim call the man P’Pad and quickly changes her attitude to talk sweetly to Pad so as to annoy Pim. Pim is definitely annoyed at her brother showing interest in Lan and warns him that Lan is her enemy.

We learn more about Lan through her conversation with Sucee. Her father is the company’s majority shareholder but Khun Suk is the one who brought Naree to its current achievement so in order to get her dad’s acceptance, Lan first has to get Khun Suk’s acceptance and Pim is the one standing in her way. Before Lan and Sucee can get to scheming proper, they are interrupted by a call from I-am-not-handsome-but-my-father-is-rich Padtrapon, who is calling to ask for permission to woo Lan. Lan is disgusted by the call and makes excuses to hang up.

Don is disappointed when Pim doesn’t call him but after encouragement from Ging, he googles for Naree’s address (yes people, google is your best friend!) and goes down to the company itself. It’s a test of his determination when he misses Pim again but he is glad to have at least found the right place.

Pim picks up a framed object after work and Nen is shocked when Pim opens the package to reveal her unsigned wedding certificate in a frame. Pim says she will hang the cert up in her house so as to remind herself of this horrible mistake she ever made. Later as they put on face masks and discuss work at Pim’s house, Pim reminds Nen to put in more effort in her work.

‘Your position at work is like a branded bag which can reflect on your status. The good thing is we don’t have to use money to get it. We can to use our brains and hands.’ Pim will learn later that working hard to get her way isn’t quite the way to happiness but I do admire her work ethics and for all her flaws, you can’t fault Pim for not giving her best at work. And Pim’s less than admirable trait is on show when she sends Lan photos that she took of Lan’s messed up make-up to taunt Lan. Lan hits the roof when she sees the photos and remembers that she has another trump card on hand against Pim.

Pim arrives at work in the morning to see half the office crowded around something. Her subordinates try to herd her away but Pim already heard the sounds of the video clip taken of her unfortunate wedding. Remember that Lan got Sucee to record the drama that time? Now she’s putting it to good use by showing it anyone who would watch it at work. Pim seethes in anger as Lan mocks her and Pim finally blows her lid by giving Lan a punch in the face! Sucee threatens to tell Khun Suk about the punch but Pim dares her and says that it was Lan who used such underhanded means in the first place and used office property at that, so let’s see who Khun Suk will fire? Pim gets the last word and the last punch but that does not make her any happier.

Min passes Don’s belongings to him at a cafe and promises not to tell Grandma his whereabouts. Don asks Min to accompany him to a pub to get inspiration for his novel but Min gives it a pass as she has work to attend to and recommends Don a pub near their house. [note, sometimes the family – be it Pim or Don – conversations don’t add to the plot per se so I don’t write it down word for word but I can really feel the love in those scenes which are so heartwarming and it’s part of this lakorn’s charm]

Pim also has a pub on her itinerary that night to meet a customer but the meeting is cancelled at the last minute after she spends an hour waiting and even Nen is unable to come and meet her. She’s about to leave when a couple of young women drags her to help them in a game of darts against their guy friends, not knowing that the group is in cahoots with harmful intentions towards her. Out of sight, they spike a drink and the women pass it to Pim who drinks it without question. The guys head to the loo while discussing their plans to drug and rape a woman and their conversation is overhead by Don. Great move guys! Broadcasting your evil plans to the world but nvm, that will help save Pim.

The drug takes effect and Pim starts to feel wobbly on her feet. She is ‘helped’ by the group out of the pub and they knock into Don while going up the stairs. Don recognizes Pim and the two unsavoury characters he saw at the restroom earlier and puts two and two together. He gives chase to the carpark and fights the two men, and the group finally runs away when the pubs bouncers come to help. Itsy bitsy problem is, now what does he do with the incoherent Pim?

~End~

OOTE Ep2

Lan and Pim both wear something floral this episode but Lan shows how not to do your make up. The print on her dress is busy enough as it is, and her pink lipstick/pink feather earrings just adds to the visual confusion, not to mention make her look like a flamingo. Pim balances out the floral prints with a brown necklace and plain makeup which is much more pleasing to my aesthetics. It’s all about balance ladies!

The chunky gold details really pop on an otherwise plain black dress. Not crazy about the hair though. ~Jia