The Real Ray

Maya could only be silent in the restaurant's toilet cubicle with a pounding heart; she dared not move a step from her place until her curiosity could only create real tension.

"I saw his car outside, but he wasn't inside. Where do you think he's going?" asked one of the owners of the voice aloud, and he fell silent as if remembering something.

"Perhaps." "Let's just go; he can't recognize us anyway," whispered a figure outside the room, quickly leaving the toilet.

"I have to tell Ray." exclaimed Maya, finally able to move and then prepared to return to where the driver was.

His pace was so rushed. "Ouch!"Maya shouted as her feet kicked the end of the table where Ray was.

"You why." Ray glanced at Maya with wrinkled eyebrows.

"Ouch. It hurts." moaned Maya, fingering the tips of his feet by squatting.

"Eh. That."Two women were heard whispering a short distance from Maya and ran to leave the KFC door open.

Maya heard the whisper, but because her legs were still very sore, she did not have time to turn around to see the origin of the female voice she heard behind the toilet cubicle.

"Ah."Maya was upset and stepped limping towards her seat.

Ray was still frowning; on one side, he wanted to laugh at Maya's carelessness, but for fear that this girl was angry, he could only be silent with a tense face.

"You're fine," Ray said as Maya finally raised her leg from the chair to examine the wound on her finger.

"It hurts. "Dude, I didn't catch him." "Who."

"There were two women in the bathroom talking about their plans to harm us."

"Hah."Ray, stand up.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier."

"Free, they're gone. They're two women who just came out,"

Maya pointed out with a face that was still in pain.

"Two women went to the toilet. That's who's sitting there."

"Maybe."Maya put her shoes back on and tried to stand up to ensure her feet could still walk. "Don't worry, they're gone."

"Right. They're gone. Dude, I'm such a jerk."Maya was upset and sighed with relief, as her leg condition was not as bad as she thought.

"So we go now."Ray tried to make sure.

"Yes, I want to go now. My food is gone; my sleepiness and annoyance are piling up."

"Good."Ray then embraced Maya, whose steps were still limping, and tried to follow her slowly until she got into the car.

"Don't start the car, check it out. I'm afraid they're going to wreck the engine of this car until we're fucked."

"Yes."Ray said as he grabbed his phone to turn on the flashlight.

The slender young man then opened the car's hood, checked the engine details that he could see, and nodded, sure if the engine position was still the same as when he last checked it.

"Safe."Ray said, sitting in the steering wheel while inserting the key into the hole.

"You sure are safe."Maya, keep looking around.

"Safe, Miss. I can confirm that."Ray turned the key, and the engine's sound came out smoothly.

"Tuh. The engine starts normally."

"Good, then take me home." Maya then leaned back in the car seat, enjoying the rest of their trip that night.

His eyes occasionally look at the dark sky, but it is crowded with stars that adorn it, making today's darkness enjoyable.

The cold night slowly made this sweet girl's eyes close, and when she opened them, it dawned on her that she was already inside her bedroom.

"Mmm. Ray must have carried me, " she whispered, then continued to sleep.

Days change, and it's time for the holidays to begin.

Maya woke up during the day without the burden of having to go to college because it was Saturday quickly.

After opening her eyes wide and realizing all was safe, Mr. Winata's daughter hurried down to the ground floor to meet Mala, her mother.

"Mom. "call Maya gently and then hug the middle-aged woman warmly. "I miss you,"

"Duh, girl. That's so cute. Usually you wake up angry, " said Mala, letting her daughter hug her tighter.

"How could I be angry? I woke up in such a comfortable room without any screams from the scary Inaya," Maya recalled as she gently hugged Mala.

"Yes, that woman is scary. Maybe that's also why your father often got sick after marrying her,"

"No, Ma'am. Dad was sick not because of Inaya's scream, " Maya let go of her embrace and gently pulled her mother's hand until she sat on the dining chair with Maya, who was still standing half-bent in front of her.

"If not because of that, then because of what," asked Mala curiously.

"Ray said that the reason my father was sick was because they tried to kill him.

Ray knew that because he had seen a doctor try to inject something into Dad's body."

"Oh, my god."Mala was wide-eyed hearing what her daughter said.

"No wonder Ray is so insistent on asking me to take care of your father here,"

"Yes, he is indeed a good man. I know where she came from."

"Ray."Mala tried to make sure.

"I know where Ray is."

"He was the son of my driver, who died a few months ago. Ray's a bodyguard, trained man for sure."

"Hah. No wonder he is so elegant in protecting me," whispered Maya, who finally understood the driver's real job.

"Of course, I asked her to take care of you because suddenly Miya didn't want me to call, even if only when I missed her,"

Mala looked down with a long sigh.

"Miya. Why him? He used to be so protective of me, but now he's so cold it's like we never got along."

"He didn't tell you."

"Who. Miya."

"Yes, your twin brother. I asked him why he did all this. About why he stole your girlfriend, about his lies about her pregnancy. About everything,"

"What's the reason, Mom? Tell me,"

"He said he was jealous of you."Mala made Maya gasp in disbelief.

"Jealous. Why should he be jealous of me."

"He said, when you couldn't even speak, we all consecrated you as your father's successor. He was also jealous when you were always the class champion until high school graduation. As if he never existed in this life," regret Mala increasingly peaked.

"Mom."

"I'm sorry about all that, son. I didn't expect my praise for you to end up making your sister this bad to us."

"I'm sure that's the reason."

"I don't know. I dare not imagine the reason behind all this, but one that I believe in. All this evil cannot be separated from the success of Inaya affecting the contents of my innocent daughter's head,"

"Again, Again, Again. I thought he was the guy behind all this."

"Right. Why did he influence Miya? Because that girl also has a grudge against you? Inaya convinced your sister to do evil to us because she knew she couldn't control you."

"Hah. He has to."

"Mom. Mom. Come quickly. Mr. Winata, wakes up." shouted a female servant who walked quickly toward Mala and her daughter.

"Dad."Maya hurried to her father's room, where she and her mother were talking.

"Maya," called Mr. Winata in his weak voice.

"Dad, you're finally awake."Maya is so happy.

"I thank God for letting me open my eyes. I'll tell you all about it before it gets any worse."

"Say what." asked Mala and Maya at the same time.