Eleanora's Step Father

They arrived at the parking lot of the famous junk food restaurant, looking not too crowded because it was still not work time.

"Thanks for the ride, sir. See you tomorrow" said Eleanora getting out of the car. But instead of leaving, Alessandro went down and followed Eleanora. Ordered a drink and paid for Eleanora's order at the same time.

"Don't eat something like this too often, Eleanora. "

"This is delicious, sir." replied Eleanora who started eating with her hands.

"Who said it wasn't good? I just said don't eat often" replied Alessandro. Eleanora's face immediately scrunched up, why did this man come down and watch her eat?

Seeing her frowning face made Alessandro chuckle, Eleanora's expression always managed to make him laugh.

"El?" Alessandro called.

" what's the matter, sir?" muttered Eleanora.

"Thank you," said Alessandro sincerely. His hand moved to hold Eleanora's hair down as the woman lowered her head to eat. Eleanora's body stiffened, her heart pounding.

"For what, sir?" asked Eleanora confused. Holding her heart beating wildly.

"Everything, you have accompanied me, comforted me, cared for me, understood me, and even took care of me," replied Alessandro. The man meant what he said, because this woman had really taken care of him all this time. Even Eleanora always did things he never got from his girlfriend, including togetherness and attention.

"You're welcome, sir, thank you for not being stingy with me all this time," joked Eleanora which made Alessandro laugh out loud. He who is cold and indifferent always looks different when he is with Eleanora. They spent the afternoon with jokes that improved Alessandro's mood.

There was the sound of people rushing into the junk food restaurant, people from their company. Eleanora immediately removed Alessandro's hand from her hair, she was afraid of causing bad gossip.

"Eh, Mr. Alessandro and Mrs. Eleanora? What are you doing here?" exclaims Kevin, the HR manager representing everyone's curiosity.

"Eat" pointed Alessandro directing his gaze at Eleanora who was eating. That short answer made all curious gazes go out, they should just pretend they didn't see.

"Hello, Mr Kevin. I was eating and Mr. Alessandro came along because we were discussing Mr. Alessandro's leave schedule," said Eleanora calmly. She cleaned up her food waste and went to wash her hands.

Seeing the group of employees who did not leave in front of him made Alessandro annoyed, "Anything else you want to ask?" His sharp eyes stared at the people there one by one making them shudder in fear.

In unison they shook their heads, "Nothing, sir. We're going first, sir."

Eleanora who returned to their table laughed, "You must have scared them to leave"

"No, I'm not that scary El"

"I'll take you home" Eleanora wanted to refuse but she knew her refusal meant nothing, Alessandro would still insist so she nodded.

*****

Eleanora asked Alessandro to stop the car before arriving in front of her house, she didn't want her family to know she was driving home by a luxury car.

"Your family matters, still huh?" said Alessandro who knew some of the problems in Eleanora's life.

"Isn't human nature hard to get rid of, sir?" Eleanora gave a bitter smile remembering about her family.

"Remember, call me whenever you need. " said the handsome man with a firm jaw.

" Yes sir. I'll say goodbye first, thanks for the ride. Good night, sir," said Eleanora, waving and getting out of the car.

Alessandro watched the girl walking towards her green fenced house. He would leave after confirming Eleanora was in.

"Eleanora, do you have 50 million? Your father was wanted by someone because he had a debt. " said Alana, her mother as soon as Eleanora entered the door.

"Nothing, Mom. I just gets paid next week," replied Eleanora, sitting on the sofa in the living room of this minimalist house.

"But you must have money in savings, I borrowed it, so that your Father were not beaten by people," her mother pleaded.

"Mom, it's not that I don't want to borrow it. If it's for household needs, Eleanora will definitely give it, but if it's about Father's debt, this is the umpteenth time," Eleanora whispered tiredly. It's always like that, her father's actions are always repeated. Even though her father runs a clothing store owned by Eleanora's deceased father, Eleanora takes care of all her needs. She does not mind if she has to bear the cost of housing needs, but to pay her Father's debt which has been repeated dozens of times makes her tired.

"But, if Father finds out you don't want to borrow, you will be beaten again, honey," said Alana desperately. The middle-aged woman was in the wrong position, it was not appropriate to continue to press her daughter to pay her husband's gambling debt, but her husband would always beat her daughter if she didn't lend money.

"Father going to beat me? Yes, I have also given up Ma. I'm tired. There isn't enough money anymore to pay Father's debts," sighed Eleanora resignedly. Meanwhile, Alana could only stay silent, not knowing what to do.

BRAKK

The door to their house was forcefully opened by a middle-aged man, "Eleanora!! My beloved daughter! " he exclaimed happily. Eleanora shuddered in horror, what's a beloved daughter? She was only a stepdaughter who was accepted by her father because at that time Alana had a small inheritance from Eleanora's late biological father.

"You have money right? Come on, let me borrow it, "said Antonio with an enthusiastic tone. He was calm if there was still Eleanora, the girl earned quite a lot of salary compared to ordinary employees. Maybe about tens to tens of millions per month.

"Eleanora doesn't have any money, Father, after all, all the money that you borrowed was never returned. Not just tens of millions, but already hundreds of millions," replied Eleanora.

Antonio pounded the table in annoyance, "SO YOU DON'T WANT TO LOAN THIS MONEY TO YOUR FATHER?" he snapped with an angry face.

"It's not that I don't want Father, but I doesn't have any money. Eleanora shook her head, starting to get scared. The same thing is likely to happen again, where she and her mother are beaten every time they don't have any money they can give to Antonio.

"ENOUGH! DON'T LIE!" shouted Anto in a booming voice. Alana inched closer to her daughter, afraid that her husband might beat Eleanora up.

"Here's your bag! Where's your ATM card?"

Eleanora handed her her bag, she wasn't stupid. Her ATM card was in her office drawer, and she only had a few hundred thousand in his wallet just in case. Anto who didn't find any cards in Eleanora's bag got even more furious,

" REALLY STUPID CHILD! Where did you hide the ATM card?!"

Eleanora remained silent, until Anto moved forward grabbing Eleanora's long hair. The girl grimaced, while Alana, who was beside her daughter, tried to let go of Antonio's hand from Eleanora, she cried while pleading.