Bittersweet Arrangements : A Sugar Dady Affair

“Viero, call Sis El, why haven’t you come out of the room before,” said Vanessa, who had just come out of the room looking neat.

“Yes Mom,” replied Viero, who had just reached the middle of the stairs.

“Just let Bang Eki call Mom,” said Eki and then rushed up the stairs.

Viero, who saw Rizky’s panicked face, just shrugged his shoulders, indifferent. Yes, like this, if Elena, the drama queen, is sulking, the whole house will definitely panic. Too much indeed. But yes, this is what his family would be like if something happened to his only sister.

“Alay, the whole house is excited because of the watch!” Viero grumbled as he continued down the stairs.

Without knocking on the door, Rizky just went straight into Elena’s room. Rizky was immediately shocked when he found Elena’s room pitch black. Only by the moonlight shining through the window could Rizky see Elena who was curled up on the bed.

“El!” Rizky called while looking for the light switch. “Oh my God Elena, what’s wrong with you?” Rizky screamed frantically, thinking that his little brother was sick.

Rizky quickly sat on the edge of the bed to check Elena’s body temperature. Instantly Rizky could breathe a sigh of relief because Elena’s body temperature was normal. No fever. But Rizky felt something was wrong. His little brother was asleep still in his school uniform even though it was already half past 7 in the evening.

“El, are you sleeping or fainting!” Rizky patted Elena’s cheek lightly to wake the girl up. “Hey, what time have you been sleeping since? Are you still wearing your school uniform?” Rizky shouted, continuing to try to wake Elena.

“Hmmm,” muttered Elena as she stretched. “What’s wrong with you, Bro, just disturb El’s sleep!” Annoyed, Elena then grabbed a pillow to cover her face which was dazzled by the light.

“Mommy and the others have been waiting downstairs. Have you forgotten that we have an invitation to dinner at Papa’s house?” explained Rizky, still surprised. As far as Rizky knows, since childhood, Elena has been afraid of the dark. Then why did the girl sleep with the room lights off?

There was no response, Rizky then forcibly pulled the pillow covering his younger brother’s head. Elena, who felt that her calm had been disturbed, finally became angry. “El is absent tonight. El wants to stay at home. Tell Mommy and Daddy that El will just look after the house!” Elena said firmly then grabbed the pillow again to cover her face. “Oh, don’t forget to turn the lights off again, bro!”

Rizky was silent, looking at Elena with various speculations in his mind. Then Rizky accidentally saw Elena’s watch which he said was lost. The watch is now wrapped around Elena’s left wrist and is still intact. He held Elena’s hand for a moment then put it back. Later or tomorrow he will talk to his younger brother. Rizky is sure that Elena is not fine. Anyone who dares to hurt Elena will not hesitate, Rizky will make a calculation.

“Okay, just rest. Don’t forget to pray first!” said Rizky then immediately left because he didn’t want everyone to wait.

Below, Vanessa and Jeremy immediately bombarded Rizky with questions. Rizky also deliberately explained that Elena was fine and wanted to just stay at home. At first Jeremy wanted to follow, forcing his daughter to come with them. But Rizky intervened, convincing his father to let Elena stay at home. Elena’s lost favorite watch became Rizky’s reason to convince his adoptive parents and they believed him.

“Let’s go!” Invite Rizky while embracing Jeremy’s arm.

“But Ki, what about your little brother?” Jeremy still finds it difficult to leave Elena at home alone.

“There’s Miss Endah and the others at home!” Rizky said as he forcefully pulled his Daddy’s large body towards the main door.

Vanessa could only smile in amusement at her husband’s behavior. Of their three children, Jeremy had always been most concerned about Elena. Vanessa understood, as Elena was not only naive and innocent, but also as careless as she had been in her youth. So Vanessa tried to understand Jeremy’s overly possessive and protective attitude, knowing that he did it all for Elena’s well-being. However, it didn’t mean that Jeremy neglected their two sons. No, Jeremy also loved and gave full attention to their two sons. It’s just that Jeremy had a different way of raising and caring for them. For Jeremy, a man should be strong, independent, firm, and calculated in every action. Hence, it was not surprising that from a young age, Ivand and Viero were equipped with martial arts knowledge and educated according to their respective talents.

Ivand was fond of the automotive world, while Viero preferred the world of photography, like Azka, their cousin who was currently studying medicine in Jakarta. So as parents, Jeremy and Vanessa would support whatever choices their sons and daughter made, even though Jeremy himself was confused about who would eventually continue his business. But Jeremy was confident that one day among the three of them, someone would follow in his footsteps. They were still young, still eager to try new things according to their desires. For now, let them freely express themselves and explore their interests. Jeremy’s current task was to educate them according to Islamic principles, guide them, and be a facilitator.

“Just Eki with Ivand and Viero, okay Dad?” said Rizky when they were in the yard.

“Whatever, just use Daddy’s car. Let Daddy use Mommy’s car,” replied Jeremy when he saw the two cars that had been prepared by the driver.

“Brother, just drive,” said Ivand as he opened the left car door. Passenger seat section. Rizky quickly got into the car.

Before getting into the car, Jeremy took the time to look at Elena’s balcony, which was dark. He felt really anxious thinking about his daughter’s condition. Jeremy was sure something had happened to Elena a few days ago.

Twenty minutes later they arrived at the magnificent residence of Arfan, one of the owners of the Alfarizy company. In the large yard there were rows of cars with fantastic prices parked neatly there. Jeremy immediately got out of the car with Vanessa before getting protests from the owner of the house because they were late.

They were immediately greeted warmly by everyone who was already inside. The three teenagers who came with them immediately greeted and rushed in with the others. Moreover, Rizky, this man who could no longer be considered a teenager, seemed to be looking for someone. Who else if not looking for Nafla, the host’s favorite daughter.

