Bittersweet Arrangements : A Sugar Dady Affair

“Uncle, do you want ice cream too? What flavor do you want, so I can order for you?” Elena replied with a wide smile.

Devan looked at Elena and Dirga alternately, with an unreadable expression. He was both surprised and confused. Why was Elena out with a guy, who, as Devan could predict, was probably around the same age as her? As far as Devan knew, Jeremy never allowed Elena to go out with a guy other than her family.

Seeing Devan’s gaze directed at Dirga, Elena introduced Dirga to Devan.

“Uncle, meet Dirga,” Elena said, then turned to introduce Devan. “Ga, this is Uncle Devan, my Daddy’s friend.”

Hearing Elena introduce herself and Dirga in a different way made Devan furrow his brow. He felt curious about the relationship between Elena and Dirga.

Quickly, Dirga extended his hand, introducing himself to Devan with a friendly smile. While looking at Elena meaningfully, Devan shook hands with Dirga, whose hand was already in the air in front of him. Devan remembered that Elena used to mention Dirga’s name when she often came to his workshop. Was the man in front of him really Dirga? The man who had a crush on Elena for a long time?

“Are you just the two of you?” Devan asked, still curious.

“Yes, why, Uncle?” Elena replied playfully, enjoying Devan’s investigative look.

“Does your Daddy know?” This silly question slipped out of Devan’s lips.

Devan shouldn’t have interfered in the affairs of the two teenagers. Teenage mischief was common in the modern era. Occasionally, even if Elena did something mischievous, it wasn’t Devan’s concern. It wasn’t his responsibility. Because he was just a friend of her father. Then why did he feel so worried if something happened to the girl he considered his daughter?

“Yeah, Uncle knows. If Daddy and Mommy don’t give permission, how can we date, hehehe,” Elena replied with a laugh, accepting two cups of ice cream as per her order from the ice cream vendor in front of her.

The word “date” made Devan pause for a moment. He then looked at Elena, who displayed her trademark innocent expression. Devan felt conflicted by what he had just heard, while Dirga seemed awkward. The confession from Elena had confused him. Just a few minutes ago, she had said that her parents didn’t allow dating. So, why did Elena admit they were on a date?

“Do you want some, Uncle?” Elena offered again. Ignoring Devan’s surprised expression, she licked the ice cream with ease. There was already a small spoon available, but since Elena was holding two cups of ice cream, she had to lick it to calm the turbulence in her chest. Her heart always acted up whenever she was stared at by the mature man in front of her. A gaze that always showed two sides, sharp and gentle, which she always missed.

“No, thank you,” Devan declined. “Okay, Uncle’s leaving now. Be careful on the road,” Devan continued, then hurriedly left the two teenagers.

After Devan disappeared with his motorcycle, Elena could finally breathe a sigh of relief. It turned out to be not easy to forget that guy, even though she had tried so hard. Even accepting Dirga’s date wasn’t her heart’s desire. But for the promise she made back in Surabaya. Elena was determined to keep it. To restore their relationship to what it used to be, between a niece and her uncle, or more precisely, between a father and his daughter.

***

Devan fell silent, staring at the computer in front of him that mainly displayed numbers. But that wasn’t what Devan was looking at right now. Elena’s innocent face lingered there. For almost an hour, Devan had been staring at it without doing anything. A trace of unwillingness appeared in Devan’s heart as he imagined Elena on Dirga’s motorcycle. Especially if the girl hugged Dirga tightly.

“Astagfirullah, why am I constantly thinking about Elena!” Devan exclaimed, hitting his forehead with the palm of his hand to drive Elena out of his mind. It was not right for him to think about that unstable girl.

Devan then tried to focus on the flat screen in front of him. He took a stack of workshop tool purchase receipts from his desk drawer. One by one, Devan began entering the specified amounts from these receipts into the report column on his laptop. However, the concentration he had regained an hour ago instantly shattered when the sound of a knock on the door was heard.

