PRISONERS END IN LOVE

Obstructed Restu

" Thank you, sir. I will come back if my friend comes back from Lampung. Excuse me, Mr. "Grace said goodbye to security at a house in the Setia Budi area, Bandung. He rushed back to Rivaldi's car. Fortunately, Rivaldi did not get out of the car so he could give a code to security to follow his charade. Not forgetting he slipped two hundred thousand dollars for cigarettes into the security near the fence as a thank you for helping him.

" What's up, Rena? Is this really your friend's house?" rivaldi asked as Grace got back in the car.

" My friend has been to Lampung since two days ago." Grace showed a sad face.

" You didn't tell your friends first when you wanted to come here?" ask Rivaldi.

Grace shook her head as she replied, "I didn't tell her I wanted to come here. I don't think he's leaving.

" Well, now what? You want to go back to Jakarta?" ask Rivaldi.

" I want to stay at the hotel while waiting for my friend to come back from Lampung."

" Would you like to stay at a hotel?"

" Yes." Yeah." Grace nodded.

" Hmmm, how about you just stay in my apartment? I rarely sleep there because I work in Jakarta. Most occasionally look at the apartment if I go back to Bandung." Rivaldi suddenly offers her apartment.

" I don't feel good to trouble you continue, Aldi. You've been very kind to accompany me to Bandung and leave your job." Grace refused. However, he was sure Rivaldi would persuade him.

" It's okay, Rena. Than you stay at a hotel. Better stay at my apartment." Rivaldi seemed to ignore Grace's rejection and immediately took the woman to his apartment that was not too far from the house that was recognized as Grace's friend's house

" Please come in ..." It only takes fifteen minutes for Rivaldi to get to his apartment, until now he has been in front of his apartment unit and let Grace in.

" Come in, I won't do anything" Rivaldi said, as Grace was hesitant to step into her apartment.

Grace noticed Rivaldi's apartment was not much different from hers. It's just the interior and the selection of colors that seem masculine that sets it apart.

" You can use the room downstairs." Rivaldi pointed to the room that Grace would occupy.

" One Sunday I had ART from my parents' house come here to clean this apartment.." Rivaldi explains, though uninhabited. However, his apartment was always routinely cleaned.

" Are you going to sleep here too, Aldi?" ask Grace.

" No, in the afternoon I have to go back to Jakarta because there is a meeting tomorrow morning" said Rivaldi.

" Is it okay to be alone in your apartment? What if your boyfriend suddenly comes?" ask Grace even though she's heard Rivaldi himself say if he doesn't have a girlfriend.

" Don't I ever tell you that I don't have a boyfriend?"

" Oh yes, I forgot. I thought, who knows when after talking to me yesterday, you met a beautiful angel and you immediately made a lover." Grace joked as she chuckled at Rivaldi.

Seeing Grace laughing crisply made Rivaldi stunned to stare at the face of the woman before him at this moment. Even she did not blink her eyes for long enough, as if hypnotized with Grace's crisp laughter.

" Don't look at me like that, Aldi. I'll be a baper." Realizing that he was currently being stared softly by Rivaldi. Grace covered her face with both hands.

Grace's behavior covering her face made Rivaldi widen her smile. I don't know when he's ever seen this happy smile before. To be sure Grace's existence really made her day colorful, not continuing to be dominated by ambition and work.

" I'm not sure you'll get carried away? didn't you say you weren't interested in chasing me?" Rivaldi's question ended with a small laugh.

" Why am I chasing a guy who's hard to fall in love with? Wouldn't that just cause a sense of heartbreak?" Grace replied to Rivaldi's question with a question.

" Oh yeah, you didn't bring clothes, did you? How about I take you to the boutique and we'll stop by my parents' house for a second?" Rivaldi wanted to invite Grace to stop by her parents' house and buy clothes because Grace did not bring clothes to Bandung.

" To your parents' house?" Grace looks shocked. However, it was precisely this that he expected to quickly get information about Arina without Rivaldi noticing.

" yes. Mama would be happy if you played home. Do you mind?"

" I don't feel too much trouble for you, Aldi." Grace had to act as if she rejected Rivaldi's request.

" Take you to Papa's house, no trouble." Rivaldi dismissed Grace's assumption that he was troubled by Grace.

" Is it really okay?"

" Right, Rena. I'd love it if you would visit my parents' house." Rivaldi tries to convince the doubtful Grace.

" We're leaving now. I'll take you to get some clothes to change first."

Grace does not reject Rivaldi's request, which will take him to the boutique and visit Rivaldi's parents' house.

