Hot Night With CEO

“Damn! What kind of dream did I have last night to end up in a situation like this? And Darian’s face was so scary when he looked at Dr. Gavin earlier!” Fahira muttered to herself, recalling the recent events.

“Proud, huh? Fahira’s being fought over by two handsome guys!” another part of her mind chimed in.

“Nonsense! Fahira is in big trouble. What if that Mean Boss fires her? She’ll be unemployed!” another side of her mind joined the internal debate.

“Darian is handsome, wealthy, and a CEO, while Dr. Gavin is handsome, seemingly wealthy, a charming and kind doctor, something Darian doesn’t have!” her inner self insisted.

“Stop!” Fahira said, interrupting the inner debate and smacking her own cheek to snap out of it.

“Miss, are you okay?” the taxi driver asked, who had been observing Fahira from the rearview mirror. Fahira had been shaking her head and smacking her cheek repeatedly.

“Oh, it’s okay, Sir. Rusun Mawar, please!” Fahira replied spontaneously, trying to hide her embarrassment.

“Alright, Miss!” the taxi driver chuckled, understanding the internal struggle his passenger was going through. He had already asked for her destination when she first got in the taxi.

“By the way, it looks like you were having an argument with your boyfriend, huh? Don’t worry too much, Miss. If he really loves you, he’ll look for you later!” the taxi driver continued, being a bit intrusive.

Fahira was taken aback. It seemed like today was a day of revelations. She had already been stressed by her boss’s unpredictable behavior, followed by Dr. Ariel, the heart specialist, suddenly showing up at her home and office. Now, she was stuck in a taxi with a nosy and presumptuous driver.

Fahira felt like everything was falling apart. The road was congested, and the taxi was stuck in a long traffic jam. The unsolicited advice from the driver only made her mood worse.

When Fahira finally arrived home, she quickly freshened up, performed her afternoon prayer, and prepared dinner for herself and Ariel. She intentionally turned off her phone to avoid any unwanted interruptions. While in the taxi, her phone had been continuously ringing. Without even checking the caller ID, she turned off the phone completely.

“Mbak Fahira, Dr. Gavin called to apologize for going to your office without permission,” Ariel explained as he helped Fahira with the cooking.

Fahira felt a pang of jealousy. The thing she had been trying to push out of her mind was now brought back by Ariel. Ignoring Ariel’s words, Fahira continued with her cooking. For dinner, she prepared a simple dish that always reminded her of her parents – Javanese cuisine, with fried tempeh and catfish, served with fresh vegetables.

As Fahira fried the catfish, Ariel prepared the terasi chili sauce.

“Dr. Gavin seems to have a crush on you,” Ariel said again. “He’s handsome, kind, and charming, like an actor. What’s his name? Yes, Nadine Candradrawinata’s husband, that guy!”

“Dimas Anggara!” Fahira replied shortly, placing the dishes on the table.

“That’s right, Mbak Fahira! You should just date Dr. Gavin,” Ariel urged, further annoying Fahira.

“Enough, Ariel. Let’s just eat; I’m hungry!” Fahira cut him off while serving rice onto her plate.

Ignoring Ariel’s inquisitive gaze, Fahira enjoyed her meal until nothing was left. For now, she didn’t want to think about anything else except Ariel’s recovery and her job. She didn’t want to fall in love because she knew she would be disappointed. No man would accept a woman like her, she thought. She wasn’t ready to face the possibility of her future partner questioning her purity. Fahira preferred to remain single, just as she had been doing.

Fahira was determined to avoid both Darian and Gavin before it was too late. She didn’t want to create any problems between the two cousins. Fahira wasn’t too confident that she was the center of their attention, but she knew the way they looked at her. She wanted to protect her heart from falling in love, be it Darian’s cold attitude, which almost drowned her, or Gavin’s sweet and gentle nature, which always comforted her.

Feeling restless, Fahira finally reached for her phone on the nightstand and turned it on. She worried that there might be important messages waiting for her to respond to. As soon as the internet connection was established, her phone was flooded with missed calls and messages – 100 messages from 12 different chats and 32 missed calls.

She stared at her phone screen for a while, torn between opening the messages or ignoring them altogether. Fahira sighed deeply as she saw that all the missed calls were from Gavin. Not a single call from Darian. “Optimus Prime, typical,” she murmured, unconsciously changing Darian’s contact name from “Mean Boss” to “Optimus Prime.”

