Family conflict, gossipy employees, evil and psycho villain- a recipe for the cliché lakorn, you say? Well at least the heroine’s not stupid or weak and our hero is learning that she isn’t the typical hi-so woman that he perceives her to be. He is also not a playboy (whew) and together, they make me smile. In that regard, what more could I ask for? Well.. we shall see. Only time will tell.

Episode 2 Recap

In Aroon’s office, Whitney’s desk is situated in the corner. He watches her warily, remembering their accident and the gossip about her being the boss’ mistress. He gives a sigh, and Whitney looks at him pointedly.

“You’re not the only one who thinks the world is small. I’m sick of it too,” she says.

“I’m just an employee,” he tells her, “there’s nothing I could be displeased about.” After a bit he questions, “So what is it are you skilled at?”

“Eat, sleep and play.”

“Figures,” he says.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

He’s perusing his document and doesn’t answer.

“I asked- what do you mean by that?” she repeats herself.

When he doesn’t answer, she walks across the room and gets in his face.

He peers surprisingly at her proximity.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she says.

“What are you doing here? Go sit behind the desk and I’ll find you some work.”

“Not until you’ve answered my question. What were you referring to?”

She doesn’t know he thinks she’s a mistress lol.

He looks away and makes an excuse, “I meant that.. you were like that since the first time we met.”

“See, that’s all.” She sashays back to her desk.

Aroon asks her if she knows how to translate documents. She is able to do so in three languages, English, French and German. Well, at least she learned something from the 10 years abroad, heh.

He gives her a document to translate in English and she has trouble writing it out and keeps asking him how to spell certain words. Besides, she doesn’t have a computer either so she must write everything down. When she’s done with her first draft, she takes it over to him to correct. He tells her that he’s her boss, not her Thai language teacher. Their banter is quite cute, I love her!

When Whitney accomplishes the translation and he felt it was good enough, he crumbles the paper and tosses it in the garbage.

“What are you doing?! I spent two hours on that!” she exclaims, crossing her arms in offense.

“You’re in training so I’m having you practice translating documents. That way you can improve on your Thai fluency, then you’ll be able to determine how you can be of use for this company.”

“But I did it with diligence; you have no right to do this!”

She stomps back to her desk, anger is making the best of her and she returns and unplugs the power cord from his computer. An eye for an eye. She’s brave but we definitely can’t say that she’s mature lol.

Cord in hand, Whitney looks triumphant. But it angers Aroon. “How does it feel to have your hard work thrown away?”

Aroon wrestles for the power cord but she’s stubborn until they back into his chair and he falls on it- taking Whitney with him. Whitney is shocked at how she landed on his lap and embarrassingly got up. But she forgot the cord was in her hands as she’s walking away and turns around to give it back to him (lol.)  She makes a run for it.

Our Whitney still has so much to learn when it comes to dealing with her emotions. But this is one of her character arch that she will go through in this lakorn.

Aroon decides he needs to have a chat with the big boss. He tells Khun Amnui that Whitney is not suitable for this role (secretary/assistant.) But Khun Amnui says that Whitney majored in this, how could that be possible? Aroon explains that maybe she doesn’t like it? His boss asks him to be patient with her, she is a stubborn and rebellious person but not much longer, she will take over the President’s role in his wake. Aroon looks surprisingly at Khun Amnui. And the boss gives him another shocker, “Whitney is my only child.”

“Daughter? She’s your daughter?”

“Well of course, what else did you think she was?” Haha. Perhaps maybe your e-nu??

Aroon looks away, should teach him not to believe office gossips! He shares his findings with the group during lunch; Non is relieved because she knew it all along. The rest of the group (the gossipers) looks like they ate a bad fish. Guilty! Gusuma tries to blow Aroon’s ears by saying that Non was overly jealous. But Non defends herself and says that they were the ones who pushed her to eavesdrop and it’s not going to work anyway because she and Aroon trust each other. Gusuma could only look on with envy.

Back at the showroom, Whitney finds Dekcha. The moment he catches eyes with her, he ducks.

“Where are you going, Mr. President’s son?” Whitney asks.

“It’s this, Khun Whitney-“ he starts.

“You know my name too? I’m about to go have lunch with your father, would you like to come along?” Ah, she is one to tease.

Dekcha starts bawling, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t intend to lie!” He falls to his knees and begs her not to let Khun Amnui fire him. He explains that he has a mom and sister to support as well as all of the bills to pay.

Whitney stops him from talking by reaching for his hands, “Get up please.”

“Don’t please don’t,” he lets her hands go, “I don’t want to die yet. I can get up on my own.”

