Chapter 5

"Mom, Samuel says goodbye first. Once again happy birthday."

After talking and making friends with all the important guests at the party, Samuel decided to go home immediately. Besides, he realized that tonight brought Ariana with him. It's not a good feeling to get a girl home so late even though he has the right because he has paid such a high price for her.

Besides being tired, Samuel was also very lazy to answer all his mother's and extended family's questions. That's why he hastily asked Ariana to leave as soon as the event was over.

"Thank you very much for coming and keeping your promise to bring Ariana to Mama. Just so you know, Mama is very happy tonight," said Arabella. The woman also gave a hug before letting her son leave the party.

"Samuel is happy that Mama is happy tonight."

"Oh, sure," said Arabella. "Moreover, Ariana's presence really makes Mama's party even more festive. Mama really hopes to see her again another time."

Satisfied with hugging Samuel, Arabella turned to Ariana. Throwing a friendly smile, the woman who was still fit at the age that was no longer young also gave a hug and kissed the cheeks of her son's lover.

"Thank you very much for coming, Ariana. See you next time."

Ariana smiled back. After breaking the hug, the woman answered Arabella's words no less kindly. "You're welcome, Auntie. Uh, Mama." Ariana hastily corrected her words. "I'm also happy because I can participate in celebrating today's birthday party. I pray for Mama to continue to be healthy and whatever it is that is a dream can be realized soon."

After saying goodbye, still acting intimately, Samuel brought Ariana to immediately go to the car. He ordered his driver to immediately take them away from the event venue. All the way home to take Ariana home, Samuel kept nagging. He was upset that the woman he had paid so dearly for made his position even more insecure.

To not disappoint Mama with the promise to bring a partner, Ariana's presence instead of helping adds to the long list of problems. Who would have thought that Arabella unexpectedly announced the engagement, even mentioning the child's wedding to all the important guests at the birthday party?

Samuel was very familiar with the nature of his mother. When she had spoken, she would never withdraw her words, let alone cancel what she had announced.

"It's all because of you, Ariana!"

"Why is it because of me?" Ariana turned to look at Samuel, who was the boss. Also, chuckle. Even felt that the man next to her was being ungrateful. The acting she did tonight was almost perfect.

"Yes, it's your fault! It's really Ariana Maya's fault. If you didn't talk much at the party, maybe Mama wouldn't talk about engagement, let alone announce all kinds of weddings."

Samuel still looked very annoyed. All the anger he just spilt onto his new secretary.

"Anyway, what are you doing, talking a lot and pretending to be intimate with the client at the party? Why don't you just shut up?" continued the man then.

"I have a mouth, sir," said Ariana. "Besides, it's your father who asked me to improvise. Yes, I did, so that he looks familiar with his business partner, Mrs Arabella. You should be happy, please. The proof is that they are all enthusiastic about my presence. Some even ask for opinions of all kinds."

Samuel's face looked increasingly annoyed and exasperated. He also just found out that his secretary is not only good at talking but also has such high self-confidence.

"Yes! Due to your friendly and knowing attitude, now the problem is getting longer and more complicated."

"If you think it's complicated, that's none of my business. Right from the start, I've reminded you, that lying to your parents is dangerous. It has the potential to be bad. But you still insist, right?"

Samuel stared intently at Ariana. Why did her secretary look more and more annoying? Everything Samuel said, she always replied.

"So now you're blaming me?"

"Yes, from the start, you were wrong," said Ariana innocently. Sh didn't care the slightest bit about the angry expression Samuel was showing her.

"Then what are you doing agreeing to come with Mama to New York all sorts of things?" asked Samuel later.

Ariana took a deep breath. Not wanting to be provoked, the woman tried to respond to all of Samuel's tirades as casually as possible. She didn't want to fill her brilliant mind with the unimportant chatter that Samuel had been throwing at her.

"About a business trip to New York, if you mind, I just need to cancel it using the excuse of being sick. What's so hard about it? Don't make an easy one so complicated, sir."

"Argh!" Instead of answering again, Samuel chose to look away. He is deliberately staring out the car window while watching the passing vehicles.

While catching his breath, he kept trying to hold back his emotions to avoid doing things out of bounds.

Meanwhile, Ariana did the same thing. She chose to lock his mouth until Samuel's car stopped not far from the mini market where the man had picked him up earlier.

"Thank you, sir, for picking up and dropping off at the same time. I hope this is the last collaboration we will do outside of office work," said the woman after getting off and before actually closing the car door.

"You think I still want to work with you again?" said Samuel, looking cynically. "Well, who knows. After all, no one knows what will happen in the future, right?"

"The problem is I'm lazy to work with you. It's already expensive, just add to my problems." Ariana didn't answer anymore. After closing the door, the woman could see how the car that her boss was driving away again—leaving himself on the side of the road feeling very upset. "Tomorrow, if I ask for help again, I won't want to. You boss is annoying!"

***

Samuel entered his residence feeling uncertain. Opening the black coat he was wearing, and the man threw it in any direction. Seconds later, the man walked towards the mini bar not far from the pantry.

For a moment, the tall, well-built man chose to sit in silence. Until a few minutes passed, he slowly reached out his hand. He was reaching for a glass and a bottle of wine neatly arranged. Pour, then sip slowly.

"Why is it so complicated, Lord," Samuel sighed angrily. The man closed his eyes briefly. Taking his hand, he briefly massaged his forehead, which suddenly throbbed in pain.

"If only Valerie had come to Mama's party, it might not have been as bad as it is now."