“Come in!” Devan said to whoever was behind his office door.

One of Devan’s employees entered, informing him that Mrs. Dinda wanted to meet him.

“Sorry, Mr. Devan, Mrs. Dinda is outside and would like to meet you,” the employee said politely.

Devan stopped his activities and looked at his employee with an undefined gaze.

“Okay, thank you. I’ll meet her shortly,” Devan replied, thinking about something. Why not try to open his heart again to another woman, as everyone had suggested to him? Moreover, Erick had already given him permission to remarry. Trying to get to know Dinda better might be one way. Devan quickly finished his work and went out of the office.

Seeing Devan arrive, Dinda immediately stood up from her seat with a smile and greeted, “How are you? Am I disturbing your time?”

“I’m good. Of course not, you’re not disturbing at all. Perfect timing, it’s lunchtime,” Devan replied, glancing at the clock on the workshop wall, which showed 11:45 AM. Instantly, a bright smile appeared on Dinda’s lips. That was the main purpose of Dinda coming this afternoon: to invite Devan to have lunch together and, at the same time, make an approach to win the man’s heart.

“Sure, let’s go!” Dinda invited happily.

“Fi, I’m leaving. If someone looks for me, just answer the phone,” Devan informed Lucky before leaving.

“Yes, Sir,” Lucky replied briefly.

When Devan left to get the car keys, Lucky cast a meaningful look at Dinda. In his heart, Lucky hoped that this beautiful and polite woman could melt his boss’s heart. Since working at The Doctor’s Car, Dinda was the first woman who received a warm welcome from Devan. Most women who tried to get close to Devan would only visit the workshop 2-3 times and then disappear. Lucky immediately resumed his work when he saw Devan return. He didn’t want Devan to get the wrong idea from catching him observing the widowed woman with a child.

During the journey, Devan and Dinda talked about many things. Dinda had always been a pleasant person. The only difference was one. The Dinda of the past was a shy girl, while now she was much more outgoing. So, it was understandable that Devan never realized Dinda’s feelings for him. Moreover, during his four semesters in college, Devan had focused only on his main task: undercover as a law faculty student to expose drug kingpins in the campus environment. At that time, Devan didn’t dare to commit until his mission was completed. Even when it came to Gita, Devan asked for Vanessa’s help. Devan intentionally asked Vanessa to take care of Gita while he carried out his mission. His risky profession forced Devan to hide his identity and the people closest to him. Of course, Devan did all of that for their safety.

“Let’s go down, we’ve arrived!” Devan invited when the car he was driving stopped in front of a cafe.

“DAS Caffe,” Dinda spelled out the name, immediately intrigued by the classic atmosphere the cafe offered.

“This is owned by Jeremy and Vanessa,” replied Jeremy as he got out of the car first.

Dinda got out of the car and walked side by side with Devan, entering the cafe together. They were warmly welcomed by a male employee in a blue uniform who happened to pass by them.

“Mr. Devan, please come in!” the employee greeted them, recognizing Devan.

Devan and Dinda followed the cafe employee to one of the empty tables. Devan and Dinda then ordered the same food and drinks: fried duck with vegetables and lemon tea.

“This cafe is really nice,” praised Dinda, scanning every corner of the cafe within her sight. Customers were starting to arrive because it was lunchtime. The seating area had been full since they arrived.

“Yes, it’s recommended. This is also where they first met,” explained Devan, placing his phone, cigarettes, and car keys beside him.

“The love story of Vanessa and her husband is so sweet, right?” Dinda replied, who only knew the surface. Dinda didn’t understand Jeremy’s heavy struggle to win Vanessa’s love. A touching love story because it didn’t get Vanessa’s parents’ approval. Jeremy also risked his life to save Vanessa from the kidnapping by drug traffickers. All these events were still vivid in Devan’s memory. Because that was when Devan first saw Jeremy’s terrifying dark side.

