I Borrowed Him
The Other Side of Arthur
A bright afternoon in a luxurious house in the middle of the hills, the house where the Gates family lived looked very closed with a fence that towered to follow the contours of the hills, more beautiful with the magnificent fountain with classic carvings typical of Europe nuanced white and gold in the middle - the middle of the garden is so long in front of the courtyard of the Megah house. A beautiful garden but many mysteries in it. Tight guard by several men, wearing sunglasses and with communication devices attached to their ears, each adds to the impression that the house is very unfriendly with visitors.
On the third floor of one of the many rooms available, Naomi is seen cooking in the kitchen in the room. Accompanied by two maid-clad women standing at the door ready to wait whatever Naomi orders, Naomi looks to try to enjoy the day - the day is in captivity done by Arthur.
"Hmmm... baik~ if Jester was here" Naomi chirped when tasting the results of her cooking, no long anyone knocking on Naomi's room door and make Naomi distract him staring at the tightly closed door.
"Who?" naomi muttered at that time
As if knowing who was coming, the two maid-clothed women instantly shifted slightly in order not to block the door open. At the same time, Naomi's room door opened slowly and the two ladies dressed in maid clothes lowered their bodies. Naomi's face shocked Arthur and Julius went to her room without any notice, without Naomi noticing her legs had stepped back several times when she saw the arrival of Arthur and Julius.
"I heard young Miss Scott was cooking and ignoring the special dishes of the home cook, are you afraid that the dishes sent out contained poison?" arthur asked as he walked to a dining table with four seats available in the room, Arthur sat on one of the chairs while Julius stood behind Arthur with a perfect attitude.
"Ti. no, I'm just filling the busyness to not get bored here" Naomi replied stammered with fear of Arthur, hearing Naomi's answer made Arthur pause for a while.
"Filling the day with a dime to maintain sanity, what the right step" Arthur replied in a mocking tone, Naomi could only be silent while continuing to look at Arthur sharply.
"Did you know Jester left this house for the race?" arthur asked as he turned his gaze to look at the window of the room
"Yes, I know" Naomi replied firmly
"Don't you feel left out by him and make you feel like the umpteenth choice of his priorities?" ask Arthur again with a little pressing
"No. Because I know what Jester really did to beat you" Naomi firmly answered Arthur's question, hearing Naomi's answer when it made Arthur wonder and then looked back at Naomi.
"You sure? it seems like William and Evans have admitted defeat, the two men sold almost half of the company's total shares and let my eyes get into it. I'm sure they'll take the money out of the country, just in case Jester loses a bet to me like the Scott family did" Arthur said
"Why did you buy that stock? you really want to let papa and dad go?" asked Naomi sarcastically, Arthur laughed at Naomi's question.
"These two companies have good prospects, where there is a good business then Gates will always be present to be a competitor. Don't you understand that young Miss Scott?" with a little laugh Arthur when he said it, Naomi was silent again.
For the first time Naomi and Arthur engage in an intense conversation, it's quite surprising for Naomi to remember Arthur is a cold figure. However, the truth expressed by Julius about Arthur's relationship with Scott's family makes Naomi a little more courageous and suppresses her hatred though not entirely on Arthur.
"The point of my arrival here is that I want to ask you a few things" Arthur said flatly and his voice sounded warm as usual which sounded pressing, it made Naomi frown her forehead.
"Ask what?" ask Naomi curiously
"I heard from Julius that if you and Sarah are friends, is that right?" arthur asked Naomi, after knowing all the truth Arielle made Naomi unable to be calm again when she heard Arthur's question even though Arthur's voice sounded relaxed.
"I.iya...we are friends...What's wrong?" ask Naomi back
"I don't really understand the world of selebgram and social media like that, nor do I understand how they can make money from such apps. But both you and Sarah, who I heard were just a few, what did you do with social media?" ask Arthur
"Ti.not many.we just share photos and others will like the photo, the more our followers then we will also be more famous. That way whatever we sell on our account, our loyal followers will definitely buy it. From there we will get the money" Naomi answered explaining to Arthur, momentarily silent and turned to look at Julius who was behind him.
"Like the advertising stars of our time" said Arthur, Julius smiled and nodded his head several times.
"I understand a little bit why Sarah could make Arielle Corp number one, then how far are you and Sarah friends?" arthur asked Naomi again as he turned his eyes to look at Naomi.
"We... friends in High School and actually we are not too familiar, but in the end we are much more familiar than before because he is dating Jester's best friend" replied Naomi, hearing that answer left Arthur and Julius shocked.
