Chapter 50: Chapter 50
Her hungry stomach woke Rakia from her deep sleep. She was confused to find herself on a bed and in a room. As she remembered, she had fallen asleep in her seat while the plane was taking off. She observed the room she was in, neat and minimalist but cozy. She gently rubbed the sheets of the bed she was currently sleeping on, soft and smooth. Currently the lighting in the room came from a sizable bed lamp that stood in the corner of the room. The atmosphere was dim and perfect for getting a good night’s sleep, but she couldn’t tolerate her rumbling stomach.
Rakia got out of bed slowly, put on her flat shoes then walked towards the door and opened it slowly. She was surprised to find that she was still on the plane, as she saw Thalia preparing food on a wheeled iron tray.
“Ah, good afternoon, Mrs. Dashtan, did you sleep well?” asked Thalia with a smile on her face, a friendly smile that fit her appearance perfectly. Rakia smiled and tried not to be awkward.
“Um, cozy room, where’s Dashtan?” Rakia looked at Thalia curiously.
“Mr. Dashtan is sitting in the front cabin, please join him, it is time for lunch.” Thalia made a suggestion that Rakia couldn’t refuse because she did need to eat. Before joining Dashtan, she first went to the toilet to wash her face, she felt a little dry. She greeted Dashtan when she arrived near the chair she had been sitting on before she magically moved to the room.
“Hi,” Rakia greeted awkwardly as she sat on the chair. She smiled at Dashtan who was also looking at her.
“I didn’t know this airplane had a room, I would have gladly gone to bed earlier.” Rakia said a completely honest pep talk. Her habit when she was on a plane was to fall asleep during takeoff.
“We can’t lie down while the plane is taking off. I was just about to wake you up for lunch,” Dashtan said as he closed the laptop in front of him then moved to put it away and return to his place. Thalia arrived a few seconds later with lunch. As the smell of the food invaded Rakia’s sense of smell, her stomach rumbled loudly enough for Dashtan to hear. With her face flushed with embarrassment, Rakia looked down deeply while Dashtan smiled almost laughing.
“Eat up, it looks like you’re running out of energy from sleeping.” Dashtan’s words further increased Rakia’s embarrassment level to the highest point. As she examined the ceramic bowl complete with lid, she was pleased with the contents which was a soup. She ate the soup first, then moved on to the main course which was Italian food, Risotto. Although she wasn’t familiar with Italian food, at least the risotto didn’t taste bad. Dashtan briefly stole a glance to watch Rakia eat. He smiled to see the woman eating with gusto, for some reason the moment when eating with Rakia could always warm his heart, even when they met several times in Jakarta.
“How many hours until we arrive?” asked Rakia after finishing her risotto, she took a sip of her water as she looked at Dashtan from behind her drinking glass as she drank.
“Approximately four more hours, total trip seven hours,” Dashtan told her, cleaning his mouth using the napkin that was already available. Rakia placed her empty glass on the rectangular table that was a folding table.
“You know, this is the first time I’ve traveled abroad so far with such luxurious facilities. Thank you,” Rakia said with a smile and sincere words. Dashtan smiled happily, Rakia’s thanks made him happy and instantly excited to fulfill the woman’s request to see Dubai.
“How about you come with me to the excavation? You must be dying to see it, right?” Dashtan offered that not without purpose.
“What about my job? I can’t take too much time off.”
“I’ll take care of it, but you have to agree to come see the excavation.” Dashtan looked at Rakia expectantly. Meanwhile, Rakia was wondering what Dashtan would do to get him to join the excavation.
“Alright, if you can guarantee I won’t get into trouble if I take too much time off,” Rakia broke off. Dashtan chuckled then said, “You’re not going on leave. I’ll ask Liam to have you be the reporter on the team that will cover the excavation.”
Rakia was surprised for a moment, she wanted to argue but on the other hand she wanted to participate in the excavation.
“Is that... No problem? I mean what the people at DS will say, especially Liam.” Rakia could not ignore the side of her that was not happy with nepotistic behavior in work.
“I’ll make your recommendation as natural as possible. Leave it to me, you just need to get ready,” promised Dashtan who understood what Rakia meant.
“But then, I can’t go with you, I have to go with my team.” Rakia looked at Dashtan as she leaned her back against the back of the chair. She felt comfortable, not long after Thalia came and asked about the dessert they wanted to eat. Rakia chose chocolate and strawberry ice cream while Dashtan asked for dragon fruit juice without sugar.
“No problem, but if you want I can arrange that too.”
Rakia rolled her eyes, she felt that Dashtan was like the ruler of the seven seas.
“I wonder how far your authority goes,” Rakia said looking at the man with all her thoughts.
“You will find out later, but you are my wife and the place you work is one of my money-making assets, so I have full authority there.”
Dashtan ended his sentence with a proud smile. Rakia rolled her eyes and felt that Dashtan was too much of a control freak. But somehow she didn’t mind that, she felt safe in Dashtan’s sphere of authority. Then, she remembered their last conversation about the divorce.
“I wonder, why do you suddenly want to divorce me so quickly? In the agreement, you said we would stay in this marriage for three years.” As a journalist, Rakia does not hesitate to ask blunt questions when necessary. And she felt it was necessary at the moment. Dashtan sighed, he had not expected Rakia to ask him that.
“I know you’re burdened by this marriage, so I’m trying to make it easy for you to get away from it. I won’t force you to go through something that makes you hesitate, tormented or anything like that. We’re already mutually beneficial in this marriage, aren’t we?!” Dashtan looked at Rakia with a worried look in his eyes. Hearing that, Rakia felt that Dashtan had a point. She was honestly confused by her own feelings, on the other hand she didn’t want to get hurt because she knew Dashtan wouldn’t fully commit to this marriage, she felt they weren’t right for each other. While on the one hand, she wanted to try the opportunity to get to know Dashtan and get the man to commit to her fully.
“Yes, we have been mutually beneficial so far, but... Would it be okay with you if we got divorced? I mean, about our families, they’ll definitely be confused.” She was getting uncomfortable at the thought of the divorce actually happening within the next three months. Everyone would be shocked.
“Everyone would be shocked, but we can make excuses. A relationship doesn’t always end happily.” Dashtan said that with a half-blank stare as he stared at the surface of hisd folding table. Rakia swallowed dryly at the sentence that instantly made her heart feel like it had been sliced by a sharp object.
“Would I be able to if it happened again? Even though I might want it but still, it’s as if I’m the one who’s destined to always fail in a relationship,” Rakia’s thoughts only made her start to feel claustrophobic. She scooped up a sizable lump of ice cream and popped it into her mouth, hoping that the coldness of the ice cream would chill her mind for a moment.
They were silent for a while before Rakia chose to break the silence by saying, “Ash... Have you ever thought if i....” Rakia paused for a moment and that made Dashtan curious. Rakia steeled herself to say what she wanted to say.
“If i... thought of loving you and wishing forever for this marriage?”