FORBIDDEN TO FALL IN LOVE

27. Lucas (2)

"I'll give you anything, Val" Lucas said.

"Don't say 'anything' is that easy, Brother," Valeda warned. "If I ask for your life, it's over your history and your little family."

Lucas answered him with a bow again, looking back at his knees. "I'm sorry, Val," he said slowly. "The events of the past, I can't change. I'm so sorry. I miss my wife and my two children. Just being apart for a day was draining my energy. I want them to stay here with me. That's why I said I could give anything to them."

"I have an idea" Daniel said suddenly. "My wife and son Lucas can stay in my orphanage for a while" he said.

"You're crazy!" Valeda. "I don't want to add to our problems with Mama."

Daniel patted Valeda on the back with a smile. "The job of brothers is to help each other. We don't know what it's like to be separated from a child because we don't have a child yet. But, I'm sure it's a hard thing."

"How are you gonna handle this, Dan?" ask Valeda.

Daniel glances at Lucas, then draws his gaze back to Valeda. "Say I am busy with my work beside you. As long as I'm in the office, I need a nanny for my kids. I can hire one more man to watch over Brother Lucas' wife at the orphanage."

"My wife speaks Bahasa Indonesia" Lucas said. "He likes kids too. He can help a lot later."

"No, I don't plan on giving responsibility to Brother Lucas' wife. I'll just borrow his name" replied Daniel.

Lucas. Her tears drenched her white cheeks. "I understand now why Val likes you, Daniel.." she said, crying.

"Come back in a week with my sister's wife" said Valeda. "I'll discuss this with Daniel. Next plan, I'll send it by e-mail." Valeda ended their talks.

"Good, fine. I'll obey everything you say" Lucas replied. He stood up while wiping his tears. "I'm sorry. Thank you for helping me" he said. Lucas staggered towards the exit.

Valeda waited until Lucas completely shut the door behind him, before speaking again. "What's your plan, Dan?" ask Valeda. "I'm not so close to Lucas and there are bad memories between us."

Daniel's eyebrows are up. Again, he finds an interesting story in the family of his fake girlfriend. "May I know what memories?"

Valeda smiled obliquely. "Your curiosity is getting bigger and you're starting to dare to ask, huh?" sindir Valeda's.

"I want things to go well and my brothers to be in the safest position" Daniel said.

"OK, okay," Valeda gave up. "When I was eight years old, Lucas sold me into human trafficking."

"Huh!?" cry Daniel. "You think we're in a soap opera?" Daniel did not believe Valeda. "Where is the brother who sold his sister to human trafficking?"

"I thought your reaction would be like this" said Valeda, shrugging his shoulders.

"So, is that real?" hiss Daniel. He himself was horrified when he asked Valeda that.

Valeda. "Lucas was frustrated with his situation. He was the third son in my family. Mama expects Lucas to be at least on par with my other two brothers. But I screwed up everything."

"What kind of mess?" ask Daniel.

"My brain is as thin as my father's. At eight years old, I could do sixth grade elementary school stuff. I can play six different instruments, speak ten languages of the world, and be good at sports."

Plok! Plok! Plok! Plok! Plok!

Daniel clapped his hands in reverence after hearing Valeda's words. "May I ask you something else?"

"What?"

"Do you have a shortage?" ask Daniel.

Valeda rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment. "There's."

"Family is a mess" Valeda replied confidently. "When I went to the orphanage, I was amazed to see you taking care of your sisters patiently. They're really excited, but you keep smiling lovingly. Even if you don't have parents and your life is hard, you're full of love."

"I'm flattered to hear what Miss said" Daniel said with a wide smile. "Okay, back to the initial conversation. So what did Lucas do?"

"He envied and took revenge on me, then I was sold to a human container," Valeda explained briefly. He could not tell how the days were like hell at that time. To him, it was too traumatic.

"How did you survive?" Daniel was curious.

Valeda smiled knot. His mind floated in the past moments, when he was already close to giving up on his life. Back then, Valeda had thought of nothing else. He has accepted his dark destiny. "There was a boy who helped me" replied Valeda.

"Who?" ask Daniel.

"I don't know his name" replied Valeda. "At that time, everything was messed up and I thought, that was my only chance to run. Then he showed up and helped me. A boy with a scar on his head."

"Wow! Harry Potter?"

"Neighbor!" Valeda punched Daniel in the arm. "He's a street kid, I think. Her clothes were shabby, her hair was cut just like that, and she wasn't even wearing footwear."

"Then?" Daniel sat down beside Valeda.

"The boy took me to the police station, but he wouldn't go there. He said he could be arrested if he entered the police station" Valeda said.

"After that, the story between you and the boy is over?"

Valeda. "Just be honest. I forgot his face."

"Because of that you hate Lucas?" ask Daniel.

"I don't hate him. I'm afraid of him. That's why I drew the line between us. If you're not here, maybe I've called security to expel him" Valeda replied as he rubbed his arm. He shakes every time he sees Lucas.

Daniel patted Valeda's back gently. "Great. You're a really great girl" said Daniel.

"Yes, yeah. Touch me as you please" Valeda said.

"I don't mean to be presumptuous" replied Daniel. "That's one physical contact to calm people down. You look scared. Just like the rose after the nightmare."

"I don't mind," the remark just slid from Valeda's mouth, making him jump in shock. He looked towards Daniel. Daniel did not react, just kept quiet and replied to Valeda's views. "Food!" valeda said quickly, to distract. "Hurry up and make me dinner!"

"Yes, yes, Young Miss" Daniel said as he stood up. He went straight to the kitchen of Valeda's apartment and opened the refrigerator to research what ingredients Valeda had. "Your fridge is emptier than I thought" he commented.

"I used to eat out" Valeda replied.

"Other times, I'll come with vegetables and spices. You can try cooking something with that" Daniel said. He took out some chicken and some vegetables from the refrigerator.

"I will learn to cook" Valeda said fiercely. "In fact, my cooking will be better than yours."

Daniel chuckled at Valeda wanting to compete. "Okay, I'll wait, '" replied Daniel.

"If it's true that my cooking is better, you have to give me one wish" Valeda challenged.

"One? I'll give you three, like a genie of magic lights!" Daniel challenged.

"I'm holding your word!" exclaim Valeda. He could not help but be challenged if he was in the competition. Moreover, Valeda saw Daniel who was smiling mockingly at him.

***