ZIONA'S ANGER

"Yes, I am."

"I am Mandala, I am Mr. Mordecai's assistant who takes care of all the needs of Miss Abira and Miss Ziona. Miss Zi asked me to contact you about tuition fees. Can we talk about it now?"

"Oh yes. I also want to talk about it with you."

"I will pay you the equivalent of the tuition fees we used to spend on Miss Ziona and Miss Abira."

"Yes, sir. I will accept it."

Zephaniah was still relaxed because he thought maybe he would be paid a million or two million instead. That's more than enough because the rate he gave if he taught lessons was only 100 Singapore dollars.

"Okay. I will transfer in advance so that you are more responsible for teaching Miss Ziona. Mr. Mordecai wants her to graduate cum laude. Can you help her?"

"I will try my best, sir. If I may know, how much will you pay me?"

"Usually we pay for young lady's tuition fee of around 500 to 600 dollars. If your quality is good then we will also give you an added bonus."

"500 dollars?" Zephaniah's eyes widened to hear that.

"Is it still not enough, sir? Miss Ziona has promised to study harder as long as you teach her. I will add the payment if you want it."

"No, no. That's more than enough," Zephaniah replied. Luckily they only talked through cell phones because right now Zephaniah needed to wake himself from the shock. The pay that Mandala gave him was fantastic for just one student.

"Then thank you for the cooperation. I will end our conversation, if there are other problems, you can call my number."

Mandala disconnected, while Zephaniah was still calculating his salary for this month.

"500 dollars?" Zephaniah mumbled and made him ignore Riko who had been overhearing their conversation.

"That means you can't stay away from Ziona. Remember 500 dollars!" Riko patted Zephaniah's shoulder with a smile and then left for the kitchen.

***

This was the first day Ziona would study with Zephaniah. They chose to study at a restaurant so that Zephaniah could more freely teach Ziona. Too often alone in the condo would not be good for the closeness of the two of them.

While they were studying, Ziona's cell phone rang and a call came from Abira.

"Just accept it! I'm going to the kitchen to prepare food for you," Zephaniah said.

Getting permission from Zephaniah, Ziona's finger immediately shifted the green phone sign. "Hi, Bi," Ziona greeted when her sister's face appeared on her cell phone screen.

"Hi, Zi, how are you?" Abira replied from the other side.

"I am good. Do you still like to eat chocolate? Remember what the doctor said. You have to cut down on sweet foods," Ziona reminded her sister even though when she was in Jakarta she often gave chocolate to Abira. Abira always whined because their mommy never gave Abira permission to eat the sweet food.

"Never again, Zi. I miss you because you always buy me chocolate."

"So you miss me just because of chocolate?"

"Just kidding. I just want to talk with you. Yesterday I went on a date with a handsome boy."

"You changed boyfriend again?" Ziona was too surprised and she straightened up her body that had been leaning on the chair.

"Yes. My ex boyfriend didn't pay attention to me so we broke up."

Abira did make men an outlet because of her weakness. She wanted someone to sincerely accept her but in the end Abira was never satisfied. That's why she always demands a lot from the guys she was dating.

"How long are you going to be like this?"

"I don't know." Abira shrugged as if she did not care about anything.

"Daddy wants to talk to your sister." Mordecai's voice was heard. It was unusual for the man to be at home while it was still noon.

"Hi, Dad!" Ziona waved at Mordecai. She had guessed that her father was at home because her sister was sick again.

"You must study hard. I have told Mandala to pay dearly for your teacher. Don't waste the opportunity. One more thing, Zi! Don't date before you graduate. Understand?"

"Yes, Dad."

Ziona really wanted to protest because just now Abira told her about a new boyfriend. "I want to study first," Ziona pointed the camera at the books on the table. She wanted to end her conversation with Mordecai because she was suddenly in a bad mood.

"Are you studying now? I'm glad to see it. Me and Abi won't bother you again. Bye…."

Mordecai ended the conversation when his eldest daughter still wanted to discuss many things with Ziona. "Don't bother your sister! She's studying now," Mor said to a sulky Abira.

Zion was very angry. She wanted to scream out loud but there was no way she could because she was sitting in the restaurant. She wanted to slam the books on the floor, but she gave up after looking around. She did not want to get attention from some people at the restaurant. The only way to vent Ziona's anger was a book and a pen. Ziona scribbled the pages of a book with a very strong force. Her face was red and she hoped the anger that was running through her heart would be released through the scribbles of the pen. Ziona did not care that the thing she broke had a high price because she could still buy new things.

"What's happened, Zi?" a gentle question came from Zephaniah. The man took the pen from Ziona's hand then calmed her down. "If you have a problem, you can talk to me," he said again.

Zephaniah sat on the chair, but his hand still held the back of Ziona's hand which was still clenched into a fist.

"You will never understand my feelings, Ze. Now I'm very angry," Ziona answered. Tears rolled down her face and she no longer cared if all eyes would turn to her.

"Let's go to Rooftop. You can do anything above. It's too crowded here and I don't want you to be the center of their attention."