Jee’s hands were shaking and her heart was beating at a million miles an hour. She stood behind the exiting door of the green room at reception hall where the press release was taking place. She had always had a tumultuous relationship with the press and this time it felt magnified by the fact that she would be revealing the truth, rather than dispelling the nonsensical rubbish that the tabloids normally made up about her.
Hopefully, this would be the final time she would have to deal with the hungry vultures that called themselves ‘reputable reporters’. She had grown so weary and tired of the invasiveness and cattiness that being a part of the entertainment industry mandated. Although she loved the artistry of being an actress, it was not essential to her anymore. It largely served as a means of financial security as well as leverage over her late step-father, who had realised the dangerous repercussions of attacking Jee when she was a public figure. Those things were no longer a necessity now that she was finally safe from all the horrors of her past. This was her final goodbye.
It had taken her a while to work up the courage to finally allow Piak to set a date for the event. Dealing with the press did not used to be that daunting to her, but that was before she finally let go of her hard, protective exterior and accepted that happiness came from being open and free with the ones she loved. Somehow, it did not feel right to erect those walls again even if it might benefit the unscrupulous tabloids that anticipated her demise. The cold, guarded façade she once had was no longer a part of who she was. She was stronger now, and she had Tit who protected her with a ferocity that was unparalleled.
It had been over two months since she had disappeared from the limelight. In that time, she had made a home with the love of her life, married him and experienced more happiness than she ever thought possible. Most of her time was now occupied by preparing for impending parenthood that would arrive in less than five months and making arrangements for the children’s centre she wanted build. Optimistically she had thought that with the time that had elapsed, the public would have lost interest in her private life. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Although the press did not release any slander about her anymore, thanks to Tit’s threats to sue, they were still obsessed with the ins and outs her life. Her celebrity status had remained very much intact.
There were several times she had found paparazzi parked along the street of their house. They were camping out to try snap a shot of her in her day-to-day routine or catch her leaving the house. How the tabloids had managed to find her new address was completely beyond her.
The stories that came out were generally harmless. They were short commentaries on the minutia of her daily life and the headlines typically were along the lines of ‘Pregnant Jeerawut leaves the house wearing a white dress’ or ‘Jeerawut’s baby bump finally showing’. It was all rather benign stuff, nothing that was defamatory, which can largely be attributed to the reporters fear of being sued by Tit. Nevertheless, the invasion of privacy was not particularly pleasant.
When Tit had seen the stories, he had blown his stack. Although the articles were not derogatory, the extremely protective man almost instigated a lawsuit for the invasion of privacy and unauthorised photography. Jee had talked him out of it. She reasoned that if he sent all his time prosecuting reporters for publishing benign details like the size of her baby bump and the clothes she wore, he’d have no time to pursue his much more important work on civil rights violations. By comparison, the tabloid commentary about the trivialities of her day-to-day life did not warrant the time and effort.
Perhaps the only positive that resulted from the paparazzi stalking their house was the couple of articles that had been published about Tit. They had resulted in copious amounts of humour between their friends and family. Especially the ones that contained photos of an extremely irritated Tit. There was one of Tit reversing his car out of the driveway with his hand stuck out of the driver side window as he gave the middle finger to the paparazzi waiting outside. The headlines typically ran along the lines of, ‘Jeerawut’s husband flips off the paps’ or ‘Jeerawut’s handsome man is camera shy’. The second headline was the biggest misinterpretation in the history of all misinterpretations because the article was accompanied, once again, by a photo of Tit flipping off the paparazzi as was exiting the house for his morning run.
Jee had a really good laugh when P’Sookie had sent all the photos into the group text that he, Tit, Jee, Piak and Chayan were a part of. Chayan had grilled Tit incessantly about it and eventually created a meme out of a close up photo of Tit with a pissed off expression on his face and his middle finger pointing directly at the camera. He captioned it ‘F*ck You’. Chayan now always sent the meme in his texts in lieu of the angry face emoji or when he could not be bothered typing out the cuss word. Tit kept demanding that Chayan stop rehashing the incident by circulating the meme around but Chayan was having too much fun at Tit’s expense to comply.
As everyone else in the group text had worked in the entertainment industry, they were accustomed to dealing with the press and had some level of media training. Consequently, Tit’s lack of inhibition when facing the tabloids was hilarious to everyone except the man himself. He had eventually learnt not to dignify the paparazzi with any form of response and maintained a poker face when they were present. However, by that time it was too late because he had already become the subject an enduring inside joke among their group.