Then Devan just responded with a smile. Not long after, their order arrived. Interspersed with light conversation, they enjoyed the food in front of each other. After finishing his food, Devan went to the sink to wash his hands clean with the lime-scented soap available there. Don’t forget that Devan also dried his hands with the dryer available there. Not immediately returning to their table, Devan first went to the cashier’s desk to order 9 portions. Of course, all the food is for the employees in the workshop.

Devan also paid all the bills. When Devan handed over several red bills to the cashier, Devan suddenly heard the loud voice of a girl he knew very well. The girl he met this morning.Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

“Good afternoon Aris!” the girl greeted the cafe employee in a friendly manner.

“Afternoon Miss Elena,” replied Aris, smiling broadly when he saw someone who came with the daughter of the owner of the cafe where he worked. And this is a rare event for all cafe employees, of course. Who doesn’t know how the boss treats his beloved daughter.

“Thank God, Miss Elena finally escaped the title of single!” said Aris with a chuckle.

Elena and Aris have known each other for a long time. In the past, little Elena often accompanied Jeremy to cafes and Aris was the one who accompanied little Elena to play. Currently, Jeremy himself has been appointed as cafe manager.

“You can do it. Meet Dirga, my school friend, bro.” Elena introduced Dirga who looked embarrassed because everyone thought they were dating.

Without realizing it, Devan stepped closer to two teenagers who were chatting with one of the cafe employees. Again, Devan felt uncomfortable when he saw Elena, who looked relaxed and friendly when she was with Dirga. Elena also dared to take Dirga to her parents’ cafe. Various arguments began to clash in Devan’s mind. Between belief and disbelief, Jeremy gave Elena permission to go alone with Dirga.

Elena, who first saw Devan approaching, immediately greeted the man with a smile.

“Hi Uncle Devan, we meet again,” said Elena casually. Even though in her heart Elena cursed that it was a shame because she had to meet that man again.

“Just someone like Jailangkung! If I had superpowers, I’d throw him to the African continent so he’d be eaten by hungry tigers there,” Elena grumbled to herself while still maintaining her smile. “But it’s a shame, it’s too handsome to be eaten by a tiger.”

“Yes, Uncle just finished lunch,” replied Devan with a smile too.

“Oh… We just came. It’s a shame that we can’t have lunch together, right?” Elena deliberately asked for Dirga’s opinion to hide her nervousness because of Devan’s probing gaze at her. Elena persisted with an expression as normal and natural as possible.

“Yes, Uncle Devan, just add more food so we can be together,” said Dirga, trying to be more familiar with Devan.

Because the wait was too long, Dinda got up from her place to catch up with Devan. From a distance, Dinda immediately smiled broadly when she saw Devan who was talking to someone.

Elena’s smile suddenly disappeared when she saw Dinda coming from behind Devan. The woman approached with a smile.

“Wow, we meet again,” said Dinda to Elena while looking at Dirga. In Dinda’s eyes, the two teenagers looked very harmonious, beautiful and handsome.

“Yes, Aunt Dinda, this world is really small, isn’t it?” said Elena with a meaningful smile. So Devan is dating Dinda. Fix, Elena has to start playing her drama.

“Okay, please continue with the date. We are also very hungry,” said Elena, who was starting to feel fed up. “Isn’t that right?” continued Elena then took Dirga’s arm. Inviting him into the cafe without caring about Devan’s expression of displeasure as he embraced Dirga’s arm.

“Why do you have to meet that couple of grandparents!” Elena grumbled subconsciously.

“What do you mean El?” asked Dirga confused.

“What am I talking about?” Elena asked back.

Dirga just smiled stiffly at Elena, who was still embracing his arm, shaking her head. Of course, Dirga was confused by Elena’s attitude in daring to embrace his hand. Of course, Dirga would feel worried if someone reported that he dared to touch Elena. A strong warning from Daddy Elena this morning before they left.

“Okay, Daddy, give me permission. But if you dare touch Uncle’s daughter, get ready to have your fingers crushed.”