“Why are you going to die then?” she asks, confused.

He hints that if she touches him like that, Khun Amnui might be displeased and fire him. Whitney laughs and tells him that her father is not that bad.

Dekcha stutters, “So you’re not..”

Everyone seems to have a hard time accepting that she’s the President’s daughter lol.

Kongkaew is having afternoon tea with her sisters and they discuss the new problem at hand. Her middle sister thinks she needs to have the upper hand now and show who is boss. But her oldest tells her to be patient, being a step mom is difficult due to the negative connotations, but like Khun Amnui, her oldest believes that she could do it. Only time will tell. Kongkaew wonders how long it will take and is skeptical whether she could deal with a hellion like Whitney. She thinks Whitney can’t stand her face.  At least we don’t have an evil step mother to top it off. Kongkaew is merely trying to find a way to live together in peace.

After noon lunch is over and Whitney sneaks into the office again, not realizing that Aroon is standing by the door, waiting for her.

I like his fierce, disapproval look.

He reminds her of the lunchtime hours and that she is late. He doesn’t care that she went to lunch with her “father.” He wants her to abide by the rules as any other employee. He also tells her that the President has told him to train her about all aspect of the company. He piles binders atop her desk and instructs her to read them all and take notes. She complains that she’s not in grade school thus doesn’t need to give him her notes. He tells her to tell her father that then, he’s not going to force her.

Whitney gets to work on her notes while she glances at her boss periodically. Aroon thinks she’s being diligent lol. I love the way he looks at her, as if he doesn’t know what to make of her. By the end of the day, she places all of the binder and her notes on his desk and takes off for the day. As he opens the journal, instead of seeing notes, he sees a drawing of Godzilla, then the devil, indicating who it’s meant for. LOL she’s pretty creative.

Remember how she’s not a snob? Well, we see more aspects of her character depth and I’ve really come to adore her. Since she’s been living abroad for ten years, she craves authentic Thai food. Her step mom is having guests over for dinner but instead of eating French food, she opts to join the servants with their dinner instead. Who could blame her? There were mouthwatering papaya salad, sticky rice and all sorts of yummy food. The servants watch in wonder at their mistress, eating their food with earnest. She tells them there was only one thing missing- sour mango. She dons a sarong around her waist and climbs the tree. After trying to reach one of the mangos dangling from the branches, she falls to the ground- but not before a new character- Yoting (Andrew Cronin) catches her before she falls.

He is immediately attracted to her.

The commotion causes her step mom and the guest to come out of the house. She gets introduced to Yoting’s mom who appears to be another hi-so woman, and who is part of the same social charity organization as Kongkaew. They all proceed to the dinner table minus Whitney. Kongkaew heads to the kitchen and servant’s quarters to find Whitney. She lectures Whitney of being a proper representative for her father. And that she should get used to hosting guests. Whitney only listens with one ear and decides to embarrass her step mom. Maybe Kongkew should have left her to her own device?

Whitney makes her way to the dinner table. She tells them that she is tired of eating foreign food so she hopes that they won’t mind if she brought a few of her favorites. She claps her hands and the maids bring in platters and platters of Thai food. Not entirely authentic lol, as there is a plate of jumping baby frogs (I think that’s what it is.) The guests scream and Yoting’s mom jumps from her chair. She thinks she has deterred and frightened the guests, but it only made Yoting more interested in her. You see, Yoting and his mom are only rich for show. They are struggling financially and are looking for a bride with a rich father. They decided to set their caps on Whitney.

That night, Khun Amnui scolds his daughter. Whitney says that he forced her hand first, but Khun Amnui wonders why she has to always rebut. He says that he is embarrassed for her actions today. She tells him to leave her in the kitchen then, she doesn’t want to show up in the society or pretend as if they are a united family, when really, that’s not the case. He asks her if she ever consider his happiness in this equation.

Whitney spins around, “What about you? Have you ever considered what happiness means to me?”

He challenges her to tell him what makes her happy.

“That’s exactly it, you don’t even know what makes me happy,” tears welling up in her eyes.

Understanding her is not his forte. He tries to console her and make peace. He walks over to her and hugs her, “Whitney, I know that I might not be a good dad. But I am going to try. Try to be a proper dad to you. Give me a chance, girl.”

The tears roll down her face. We think, maybe she’ll give in. But it’s 10 years of neglect we’re talking about here. Whitney tells him, “You used to have that chance. You used to..” Ouch.

She pulls away and walks out.