***

After buying clothes at the boutique, Rivaldi immediately brought Grace to his parents' house. When he arrived at the Nugraha family home, Papa and Mama Rivaldi were having dinner.

" Assalamualaikum, Pa, Ma ..." Rivaldi greeted his parents after arriving at the dining room

" Aulia, Aldi?" Both of Rivaldi's parents were shocked to see Rivaldi coming.

" Yes, Rena?" Even Arina was increasingly surprised to see Grace beside their son.

" Good night, Om, Auntie." Grace greets both of Rivaldi's parents.

" Where are you guys from? Why don't you tell us first?" ask Nugraha.

" I ran Rena to find her friend's house in Bandung, Pa. But his friend was going to Lampung. So I invited Rena to come by" Rivaldi explained why she and Grace were in Bandung.

" You guys have eaten yet? Come on, come eat together! Bi, please get me two more plates for Aldi and Rena." Arina even asked Grace with Rivaldi to join in enjoying dinner.

" Don't bother, Auntie." Grace refused.

" We haven't eaten yet, we'd better eat first." Unlike Grace, Rivaldi actually agreed to Arina's request, of course because it was her parents' home.

" Papa's happy, Aldi invited you here, Rena. Yeah, right, Ma?" said Nugraha suddenly, making Grace turn towards Nugraha and Arina alternately.

" Yes, I hope you can come here often, Rena." Arina.

" You see, Aldi never brought a girlfriend here. You are the first woman Aldi invited to come to this house, Rena." continued Nugraha continued his wife's words.

" Pa ...!" Rivaldi asked his parents not to discuss his personal matters with Grace.

Grace now looked at Rivaldi who then looked at her. He saw Rivaldi look misbehaved and uncomfortable alluded to privacy by the two men's parents.

After finishing dinner, Grace was invited to have a casual conversation with the Rivaldi family in the family room. Grace's eyes were drawn to the family photos displayed in the room. A photo of five people. Three of them were Nugraha, Arina and Rivaldi. The other two were two young men, whom he assumed were the younger siblings of Rivaldi.

" Oh yes, Aldi said, you went to your friend's place, but your friend was not there. Then, are you going straight back to Jakarta tonight, Rena?" ask Nugraha.

" Rena was staying at the hotel waiting for her friend to come back from outside the island, Pa. But, I told him to just use my apartment." Rivaldi answered her Papa's question.

" Your apartment?" Nugraha immediately looked at his wife.

" Yes, what do you think of Papa?" Rivaldi asked his father's opinion.

" Hmmm, no problem. The apartment will also not be occupied if you are in Jakarta" said Nugraha.

" Well, you're gonna live in that apartment, Aldi?" ask Arina.

" You better stay here. Rena also stayed here in Bandung, not in your apartment. Pity Rena if she's there alone. Better here, there's Auntie, so we can talk a lot." Arina asks Grace and Rivaldi to stay at her house.

" How, Rena? You want to be in my apartment or here?" ask Rivaldi to Grace.

" Oh, I'm so bad to bother Om, Auntie and Aldi." said Grace.

" It's okay, Rena. Aunty is happy if you want to stay here. So Auntie can have a friend talk if Aldi's dad goes to the office." Arina wishes Grace would stay at her house.

" Thank you, Om, Auntie. Om and Aunt are very kind to me." Grace really didn't expect that she would be warmly welcomed at Rivaldi's parents' house.

" You don't hesitate, Rena. Auntie says to auntie prepare a room for you."

" Aldi, Papa wants to talk to you ..." Nugraha got up from his seat. He wanted to talk in his study with Rivaldi. " Rena, Om stay a while, okay?" Nugraha said goodbye to Grace

" Please, Om." said Grace.

" I'll stay a while." Rivaldi then followed his Papa's steps.

" Hmmm, those are Aldi's sisters, Tan?" Grace immediately asked the two people in the longest family photo.

" Yes, it's Aldi's sisters" Arina said.

" Aunty's son all right, Tan?"

" Hmmm, i-yes. Aunty's son .. hmmm .. all boys." Arina's stammered reply made Grace's forehead shrivel. Because Arina seemed hesitant to answer her question

" They both went to college in Australia" Arina continued.

" Oh, so ...."

" Aldi looks more like his face, Tan. If her sisters are more like Auntie, huh?" The faces of Rivaldi's two sisters do look a combination of Nugraha and Arina

" Oh, yeah. Actually this Aunt Mama continued Aldi. Aunty married her father Aldi when Aldi was four." Arina confesses that she is not the real mother of Rivaldi.

" Mama connect? But Auntie and Aldi look very familiar and look like a relationship between mother and son, you know, Tan."

