The Love of Habib

Chapters 18.1

I sat in the waiting chair waiting for Aish's return. It's been a month of no lies if Dad says he doesn't miss his first daughter. Dad misses her a lot but can't express it in words because his relationship with Aish has been somewhat stretched since Aish entered high school.

I miss him but am ashamed to reveal it. And it hurts every time I think Aish never took the initiative to call her at home. Father suspects that maybe Aish was disappointed and embarrassed to be sent to the boarding house. Sent those nights with no time to prepare, yes, Aish must be very angry.

But what should he do? as a Father, he wanted to see Aish grow into a good girl and besides, this was a request from Grandpa straight away. Strange, maybe because it's too old Grandpa also likes to be confused himself. At home sometimes Grandpa blames them for sending Aish to the boarding house but sometimes supports them sending Aish to the boarding house.

The people of the house were confused but did not care much about it and just thought that Grandpa was senile.

"Mas, let's go home. I must be tired of driving away." Mother's soft voice pulled Dad from her daydream.

Father raised his head and glanced at his beloved wife's face, "I want to meet Aish, I miss him so much. Although she often makes trouble at home and in boarding houses but she is my daughter too. We haven't seen each other for a month, and I'm really curious what my daughter looks like now."

Mother let out a long sigh, she also understood her husband's feelings. To be honest he was also uncomfortable looking at Aish. Lying if she likes Aish so much. She is a stepmother and puts her biological daughter first rather than someone else's. I'm sure he'd rather Dad liked Aira than Aish.

But he cannot reveal it.

"I understand the feeling, mas. But we can get to him after a long break at the hotel. Please listen to me this time. Come to the hotel and rest for a while. Later if the power has recovered, we can come here to look for Aish. Believe me, at that time we will definitely be able to meet Aish again."

Mother is very tired actually after driving far and wants to immediately go to the hotel to rest following her other brother-in-law. But her husband is still here sitting stubbornly waiting for Aish to come back.

"Alright, let's go to the hotel and come back here after feeling good enough." The father reluctantly agreed after seeing his wife's tired face.

Without delay they both went to the hotel after saying goodbye to Umi and Abah.

At the hotel, everyone was waiting for them to arrive. There was a table full of food in front of them and the atmosphere inside the room was quite pleasant. Everyone talked about a lot of things while eating until finally the topic of their conversation changed from business to Aish.

Aunt Melati, the aunt who always cornered Aish when she was home and now has a shortage of money, started talking. In front of Aish earlier she couldn't hold back her anger so she left a bad impression on Aish again, so she and her husband decided to talk it over to Dad alone.

And the aunt gets even more angry when she remembers Aish's two best friends making fun of her as her grandmother. Aunt Melati and Aunt Dinda are young, they just turned 40 not long ago. So with such age their stature is still very fit and far from the word grandma.

Calling them as the attached grandmothers, Aish's friends dare to make fun of them.

Father sighed heavily, "Is it true what you guys are saying?"

Aunt Dinda then chimed in, "Right, brother. Not only did they insult Aira, but they also referred to me and Melati as the attached grandmother. What the fuck try? we're young but we've been likened to a bangkotan granny." Said Aunt Dinda misuh-misuh.

Father closed his eyes not knowing what to say, angry and disappointed for sure. But on the other hand, Father understood a little with Aish's feelings. The past may be a thorn in the heart of his first daughter.

"I'll talk to Aish later, you guys take it easy." I have no intention of talking about this topic any longer.

"You're the best." Aunt Dinda praised.

"Sister please talk about this too with Aish." Aunt Melati still remembers her mission.

"What?"

Smiling broadly, Melati's aunt then said what she had planned to do with her husband at home last night.

"No idea that my husband and I were making a new venture but we were short on enough funds for the opening in a few months. We cannot ask Father and Mother because they are no longer working, nor can we borrow from you because we know that you need money. Other than you we only have one solution: to borrow money from Aish. Everyone already knew that Aish had a lot of money in his hands whether it was money from his late mother and money from the shares that Dad gave him. With that much money, Aish could not possibly be able to hold it because Aish was still a child and could not use the money well. I'm afraid Aish wasted that money because we're not watching him here. So just in case I borrow the money first tomorrow if he's older and more stable with the money, my husband and I will send the money back to him." Aunt Melati spoke carefully while observing Dad's expression.

Money matters are very sensitive for everyone, not least for this family anyway.

And sure enough after he brought up the matter of spy money everyone was immediately fixed on him. The money in Aish's hands is of course the target of some people in this house. But they still did not move because they were waiting for the right time. They were confident that they could earn the money if they managed to soften Aish's heart. But they didn't know that Melati's aunt had tried but failed. Aish's heart was already too cold for them.