The next morning, arriving to work is a 180 from yesterday. The employees are catering to Whitney, asking if they could help her hold her purse lol. She’s walking through the showroom, uncomfortable with the attention. She asks for Dekcha. She finds him talking to his cars (he’s such a funny guy) he has names for all of them. He asks them not to love him so much because they need to be bought and leave the showroom. Whitney smiles, his cheerful demeanor making her happy. It is easy to see why she steers towards him.

Aroon and Non arrive at the company and notices Whitney talking so merrily with Dekcha. Non doesn’t think it is appropriate that Dekcha is acting so familiar with the boss’ daughter. But to Aroon, it’s not surprising because Dekcha is very easily to get along with. Non decides to pull Aroon along and get introduced to Whitney.

When working hours dictate them to head to their stations, Aroon and Whitney made their way to his office. She props her hip on his desk and he warns her that this is Thailand, it isn’t proper for a woman to behave that way. Whitney shrugs and tells him to stop lecturing her about propriety and give her work.

“You’re still asking for work? Yesterday you didn’t complete anything I gave you.”

“Because I know that if I do them, you’ll just throw them away.” Lol.

“Then I don’t have anything for you to do.”

“Fine-“ Whitney says and gets off his desk, “I’ll just sit right here-“ right across from him, with her face in her hand.

Gusuma walks into his office without knocking, telling him that she needs his help. She notices Whitney sitting across from him. Don’t like that do you? Heh. She asks him to double check her translations. Whitney perks up and offers her assistance but her boss reviews it himself.

Gusuma is pissed and warns Non to keep her eyes on Whitney. She thinks Whitney is after Aroon.

Whitney just sits there and glances at him with a smile. He’s not used to the overt attention. While he’s working, she’s drawing him. Wondering what she’s up to, Aroon takes the sheet from her. He’s startled at her skills; the face that greets him has an immense likeness to him. He compliments her that she’s skillful but wants to tear it up because he thinks it’s useless. She stops him in time and threatens that she will burn down his important papers.

“Are you nuts?” He asks, “Why are you acting like a child?”

“Well I don’t want to be an adult right now. I want to work but you wouldn’t give me any. And when I draw to kill time you said I was being childish. So what exactly do you want me to do?” She has a point..

Aroon is fed up, “Fine, you really want to work? I’ll find you work.” He turns around and puts an armload of binders in front of her. “Duplicate these binders- can you do that?”

She nods her head. “Piece of cake.”

Lol, they are always trying to outwit each other. She tells him that she will accomplish such task by the time lunch is over. The only problem is, she doesn’t know how to work the copying machine. But she’s so stubborn; she tells him that she can manage it. Aroon walks away and she doesn’t even know how to turn the thing on lol. He returns- figuring that she wouldn’t know how to operate it- and instructs her. He is trying to help her succeed, but their personalities clash.

Aroon and Non go out for lunch and he warns her to finish her task before she could eat. Whitney watches them leave then peer at the stack of binders. How will she complete all of that and have time to eat lunch? Two employees meander over, asking to help her with the files. With teamwork, they are able to get it done, but unfortunately, lunchtime is over.

In the mall, Non discusses with Aroon about Whitney. She tells him that the whole office thinks that he’s going to fall for Whitney because she’s beautiful and rich. Aroon says that he doesn’t put importance in the way a person looks. It is only a person’s heart that matters to him. Non beams and feels reassured.

Oh, what is our hero going to do when he learns that Whitney’s heart is as beautiful as her face?

When Non returns to his office, he glances at the sheet on his desk. It is Whitney’s drawing of him and he can’t help but appreciate her talent. She walks in and announces that she has accomplished her work and is ready to have lunch. However, Non is a hardass and tells her that lunchtime is scheduled during specific hours. Since it’s passed that, she may not be excused. That doesn’t deter her though so she orders pizza to be delivered to the office. She smiles mischievously and wonders how to tell people for what occasion is her boss buying her food? Lol. Non calls the pizza place and cancels the order (ah so mean) which pisses her off. He tells her that since he is her boss, she needs to listen to him (even when she’ll be his boss in the future.) He will allot her five minutes for a coffee break.

Meanwhile, Dekcha is visiting one of his top clients that afternoon. It just so happens that the client is a vile, repulsive person. Dekcha is about to sell a Mercedes to him when they spot Nut applying for a job in the client’s company. Dekcha tries to help his neighbor by putting in a good word for her, but to a miscreant’s ears, it sounds like he’s selling Nut to him. He tells the creeper that Nut is a hard worker and obedient, she’ll do whatever the boss tells her to do. Dekcha tells him that he won’t be disappointed for hiring her.