Walking up to his very nervous wife, Tit used one hand to take a hold of her trembling hands and used the other to pulled her into his embrace. He then began whispering comforting words into her ear as he slowly stroked down the back of her head. Seeing Jee in a state of such anxiety was having a suffocating effect on his heart.
The worried husband softly spoke to his wife, “It’s okay, teerak. I’m here with you. We have nothing to hide. I won’t let them hurt you.”
Tit’s efforts were working. Jee felt her nervousness decrease and her quivering hands began to steady. She took slow, deep breaths and inhaled Tit’s scent which always managed to calm her.
When her heartbeat slowed closer to its usual rate, she lifted her head from Tit’s shoulder and asked him, “What happens if they ask us about Tiw? Or if they say ugly things about the conception of our baby? I know they are dying to put a terrible spin on the whole thing.”
Tit planted a kiss on Jee’s left cheek, then her right one and finally her forehead. As he slowly moved to stare into her eyes, he softly spoke, “We tell as much truth as we are can. Tiw’s accident was not your fault, as far as anyone else has to know, Stephan is still the culprit. We have been trying to compensate his family to the best of our abilities. We can’t undo what’s already been done, all that's possible now is that Stephan and P’Sookie are kept safe from perjury charges. That’s the best we can do.”
Since the court had ruled Stephan guilty, Jee had been trying to support his family to the best of her ability. She had set up a trust fund for his infant daughter which would cover all her living expenses, including a college fund that paid for tuition to even the most expensive universities. Jee knew it wasn’t a substitute for a father, but at least Stephan’s daughter would have every other opportunity to live a fulfilling life.
Tit reached his hand down to firmly cup the small protrusion of her abdomen that housed their child. He then stared into Jee’s eyes and continued to address his wife’s concerns, “As for what they are going to say about our baby, none of it really matters to me. Our child was conceived out of love and that’s all that matters. We may not have admitted it to each other at the time, but we loved each other on our first night together. I have no doubts whatsoever about that.”
“Me neither.” Jee whispered back to him as she stared back into the depths of her husband’s eyes. “I love you, P’Tit. There’s no way I could do this without you.”
“I love you too, teerak. So much more than I ever thought it possible to love another person.” Tit then bent his head down to capture his wife’s lips in a deep kiss. Jee reciprocated the kiss with equal passion and the loving couple got so entranced in one another that they forgot they were standing in the room with family who came along to support them.
Piak and Chayan sat on the couch on the other side of the green room and rolled their eyes at the other couple who clearly had no restrictions on their public displays of affection. As Piak and Chayan had been together for years, they tended to keep all the lip-locking to when they were in a private spot. They were no longer in the ‘honeymoon’ stage of their relationship where they felt the need to jump each other whenever an opportunity arose.
“Ahem!” P’Sookie coughed as he entered the green room from the reception room were the reporters were all waiting.
The couple who were used to being interrupted by P’Sookie during intimate moments, looked up with guilty grins on their faces.
P’Sookie had an expression of exasperation on his face and pointed his finger back and forth between Tit and Jee, “Would you two please stop it? This is what got us into this whole mess in the first place. Wai! Y’all need to learn and control yourselves. You’re like two teenagers in a movie theatre.”
Jee and Tit tried to supress their laughter and extricated themselves from each other so they just stood side by side with one arm around each other’s waist.
“The press are ready for you.” P’Sookie stated and began straightening Jee and Tit’s clothes that had gotten a little misshapen from their passionate little interlude.
Jee smoothed over the white tailored pant suit she was wearing. Wearing suits had always made her feel empowered so she decided on wearing one for today. Under the suit jacket she wore a silky white camisole that had lace trimming along the edges. She was also wearing nude Louboutin pumps on her feet. The entire ensemble made was both smart and sexy.
Tit was also in a tailored suit but his was black in colour. He wore a crisp white dress shirt underneath his jacket but kept the top couple of button’s undone as he was not wearing a tie. On his feet were a polished pair of black Italian leather shoes. Together he and Jee looked like the most beautiful power-house couple.
“You ready?” P’Sookie said as he stepped back and looked the two in the eyes.
Jee and Tit nodded despite thinking that no one was ever prepared to do this sort of thing. Jee and Tit dropped their hands from each other’s waists and intertwined their fingers in a grip of solidarity. They turned to face each other and gave each other reassuring looks as they took a few final deep breaths.
Just before P’Sookie pushed the double doors open, Chayan jokingly hollered from the other side of the room. “Try not to flip everyone off while you’re out there okay Tit?”
The comment cracked Jee up and brought an amused smile to Tit’s face. Tit continued to stare into Jee’s eyes and responded by briefly extending the middle finger of his free hand up towards Chayan. Piak and Chayan cackled like children in the background.
