Chapter 3

“Alright. Alright. I’ll tell her after this. With this we come to an agreement, right?”, Mr. Santoso said the person on the phone, the other agreed in response.

Knock knock knock

The sound of the door alerted him of the person’s presence. “She’s here. I’ll call you back later” He turned off the phone and welcomed the person inside, “Come in”

The door opened and Amara steps inside. “Hello, good morning”, she greeted the president of Cerdas Corporation, Mr. Santoso, also known as Abah¹, her grandfather.

The sight of an elderly Indonesian man that had slight tan skin compared to Amara, sitting in a chair dressed in a vest and maroon dress suit with a striped wine red tie. His suit is seen hugging the chair he's sitting on.

He was sitting behind a grand window that had the view of New York City. With his hands crossed to get her on top a table and his a professional but stern look, it gave off the final boss vibe or the strict CEO vibe.

She greeted him in the traditional Indonesian way with salim². With her right hand, she grabbed his elderly right hand and kissed his hand with her nose as she slightly bowed. She let go of his hand and quickly tapped the right hand to her body as a form of “receiving” his blessing.

He pointed at the sofa near his desk and Amara made her way to sit on it. The man stood up from his position as he strided to sofa with dignity. His 5'10 body not slouching in the slightest when walking, unlike Amara.

Mr. Santoso sat on gracefully, folding his legs in front of him. He picked up the cup of tea that was placed on the table made by his assistant.

Amara waited a few moments for her grandfather to speak. She tucked in the loose hair behind her ear, an action she does when she is nervous. She sat there, copying her Abah's sitting gesture, making sure to correct her sitting position, while agonizing in silence.

“My granddaughter, Amara”, his voice bellowed. She stiffened at his tone when calling her name. He stared straight at her, analyzing her appearance and movement.

“Yes, Abah?”, feeling frightened to hear his comments.

Abah was a firm believer in discipline and believed that a man should live in discipline. So he did everything with prestige and did it with no mistakes. He would give a short but agonizing lecture that can pierce a person’s heart if things didn’t go his way. After all, he didn’t take no for an answer.

“If your talking about the documents for the meeting later, its being printe-“

Mr. Santoso nodded his head in refusal. “It’s not about the papers”

“Then?...”

He sipped his tea again again for a few moments, as if stalling to answer.

“Do you have anyone special to you right now?”, this question caught Amara off guard a little. The man who always talked when necessary, asked about her love life. Her love life. Amara wondered if the sky be raining money tomorrow.

“Umm, no one in particular Abah”, for a moment the face of Damian popped up. But Amara quickly shook off the thought.

“Then do you want someone to accompany you. As in a companion for the rest of your life”, with this question she had bad feeling appearing in the back of her mind.

Amara pondered about this question for a moment. Of course the thought of marriage came into mind. Especially after the last 2 months feeling alone whenever she arrived home. She wanted to feel comforted and make loneliness go away, as it was a feeling she dreaded.

She wondered about the situation and what made Abah bring this topic up? Nonetheless, she answered, “I do Abah. Being by someone’s side, helping them, comforting them, and loving them. That’s what I ideally want, especially when I become a wife.”

Amara then remembered her mother who had become the ideal woman she wanted to be. Small tears started to form as she reminisced the memory of her mother. She holds back her tears, not wanting to show her emotions. “Just like Mama”, she whispered.

With this, it seems that Mr. Santoso made an assuring gesture in his mind. A few moments went by as he waited for Amara to regain her composure. He then dismissed her, “Alright, you are free to go”

Amara nodded and made her way to salim with her Abah as she parted. She opened the door but her the call of name made her stop, “Rara”, the nickname her Abah called her since she was a child.

She turned to look at her grandfather, “Stay safe”, he said with normal gaze but slight softened eyes “And you know I do want the best for you okay” Amara nodded in responses and exited the office.

But the bad feeling she had was still lingering in the back of her mind. Something is going to happen.

*****

¹ Abah means grandfather in Sundanese (a dialect language in Indonesia)

² Salim is a way Indonesians greet others (handshakes). This greeting is especially used when greeting an elder or someone older than you in general as a sign of respect

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