“To my office. Now.”
Click. The call ended unilaterally.
“Sorry, Sat. Mr. Arka’s calling me again. I’ll go to his office first,” Alya said, hurriedly getting up.
Satrio could only nod slowly, watching Alya’s back as she walked toward the CEO’s office door with a heavy sigh.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
“Come in.”
Alya pushed the door open slowly. Arka appeared busy signing documents at his desk.
“Sorry, sir. Is there a document you need me to process?”
Arka lifted his face, then pointed with his chin at the food tray on the sofa table. “There. Eat.”
Alya furrowed her brow. “What do you mean... sir?”
“Tsk. Do I have to explain that you should eat? You’re incredibly slow.”
“That’s not what I mean, but... wasn’t that food for you—”
“The OB bought the wrong order earlier. Food like that isn’t to my taste,” Arka cut in quickly.
Alya remained frozen in place. She’d thought she’d been called in to revise some work, but instead, she was being ordered to finish a meal.
Arka gave a quiet snort. He picked up the remote and pressed a button, closing the glass blinds in his office completely. The man rose from his executive chair and walked over to Alya.
Grab!
Without the slightest hesitation, Arka pulled Alya by the wrist and sat her down on the plush sofa. Alya jolted in surprise, staring at her boss with wide eyes.
“Do you still need me to feed you?” he asked flatly, folding his arms across his chest.
“N-no, sir! I can do it myself...”
“Finish it quickly. I don’t like seeing money go to waste.”
Hearing that, Alya had no other choice. Rather than risk getting yelled at again, she snatched up a spoon and began tasting the food, whose aroma was incredibly tempting.
The hunger that had been gnawing at her stomach since morning vanished beneath the sheer deliciousness of the meal. This ‘wrong order’ actually tastes pretty good, Alya thought gleefully.
Arka’s lips curved into an almost imperceptible smile before he walked back to his desk.
As she chewed, Alya occasionally glanced at the man who was once again focused on flipping through his documents. She had to admit, Arka was seriously handsome. When he was concentrating and furrowing his brow like that, his charismatic aura seemed to multiply.
His jawline was sharp, his nose perfectly straight, and thick brows shaded a pair of piercing eyes—eyes that could strangely turn so gentle and warm whenever he looked at his little daughter, Caca.
Huff... Alya let out a soft sigh. She turned her gaze back to her plate, suddenly remembering Caca and the complicated situation she was currently dealing with.
Without Alya realizing it, the moment she lowered her head, Arka stopped his pen and turned to stare deeply at her.
A while later, after Alya had returned to her desk, Arka opened a drawer in his desk and took out a small photo frame. He stared intently at the face of the woman in the picture—his late former lover, the woman who had given him Caca four years ago.
“Forgive me...” Arka whispered softly, brushing his thumb over the glass surface of the photo before locking it away inside the drawer again.
Meanwhile, outside the office...
“Nad! Do you have any drinking water?” Alya asked, clutching her throat.
“Nope, it ran out a while ago,” Nadia answered without looking up.
“Sofi, do you have any?”
“My ice chunks spilled because Satrio bumped into them!” Sofi complained angrily.
“I didn’t do it on purpose, Sof! Besides, you put your bottle way too close to the edge!” Satrio protested.
“Your hand still knocked it over! You’re replacing it, period!”
“Ugh, I was just asking for something to drink. Why are you two fighting?” Alya whined, clutching her chest.
The food had been delicious, but Arka had forgotten to include a drink on the tray! And Alya couldn’t eat without something to drink. Her throat felt incredibly dry now.
“Just ask for some in the pantry,” Sofi said, pointing.
Without wasting another second, Alya sprinted toward the pantry.
Sofi and Nadia could only shake their heads at Alya’s panicked behavior. But Satrio, sitting in the corner of the room, stared suspiciously at the pantry door, his brow furrowed.
Why had Alya just come out of Mr. Arka’s office with flushed cheeks, then immediately started panicking and looking for something to drink? Could it be that in there... Satrio’s mind churned with suspicion.