40. Charlos Can't Be A Bad Person

She let out a sigh of relief after speaking her true heart to Esther. Her head was spinning with such a probing question. At times like this, Rissa can only tell the truth.

"Oh no! Are you dating him?"

"No, Esther. He likes someone else."

Esther put her hand on her forehead and closed her eyes. Her body slowly swayed as if she was about to faint.

"Esther, what's the matter with you? Are you okay?" Rissa approached her and put her hand on her shoulder. Esther raised one hand to stop Rissa.

"You better stay away from him. Don't ever meet Charlos again."

"What's the matter, Esther? Do you know him? Is he a masher?"

Esther sighed, and then she took a photo from her bag. Rissa recognized the picture. At that time, she accidentally found it, and Esther looked very angry. Now, Esther handed her the photo.

"Ther & Charl 04-01-2005."

Rissa was shocked, and her hands were shaking. It was indeed Esther's photo. By the way, she was so beautiful and sweet. Esther was embracing a man.

This time, Rissa could see clearly that the man was Charlos. He looks different with black hair, but his smile couldn't be wrong. His dimples make him look very handsome and sweet.

It turned out that Esther had indeed been dating Charlos.

"Now, you've seen the photo. I've never told you before. I'm Charlos's ex. I was left him that day," said Esther coldly.

"What?" Rissa looked at her in disbelief.

"So that I can marry Anton. If you want to know, at that time, he had nothing, not like now," Esther pulled her photo back from Rissa's hand. "He was stressed and somewhat his mentally disturbed." Esther pointed her head. "He's changed now. He's become someone else and that's not good."

"What do you mean, Esther?" Rissa furrowed her brow.

"You saw it yourself. He must have deliberately spread that rumor on the internet to destroy the good name of Kharisma and you. He must want revenge. I won't tell you now, what really changed about him because you won't believe it until you see with your eyes."

"I still don't understand. Is he really that bad? I'm pretty sure he's a good person. He can't take revenge." Rissa finds it hard to understand that Charlos is the type of person who likes to take revenge. What if his revenge is on her?

"He told me that he liked someone," said Rissa doubtfully.

"How could it be?" Esther shook her head. "I'm really curious how close your relationship so that Charlos would tell you something like that."

Rissa looked down. She didn't know how to tell Esther.

"Come on tell me! Who is that person?" Esther insisted.

"Her name is Reva," Rissa answered slowly. "He said she was a saxophone player."

Suddenly, they were surprised by the presence of Mrs Selly, who told Esther there was a problem in the expedition.

"We still need to talk." Esther then stood up and left. She still had time to glance sharply at Rissa for a moment before leaving.

Oh no. Rissa forgot that she should have kept her mouth shut about Reva. However, Rissa just thought that if she told Esther, then Esther wouldn't accuse Charlos of being a bad person anymore.

Now, Rissa felt a little doubtful. She didn't really know Charlos. Hopefully, there's nothing wrong with him.

Rissa felt a little messed up that morning. She did her job as usual. Anyway, Esther didn't come back to the office anymore.

They didn't talk about Charlos again the next day and so on. That's good. Rissa did not dare to discuss it first. She thought, maybe Esther still loves Charlos. The proof is Esther still has her picture with Charlos.

Rissa's heart became sad. When she starts to like someone, and there are so many obstacles. However, Rissa has made up her mind. Until forever, she will still like Charlos, no matter how bad he was, as Esther said, even though Charlos doesn't love her and prefers Reva.

***

The day went so quickly. Today it was Saturday. Rissa remembered when she wrote the date. It is the eighth. She won't meet Charlos today because he must be going to the Jazz Festival to see Reva's show.

Rissa idly opened the internet and saw the Jazz Festival website. She was astonished when she saw the ticket price; seven hundred and fifty thousand rupiahs for one day. And for a three-day pass, it reaches two million one hundred thousand rupiahs.

There is also an additional fee for the special show, Aldo Manson, amounting to three hundred and fifty thousand rupiahs. It was sure she would never be able to come there.

Then her finger clicked on schedule. She chose the eighth. A list of the names of the musicians who will be performing that day appears. Not a single Reva's name is listed there. Rissa thinks maybe Charlos is lying.

Still curious, she clicked 'show all'. The entire three-day schedule is displayed with the time and name of the place of each stage. This time, her eyes were even more careful. Who knew she had seen wrong.

She flipped through the page, up and down. She was one hundred per cent sure that there was no musician named Reva. So, Rissa's face pouted. How could Charlos trick her?

Annoyed, Rissa closed the Jazz Festival website on her computer. Then she resumed her work. Rissa snorted. What an arrogant con man. Maybe what Esther said was true. Charlos might have gone mad. He may have fantasized too much.

However, the person who was in Charlos's car at that time was not just an imagination. Rissa was sure there was someone in it. Of course, how can the car move on its own?

Rissa huffed in annoyance. She felt so stupid. That person was definitely the driver. Why did she think so far about Charlos's girlfriend? And the woman in the coffee shop was probably just a church friend and not an artist. Ugh! What artist?

Charlos, Charlos, Charlos.

The name kept flying above Rissa's head. If only there were an electric racket, she would electrocute that name like a mosquito to death. Rissa took a sip of water to calm her mind. She rubbed her thighs, then ready to do the task she should have done a long time ago.

In the evening, Rissa went to the Rajawali Multipurpose Building. Esther was sure she wouldn't be attending choir practice again. So, she is alone. The first people to greet him were Pamela and Elizabeth.