Whitney doesn’t give up without a fight. If he’s going to make her miserable, she is about to reciprocate that. The phone rings and they both reach for it, Aroon is stunned at touching her hand, lol. He tells her that he will pick up the phone so he doesn’t release his hand until she is forced to slide her hand out. She overhears that he has dinner reservations with Non that evening and smiles mischievously.

Aroon has arranged for a desktop for Whitney and she blasts up the speaker while she’s working, which irked Aroon since they share the same office. He tells her to lower the volume but she doesn’t. He walks over to turn it off and she says that she can’t concentrate without any music. Relenting- and probably not wanting to split hairs with her- he tells her to keep it down.

Finally the end of the work day is here and Non came to get Aroon for their dinner reservations. Whitney just so happens to tell Aroon that her father wants her to look at the manufacturing warehouse today, and she asks if Aroon could take her. He tells her that he’s not free. Whitney asks him to draw her a map and write instructions on how she could get there, and besides, she doesn’t have a car yet. Non watches this with reluctance then it is decided that Aroon would take Whitney there. Aroon says he could take Non home first then come back and take Whitney to the warehouse, but Non declines it, telling him that she could go home with Gusuma.

Back at the creeper’s office, he’s taken by Nut and asks to interview her himself. He hints at the fact that her friend (Dekcha) has said those things about her and that she is willing to be with him. Disgusted, Nut tries to leave but the old man attempts to rape her. Scared Nut fights him off and runs away, calling for her to pick her up.

Aroon and Whitney are arriving at the warehouse; she is looking mighty comfortable in his car, not even an utter of complaint. She’s also playing video games on her phone. He asks her to sit still and act like an adult for once, lol. He wants her to see the warehouse during the day so she could observe the operations and manufacturing team. She asks him does he think she is afraid of ghosts then? She assures him that she’s not afraid of ghosts, she’s used to visiting many haunted castles when she lived abroad. He asks her what exactly is she hoping to see and she replies that whatever there is to see, lol.

They are too cute.

Upon stepping out of the car and entering the facilities, the workers all have their eyes on her. Those long flirty legs. He pulls her back and says that she shouldn’t have dressed that way, it’s not proper. He tells her to look at the workers’ faces. She turns around and smiles at them, “Are you tired? Su-su (fighting) joop-joop (kisses.)” Lol. She’s always pushing Aroon’s buttons.

That same evening Dekcha visits his mom’s food booth, and shows off the money he just earned for selling a car. He wants to buy the days’ worth of food and treat her to many more meals to come. As they head home though, and carting the food with them, they spot their neighbors, Nut and Non. Dekcha merrily offers to give them some tasty treats, but Nut is staring murderously at him. He starts packing away little baggies of treats and offers them to her. Furious, she grabs the snacks and stuffs them in his mouth, the grease smearing his face. Taken aback by the shock, Dekcha and his mother kept asking what is wrong with her. “You eat that!” she exclaims, then she tells him how vile he is by “selling” her to the dirty man. His mom turns on him and starts hitting him, disappointed by his despicable actions.

By the end of the warehouse tour, Whitney is hungry and tells Aroon to take her to a nearby restaurant, she hasn’t eaten since lunch. They made their way to a local spot and Aroon is confused by her excitement and her adeptness at ordering all of the local food. He recalls his own girlfriend warning him not to eat som-tum (payaya salad) because it will upset his stomach. He starts to taste it but overcome with the spice. She hadn’t realized that he doesn’t eat any spice. Feeling badly that he wouldn’t be able to eat, she asks the cook to make another order of som-tum. However, it would be a long wait, so Whitney asks to make it herself. Aroon watches her thumping away the mortar and pestle, making him a dish he didn’t think she was familiar with or knew how to make! She is full of surprises.

Dekcha saw red and doesn’t think about the repercussions of his actions. He makes his way back to his client’s office and stands before the car. The older man is getting ready to leave and tells him to move along. Besides, he sent the wrong girl to him and he is disappointed. Angry, Dekcha pulls the monkey wrench from his belt and goes to town at the Mercedes, damaging the front. The dirty man walks out of his car and tries to chastise him when Dekcha beats him down. Securities abound, Dekcha gets his own beatdown.

While Aroon is eating his tasty som-tum, he gets a phone call from Non. Dekcha is arrested. Aroon and Whitney make chase to the jailhouse to bail him out. Whitney, the clear headed one asks his mom to explain the situation to her. She calls her lawyer and they bail Dekcha out. Everyone looks on at Whitney as if she grew two heads, impressed by her generosity. She is furious of the attempted rape.

