001 Hiding

"Auuch!!"

Man slaps his woman. Something he never did. Hurting a woman. Moreover, the woman he loves.

"You!!" The woman stares at the man.

"Now you dare to slap me! After my father is gone. What a coward!" Woman holding her left cheek. The palm, also hit his ear.

For a moment, she couldn't hear clearly what the cold man was saying.

One more time, a slap was about to land on the same cheek. The woman is now alert. Block the attack with both hands. Really, not an equal opponent. However, the woman dared to go against him.

Staring hatefully, "Divorce me! I don't want to be tied to a rude man like you anymore!"

The man stared back savagely. "Divorce? As long as I live, I will not divorce you!"

The man slapped her hand away, leaving her alone. In their room.

The sound of the door being locked, awakened the woman. Now, she is just a prisoner.

***

Several years earlier.

'Oh no! Seriously! How about this?!' a girl wearing a work uniform looks panicked. At that time, the TTO where she worked was still quite quiet. Because they just opened. And she and her partner had just cleared the table, rearranged the stationery and jars of mint candy, in their usual places.

Her other colleagues welcomed VVIP guests, one of the private airlines in Indonesia.

"Welcome to Majapahit Air. Can we help you?" the typical greeting of the front liner when a customer enters the TTO.

The guest nodded. Taking off his sunglasses, he looked around at all the beautiful and handsome employees in the room. Looks disappointed.

"Good morning, Sir. Would you take a ticket?" another front liner greeting.

"Yes." His eyes remained focused in one corner, after handing over his ID and booking code.

The corner where someone's seat is always there. Where is she going? He thought.

"Excuse me, Sir?" The voice of the female employee who served him, broke his reverie.

William Lee, the man looked at the employee with a cold gaze. A gaze, which anyone would cringe at. Makes the hair on the neck stand up.

The female employee, Rere Walid, swallowed her saliva. It's a shame if she mishears the VVIP guest in front of her.

"Payment for the ticket at the cashier, Sir." Rere Walid flashed her best smile, although the man named William Lee didn't return it.

William Lee, getting up from his chair, walked over to the cashier, about to pull out a member card from his wallet. That's when he heard the voice of a male employee near the corner of the room.

"Wil, what are you doing down there?!" Andi Pratama's loud voice–after hanging up the phone, echoed in the room. Makes everyone turn to follow his eyes. Without exception, the man named William Lee.

Instantly a faint smile appeared on William Lee's face. What he was looking for was hiding.

The young woman called Wil–Wilma Herdian, sounded squeaky. Her face showed displeasure. Staring at Andi Pratama.

Andi Pratama, watch out for you!! I'll do the math with you! Wilma Herdian thought.

Wilma Herdian tidied up her appearance–her messy clothes and hair, as she got up from under the table, where she had been hiding. Since the man named William Lee seemed to be entering her office.

Hiding under the table, is her last resort, in order to avoid the male VVIP customer of the airline where she earns her fortune.

Finished making payments at the cashier, William Lee approached Wilma Herdian's desk. A faint smile crossed his face.

Unwelcome, William Lee sat quietly in front of Wilma Herdian's desk. Who pretended to be busy arranging tickets and receipts on her desk.

"Ree." William Lee opened his palm, a code asking for the ticket she was writing to hand over to him–the passenger's name had just been written.

Rere Walid without being asked twice, immediately handed over the unfinished ticket issued along with William Lee's ID card.

William Lee then handed the ticket to Wilma Herdian. There was no sound, just a finger tapping gesture on his ticket.

Wilma Herdian looked up. Staring at the face of William Lee, who had been staring at her the whole time. Her eyebrows were raised, as if to say, 'I'm busy, please ask another partner.'

After tapping his finger on his ticket, William Lee waited. His arms are crossed in front of his chest. Leaning back on the soft chair. Challenging Wilma Herdian. His irises stared straight at her.

Wilma Herdian moistened her lips. Snorted softly, and took the ticket in front of her. Start filling in the blanks. Matched it with the reservation on her computer screen.

Her hands for a moment seemed to nimbly dance over William Lee's documents, making this man smile. A smile that he rarely showed to anyone. Including the senior employees at the TTO.

A smile that only appears, if Wilma Herdian is in the 4.5 x 16 square meter room.

After filling out the ticket, according to the procedure, Wilma Herdian explained the contents of the ticket, starting from the name of the prospective passenger, departure date, check-in time, to the amount of baggage. And closed with the sentence, "Is there anything else we can help you with, Sir?"

"Come with me to lunch." William Lee smirked. His eyes looked really sly.

This is one of the reasons Wilma Herdian is reluctant to serve VVIP guests in front of her. Not just once, William Lee asked her to accompany lunch.

Even when Wilma Herdian was on night shift. William Lee would not hesitate to invite her to dinner, after the TTO closed.

Wilma Herdian, politely refused of course, in order to maintain her reputation as an employee. Moreover, she had just undergone a probationary period as a contract employee for the first three months.

And today, it's been exactly two months since Wilma Herdian has been working at TTO, which is almost every weekend filled with prospective passengers who are going to buy plane tickets.

For the sake of her family, Wilma Herdian gave up the opportunity to get her bachelor's degree, after graduating from high school, and only received her undergraduate education for a few months, quitting college and working as a front liner in the first and largest private airline in Indonesia.

Since her father was laid off due to the economic crisis that hit the company where her father used to work, Wilma Herdian as the eldest child became the backbone of her family. Replaced the role of the father for some time.

For the sake of her family's honor, Wilma Herdian refused the invitation of the man in front of her. She was worried, William Lee was a married man, and liked to play with young women. Wasn't Wilma Herdian only eighteen years old now? A young woman, who might be easy prey for a man like William Lee.

An innocent young woman, who might be ensnared by the handsome charm of a rich man, like William Lee. She did not want to meet a woman who claimed to be William Lee's wife, and accused her of being a harlot.

According to news widely heard from her senior employees, William Lee is a CEO of WLX Manufacturing Company. Companies engaged in many industrial sectors in Indonesia and abroad. Starting from the textile and garment industry, automotive, machinery and heavy equipment, metals, to the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, as well as the consumer goods industry.

His position as CEO and has many subsidiaries makes him often have to commute by plane. And the choice fell on a private airline, Majapahit Air, where the owner–Aaron Luo, was close friends with William Lee's father–Thomas Lee.

***

Issued: which means issued, printed or issued airline tickets according to the data entered in the booking process. Issued flight tickets will be carried out by the travel agent or airline after you agree on the route, departure time, departure date and price as previously informed or known.

In-flight TTO, stands for Ticketing Town Office.

Booking code: a unique code that comes out in the form of numbers or letters, which comes out after the reservation.