The Fruit of Betrayal?

I went to the construction site of café Ace. After parking the motorcycle, I could clearly see that the building materials had arrived. This is one week before the groundbreaking. Ace will come for this schedule.

I approached a semi-permanent building made of wood. It functions as an office and also a resting place for workers. The building is rectangular, divided by three. One room as an office. One for the workers' rest room and one for the bathroom. The size of the bathroom is the smallest among all.

I knocked on the office door because the door to the room was closed tightly. Someone replied from inside.

"Please come in," he said.

I haven't seen many workers in that area. I only met one person relaxing in a tent, a place to stack bricks and bricks and so on.

When I walked into the office, I saw Mr. Bayan. He was operating a laptop.

"Ms. Aya?" He asked.

"That's right, sir. It's me, Aya. We've met before," I said.

"I've forgotten easily. Understandably, it has grown older."

"It's okay. I can be like that too. Moreover, we have met only once."

"Please sit down first," he said.

There are three plastic chairs in the room. I chose one of them and put my bag on the other chair. There is no table. The only table is the table that Mr. Bayan used to put on his laptop.

Mr. Bayan and I then talked about the development plan. I photographed the writing made on the board. I also photographed the work schedules of the workers.

"When will they come, sir?"

"They will arrive in two days. Two people are already here. But I don't know where they are now. Those two people from the save service agent will stand guard here, because the goods have arrived, there must be someone to guard."

"I saw someone in the tent over there," I said pointing to the outside of the window. From the mini window I could point to the southeast side, the place where the tent of building materials was erected. When peeking there, the person who was there just now is gone.

"Maybe they've gone looking for lunch. How about we chat while eating too? There is a tent stall not far from here."

"If we all leave… Who is guarding here?"

In the end we didn't leave. I asked Mr. Bayan to take me to see the construction materials because Ace asked to be photographed of each material. I also photographed the payment receipt.

After all the business was done, I excused myself from going home and refused to have lunch with him. This may sound like a bad way to get into a relationship, but I think it's the best way to keep the relationship at a clear distance. I don't want to get too close to this person.

I went back to the Ecology café. The café is already open and there are already some visitors.

I came in through the back door. I met an employee near the door. He was the same person I met this morning. If I'm not mistaken his name is Jom, work as a barista. A tattooed guy and also a smoker. We greeted each other for a while.

I walked into the employee lounge. I saw Victor making coffee using his manual grinder.

"Why not just make it below?" I asked.

"The one below is for business, not for personal gain," he said without turning his head. It faces west. There is a large window that allows the wind from the west to enter the room. Sticking with the window frame of a table. On the table is a jar filled with coffee beans. Electric stove for heating water and water heater teapot. There are a variety of beautiful glasses neatly arranged on a shelf. There is also a Teflon and a refrigerator filled with groceries.

The place was a mini pantry for employees, so they could make food and drinks for themselves here.

"Do you want to?" he asked.

"Why didn't you just make it here this morning?"

This morning, he made instant noodles plus eggs complete with vegetables in the downstairs kitchen for me.

"The refrigerator is empty. Now it's contained," he said as he opened the door of the one-door refrigerator.

"Jom has been shopping for employees. So this is already filled. If they cook lunch, they can cook in the kitchen. It is not visible from the visitor area. It's just that, to make drinks why have to separate because it becomes unethical to make coffee for yourself in the business area."

I learned one of the things from the café business. I made myself comfortable by sitting in one of the chairs.

"How is the development?" asked Victor.

I held back the answer in my heart. For a while, I thought back to what I had seen. "I think everything will go smoothly."

Considering that Victor is also a café businessman. He might be able to help me.

"Do you think this is good?" I showed Victor photos and videos of building materials. As Victor looked at the videos and photos, I muttered, "Why didn't I invite you earlier?"

Victor did not respond. Maybe he didn't hear me.

"I also use the same building materials. I think the results will be good," Victor said. He returned the mobile phone to me.

"Really? I'm afraid of being useless to Ace," I said.

There was silence between us. I felt his expression suddenly become cold.

"Is something wrong?" I couldn't think of a reason why Victor's expression turned cold.

Victor shook his head. "Nothing," he said.

I think I should change this awkward atmosphere.

"What do you want to talk about? Before I left, you said you wanted to say something just now."

Victor took a sip of coffee. It seemed that he was doing it while considering something.

"I'll tell you later. Don't you have to work? Can it work here?"

"In this room?" I looked around.

"I think it's the best in my room."

I thought of another place.

"I just want to work in a café. I'll go down. Order coffee from your employee and sit by the window. There is a table of single chairs in a corner."

"Oh, that chair," Victor must have also imagined the same place.

"Well. Consider it your own home," he said.

After agreeing, I went downstairs with a laptop. I got coffee, paid the bill at the checkout, and sat in a single chair in a corner that I was very comfortable writing in.

When I was about to start writing, I remembered Victor's expression. It seems that there is something serious to talk to me about.

I saw someone coming in. That person is no stranger. He is Mario. What is he doing here?

From where I was sitting, I saw him ask Jom, the barista. It seemed like he was confirming something and Jom was telling him something.

I'm guessing he's looking for Victor and Jom who doesn't know there's a conflict between Mario and Victor tells Mario to wait while Jom calls Victor upstairs.

I haven't written yet, and I've been disturbed. What is Mario here for? My gut feeling is bad about this.

Sure enough, a few seconds later Victor went downstairs and the look on his face changed. Not pleasing to the eye. Do I have to interfere? It felt rude that I was suddenly among them. Maybe, better, just observe the situation first.

There was tension between them. A tension I didn't understand.

Victor took Mario to another area. They must be talking upstairs. I imagine that the two used to be close friends. Judging from Victor's attitude towards Mario and vice versa, the two must know each other very well, but there is something, a problem, that causes them to have a big fight to this day.

What can be the cause of an argument between two men? It could be because they used to love the same people. Their close relationship became tenuous.

Besides liking the same girl, are there other problems that can cause tension between two men? It could be a matter of capital. Maybe Victor and Mario once worked together, set up a business and Mario betrayed him.

For example, embezzling the company's money and Mario causing the company to go bankrupt. Then, Mario appeared to apologize. The fruit of the betrayal was that Mario became rich, while Victor had to be in a miserable situation because he lost a lot of money. Therefore, Victor really doesn't like seeing Mario anymore.

Is something Victor wants to talk to me related to Mario?

I try to concentrate on writing. I have to chase daily deadlines.

I temporarily ignored Victor and Mario's problems. The issue of this deadline is very urgent. If it is not resolved today, tomorrow I may be overwhelmed.