Chapter Five

Ali entered opened the door of his office, his head felt like it was going to explode. Quarterly audit meetings are most of the times seem like a battlefield, especially when auditing procurement and contracting processes, the excuses used to cover corruption and nepotism is downright outrageous and offensive. Do these people really think that he is that stupid?

He entered with big strides and threw himself on his chair at his desk. He leaned back and covered his face with his hands. He remained in that position trying to relax himself for a good five minutes when his desk phone rang. He sat up straight and answered the phone, "Yes, what is it Nancy?"

"Sir, Miss Dewi is here to see you." Nancy Kim his secretary answered.

"Let her in, please." His voice suddenly became cheerful.

This was certainly a pleasant surprise, Dewi arrived a few days earlier than expected. The door opened and a petite woman with short hair entered. She closed the door and walked to the desk.

Ali got up to greet her, he swept her in his arms and planted a long kiss on her lips. "You are really an angel sent from heaven, you always appear when I'm down and my whole day improves dramatically."

"Abang, you're exaggerating." She said while blushing, "I miss you so much, I couldn't wait to see you, so I asked my manager to change my schedule so I can make it here earlier."

"I miss you too." He hugged her again tightly. "Let's sit down."

They walked over to the L shape couch and sat side by side.

"How are your parents?" Ali asked.

"They're fine. They came back from visiting my sister in California."

"Oh, that's right, so she had a baby boy did she?"

"Yep, they named him Rudy. From the photos my Mother took, you could see that he is a very healthy baby, I think he weighed like three and a half kilo when he was born. My Mother said my sister had a pretty hard time during labor."

"Well, with a baby that big, I'm not surprised." He said, then smiled mischievously, "I wonder how our babies will be in the future."

Dewi blushed again and bowed her head. Ali gently held her chin up and gave her another kiss.

"You know I hope our first child would be a girl, just as beautiful as her Mother."

Dewi smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. "Even if it would be a boy, I would be happy."

Ali caressed her hair lovingly. "Have you had lunch yet?"

"Not yet, I came here straight from the airport."

"You did? Where did you leave your luggage?"

"Rita my manager will arrive in a later flight with it."

"Oh, I see."

"Let's go then," He said while getting up from the couch, and then extended his hand to help her up too.

They walked out from the office together hand in hand, "Nancy, I'm going out for lunch, is there anything in my calendar for this afternoon?" He asked

"Yes, you have one on one meetings with the group managers, sir."

"Okay, can you please schedule them for tomorrow? I won't be coming back this afternoon."

Nancy smiled knowingly. "Certainly. I will let your driver know that you are going out."

"Tell him to bring the car up front, I will drive myself."

"Yes, sir."

"If something comes up, page me."

"Goodbye, Nancy." Smiled Dewi. "Oh, by the way, this is for you this is my new album." She took a CD case out of her handbag and handed it over to Nancy, "I autographed it for you."

"Thank you so much, Miss Dewi," Nancy said with a wide smile. "I was looking forward to the release of your new album."

"You're welcome, bye-bye." Dewi smiled

Dewi and Ali walked away, then entered the elevator. Nancy looked to make sure that they were gone. She quickly tossed the CD in the garbage bin.

"Please, who listens to that type of whiney, suicide-inducing music?" she said to herself. She opened her thick agenda and took out a photo of the Backstreet Boys. She kissed the photo, then slipped it back in. "Nick, my ears, and heart only belong to you." She whispered.

*******

"What do you want to eat today?" Said Ali without taking his eyes off the road.

"There's a nice Italian restaurant in the Wirakarta Continental Hotel, can we go there? I love the salmon cannelloni there."

"Your wish is my command, my lady…."

They arrived at the hotel lobby after a few minutes' drive. Ali got out and gave the key to the valet parking staff. He took Dewi's hand and they walked passed the lobby to the Il Capriccio restaurant.

"Table for two, please. Oh, and if you have any by the window."

"Certainly, this way sir."

They sat down and received the menu from a waiter.

"I already know what I want, what about you? Asked Dewi.

"I'll have the same as you, my love." Said Ali to her, "I'm sure your taste buds are refined."

Dewi looked at him with a happy smile, she turned to the waiter. "Please bring us Salmon Cannelloni, mango juice for me and lemon frappe for the gentleman."

When the waiter went away, Ali took her hand and clasped it gently. "Have you decided when would be a good time for me to ask my parents to go to Jakarta to ask for your hand?"

Dewi suddenly became nervous, "Why are you in such a hurry? Next month I have to go on tour to promote my new album in Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, then after that I'm scheduled to shoot for a drama, and that's going to take about three months at least."

"My love, isn't it time for you to slow down your activities so we can plan our future together? I'm not getting any younger you know, I really want to settle down and start a family."

"I know and am sorry," She said. "I promise after this, I'm going to take a break and we can start to talk about marriage."

Ali sighed, "This is not the first time this happened, I guess I will have to be more patient. Anyway my family will be busy very soon, so maybe it is a good idea to put our plans on hold for a few months."

