Les Laches

56.

Afgar rose from his sleep position with his eyes half open. The sunlight that broke through from the room curtains in his luxurious apartment made his eyes automatically closed again. He moved towards the large window and smoothed the curtain to completely block access to incoming sunlight. With one heavy breath, he walked to the bathroom outside his room.

At times like this, he misses the bedroom in his own house that features a bathroom inside. The luxury of facilities provided by his parents made him save time and energy to gather intentions and walk to the bathroom once he opened his eyes in the morning.

Not only that, it made him regret his intention to leave the house. When he is hungry in the morning like this, he must get used to going outside the apartment to find his own food. Of course it is not money that is the problem here, but rather a mounting reluctance to go to the bath and try to appear presentable enough just to fill the stomach. Things that Afgar can usually do casually at home, with a nightgown stretched on many sides and eye dirt still stuck to the tip of his eye.

However, as cold water came out of her bathroom shower and flowed from the top of her head towards all corners of her body, her consciousness returned. The memory of his destination going from Surabaya to Bandung to accompany Tian was clear again. True, he gave up all the comforts and conveniences of life thanks to all the facilities in the luxurious residence of his family in Surabaya is for the sake of supporting the woman he loves. 

Yes, he no longer hesitated to admit his feelings on that one. In his eyes, Tian was no longer just a childhood friend or friend he wanted to protect like his own sister, but a woman. Afgar's intentions were no longer just to look after him, but to have Tian to himself. There was no more guilt to haunt him this time, because Tian himself had said his intention to forget the young man on the night of his departure for Bandung. The rest, depending on Afgar's own efforts to conquer the heart of his royal girl.

Out of his bathroom, Afgar walked back to his room. While wearing a plain white t-shirt that he grabbed carelessly from his closet, he checked the phone he had just threw carelessly on his messy bed. 

Another drawback of living alone without a housekeeper is that he has to clean his own residence. Afgar did hire a worker from the cleaning service introduced to him by the agent who handled the rental process of his apartment, but Afgar forbade the clerk to touch his room. He was willing to clean his own room rather than let a stranger enter his private room.

Afgar's focus returned to his phone when an incoming message made the object vibrate. Afgar hastily opened the lock screen of his phone and read the contents of the reply message from Tian. The girl said that she was getting ready to go to the cafe where she worked so that she had to refuse a lunch together from Afgar.

Afgar let out a long sigh as a sign of disappointment. However, he did not think too much about Tian's refusal because he himself made himself miss the opportunity to meet the girl when he decided to procrastinate getting up from his bed.

Afgar came out of his apartment on the nineteenth floor of tower A. Of the many apartments offered by his father's colleagues, the atmosphere of the apartment occupancy is what feels best. Although, not the most expensive and luxurious, still Afgar must pour funds that amount to hundreds of millions of rupiah for a year's rent. Luckily his father was willing to bear the rent for three years thanks to the negotiations he won in Bristol some time ago. The offer is certainly not very detrimental to Afgar because next year is the last year of his lecture. The two years left before he had to pay his own rent was sufficient time for him to accumulate his own fortune by making use of his connections and his bachelor's degree in the realm of professional business.

The elevator stopped on the ground floor where Afgar parked his metallic blue Jaguar F. He drove for nearly fifteen minutes and stopped in front of a two-story restaurant featuring a strong back to nature impression. The building was dominated by stone walls and doors, windows, and wooden floors. Trees that are allowed to grow indoors add a strong natural impression to the building idea. 

All that Afgar saw made him spend more than 10 minutes just to admire the art of the building. Even though his father himself is an architect, it does not make Afgar full of enjoying unique buildings that are not just established as a place to do indoor activities, but also to bring out the creativity and uniqueness of the figure of the building owner. In his admiration, he took the time to take a portrait of the building with his camera. He planned to send one of his printed images to his father and one digital image to Tian. He had imagined how the look on the face of the girl when he saw a portrait that was no less artful than the paintings he loved.

Afgar sat at one of the tables in the middle of the room. The room itself overlooks a vast green open ground. Even wider than the land used as a place to build the restaurant building. A servant deftly approached his desk and asked for his order. Although a little disturbed by the eyes of the waiter who repeatedly stole a glance at his face, Afgar still intends to give tips on the quick service provided by the restaurant to him.

On a whim, Afgar sent a picture of the food he ordered to his Whatsapp Tian number and prepared to eat his grilled chicken and caesar salad when he saw the words “ticking ...” on the girl's contact. Afgar put his knife and fork back and waited for the message typed by the girl to appear on his phone screen.

“Mahal?” 

The message from the girl made Afgar grin wide involuntarily. 

“Cheap. Not going to be happy with the ration of moons—” Afgar stopped typing in the middle of the road when given that the condition of the girl is different now. He sighed heavily before deleting the message he had typed and leaving only the words “mah”.

He then waved his hand to the servant girl who had recorded his order.

“Mbak, I order take out five servings with the same menu, yes.”