# Chapter 9
“Galang, I need your address.” Amera called him, prompting Galang, who was at an es teler shop, to leave immediately.
Luckily, he took the car, even though the shop was only a few hundred meters from the house.
Galang had brought the car because he intended to tail Clemira. He wanted to get closer naturally.
“Are you coming back? Want me to pick you up?” Galang offered.
“I work overseas, Gal. Not at the family company.” Amera snorted. “My friend wants to send gifts to Rafa and Virgo.”
“A guy or a girl?”
Amera snorted again. “Jealous? When I was there, all you did was make me mad.”
“Kenanga Regency Housing Complex.”
“Okay.”
Click.
Galang snorted. If he hadn’t remembered that his expensive phone had been bought with actual money, he would have thrown it across the room several times already. His patience was thinner than tissue paper whenever he had to deal with Amera. Fortunately, the woman was no longer insisting on a divorce. Maybe it was because Amera had still been overwhelmed by irritation these past few days.
Meanwhile, Clemira gaped in disbelief. She had just gotten off Arion’s bike when she found her mother pounding hard on Jamilah’s front door. Her mother was being insanely aggressive.
“Mom, what are you doing?” Clemira asked.
Untari sighed. “Go inside with Arion before I start tearing into you out here too.”
Clemira pursed her lips, beginning to guess what had made her mother so furious.
“Jamilaaaaaahhh, come out here!”
“What’s going on, Jeng? Jamilah isn’t here.”
Untari snorted. “Isn’t here, or is she hiding? What did she tell the neighbors, huh? Jamilah, I swear you’ll die an old maid if it turns out you’ve been spreading lies about Clemira!”
“Don’t make things up. Arion himself said he was going to take responsibility for Clemira. Just ask him!”
“Boooo!” The other mothers’ jeers only made Untari’s head steam even more.
“What’s all this commotion?” the neighborhood chief asked, trying to calm everyone down.
Meanwhile, Arion and Clemira sat stiffly on the living-room sofa with Jayadi. Clemira’s father stared at her as if saying, Explain this without making me ask.
It wasn’t that Arion was afraid, but hearing Aunt Untari’s rampage outside made him realize that the situation wasn’t merely serious anymore. It was beyond catastrophic.
“The neighborhood gossip is that Clemira’s pregnant with your kid!”
Arion shuddered, but his head immediately began shaking. “I get slapped just for holding her hand, sir!” he admitted honestly.
Jayadi nodded. “That’s exactly the problem. We know what Clemira is like, and what you’re like.”
“Don’t listen to them, Dad. Even if we clarified things until our mouths were foaming, they still wouldn’t believe us. As far as they’re concerned, I’m the one bleeding Arion dry and going everywhere with him.”
“You two could get married!”
“Dad, don’t be ridiculous,” Clemira grumbled, refusing outright.
Arion looked resigned. He was used to being pressured.
“This is for your own good, Clemira Lily Rahajeng.”
Clemira stubbornly shook her head. It would be absolutely ridiculous for her to marry Arion, with all their casual you-and-me talk. How could they possibly build a life together, let alone have children? Clemira shook her head in panic, horrified that she had even started imagining it.
“I can’t!” Clemira stood, went into her room, and locked the door. Jayadi shook his head. He couldn’t force Clemira.
“Don’t pressure Clemira, sir. She has the right to make her own choice. In that case, I’ll be going.”
Arion had originally intended to say goodbye to Clemira’s parents before leaving for Jakarta, but he changed his mind and simply said he was heading home. He waited until things outside had calmed down, then decided to approach Untari.
“Don’t listen to what those people are saying, ma’am. I’ve never even held Clemira’s hand except when she tripped and fell. And now they’re gossiping that she’s pregnant with my kid. Are we really that wild?” Arion looked at everyone there one by one.
“That gossip was spread by that idiot. They’re only shouting because they don’t have anything they can use to bring Clemira down.” Arion was already gasping for breath.
“Neighbors are neighbors. There’s always going to be some jealousy.” Arion then looked at Clemira’s mother. “I’m heading home, ma’am.”