3 A Troublesome Partner I
Monday was a busy day in the Lesmana family's house.
Aruna, who rarely wore make-up, tried to hold back the amusement from the make-up brushes applied to her face.
The make-up person directly sent by the Wenceslas family several times praised Aruna's soft skin like a baby. The make-up person's name was Tya, known as a make-up artist.
"Don't be too thick, Sis." Aruna whispered.
Tya smiled, realising that Aruna was a girl who rarely wore make-up.
"Take it easy, believe me." Tya applied blush to cover her make-up activities.
When Aruna turned around to look at herself in the mirror, she really wasn't sure what to see.
"Is this me??" Aruna admired herself.
Tya smiled at Aruna's behaviour.
"Alright, now wear this." Tya showed a modern batik dress that was elegant but sweet, according to Aruna's age.
"Ah… No... We have prepared clothes. My father ordered clothes for us as a family yesterday, and I want to wear it." Aruna explained.
"Well... Too bad... This batik is beautiful... If you know fashion, you will not waste it." Tya kept looking at the batik dress which reportedly was a gift from Aruna's future mother-in-law.
"Aruna, do you know who made it?" Tya asked a question on purpose to provoke Aruna's curiosity. Aruna was just ahead of the bracelet.
"This is Ivan Gunawan's work." Screeching Tya. And Aruna's expression is still the same flat, not according to the expectations that Tya expected.
"Yes.. Never mind. It looks like you are blind in fashion." Tya showed a sad face regretting that beautiful clothes were wasted.
Aruna smiled mischievously while Tya was busy tidying up her make-up equipment.
Precisely, at 19.00 the entire Aruna's family arrived at the Wenceslas Ritz hotel. The hotel once again belonged to the Wenceslas family.
Aruna's family walked down the hotel lobby to go up to the 7th-floor. An impressive dining room had been booked and closed to the public.
One of the assistants who looked familiar with Lesmana, chatted several times in between giving directions. The man had greeted Aruna, and he thought Aruna was Alia.
Aruna's sister wasn't present today, Alia has been unable to control her sadness all day. She cried and endlessly apologized to Aruna who replaced her position.
Finally, it was decided that Alia should stay at home.
Meanwhile, on the other hand, Aruna looked very tough. Actually, the girl had been preparing herself since meeting the blue-eyed man, Mahendra.
There was no other way but to face them all. Aruna was a girl who was good at regulating her emotions. Since elementary school, Aruna had many friends and was a cheerful girl. Even the children outside the housing complex knew her well.
Her friendly and straightforward habits made the girl grow up to be an easygoing and likeable person. She was slightly different from her older siblings, who prefer to focus on hobbies or school activities.
"Aruna...." Aruna's mom whispered a call for Aruna to turn to her.
The woman immediately tidied up Aruna's appearance, which was clearly neat. Seeing this, Aruna's older brother, Anantha deliberately looked away.
He was interrupted seeing his mother's behaviour.
Lately, Anantha always came to Aruna's room after leaving work. He convinced her sister to stay healthy and trust her.
Anantha was a young man who spent his youth working crazy, leaving early in the morning and back home late at night almost every day.
Anantha built a company that houses several online buying and selling applications "Wholesale House" "Capable Farmers" "House of learning" etc. He was so stubborn to develop his company without his father's help.
As the best graduate of informatics engineering, Anantha influenced his classmates to join in building his dream. Ups and downs were inevitable, until finally, the investors arrived in the last year.
Anantha got busier and forgot to go home even more, but lately, Aruna understood the reason. Her brother was the first to suspect about the journey of her family life and Lesmana' secret that had now been revealed.
Unfortunately, Anantha was lamenting his slowness right now, because he couldn't save his sister, Aruna.
"If something happens to you or you want to run away as far as possible, just tell me. I will do everything for you." Said Anantha to her sister many times with a convincing look and emphasis.
Anantha's stubbornness seemed to be transformed into a Kamikaze soldier (The legend of the Japanese brave death soldier).
Anantha promised to be the front guard if something happened to Aruna.
***
The Jepara teak wood carving door was slowly opened by two hotel maids. The three people inside seemed to slowly stand up and greet them with smiles followed by a man who was no stranger to Aruna.
He was Mahendra, standing later after an old man deliberately tapped his antique stick slowly. The old man's face looked annoyed at Mahendra but suddenly changed, trying to show politeness.
This waa the Wenceslas family. According to a Forbes magazine survey, the Wenceslas Group owner was included in the 3 wealthiest people in Southeast Asia. It took part in the World's Top 50 Billionaires in 2018.
Aruna swallowed hard, remembering the articles she deliberately read yesterday. She planned to read those articles to better prepare to face them.
The Wenceslas family was also a conglomerate. In fact, it made her even more discouraged.
'No wonder, clothes and make-up they sent earlier is the celebrity subscription class_ Aruna muttered.
Lesmana also greeted their smiles by mingling with the old man. Later, Aruna realised that the old man was Wiryo.
The name that has been ringing in Aruna's head since her father told about their agreement was Wiryo. In Aruna's head, he was a man the same age as her father. It turned out that he was almost 70 year-old.
"Is this your daughter?" The man named Wiryo asked to break the ice.
"Very beautiful." Wiryo praised Aruna
"Thank you..." Aruna extended her words. Her mind was spinning for what calls this conglomerate deserved and fit.
"Sir..." Aruna continued.
Her call for Wiryo were greeted with laughter from Wiryo, her father, mother and a graceful old woman of Wiryo's age.
"Call him grandpa, Aruna." The elegant old woman shook Aruna's hand, hugged her and gave her a warm smile, as warm as Aruna's grandmother.
"I am grandma Sukma." The old woman introduced herself, and Aruna realised that grandma Sukma was grandpa Wiryo's wife.
There was another Wenceslas family member that Aruna had just met. ... ... ...
.
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The background of this novel is in one of the countries in South East Asia where customs, norms, and values in those areas very much inspire every character depicted in this story.
The boundaries of relationship between males and females and the habits portray there can be very much different from your own life styles. I hope you can visit and see the places described in this novel and you can witness it yourself their uniqueness and beauty.