Devan, who had just come from inside the house, immediately greeted and gave his friend Jeremy a hug.

“Where’s El?” Devan asked when he greeted Vanessa when he didn’t see Elena there. Devan’s eyes even scanned all corners of the room to find the figure he was looking for.

“He said he was confused. He wanted to sleep at home!” Vanessa replied while receiving a warm hug from Layla.

Devan merely smiled faintly before joining the other men. Their conversation was brief, as Arfan promptly invited them for dinner. The discussion would resume later.

During dinner, Devan found himself without an appetite. Elena was the only thing on his mind. Devan felt worried about the girl whose heart he had broken earlier in the day. The guilt weighed on him, making him uneasy since the afternoon. However, Devan could do nothing but keep everything a secret.

Elsewhere, Elena was having dinner alone in the kitchen. Due to Rizky’s disturbance earlier, Elena couldn’t close her eyes anymore. So she decided to get up, take a shower, and pray. Feeling hungry, Elena went downstairs and asked Bi Endah to prepare food for her. After satisfying her hunger, Elena returned to her room. Spending time alone proved effective in calming her troubled heart.

Elena grabbed the TV remote and went back to bed. Not intending to watch TV, she connected her phone to the TV to play music for karaoke. Elena opened an online music app on her phone and connected it to the TV. Her fingers started selecting songs that reflected her current feelings. Elena chose an old album by Dewa 19. Singing improved her mood after almost half a day of sleep. However, when following the lyrics of the song “PUPUS,” Elena once again remembered the man who had made her upset.

I just realized

My love is unrequited

You shattered my entire heart

May time enlighten

The frozen side of your heart

May a miracle come

Until finally, you’re willing

I love you more than you know

Even though you’ll never know

Before Elena could finish singing the lyrics, her phone suddenly beeped, indicating a new message had arrived.

“Is there something wrong, Devan? Is there a problem?” Arfan asked, feeling puzzled. It was unusual for his friend to appear agitated. Since earlier, Devan had been staring at his phone without doing anything, just looking at the screen. There were no calls or messages sent to anyone.

“Probably his crush is upset again!” Jeremy responded with a laugh. Of course, Jeremy knew that Devan was close to a woman named Dinda. It was the latest information he had received from his wife.

Devan was taken aback by Jeremy’s words. If only Jeremy knew that the one currently occupying his thoughts was Elena, Jeremy’s beloved daughter, what would he do to Devan? Suddenly, Devan remembered how Jeremy had ruthlessly taken the lives of Bryan and his father to protect Vanessa. Bryan was a notorious drug lord targeted by Devan, who had also kidnapped Vanessa.

“Forgive me, God!” Devan uttered in his heart. How could he remember that terrible experience now? When he first discovered the dark side of his friend.

Devan was an eyewitness to how Jeremy fought for Vanessa’s love, a love without the approval of Vanessa’s parents. Everything Jeremy did was solely to protect the person he loved. But it was not impossible for Jeremy to take him down if he found out that his beloved daughter, whom he had guarded so well, was heartbroken because of Devan. Devan couldn’t imagine what punishment awaited him.

“It seems Jeremy guessed right!” Arfan replied, laughing when he saw Devan’s strange expression.

“What are you guys up to! I’m just not fit enough!” Finally Devan spoke up. Devan nonchalantly reached for his pack of cigarettes, took one stick and lit it on fire.

“I’m not fit enough to smoke!” Ardan’s sarcasm was right on target.

Without intending to respond, Devan smoked the cigarette. A warm feeling slowly took over his chest cavity. While enjoying it, Devan exhaled cigarette smoke slowly. Releasing the white smoke also helps clear the smoke that was first in the air.

“Just leave it alone. Maybe he’s forgotten what it’s like to fall in love!” Arfan scoffed and then lit his cigarette again.

In reality, they hadn’t smoked for a long time, except when they gathered like tonight. Cigarettes and coffee were the perfect combination to accompany their time together. However, this did not apply to Ardan, who had never smoked since he was young. Countless times Ardan had reminded his friends to take care of their health at their not-so-young age. But the rebellious bad boys were reluctant to listen to Ardan’s advice, except for Bagas, Rizky’s biological father, who had quit the unhealthy habit long ago.

After 30 minutes, Devan got up to go to the bathroom. Before that, he made sure to leave his phone on the pantry table to avoid a repeat of the incident where the phone ended up in the closed toilet. Once was enough, and Devan didn’t want to experience it again. It wasn’t about the phone being damaged; buying a new phone wasn’t a big deal for Devan. But he had to accept losing contacts from business associates and other important notes that couldn’t all be stored in his Google account.

Not immediately rejoining his friends, Devan sat in the pantry chair and reached for his phone. He opened the WhatsApp application and wrote a series of sentences there.

You

“Why didn’t you come to Daddy’s house?”

Elena, who was busy chatting with Citra, was surprised to see Uncle Devan’s name on the screen. The man who had become the topic of her conversation with Citra. Elena’s heart raced as she began reading the words, sentence by sentence, from the man who had caused her heartache.

Elena

“It’s none of Uncle Devan’s business!”

Elena’s sarcastic reply made Devan smile because the girl still wanted to reply to his message.

You

“Are you still angry with Uncle?”

Elena’s heart ached. Sometimes the man asks questions that he clearly knows.

Elena

“No. Why is El angry?”

Elena’s reply made the smile on Devan’s lips grow bigger.

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“Then why don’t you come along?”

It didn’t take long for Elena’s reply to come.

Elena

“It’s none of Uncle Devan’s business!!!”