"Dating.... with Jester's friend?" julius' question tries to reinforce Naomi's answer, with a nod to Naomi's head in response to Julius's question.
"How are you, something like that why did it get away?" arthur asked with a breath
"Forgive Julius, some work makes Julius a little lost concentration" Julius replied full of regret, the conversation between Arthur and Julius made Naomi astonished.
"What's wrong? why do you guys care? isn't it.." Naomi said, Arthur cut
"However he is our grandson, how could we not care?" arthur asked as he looked at Naomi with warmth, Naomi was surprised to hear Arthur's words.
Arthur's warm gaze to Naomi allows him to feel the true warmth of Arthur's self that Arthur has been hiding. Naomi feels the longing and affection of a grandfather for her grandson even though Naomi herself cannot get it from her grandfather. Arthur seems so eager to know about Sarah for Naomi, even though it looks like prestige and still stiff.
"Then why did you tell Jester and Sarah to eat each other?!" asked Naomi a little snapped
"Because this family still has to have a successor, the candidate is only Jester and Sarah who have an age that is only one year different. Among all my grandsons from Andrews, William and Phillips, only Jester and Sarah showed signs of their ability" Arthur replied flatly staring at the sky, Naomi paused for a moment and tried to digest what Arthur said.
"But this is unfair, Jester is one year older than Sarah... Sarah did not continue her studies and immediately went down in the workforce when she graduated High School, Jester certainly lost to compete with.." unfinished Naomi said, Arthur cut.
"You're wrong young Miss Scott, Sarah is one year older than Jester" Arthur said, again making Naomi surprised.
"Huh?! no way, Sarah and I are classmates" Naomi argued firmly, Arthur and Julius laughed at Naomi's rebuttal.
"Sarah was forced to stay in class twice because Sarah had changed schools several times, it was because Jessica wanted to avoid Mr. Andrews" Julius explained to Naomi, saying Julius made Naomi speech silent.
"Sarah, I've been monitoring him for a long time, he deserves Gates' blood. Same with Jester, although younger and out of experience but Jester impressed me" Arthur chimed in and closed his eyes, hearing Arthur's words made Naomi frown.
"Why.... You guys.. do this to both? I don't understand.The cold attitude you're showing Sarah and Jester. I don't understand what you want" sounded confused and astonished when Naomi said it, Arthur sighed for a moment and looked at Naomi sharply.
"As a test of who deserves to take my place" Arthur replied sternly
"But they'll hate you! you will live full of people who hate you!! why are you doing this?!" somewhat with a snatch Naomi said it, Arthur again sighed.
"This. miso soup." answered Naomi stammering.
"Japanese soup miso.... I have not felt it for a long time, may I ask?" arthur asks Naomi and leaves Naomi speechless for a moment, but Naomi cannot believe what she has just heard and seen from Arthur.
Sarah Arthur's only granddaughter is a girl, because the other grandchildren are all men. With Arthur's cold demeanor, it's hard to build a warm relationship between grandfather and grandson. Separated by the death of the wife makes the figure known to have been warm it turned cold, difficult relationship again intertwined with other large families because of their fear of Arthur. Naomi understands that Arthur needs a warm figure for her, and Sarah is the only granddaughter who should be able to color Arthur's days. Arthur's unusual attitude can Naomi mean that Arthur wants to be close to his grandson, but unfortunately they must be separated due to rejection from Arthur.
"Aahs.. Eeh... You want... this?" ask Naomi
"Yes, there's no harm in us chatting while enjoying your cooking" replied Arthur with his flat face, hearing Arthur's reply made Naomi panic and immediately prepared some bowls and other cutlery available nearby.
No sooner did Naomi take her cooking to the dining table in the room, serving the dishes in front of Arthur a little make Naomi tremble. Whether to be happy or scared at the time, all of Naomi's emotions mixed together to make Naomi nervous. Arthur pulls one of the chairs and orders Julius to sit next to Arthur, then gestures to Naomi so that Naomi also sits in front of Arthur.
"Let's enjoy Miss Scott's cooking" Arthur said as Naomi and Julius sat down
Arthur unhesitatingly picks up Naomi's miso soup and eats it immediately, with Naomi's heart beating loudly awaiting Arthur's response. Arthur's face looked surprised after a while eating Naomi's cooking, several times his head nodded while continuing to enjoy the miso soup in his bowl.
"You are young and very good at cooking, I admire you young Miss Scott" Arthur praised Naomi, although she still looked shocked but Naomi's smile line was blurred.
