"What's wrong?" Thomas asked with a puzzled expression. He had noticed that his wife had been tossing and turning in her sleep for a while now.
"I don't know why," Olive replied as she slowly pushed the blanket aside. "I just can't sleep, Bae," she complained. She glanced briefly at the clock on the bedroom wall. It was already half past ten at night. At the same time, her phone vibrated softly, but it produced a noticeable buzzing sound that caught her attention.
"Who's calling this late at night?" Olive wondered. She immediately grabbed her phone from the nightstand next to her bed. "Aunt Koni?"
Thomas chose to listen and hear what they were talking about.
"What?" Olive exclaimed, clearly surprised. "But Mom is fine, right?"
"I don't know, Liv." Koni's voice sounded agitated. "All I know is that after the phone call, your mom left right away."
Olive unconsciously glanced at Thomas.
"Okay, I'll go to the hospital to che
Thomas sighed softly. His gaze couldn't stray far from the figure turning away from him. His hand, which usually held hers, was now folded across his chest. Thomas knew his wife was upset, or rather, disappointed."Bee," Thomas called out. Because it was nighttime, the streets were relatively empty. The distance between the hospital and their apartment took about thirty minutes. Amazing, right? Senayan was most enjoyable at night. "I'm sorry if my words were a bit too much."Olive only glanced briefly, then turned away again, her hand ready to open the car door. However, she forgot that Thomas hadn't unlocked the car's automatic lock. "Unlock," she said softly."Later, Bee," Thomas replied with a long sigh. "Let's talk first.""No need. I know your judgment, okay? It's enough.""You can't just do that, Bee," Thomas wasn't ready to give up. He took Olive's hand a little forcibly. "I was wrong. I sincerely apologize for what I said earlier."O
Seira sighed wearily, running her hands through her hair, letting it fall in a much messier state. The wind around her was quite cold, but once again, she didn't care. She quickly reached into her bag, grabbing her cigarette box and lighter. She clamped it between her lips, which still had traces of red lipstick, one of the few things she could manage. She lit it up quickly.Inhaling slowly and exhaling forcefully, she created a dense puff of smoke. "You can wear this. It's cold outside."Seira just looked up and brushed away the blazer that had just been offered to her. "Sit down, I want to talk."Nathan felt like he'd been hit by a storm with a magnitude of thousands on the Richter scale! Crazy! He was already going crazy because he didn't know where Naina was tonight. The girl had escaped, dear God! He had just come home and was about to prepare himself and Naina for Surabaya! Preparing for Surabaya required a very strong mentality, you know. So when Naina wa
Thomas once again glanced at Olive, who was still asleep with her eyes wet. He knew his wife chose to sleep instead of continuing to cry. He wanted to hug her, but what could he do? He had been pushed away. Instead, he received her back, the one he usually playfully patted. Moreover, the blanket quickly covered his wife up to her head, as if it didn't want to be disturbed at all.Seeing Olive's response, all Thomas could do was heave a sigh. No, he wasn't angry at all. In fact, he carefully recorded every word Olive had said in his mind. It was the anger of a child who, it turned out, held so much loneliness because of the one person she had in this world. A person she admired and loved so much. A person whose every word she obeyed. And a person whose unwavering spirit always faced the sun with a wide grin."Forgive me for not knowing how you feel, Bee," Thomas said as he approached. He kissed the side of Olive's head briefly. "Have a good night's sleep."Maybe
Her eyes were already open, man! How long did she cry? As far as she could remember, as soon as she got into the room, she climbed onto the bed, curled up in her blanket, and couldn't remember anything except her mother with that annoying brat. Her lips puckered suddenly, even though her eyes hadn't fully opened yet. Still lazy, even though the alarm had blared multiple times, calling her.Her hand reached around, vaguely looking at the figure in front of her. "When did you change your hair color, Bae?" she said hoarsely. "And why do you smell so good? You even smell like Mom." She frowned. "Not funny, Thomas, if you used my perfume so I could feel Mom's presence.""Get up properly, Liv," Seira said with a cheeky grin.Olive immediately stared wide-eyed. She woke up suddenly, not caring if the abrupt movement gave her a headache. So she complained of pain, making Seira panic immediately."What's wrong with you?""Is this mom for real, or a ghost? W
Thomas couldn't help but widen his smile. Despite the heavy traffic, the honking horns, and impatient drivers all around, nothing mattered compared to Olive's smile. It never left her face, even with the playful antics she displayed towards her mother.Well, this morning, even though Seira was spoiling Olive in front of her mother, he understood. Quite well, actually. Thomas realized that even though Seira pampered Olive, there were certain limits Seira imposed. So, as far as Thomas was concerned, Olive's pampering was still tolerable.Whether it was due to their relatively new relationship or Seira being the type of mother-in-law who didn't meddle too much in her child's household chores, Thomas had never heard any complaints about him."Today, you're going to the central office, right?" Olive asked after making sure her selected music was appropriate. Her morning mood was already at 90 percent. She planned to raise it a bit more to reach 100 percent so she cou
Robert opened the door for Seira as she walked out of the spacious building. He was puzzled by the address she had given him. It was completely different from the address of her house on Gajah Mada Street. Could it be that, besides taking care of her sick child, she had met someone else last night?Pushing away his sudden negative thoughts, Robert chose to greet Seira with a broad smile."Am I late?" Seira asked. She was wearing a white blouse with ruffled layers at the chest, a calf-length skirt with an abstract black floral print. She looked radiant. Today, she had swapped her heels for the same white sneakers that matched her blouse. Her hair was simple, with a large curl at the ends of her long red hair, and a pearl-encrusted headband elegantly holding some of her hair in the middle.And not to forget her natural makeup that perfectly matched her outfit. Truly breathtaking.She actually got a headache thinking about her clothing choices. Most of her d
She had her smile in place, her hand lovingly hooked to the man who walked confidently beside her. Seira was well-practiced in this. She didn't care about the many pairs of eyes trained on her. She only needed to walk alongside Robert until the end.This luncheon was not as simple as it seemed. Many interests were entwined in it, including matchmaking.Robert always managed to make women who came to be introduced at this event retreat in a hurry. It was all thanks to Seira. Even though she was sure there would be a lot of advice from Robert later at home, she ignored it. She didn't want to torture herself with made-up rules. She had already devoted herself to taking over many roles for her late father.As the eldest child in the Nendratama family, her responsibilities were indeed enormous.But couldn't she be happy with her love?"For this time, I don't want to disturb your introductions, Ro," Seira said, still with her subtle smile. She glanced sl
"Sit down," Robert ordered again, ignoring Daniel's scowl, which resembled a bull. He also ignored Marta's disapproving look as she sat in front of him."Our business agreement remains intact, Mr. Budi. Don't worry. Your daughter is still single, and so is my younger brother. Rather than being with me, who can't look away from the woman next to me, causing her suffering, I don't want that to happen."Budi Hardjo fell silent."There's nothing wrong with giving them a chance to get to know each other. I'm sure their rejection is only for now. Once they get closer, if we give them time, their relationship will surely develop quickly," Robert said."No, no!" they both replied in unison."Now, Mr. Budi, can you see? They're so compatible, right?"Budi finally chuckled. "Mr. Robert always manages to surprise me. I feel touched by this." He nodded slowly. "I think I was too pushy with Marta, forcing my will on her.""Oh, not at all," Robert