Chapter 8
“Hey.”
Clemira tensed. Of course she recognized that deep voice. The problem was, she’d been doing everything in her power to avoid Galang since yesterday, and now? She’d run into him at the es teler shop near her house. How annoying.
“Getting es teler too?”
“Uh, oh, yeah. One es teler, please.”
“Okay, sir. Eating here or taking it home?”
“Here,” Galang replied calmly.
Clemira scooted farther away, but Galang just kept moving closer, making the girl hold her breath. “Don’t get so close. My boyfriend’s gonna get jealous!” “Arion’s the jealous type, Cle. Oh myyyy!” Raisa, the woman selling es teler, giggled fondly.
“Well, obviously. Someone this pretty has to be kept under lock and key so a crocodile doesn’t snatch her up.”
“I thought you two were just joking around,” Galang said. His expression remained flat, not looking at all bothered by Clemira and Arion’s relationship. But anyone who understood him would have noticed the way his hand was clenched beneath the table.
“Your es teler, sir.”
“Thanks.”
Clemira hurried to finish her dessert, paid, and wanted to make a quick escape before finding out that Arion had actually come to meet her at Raisa’s shop. He was carrying a backpack and riding his big bike.
“I looked for you at home, but you weren’t there. Turns out you were stuck here.”
Arion came closer, then rubbed the top of Clemira’s head.
“Ugh, you messed up my hair…” she whined.
Arion only chuckled, giving Galang a brief glance. He knew the father of two was jealous—or maybe he simply didn’t like seeing Clemira with him.
“I’m saying goodbye, you know!”
“How many days, Ar? Don’t be gone too long.”
Arion thought Clemira was joking. But she was actually serious when she said it. She didn’t want Arion to be gone for long.
“Oh my God, Cle. So clingy, and Arion hasn’t even left yet,” Raisa teased fondly.
“Hahahaha…” An awkward laugh filled the air.
Even Galang, who had been silent all this time, looked at Arion. “Going out of town for work, sir?” Galang knew that Arion was Pak Basuki’s nephew, even before he bought the house.
“Oh, no. I just need to finish a job for a little while,” Arion replied casually. Clemira pinched his arm and shot him a warning look for entertaining Galang’s small talk.
“I’ll drive you home. I also want to say goodbye to my future in-laws. I already stopped by earlier!”
“Future in-laws, huh!” Raisa teased once again.
Clemira merely nodded, though what she really wanted was to stuff Arion’s mouth full of curses.
After Clemira and Arion left, Galang quickly finished his es teler. He pretended to clear his throat to start a conversation with Raisa and fish for information.
“They’re really sweet together, huh? Dating and all?”
“Yeah, they’re so sweet that people have even started spreading those ‘yes, they’re a thing’ rumors. You’re—”
“I live across from Clemira’s house.”
“Ohhh!” Raisa nodded. “You’re the divorced guy, huh?” In an instant, Raisa covered her mouth. “Sorry, sir. I didn’t mean it,” she said with an awkward grin.
Galang only laughed, with no intention of explaining anything. Huh, divorced? Who started that useful rumor?
Untari was actually tired this afternoon. But she needed to buy a few ingredients at the shop near her house. Her husband, Jayadi, wanted to eat bolu with his tea later that afternoon. So before she got started, she bought the ingredients she needed, planning to ask Clemira for help afterward.
But then she stopped dead. People really had no filter these days. Everything became gossip, and they talked trash about the smallest things. Just like now, when they were discussing Galang’s situation. Untari slowly shook her head. Having overheard them by accident, all she could do was quietly snort without commenting.
“He really is divorced? Oh my God… Poor guy. He’s already raising two kids with that kind of status.”
“I heard his wife ran off overseas!”
“If she wanted to run off, fine, but the kids are still both parents’ responsibility,” another woman chimed in.
“So they haven’t gotten divorced yet? What a shame. If it were me, I’d just find someone else.”
The neighborhood moms had plenty more to say, and it made Untari sick. She and her husband had only just arrived, but the neighborhood gossip was already spreading in every direction.
“Hey, Untari, did you hear that Clemira’s pregnant with Arion’s baby?” one of the women asked, her lips twisted into a catty smirk.
BAM…