"Oh? Busy with what?" Asked Dewi.

"I can't tell you yet, it's about Hafiz, but soon when everything is definite, you will see it in the papers. It's going to be big national news."

"I can't believe you're holding secrets from me." She teased.

Ali smiled and gently pinched her chin.

The waiter came with the food and drinks they ordered then set it on the table. Ali and Dewi fixed their napkins and started to eat.

"Hmm, this is delicious," Dewi said appreciatively. "Abang, what do you think?"

"It's good," Ali replied with an awkward smile, he covered his mouth with a napkin he took a big gulp at his drink.

Suddenly there was a ruckus from behind him. "I can't believe you are denying me this. I need to talk to the manager now!" A woman's voice demanded.

"Mam, please calm down, maybe I can help you." One of the waiters answered.

"No, I want to talk to the manager, this is unacceptable, what is this rubbish you're serving us?" She insisted.

"Do you know who my friend is?" Said a man who is sitting across to her at the table. "Call your manager or the chef we want to speak to either one of them."

Ali observed the tall lady dressed casually in jeans and a black shirt, her high heeled boots made her look even taller. Ali remembered her from somewhere. He searched his brains trying to recall where he had seen her before. When the man sitting with her turned his head sideways, Ali recognized him right away. It was Rahmat, Hafiz's friend.

"Abang, do you know those trouble makers?" Dewi asked him.

"Yes, the man is Rahmat, my brother's friend, and the woman, I've seen her before, but I can't remember where….."

"Oh, so now you're getting acquaintance with gorgeous women?" Dewi replied. "With those looks, she must be an actress or a model. I don't understand how men think. Just look at her boobs, obviously they're implants."

Inadvertently Ali looked at the woman's chest, he shook his head in annoyance realizing what he was doing, "Don't be ridiculous, I'm not my brother, I don't like that type of lifestyle…." He suddenly paused, "I remember now, it's Puteri Paramita. She looks very different from the last time I saw her."

"Puteri Paramita? The Sultan's recently recognized daughter?" Dewi looked at her with disbelief, the tabloids never reported her to be so beautiful.

"Let's go over there," Ali said while standing up.

"Excuse me, what seems to be the problem?" He interrupted.

Rahmat looked at him "Bang Ali, how are you?" He said extending his hands to shake Ali's "We are just trying to get this waiter to call the manager on duty or the chef. Oh, I forgot to introduce you this is Her Highness

Puteri Paramita binti Sultan Abdul Kadir she is a friend of Hafiz and me from college." Rahmat was obviously dropping names for the waiter to hear.

It actually worked, because the waiter looked at her then said, "I will call the manager, now."

Paramita looked at Ali and his companion, "Raden Ali, this is a surprise to meet you here."

"Yes it is." He replied, "Please let me introduce you to my girlfriend, this is Dewi Chandrawati."

Paramita smiled and shook her hand, "It's nice to meet you." She said. Dewi also shook Rahmat's hand.

"So why were you asking for the manager?" Ali asked.

"Oh, that? I ordered Salmon Cannelloni, and it tasted horrible, the cheese sauce tasted like if it were left-overs from last night, the fish obviously wasn't a salmon, or if it was, it must have been caught during the ice age, it was disgusting. Ah, and Rahmat's spaghetti was too bland. Not to mention they've been playing Spanish songs since we've got here, which I love by the way. But, I mean this is an Italian restaurant in a five-star hotel for heaven's sake."

Ali coughed a bit and gazed at Dewi, "I have to agree that the Cannelloni wasn't one of the best ones I've tasted. Ah, here comes the waiter, the other person should be the manager, do doubt."

The manager was a short older man, his thinning hair was combed sideways. "Your Highness, I apologize if we offended you in any way, we didn't know who you were, had we…"

"Excuse me!" Paramita interrupted, the manager looked nervously at the tall woman towering over him. "So if I wasn't the daughter of the Sultan, you would have no problem serving me garbage? Is that what you are trying to say?"

"Cert...cert....certainly not…"

"This is too much!" She interrupted again raising her right hand that was clenched into a tight fist.

The restaurant manager dropped to the floor covering his head.

"Hey Mit, Calm down," Rahmat said grasping her arm, "Let's not start beating people to a pulp."

She put down her hand, "Why not? My father can pull me out of trouble, can't he?" She sighed, "But you're right. Mat, let's get out of here before we embarrass ourselves and be branded as trouble makers.."

Ali watched everything with his mouth wide opened while Dewi tightly held on to the sleeve of his jacket, "Wait don't go!" Suddenly Ali grabbed her arm.

Paramita turned to look at him, she glared at her arm he was holding. Ali quickly let go and threw both hands up beside his chest after realizing his inappropriate behavior. Dewi quickly circled her arm around his. There was an awkward silence.

"I'm sorry. What I was trying to say was, why don't the two of you join us to have lunch at another place? I know some good restaurants downtown that I guarantee won't disappoint you." He quickly said.

Paramita looked at Rahmat, "I'm still hungry we haven't eaten anything!" He said.