With a smile, Fahira opened Darian’s WhatsApp profile picture, which only showed a stern back dressed in a black suit. A simple black and white picture with a classic vibe. Darian never posted WhatsApp stories about his daily activities, only absurd pictures that probably represented his feelings.

“Good night,” Fahira whispered, putting her phone back on the nightstand. She curled up in her blanket, preparing herself for the mysteries of the next day. Fahira was certain that everything would be different, and it wouldn’t be okay.

***

The next morning, Fahira left for work with Mang Damar, her regular ride-hailing driver. Earlier in the morning, she replied to Gavin’s message, apologizing for yesterday’s incident and asking him not to come to her office again.

As Fahira entered the company building, she received strange looks from everyone, especially from her female coworkers. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to calm the turmoil in her chest. Fahira had to be prepared for whatever would happen today.

She smiled warmly at all the employees as usual, waiting for the elevator doors to open, which seemed to take forever. She wanted to get to her desk as soon as possible and immerse herself in her work – that was the only remedy for all the problems that had just started. If she had a choice, she would have disappeared right then because she couldn’t bear everyone’s curious stares.

Eventually, Fahira reluctantly chose to use the emergency stairs. “It’s good for exercise,” she grumbled as she climbed the stairs to the second floor. She stopped and sat on one of the steps, catching her breath and massaging her tired calves.

“Why did I take the emergency stairs? I didn’t cause any trouble. Why did I tire myself like this? And my office is on the 34th floor. My legs might break!” Fahira had a monologue of regret.

With renewed confidence, Fahira continued up the stairs and headed towards the employee elevator. “The company needs more elevator units!” she grumbled as she saw all four elevators packed with employees. This was why Fahira always arrived early, as she didn’t like to queue for the elevator to get to her office. She began to feel anxious when she looked at the clock on her wrist, which already showed 7:25. “Hopefully, the Boss hasn’t arrived yet. Amen!” Fahira silently prayed.

As soon as Fahira arrived at the office with her usual cup of coffee – the obligatory morning coffee for the Boss – she noticed Mira and Susi’s demanding looks. Fahira could only resign herself to the situation. “The Boss hasn’t arrived yet, right?” she asked, only to receive headshakes from her two colleagues. She went into Darian’s office to leave the coffee as usual.

“Thank you!” she heard a voice she recognized coming from behind her. Fahira’s body froze instantly, and her heart raced.

“Damn it, Fahira!” her mind cursed as she closed her eyes and turned her body to face Darian.

“Good morning, Mr. Darian!” Fahira greeted, trying to maintain her composure and silently praying to avoid the Boss’s wrath.

Darian looked at Fahira with an unreadable grin as he rolled up his shirt sleeves. Fahira was mesmerized by the sight of the incredibly handsome Darian, as if he were a Greek god incarnate. Her world seemed to stop for a moment.

Darian slowly approached Fahira. “Did you just finish running a marathon?” Darian asked, tucking a strand of Fahira’s hair behind her ear that had escaped her tie.

“What?” Fahira replied, startled when she realized how close they were now.

“For how long are you going to stand here? Go back to your desk!” Darian ordered, a command Fahira immediately obeyed.

“Sorry, uh, right, Sir!” Fahira replied, quickly leaving Darian’s office with a blushing face. She couldn’t believe she was captivated by Optimus Prime like that.

Fahira walked awkwardly like a robot until a loud voice snapped her back to reality.

“Fahira, come on! Snap out of it!” Mira yelled, who apparently was still waiting at her cubicle.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“What’s wrong with you guys? You’re so annoying! You said Optimus Prime hadn’t arrived yet? Well, he’s in there!” Fahira retorted, annoyed. Silence followed. Mira and Susi exchanged puzzled looks, not understanding Fahira’s words.

“I meant a polar bear!” she continued, adding to their confusion.

“Oh my God, you mean Darian, right?” Fahira clarified.

“See, my brain short-circuited!” Fahira grumbled, pushing Mira and Susi back to their workstations.

Inside his office, Darian could only smile amusedly after Fahira left, murmuring to himself, “I like vanilla lace.”