" Yes, maybe because Aunt has been taking care of Aldi since childhood," Arina feels comfortable talking to Grace, so she has no qualms about her relationship with the real Rivaldi.

" That means Aunty's really happy to babysit a kid, huh? So it can be easy to get along with Aldi."

" I-iya." replied Arina with an aura of sadness on her face. I don't know what Arina has in mind, Grace herself doesn't know.

" I think Aldi has a younger sister, Tan. You see Aldi is very good with me, as with his own sister," said Grace later. Grace also felt a change in Arina's face as she mentioned the word nanny.

" Are you all this time, Aldi just thought you were just a little sister?" Arina looks disappointed when Grace says Rivaldi only considers Grace like a sister, even though she hopes if Grace can be Rivaldi's companion. Arina doesn't understand either. He has met Grace twice. However, he felt so familiar with the woman.

" What's the matter, Auntie? I'm sorry if I assume that Aldi is as good as a brother."

" Oh, no, Grace. You don't have to apologize like that. Aunty just hopes if you guys can get closer. Aunty and Om have long wanted to see Aldi end his bachelorhood. Aunty herself does not understand what Aldi is looking for anymore? So that he doesn't get married immediately either." Arina complains of Rivaldi's choice of life who is not also married.

" Okay, Auntie. I am not feeling this good. Aldi and I are just friends, Auntie." Grace felt bad because she saw that both of Rivaldi's parents seemed to have been enamored with her.

" Aunty hopes, gradually your friendship can develop in a more serious direction," Arina hoped as she clasped Grace's hand.

Grace simply responded to Arina's expectations with an awkward smile. If only he wasn't undercover. Maybe he's lucky to be loved by a guy's parents who seem interested in him.

" Oh yeah, Tan. We've talked a lot but I don't know Auntie's name."

" Aunty's name is Arina. You call me Aunt Rina." Arina said her name.

" Oh, well, Aunt Rina." Grace smiled. Finally what he was looking for he got the answer as well.

***

Rizal tried to call Grace's phone number. However, the woman did not also pick up her phone call.

" What's he doing ignoring my phone call?" Rizal looks furious, because he has not heard from Grace, while the sky of Jakarta is getting darker.

Ddrrtt

Rizal immediately saw the phone when he heard the incoming message notification on his phone. It was Grace who sent him a message.

" I'm at the Rivaldi house. So don't call! I'm afraid there's a cctv in the guest room of this house."

Grace asks Rizal not to make a phone call because he is currently at Nugraha's house.

" You're at Rivaldi's parents' house? You're not going back to Jakarta?" Rizal's quick reply. Rizal certainly did not like Grace being at the Nugraha house, let alone staying overnight.

" Rivaldi and I stayed here" Grace replied.

" Why stay? Can't I go back to Jakarta tonight?" Maybe if you speak directly, it will be clearer Rizal's frustration to know Grace is staying at Rivaldi's parents' house.

" I'm coming home to Jakarta this evening? If there's a handsome guy who kidnapped me how? You won't see me again, old man!" The reply from Grace made Rizal snort angrily.

" I was warmly welcomed here by Rivaldi's parents. In fact, I was considered a future daughter-in-law by them. Let's just say this is pedekate between the prospective daughter-in-law and the prospective in-law😜. My mother would also be happy if I were with Rivaldi instead of with you, old man."

" Don't fuck around!!!!😡😡" Rizal even gave a lot of exclamation marks and angry emojis in the messages he sent to Grace.

" Don't be so angry, old man! As you get older, no woman will ever want to be with you! 🤣"

Rizal again makes a phone call to Grace, though Grace has already banned him. And Grace still ignored his call.

" I told you not to call me. I'm on duty. I've got info on Mama Rivaldi. Her name is Arina, it turns out she is Mama continued Rivaldi. He married Nugraha and eventually had two sons."

" You better report this to Erlangga soon, what should I do again. If you want to communicate with me, VA just order because I can't take the phone."

" Okay, I'll call Bondan right now. Be careful there, don't arouse their suspicions. And remember, don't fall in love with Rivaldi!" Rizal again warns Grace not to open her heart to Rivaldi.

" Other than you've taken pains to threaten me, you'd better persuade your daughter that's😜."

" Yes, yes! Rivaldi. Bye, old man 😘"

" The al! it seems like the woman is so happy to lure me jealous! Just watch out if you go back to Jakarta, Grace!" Rizal clenched his teeth, as he completely burned the flames of jealousy. Looks like he lost the start to Rivaldi, because Grace so easily got the blessing of Rivaldi's parents. Unlike her who is still hindered by the blessing of the princess, Isabella.

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