As soon as he thought of Valerie, Samuel hastily pulled out his cell phone from his trouser pocket. Looking for the lover's contact intends to immediately contact the girl he loves. He was sure Valerie must have been looking for him all day. Because from this morning, Samuel did not have time to contact his girlfriend because he was so busy taking care of work.

Hoping the phone call would be answered soon, Samuel patiently waited. Not long ago, Valerie finally picked up the call she had been making.

"Hello, Valerie."

"Yes, Honey. You haven't slept yet?" the woman on the other end asked. Hearing the boisterous voices that became the background for their conversation, Samuel was sure that Valerie must be in a photo shoot studio or could be attending a fashion show.

"Not yet, honey," said Samuel gently. "I just came back from Mama's birthday."

"Oh my God." Valerie was heard exclaiming. Maybe she just realized that today is the birthday of Samuel's mother, which for the umpteenth time, she couldn't attend because of her busy work schedule as a model. Feeling guilty, she tried to apologize to her lover.

"Sorry if I can't be with you tonight, honey. I really feel bad for you."

"Its, ok. It can't be helped. I realize that your work schedule is really busy," Samuel replied casually.

"But you did say hello to your Mama, didn't you?" she asked.

"I told you. So you don't have to worry," Samuel boasted.

Of course, he didn't mean what he said. Before leaving, Valerie reminded Samuel to say hello and apologize for not attending the birthday party again because he had to go abroad. One day before the birthday event started, Valerie even reminded Samuel on his phone, so he wouldn't forget to convey what he had ordered.

However, of course, Samuel didn't do that. Instead of getting the greetings and messages that Valerie had left, the man was looking for a replacement woman who he could bring and show off during his mother's birthday party.

Now? Samuel seemed to regret following His assistant's plan. Not only could his relationship status with Valerie be threatened, but his status as a child of Arabella could also be threatened if he was caught committing a big lie.

"Thank God for telling you. So how was the event? It must have been really busy."

"Never mind," said Samuel lazily. Instead of continuing to talk about the party, Samuel is more interested in discussing other things with his girlfriend.

"Where are you now? Sounds really busy."

"I just finished GR. This is another evaluation before tonight's performance."

"Then when will your work be finished? I mean, when will your work in Paris be finished."

Valerie let out a small chuckle. Still faithfully talking to Samuel, the beautiful woman then replied. "I'm in Paris until Wednesday, dear. After that ----"

"After that you go back to Los Angeles according to the schedule that you informed me the other day, right?" cut in Samuel. The man's tone, which was initially lazy, suddenly turned excited. "No, honey. I'm not coming home next week," squeaked Valerie. The woman's voice sounded weak.

"You mean?"

"Yeah, because I looked my best while I was here. One of the Canadian fashion designers who is working with Dior directly appointed me to take part in a fashion show in Los Angeles in the middle of next month."

"So you mean you're not going home?" Valerie didn't answer right away. There was silence for a while until, not long after, there was a soft sigh, followed by Valerie's answer to Samuel's previous question. "Yeah, Sam. I'm not coming home next week."

"But isn't your schedule still long, Valerie? It's even two weeks away. Why don't you go home first?"

"In fact, those two weeks I used to quarantine and rehearsal so that my appearance could be perfect later. This is my dream, Sam. I will perform in Milan with Dior. There is no model from LA who can look like this. And me? I'm the first person who will have this honor."

Samuel was silent. Seeing Valerie's excitement, she was sure it would be useless to forbid her lover, especially regarding dreams and aspirations.

Samuel realized that all this time, Valerie had the ambition to become a top model who could penetrate the international community.

Now? When the opportunity is wide open, Valerie will do anything so that this dream can go according to what she has hoped.

"So you're not coming home anytime soon?" asked Samuel again. A hint of disappointment was tucked into the words that escaped his lips.

"Yes. I'm sorry. It's possible that I'll be abroad for a long time."

"How long?"

"Maybe one to two months. At most three months before I returned to LA."

"Valerie! You weren't serious, were you? You sure we were LDR that long?"

"If you miss, you just follow me abroad, Sam. You have a lot of money."

"That's not the concept, Valerie. You know for yourself that I just took my current position. How can you go abroad for no apparent reason. Especially if it's just for dating."

"Well, that means you have to be patient, Ken. After all, three months isn't long, really. In LA, we can't see each other every day because you're often busy. So what's the difference?"

As if at a loss for words, Samuel chose silence. After all, according to him, it's useless to argue. Valerie was the type of woman who couldn't be denied when she said something. Even if you want to forbid froth, it will not shake his decision.

After all, this isn't the first time Samuel has protested Valerie's often one-sided decision. He was used to being selfish. Most of the time, he thought to himself without even looking at Samuel.

"It's up to you whether you want to go home or not," said Samuel after the man had been silent for a long time. He, who had called to let go of longing, now feels annoyed and annoyed by himself after having a long conversation with his lover.

"Samuel." Valerie's voice softened. Maybe he realized that his girlfriend was angry now. "Don't be so angry, please, honey."

"I'm not angry. But I don't like it when you make decisions without discussing it first."

"Samuel, listen first. I don't want you----"

"It's late, Valerie," Samuel said. "I want to rest. You can just continue with your work. One thing you need to remember, I will not force you again to hurry back to Indonesia. If you can arbitrarily, I can also do the same thing."

Samuel, who was already angry, immediately cut off the phone call—not even giving Valerie the chance to provide an explanation or say goodbye as usual.