Chapter 14: Chapter 14
The sound of cooking utensils processing food was the backdrop of the restaurant Rakia and Dashtan chose for dinner. The atmosphere of a street food place near China town became Dashtan’s choice after Rakia decided to leave the decision of choosing a place to eat entirely to the man. The aroma of seafood combined with spices tempts anyone to stop by and sample the menu. Rakia opted for the rice noodles with grilled squid, Dashtan ordered the same except with a different addition of grilled prawns. She also added chicken dumplings and sweets for dessert.
“Want to try tangyuan?” Dashtan asked and offered. Rakia nodded enthusiastically. She ordered her sticky rice balls filled with chocolate, while Dashtan ordered red bean filling.
“Do you eat here often?” asked Rakia just out of curiosity and to start a conversation between them.
“Not really, I’m the type of person who isn’t too picky about food. But I don’t eat haram food.” Dashtan answered honestly as he looked at Rakia.
“What about you?” asked Dashtan as the woman did not respond to his words.
“Because I like to cook, I rarely eat out unless it’s tight.” Rakia looked at the people passing by. Then, she remembered her purpose in accepting Dashtan’s invitation for dinner tonight.
“So, tell me why are you in such a hurry to get married?”
Dashtan took a deep breath and exhaled loudly.
“My father’s inheritance requires the heir to be married when he receives it. And the only heir is me.”
Rakia raised her forehead. She signaled with that gesture for Dashtan to continue his explanation.
“To be honest, that requirement is burdensome to me because I haven’t thought about getting married yet.”
“Why, because you don’t have a candidate?” Rakia asked. Dashtan smiled.
“That’s one reason, the other is because I’m still focused on my work right now.” Their arriving order paused the conversation for a moment.
“Then, why not just wait until you’re ready to get married and take the inheritance?” Rakia couldn’t help but be curious about that. Dashtan quirked him lips at Rakia’s question.
“My father set a deadline, the inheritance must change hands to me within this year.”
Rakia looked at the man and tried to gauge her reaction to the figure she had to admit was handsome.
“So, you’re from Dubai?” Rakia’s random questions were starting to get to Dashtan. She popped the rice noodles into her mouth and tasted the delicious food. Rakia did the same.
“Yes, I was born and raised there. I’m a half-breed, my mother is Indonesian and my father is from Middle Eastern Dubai.”
Rakia nodded once as if she understood.
“About the marriage, if you don’t want it how will you go through with it?” She lifted her gaze from her current meal. Looking at Dashtan curiously.
“The marriage will be black and white. Legally and religiously valid but the execution will be different.”
Rakia looked down as she swallowed to wet her suddenly dry throat. Her mind said that it was the most selfish thing she had ever heard.
“No, I can’t do that. Won’t it hurt you in the future?” He wanted to gauge the extent of the man’s feelings about relationships. Dashtan sighed, she stopped eating her quetia for a moment.
“If it hurts me someday, I’ll stop.” Dashtan’s answer jolted Rakia for a moment.
“You don’t know how much it hurts to end a relationship you’re so hopeful for.”
“I already do,” Dashtan replied quickly. Her gaze instantly changed as she looked at Rakia. Meanwhile, Rakia caught the seriousness and sadness that the man was trying to cover up tightly. The atmosphere between them instantly turned awkward. Rakia chose to finish her food while thinking about what she should say again to get rid of this awkwardness. She did not expect the man’s answer.
“So, this marriage is just black and white, is it?” asked Rakia once again, Dashtan nodded with her gaze not moving from Rakia.
“Maybe, I can help you find someone,” she said again after a few seconds of silence. Dashtan looked at Rakia with a slight tilt of her head to one side. He somehow disagreed with that and prayed that the woman would not find someone to be a candidate for marriage. Dashtan grunted then reached into the pocket of the leather jacket he was wearing and pulled out a business card, placing it on the table and thrusting it towards Rakia.
“You can call me anytime at this address, if you have the right candidate.”
Rakia stared at the business card and grabbed it, reading the words on it. She nodded while folding her lips into her mouth.
“What about your favor on DS? Is it still valid?” Rakia hoped the favor was still valid considering she had offered to help find a candidate for Dashtan.
“I have fulfilled the conditions, I have to help you too. I’m helping you find a wife candidate.” She reinforced her argument first. Dashtan smiled almost laughing.
“Alright if you think so, you can send your application file to my email, I’ll wait until tomorrow morning,” Dashtan finally broke off. Rakia, who heard that, felt like her burden was lifted.
Dashtan took Rakia around the downtown area for a short hug. Take the woman home. Rakia lowered the windshield when she saw the Marina Bay building in front of her. She enjoyed the Singapore night breeze hitting her face and blowing a few strands of her hair back. She was amused by the sight of the city at night.
“Is your father coming here to see you?” Dashtan momentarily distracted Rakia’s thoughts.
“Yes, he’s coming tomorrow. Why, you know my father, right?” guessed Rakia. Dashtan nodded.
“Yes, he’s a great archaeologist. He’ll be on the excavation team for my father’s land later.” Dashtan’s answer piqued Rakia’s curiosity about the information. She raised the windshield again and finished washing her eyes.
“Excavation? On your father’s land?”
“An archaeological team a few years ago was searching for the remains of several ancient civilizations, and they found one of them on my father’s land. Eventually that land will become your father’s next excavation mission and will be designated as a nature reserve,” Dashtan explained. Rakia thought for sure the news would reach the media sooner or later and somehow she wanted to be part of the media covering the news later.
“Maybe you want to come and see the excavation process later, you can go with your father.” Dashtan turned to Rakia to see the woman’s response to his offer.
“Probably not, I’m still focused on finding a new job, after all even if I manage to get accepted at one of the television stations in this city, I’m not the one who will definitely cover it.” After her parents divorced, Rakia did her best not to get dragged into her father’s popularity. She is not comfortable with it affecting her professionalism at work.
“If you get accepted into DS, I can ask the owner to choose you to be one of the team members who will cover the event.”
“You can do that?” Rakia was incredulous.
“I plan to get DS as the press that will cover the event,” Dashtan said.
“Why, because the owner is your friend?” guessed Rakia. Dahstan nodded and marveled at the woman’s intuition.
“We are close friends, and he is reliable. I think DS is a competent press.” Rakia just nodded at Dashtan’s explanation. Their conversation brought them to the end of their journey, Rakia’s parents’ house. Dashtan’s car stopped in front of the path that directly connected to the main door of the house. The distance was only about one and a half meters.
“Thank you for everything,” Rakia said sincerely before opening the car door and getting out. She turned to look at Dashtan and gave her a smile full of gratitude.
I love that smile.
Dashtan’s mind chattered. He returned Rakia’s smile which he had just patented as one of his favorite things about her.
“I wish we were like this more often,” he said honestly. Rakia laughed lightly as she rolled her eyes. Then opening the door and getting out of the car, she stood facing Dashtan who couldn’t stop staring at her.
“I’ll send the email tonight,” Rakia said as a farewell.
“I’ll be happy to wait for it.” Dashtan replied enthusiastically. The words succeeded in making Rakia’s cheeks heat up and become rosy but Dashtan couldn’t see it because the orange streetlight didn’t provide good enough illumination. Rakia closed the door and walked around the front of the car to get to the front of the house. She stood a few steps away from Dashtan’s car and once again they exchanged smiles and Rakia gave a small wave before Dashtan decided to leave. As Dashtan’s car moved further away from where she stood, a hope arose in Rakia for her next encounter with the man.