Tit dropped his hand from the offessive gesture just as the exit doors opened. That’s how the reporters outside first saw the couple, smiling at each other with their love for each other emitting through their eyes.
As they began taking strong, easy strides out towards the reception area, the blinding lights of hundreds of camera flashes went off in front of them. They followed P’Sookie out towards an elevated stage where a long panel table with microphones was set up. There were three seats and microphones, one for Jee, Tit and P’Sookie. To the sides of the stage were several security guards who prevented any overzealous reporters from coming up too close.
The couple calmly walked up to the small staircase on the side of the platform and Tit supported his wife as she ascended the stairs. When they reached the table, Tit pulled the middle chair out for his wife and slid her chair in under her as she was seating herself. He then quickly took his own seat to her left just as P’Sookie seated himself to Jee’s right. Beneath the tablecloth that hung all the way to the floor, the couple continued to hold one another’s hands tightly and it gave them both the strength to face the hundreds of reporters seated out in front of them.
P’Sookie had an authoritative expression on his face as he held his palm up to the audience to signal that he wanted silence. When the reporters quietened down he leaned forward to speak into the microphone. “As discussed, this session will run for a scheduled half an hour, no more and no less. Please raise the numbered paddle provided to you if you wish to ask a question, you may only ask one question per time you raise your hand. If you wish to ask more, raise your hand again. Also, please restrain from any flash photography. It’s the middle of the day and this room is well lit people, there is absolutely no need for you to blind us with your camera flashes.” Jee and Tit smiled at P’Sookie’s diva-like antics, it took the edge off the stress. The couple smiled at each other because they both found it endearing that P’Sookie was being extra difficult towards the reporters in his efforts to protect them.
“I would also like to remind you to maintain respect in the way you conduct yourself today.” P’Sookie continued to lecture the reporters as if they were children, “Now that we have that out of the way, the questions may begin.”
All the numbered panels shot up in the air and P’Sookie selected a number at random.
“Number 20.”
The reporter then introduced herself and what publication she came from before asking, “Are the rumours true about Khun Jeerawut and Khun Satit being married already?”
Tit took the initiative and spoke into the microphone, “Yes, Jee and I are married.”
The same reporter then quickly asked another question, “When did the wedding take place?”
“Ah!” P’Sookie cut the woman off by raising his palm up again and said, “Only one question per hand raise!”
Jee almost scoffed trying to hold in the laughter, P’Sookie’s protectiveness almost rivalled her husband’s.
“Moving along! Number 5.” P’Sookie pointed to a reporter at the back.
Reporter number 5 repeated the question that reporter number 20 asked. “When did the wedding take place?”
Jee smiled and leaned into the microphone to answer honestly, “About a month ago. We had a beach side wedding.” She squeezed Tit’s hand under the table before she continued, “At the very same place my husband proposed to me. It was beautiful.” Tit squeezed Jee’s hand back and couldn’t help but smile at the memories of their wedding day.
From the audience’s perspective, it was beginning to become very clear that the couple sitting at the panel had an infinite amount of love for each other.
The next reporter selected then asked, “Does that mean your child was conceived out of wedlock?” The question initiated chatter and whispers throughout the reception room.
Tit could see that P’Sookie was about to verbally attack the reporter and quickly responded before he did, “Yes, our child was conceived before we got married. I will also answer the next question that my last answer is likely to incite. No, I do not think that there is anything wrong with pre-marital sex or conceiving a child out of wedlock. We live in the 21st century, so unless it goes against your personal religious doctrine, there is no sin in sleeping with your partner. Everyone is entitled to follow whatever faith they choose. My own religious beliefs do not oppose sex before marriage, and neither does Jee’s. Neither I nor Jee subscribe to patriarchal ideologies that frown upon pre-marital sex when they are not related to any religious doctrines. Everyone has different values, I have no problem with people that do not support pre-marital sex, as long as they respect my right to have my own values, just like I respect their right to have theirs.”
P’Sookie gave Tit a wink of approval which made Tit smile. He had handled that like a professional, shutting down any scandal that the press could twisted that question into by using a rational and reasonable argument. A lot of the reporters had put their paddles down after that answer, which let the the couple and P’Sookie know that those were the reporters looking for a scandal. P’Sookie then chose another reporter to ask a question.
“What about the rumours of an affair between Khun Jeerawut and Khun Chayan?”
Jee tried hard not to roll her eyes and stated firmly, “P’Chayan, Piak and I have answered this question many times before, but I will repeat it one final time. There has never been any form of romantic relationship between P’Chayan and I. He is a colleague and a good friend of mine, just as I am to him. He is now my family in an official capacity after I married P’Tit, who is cousin’s with Piak.”