"Very well, let's go…" She responded to Ali.

"Did you two bring a car?" Ali asked.

"Yes, my driver is waiting downstairs," Paramita answered. "But Rahmat doesn't have his since I picked him up at the office and we both came in mine."

"Do you think it will be alright to ask your driver to go back to the palace, and we can all go in my car? I will take you home later." Ali asked.

"I'm sure my father won't mind if I go out with you," Paramita answered.

*******

Paramita and Rahmat rode in the back of Ali's car. He peered through the review mirror to her and asked, "What do you guys want to eat?"

Paramita looked at Rahmat, "What do you want, Mat? I'm so hungry I could it anything, at least if it taste decent of course."

"That doesn't sound ladylike! But you're right, I can't think of anything in particular, just the idea of food makes me drool."

"You always drool every time you hear the word food!" she teased.

"Is that so? Wasn't it you who won the noodle eating contest, how many bowls was it, twenty?"

"No, it wasn't a noodle eating contest! It was a challenge at Yamato Ramen, if you finish ten bowls in half an hour, you can eat there free for a whole year with up to four friends!" She said with pride.

"Did you win?" Ali asked with genuine curiosity.

"Of course she did!" Rahmat replied.

"My goodness!" Exclaimed Dewi. "I could never do that, that's embarrassing."

"Well, I could, and I did, and I'm not embarrassed about it. I didn't do anything illegal, or improper, I didn't steal, and I didn't cheat. In fact, you guys enjoyed the benefits too." She said while looking at Rahmat.

"That's right, we all had our share of some free dinners, plus it liberated you from Hafiz's slavery!" He said while laughing

"True…" she giggled.

"Hafiz's slavery? What's that about?" Ali asked. He couldn't understand why a hint of her and Hafiz being close to each other made him unhappy. "They're getting married anyway." He thought to himself.

"When I started college, I was going through a rebellious stage, so I tried hard not to spend my Mother's money. Hafiz paid much of my meals, in exchange I did errands for him. Seriously, your brother is a slave driver!" She responded

"But really, if they added up your own GPA and what you contributed to Hafiz's, you could have graduated Magna Cumlaude." Added Rahmat.

"That's right!" She agreed.

"So how did you and Bang Ali meet?" Dewi changed the subject to something that interested her more.

"The Princess visited our house last week." Ali responded without going into details.

"Oh, you did?" Rahmat's interest awakens by this news. "So you saw Hafiz did you?"

"I did!" Paramita said.

"And….?" Rahmat wanting to know more.

"And nothing. I apologized to him if you wanted to know. He accepted and apologized to me too."

"Technically he didn't do anything wrong to you personally, you are conscious of that aren't you? It was you who punched him and broke his nose, and you would have caused him more harm, if I didn't hold you back!"

"I was defending my friend's honor!" She said defensively.

"You broke my brother's nose?" Ali was surprised.

They spontaneously looked at Ali but ignored him and continued the conversation between themselves.

"Well, I honestly couldn't say that he didn't deserve it." Rahmat responded. "I might of have reacted the same way if I was the first to hear the news."

"Exactly!" She said satisfied with herself.

"So what was it about, exactly?" Ali said again trying to get their attention. "Why did you break my brother's nose, and why did Rahmat indicate that he deserved it? Did he do something to offend you, Princess?"

Paramita took a deep breath, "Listen. I don't think it is right for me to tell you. Especially since he is not here to defend his side of the story. "

"So it didn't have anything to do with you?" Ali still wouldn't let go of the subject.

"No!" Paramita responded curtly.

Ali involuntarily exhaled in relief. An act that didn't go unnoticed by Dewi.

Rahmat felt the air becoming tense, he slapped Mita's arm gently and said, "Hey, do you remember the banner that you put in front of the campus? Did you know he was actually happy at first? That was before someone explained the meaning to him."

Paramita laughed so hard her stomach started to hurt, "I'm sure he'll hate my guts for decades to come."

"He started cursing you ancestors, and I bet he's probably still doing it."

"Which is dumb by the way, because were third cousins, so my ancestors are his ancestors."

"Some people just don't learn, do they? If I was him, after you broke my nose, I would have stayed clear away from you."

Ali coughed to get their attention, "Look, right in front of us is Alpha shopping mall. The third floor is the food plaza, there a several restaurants there. Restaurants, not franchise chain eat outs. My favorites are; Fumiko Japanese food, Casa Taco Mexican Food, Daily Bakery they have great sandwiches there, Rumah Makan Kita sells excellent local cuisine, and there is Rumah Makan Padang Bu Noor which is Indonesian Padang cooking, there are others too, but I wasn't impressed with any of them." Ali explained.

"Which one sells fried duck?" Paramita asked.

"None!" Ali said, but added, "Do you feel like eating fried duck meat?"

"Not really, I was testing your knowledge of local hangouts." She replied coldly.

This made Ali smile. "I recommend that we try Rumah Makan Kita, I'm sure the Princess has never tried Jothar's common folk's food."

"Fair enough" Paramita answered.