"Te. thank you." said Naomi responded to Arthur's praise, with Arthur's hand gesture telling Naomi and Julius to enjoy Naomi's cooking in a hot pot.
"Then...what do you like about Jester?" arthur asked when Naomi and Julius took miso soup to put into their bowl, Naomi's face flushed immediately upon hearing Arthur's question.
"Aahs... Eeh.." said Naomi stammered as if she could not believe Arthur's question to him, Julius laughed at Naomi's facial expression.
"Big master Arthur, your question is too sensitive for a young woman who is drunk with romance" Julius timps with a sound of laughter, Arthur patting Julius on the shoulder.
"You're right, this old me sometimes doesn't think much of what other people feel when asking" Arthur said with a laugh, as Arthur and Julius laughed together.
Seeing a scene that would never be expected to make Naomi only able to be silent, Arthur and Julius look very familiar with throwing jokes at each other. This different figure of Arthur and Julius makes Naomi have many questions in her head, but Naomi feels this time is not the right time to ask such a thing. Naomi just fell silent while enjoying the results of her cooking while bowing her head, not long before Arthur asked Naomi again.
"Why not answer my question, young Miss Scott? What's so interesting about Jester?" arthur asked again, Naomi jerked until spitting miso soup in her mouth.
"Huh? Aahs... Eeh.." Naomi said it, Arthur and Julius laughed at Naomi's surprised expression at that time.
"Ahahaha... why? is my question very sensitive to you?" arthur's question sounded pleased, his hand asking the maid-clad woman who was at the door to approach.
"Aahs.. Eeh... no. actually it's not like that just.." replied Naomi stammered and hung her sentence while looking at Arthur and Julius sharply.
"What's young Miss Scott?" asked Arthur in surprise
"What is this really? why are we talking like this?" ask Naomi again with a face that looks confused and surprised, along with that maid called Arthur is already next to the dining table.
"You please clean the floor below" Julius ordered the maidservant-clad woman approaching
"I just want to understand the figure of my grandson's future wife, during this one month you will not be able to meet so this is my chance to be able to get along with my grandson's future wife" arthur replied in a flat tone, Naomi just fell silent and stunned to look at Arthur's face.
Gaining the title of Jester's future wife from Arthur makes Naomi's heart flower - a flower, at which time she feels that she has been approved by Arthur. But Naomi prefers to hide her feelings because of shame if until Jester's grandfather finds out Naomi is flowering - flowers.
"I enjoy talking between us young Miss Scott, in the future I hope you call me Grandpa Arthur" Arthur said again and stood up to leave Naomi's room followed by Julius, Naomi was shocked to hear Arthur's words. After a few steps Arthur and Julius were about to leave Naomi's room, with a single breath Naomi stood up and ventured to talk back to Arthur.
"Why are you doing this?! what is this really for?! you made Jester mad at you, made Sarah hate you, made your children dislike you!! why are you acting like that?!" with a slight cry Naomi said, hearing Naomi's question made Arthur and Julius stop his steps.
"To forge Jester and Sarah so that they may not look naively at the world, you young people will often experience failure and betrayal. By forging you like this, I want to teach you that not everything will always go your way. There are times when you will fight your friends, friends, even your own lover" replied Arthur and turned to look at Naomi
"It's nice to talk to you, young lady Scott" said Arthur, then walked back to leave Naomi's room, not long after the door was closed again leaving Naomi and two maid-clad women in the room.
At the same time, in the middle of the highway. Hyundai Staria was driving at a fairly fast speed, passing several other cars that also crossed the highway. Inside the car was Alex who was driving a car accompanied by Jester next to him, at the back was Selena who was playing her mobile phone. The journey of silence was so boring for Jester, all because Selena was still unable to hold her feelings for Jester.
In the middle of the silence, the sound of the ringing of the Jester mobile phone was heard. Immediately Jester picked up the phone in his small bag and saw who called him at the time, saying "the Gorilla" on the screen Jester's phone was calling.
***
"Yes Luke, what's wrong?" ask Jester when he picks up the phone
"Jester, where are you?" ask Luke
"I was on my way to the inter-university race, because it took a long trip so we left early. What's up?" ask Jester
"Sarah wants to talk to you in person, I might catch up with you to the city where you're going to race" Luke replied.
"Is it that important?" ask Jester
"Yes, this is related to his status as part of the Gates family" Luke replied, Jester was silent for a while.
"I get it, I'll give you my location" Jester said
"Make Jester" said Luke and hung up
***