The next reporter asked a question that probably had Chayan gagging with laughter in the green room which had a monitor that was live streaming the interview. Jee also had to pinch her own thigh to prevent herself from giggling. The reporter handed a stack of photos to one of the security guards to hand over to Tit and then asked, “Khun Satit, can you please elaborate on these photos of you?”
When P’Sookie caught sight of the photos, he too had to clamp him hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing. The photos that landed on the table were the ones of Tit looking very dissatisfied and with his middle finger up at the camera. If it weren’t for the reporters and cameras here, everyone in the couple’s inner circle would be poking fun at Tit right now.
Tit closed his eyes and took a slow deep breath before he looked at the reporter and responded, “The photos are rather self-explanatory. I’m a private man, I do not like having the privacy of my family violated.”
In that moment an idea struck and Tit seized this opportunity where he had all the press’ attention and said, “I had initially thought to take legal action against that violation of Jee and I’s privacy as well as the unauthorised photography, however my wife advised me against it. You see, she had grown accustomed to the invasion of her personal life and had become desensitised to the injustice of it all. I, on the other hand, am not adapted to life in the public eye and am clearly having trouble adjusting.” Tit gestured towards the incriminating photos of him.
Jee slowly smiled as she knew exactly where her handsome attorney was going with this. She rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb to signal for him to look at her.
Tit gave his wife a very satisfied grin before he turned back towards the reporters and put on a performance of a lifetime. He rubbed his chin as if he were in deep contemplation and continued, “In fact, I am beginning my revise my decision to let this encroachment of my privacy slide. I feel as if nobody should have to tolerate the theft of their basic human right. I’m assuming we can all agree that having someone photograph you in the sanctuary of your own home would be considered a gross violation of privacy, right folks?” Tit calmly smiled at the reporters in front of him as he watched their faces turn quite ashy in colour, especially the ones that the couple recognized from having camped outside their house.
All of the reporters dropped their paddles out of fear of being called upon to answer Tit’s question. Doing so would be akin to an admission of guilt which would stir big trouble if they had been among those who had photographed Tit and Jee at home. Even if they weren’t, agreement with Tit’s statement would mean they could not risk photographing the couple in the future. The whole press release was being recorded on film, so every member of the press remained hush. Nobody responded to Tit’s question and large room was so quiet you could probably hear a pin drop.
All the naïve paparazzi that thought they were safe, simply because they were not reporting anything defamatory, began to feel much more anxious. Although tabloid publications were not new to being sued by celebrities, it was quite clear that few lawyers were as motivated to defend their clients as Khun Satit.
P’Sookie tried to supress a smug smile but it managed to reveal itself anyways. He then inspected his watch before leaning over to speak into the microphone in a very chirpy, bubbly manner, “Well I see there are no more questions that you folks would like to ask. In that case, I think it is reasonable to end this session five minutes early. No use sitting around in this big old hall in silence is there?”
Before the happy three on the stage got up out of their chairs, Jee made one final announcement, “As you all know, I have since retired from the entertainment industry and would like to withdraw myself as a public figure. I truly appreciate all the opportunities that this industry has given me and I will never be able to give enough thanks to all the fans that supported me. However, this is me saying a final goodbye to the limelight. I am sure there will be many more talents coming along that will shine far brighter than I ever did. I hope everyone here will be able to respect my wish for privacy and peace as my husband and I continue our journey in life together.” Jee then stood up from her chair, brought her palms together at her chest and did a deep bow as she wai to the press one last time.
In her heart, she felt like she got the closure she needed and had a strong inkling that the tabloids would not be disturbing her anymore.
Tit then got out from his chair and walked over to his wife, pulled her into his arms and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. He then turned around and wai to the audience before he escorted his wife off the stage and back into the green room. P’Sookie trailed in behind them with an enormous grin on his face.
The three walked in to find Chayan with both his hands grasped over his mouth and a thoroughly impressed expression on this face. He stared right at Tit and then lifted his arms up in the air and said, “Bro! You didn’t stick the finger up at the reporters but you might has well had. That was the most thinly veiled threat I have ever seen in my god damn life.”
Tit just smiled and shrugged his shoulders as if it was no big deal.
“Major respect Tit.” Chayan then began bowing as if he was worshipping the ground Tit walked on.
“Does any of this newfound respect stop you from using that meme you made of me?” Tit asked with a strong sense of hope in his voice.
Chayan stopped bowing and then got back up on his feet and replied smugly, “Nope. Hell will freeze over before I stop using that meme.”
Everyone in the room then laughed at the defeated groan Tit let out.