Gusuma- at a totally inappropriate time- pulls Nut aside and tells her to keep any eye out for Whitney- that Whitney is trying to steal Aroon from Non. I am like, seriously? Nut was almost raped, Dekcha was in jail and all you can think about is Whitney going after Aroon? Delusional! Her brain is certainly imbalanced.

The old geezer sees that the police has released Dekcha and forces them to put him back in jail. Whitney is fearless and angry so she confronts the dirty man and tells him off- that she knows what he has done and she will get her lawyer and the entire police force to reprimand his ass. As if that wasn’t enough, she finds the nearest pitcher of water and douses the scumbag with it. Aroon holds her back and tells her that it is enough. The scumbag says he will get back with her! But Whitney is beyond caring.

Aroon takes Whitney home after the whole debacle. Gusuma is angry that Non has allowed Aroon to take Whitney home- come on lady, Whitney saved Dekcha and avenged for Nut! But she’s psycho and that night, she’s sitting in her dark room cutting out pictures again. She claims that Non is not suitable for Aroon anymore (because she’s too weak) and she will do what she will to get him. Dun dun dun…

But a beautiful closure to episode two.. Aroon and Whitney are in the car and Whitney tells him to come inside, she wants to prepare him a cup of coffee. He’s reluctant because he thinks it’s inappropriate but Whitney tells him that no one is home, her parents are at a social event. Aroon finally agrees and they sit in the large living room as he’s sipping the coffee.

“Is that drinkable?” she asks him.

“Better than drinking water,” he replies. Lol.

“Hey… you’re assistant made you som-tum , coffee for you today, cleared the problem at work and with Dekcha, doesn’t that warrant sweeter words?” she presses him.

“Ok,” he relents, “you’ve done very well.”

She’s waiting for more, but doesn’t get anything else. “That’s it?”

He looks at her pointedly and changes the subject. “Your home is so quiet.”

“It’s because there aren’t many people who live here. A large house with only three people.”

“No wonder you’re not afraid of ghosts.”

“I’m used to being alone, ever since I was little. Before, we never had a housekeeper. So I have to sleep alone because sometimes my dad works so late he doesn’t return home,” she turns to him, “what about you, are you afraid of ghosts?”

“I was raised in a temple. If I was afraid, I wouldn’t be able to live there.”

“Did you used to be a monk?” she asks.

“No- I was a temple kid (dek wat.)”

“That’s good though,” she says, “you won’t get lonely like me.”

He smiles. “It is still lonely- lonely in the inside.” Aww..

His words settle on her. She can relate to the feeling. No matter whether you are surrounded by people, you can still be very lonely. At the end of the day, they are just two very lonely people.

They look at each other, understanding how each other feels.

That night, Non begins to feel uncertain about Aroon. He’s taking Whitney home and she couldn’t help wondering what they’re doing. She decides to call him, to check on him. He sounds removed; he says he’s busy right now. Then he asks her to open her windows and as she does this, she finds him in front of his car across the street, talking on the phone with her. He smiles at her and says that he can’t go to sleep if he doesn’t see her face before the night is over.

As for our Whitney, her step mom is actually at home and heard from the maid that she was entertaining a man. Kongkaew thinks it is inappropriate for her to be alone and that Kongkaew would like to meet the man next time he comes. Whitney tells her that she might be bringing many different men home so she doesn’t know if Kongkaew would be able to meet them all. Lol. But Kongkaew doesn’t take the bait and tells her that she would like to supervise next time. Whitney however asks her if she’d like to join them if she invites the man to her bedroom? Oh Whitney.. always trying to push your step mom’s button. You know she’s a proper woman.

I’ve enjoyed this episode, especially the scenes between Whitney and Aroon. They like to goad each other. But as I’ve mentioned earlier, they are just two lonely souls. She- Whitney- is seeking and craving for company, friendship and camaraderie. She is the person who needs the most love in this drama. While Aroon, growing up in the temple without a family, is the person who needs companionship as well. He’s a good boyfriend and challenging boss- but as a person, I’d like to see more revelations. The end of episode two, with the heart to heart conversation about loneliness with Whitney- is a step in the right direction.

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*Pictures are limited today as I’m rushing to get this posted asap. Words I can deal with, but screencapping and high quality pictures are not my forte. I’m slowly working on figuring out how to improve. So bear with me. Sometimes I wish I can just write and not be responsible for including pictures at all heh.

*FYI, out of town this weekend so next episode will be posted late Sunday or early next week.

*Pic credit as tagged, DaraVDO FB