16 Enjoying Lidya's Worry

"Hah! The stakes are not fun. It's not that I'm afraid to fight with you, but the stakes aren't right for me. Because I can still fire you any time I want," Ardy sarcastically.

"Just say that you're scared!" Lidya, who strongly believed that Ken would be able to beat Ardy in the fight, tried to challenge Ardy.

"I'm not afraid, Lidya. But, what I get doesn't suit me, I can still fire him, so, the outcome of the fight won't be too challenging for me," snorted Ardy.

"I will leave Lidya if I lose. But, if I win, I can't get fired from the office," said Ken.

Ardy seemed to be thinking for a while, he hadn't made up his mind yet. "If I win, Lidya will have to accept our engagement with a happy heart."

"In that case, Lidya should make the decision. She has her own life. I can't control it. She has free will. No one should be able to force her, including her parents."

"You're right." Lidya nodded in agreement with Ken's words.

"Hey! Don't try to influence others!" Ardy glared at Ken.

"I can only assure you that if in our fight tomorrow afternoon, I lose to you, then I'll stay away from Lidya. But, if I win, then you can't fire me from the office," Ken continued.

With a cocky attitude, Ardy held his chin and looked down at Ken. He was confident that he would be able to beat Ken in the fight tomorrow afternoon.

Heri, who had been following behind Ardy, began to provoke Ardy. "Just accept it Ardy. Destroy him. Put him in the hospital. Hahaha. Don't know you, him, Ardy."

"Yeah... he doesn't know who Ardy is yet. The mosquito challenged the tiger. The mosquito will be finished," Alex added.

Ken was annoyed that Ardy hadn't served his new challenge with the added clause that Ardy not fire Ken, after Ardy was confirmed as Lidya's fiancé. Therefore, out of impatience, Ken said, "I changed my challenge."

"What do you mean?" asked Ardy.

Ken didn't want to part with Lidya, he refused to be fired. So he said, "I challenge you and your three men to fight me alone."

"What?" Ardy and his two men were shocked by this challenge.

"What?" It wasn't just Ardy and his two friends who were shocked but also Lidya. Lidya was shocked by Ken's daring challenge. "Ken... don't do this. You'll be ganged up on by four people, Ken."

"I know the risks, Lidya, and if Ardy is still scared, then you should wear a skirt to work tomorrow," Ken said as he looked at Ardy.

"Who's afraid? I'm not afraid of one on one. I didn't immediately agree to your initial challenge because I was waiting for Lidya to accept our engagement, that's all. But, okay, if you're looking to die? I'll do what you want."

"Deal. So, if I win tomorrow from the four of you, I can't be fired and the four of you, can no longer bother me while I'm working. Understood?"

Lidya came in front of Ken. Staring at Ken while shaking her head. "Don't do this, Ken. It's not fair. How can you fight four people? This can't happen, Ken."

"Let it be, Lidya. I don't like being bothered by them when I'm working. So, this is my way of stopping them and also so I don't get fired because I don't like being away from you."

"Me too, Ken. But... you'll lose, Ken. You'll get hurt by them."

"I'll be careful, Lid. Don't worry."

"That's it! Our fight is a done deal. The cleaning service against me and my three friends. I'm out of here." Ardy, who felt jealous and didn't want to see more of Ken and Lidya's intimacy, chose to leave.

Ardy only promised in his heart that he would finish Ken to destruction during tomorrow's battle. Moreover, Ardy would be assisted by three of his men. Alex and Heri immediately followed their boss' steps. The three of them couldn't wait for tomorrow when they could beat Ken to their heart's content.

After Ardy and his friends left, Lidya immediately invited Ken to sit in a small garden located 4 houses to the left of Lidya's house.

They both sat next to each other on the park bench. Lidya cried on Ken's shoulder. "I'm scared, Ken. Huhuhu."

"What are you afraid of?" asked Ken as he put his arm around Lidya's shoulder.

"I'm afraid they'll beat you up. Huhuhu. I'm afraid you'll get hurt badly. Huhuhu. If it was just a one-on-one fight, I'm sure you'd win. But, you'll be ganged up on, Ken. Huuhuhu."

"Just pray. So that I don't get hurt, okay?"

Lidya burst into tears again. She began to imagine Ken's battered face as he was beaten by Ardy and his friends.

Meanwhile, Ken was enjoying this moment. Ken enjoyed Lidya worrying about him. Ken enjoyed the anxiety that had been visible on Lidya's face and enjoyed Lidya's crying, as a sign that Lidya was very worried about Ken.

When he returned from the park and when Ken said goodbye to Lidya, the anxiety on Lidya's face still hadn't disappeared.

**

The next day, when Ken was mopping the floor on the second floor, Lukman came to Ken with a worried face and stood in front of Ken.

"What's wrong with you, being chased by the debt collector again?" asked Ken while holding back a smile. Ken remembered that about 2 months ago, Lukman was scared because he was chased by debt collectors to the office so Ken had given Lukman a loan to help Lukman.

"No, Ken. I'm safe this month, I won't be chased by debtcol."

"So why is your face like that? Your widowed neighbor, the one you've been eyeing, was taken?" guessed Ken again.

"No, it's not. I was worried about you. They say you're going to fight four people this afternoon. Is that true?"

"Oh, that? Yes, that's right." Ken resumed moving his mop stick which had stopped moving for a while because of Lukman's arrival. "How did you know that?"

"From the office WA group. You could die, Ken. Don't want to, Ken. Do you really have to fight four people?"

"Let it go. Just so they won't bother me anymore.

**

Meanwhile, in her room, Lidya had just been visited by Clara and Yuni. "Sis, I found Ardy's fight when he was studying in America," Clara said as she handed over her cellphone.

"Fight?" asked Lidya while looking at the cellphone screen. There through the youtube application, Ardy was seen very fierce when fighting in the boxing ring with the title UFC New York City. Ardy's opponent who was bigger than Ardy, was finished off by Ardy with fast punches so that his opponent was knocked out in Ardy's hands.

Ardy looked very scary in that fight. Now, Lidya is afraid of Ken's fate. Moreover, Ardy will be assisted by his 3 friends.