12.
“Wait! Please repeat what you just said!”
“I’ve liked you for a long time, Uncle,” ra confesses, louder than before.
“Are you serious, ra?” Joe res at the young girl. How could she, at 17 years old, dare to love him, now 35 years old and soon to be divorced?
ra is taken aback, afraid to meet the man’s gaze. Then, she straightens her head briefly to nce at Joe, feeling scared. She turns around, running down the stairs.
Mrs. Linn sees ra with surprise. It’s only been about five minutes on the second floor, and now she’s already on the ground floor.
“Why? What’s wrong, ra?” Mrs. Linn scolds.
“I want to go home now, Mr. Bond, Mrs. Linn. I think I forgot something!” ra says and quickly walks towards the front door. She steps out, walking down the alley until reaching the main street. Then, she immediately orders a motorcycle taxi online through the app on her phone.
=====???=====
It’s been 3 weeks since ra confessed her feelings to Joe. During that time, ra has been trying hard to forget him. Since then, ra has never called Joe. Likewise, Joe has been busy with work and his personal affairs.
Now, the man is officially divorced from Vivian and a handsome, wealthy widower admired by many women.
ra slides her work screen. Several articles about Joe’s divorce from Vivian are trending on various online media tforms. ra swallows, realizing she’s nothingpared to being a rival to the model. Vivian Rosaline, Joe Sebastian’s ex-wife, is beautiful, intelligent, and wealthy. It’s reasonable for Joe to love such a woman.
“Are you not going to send a message or call him?” Nadia asks, redirecting her gaze to ra.
“No, I won’t send a message or call him,” ra chuckles, still staring at her phone screen, curious and continuously stalking Vivian Rosaline’s Instagram.
“Tomorrow is the end of the month, and in the afternoon, aren’t we having an outbound event for the farewell and handover to the new scout organization?” Nadia protests, knowing ra will need a lot of money for that event.
“I still have money in my savings; I can use it for the next 4 months,” ra confidently replies. She won’t meet or send a message to Joe before he contacts her first.
“Come on, ra! It’s okay; you just need to apologize and promise not to repeat your recklessness. That’s all you need to do, rather than going hungry during lunch and not buying anything!” Nadia persuades, knowing ra loves snacks from the school canteen.Please check at N/?vel(D)rama.Org.
“No, I don’t dare. Even now, when he rejects me, I still like him!” ra says, not understanding her feelings. Her affection for Joe is too deep.
ra gets up from her seat, looks into her wallet, and realizes her money is running out. There’s a school event tomorrow that will require her to spend more money. She can only sigh in frustration, resisting the temptation of buying snacks outside and having dinner with the provided menu in the dorm.
The next day…
Something bad happens to ra. While rock climbing, she falls and can’t walk. She even faints because her head hits the floor.
Nadia and Mario immediately take ra to the nearest hospital with one of their supervising teachers.
“We need to contact ra’s guardian!” Mrs. Santi, their supervising teacher, instructs.
“Yes, ma’am, I will call them,” Nadia replies. Meanwhile, ra is undergoing treatment.
“Alright, Nadia, I’ll go back to the school event. You take care of ra and call me when ra’s guardian arrives,” Mrs. Santi says.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You better go home or return to the school event. I’ll take care of ra,” Nadia orders Mario, who sits next to her, looking very worried.
“I’ll stay here until ra wakes up!” Mario insists. They keep a close eye on ra, hoping she regains consciousness soon.
“Uncle Joe,” the teenage girl mutters without opening her eyes. Sweat dampens her forehead and face.
Nadia is startled, wanting to contact Joe immediately. After all, he’s the only person who can be asked for help. ra has no one else.
Mario looks at Nadia, and vice versa.
“I’ll call Uncle Joe,” Nadia says, grabbing ra’s phone and dialing his number.
The call connects.
“Hello,” Joe answers after seeing ra’s name on his screen.
“Uncle, it’s Nadia, ra’s friend,” the teenager replies.
“Yeah, what’s up?” Joe asks, currently having lunch with his friend.
“ra is in the hospital, Uncle,” Nadia says.
“Why did that happen?” Joe asks, concerned.
“ra fell while rock climbing and hasn’t regained consciousness, Uncle,” Nadia exins.
“Okay, I’lle right away. Send me the location,” Joe responds, deeply worried. He intentionally didn’t contact ra because he wanted her to forget him, fearing he might hurt her if he openly discussed his feelings.
“Yes, Uncle,” ra replies, then ends the call.
Before locking her phone screen, Nadia shares her location with Joe. Then, she goes back into ra’s room. Mario is still there, always keeping watch over ra with a sad expression.
“Who will pick up rater?” Mario asks, his gaze always on ra, who is still unconscious.
“Uncle Joe,” Nadia answers firmly.
“What about ra’s parents?” Mario probes. “Why does that man have to pick up ra?” Mario protests.
“Uncle Joe has reced the role of ra’s deceased parents!” Nadia exins.
“Are they close?! How close are they?” Mario’s curiosity grows, bing more intrigued with Uncle Joe, especially the extent of his role in ra’s life!
“Very close. Uncle Joe has always treated ra well, taken her on vacations, bought her a phone, and they met. Until everything changed a month ago!” Nadia whispers thest three words.
“Why? What happened?” Mario’s voice also lowers, his curiosity increasing. He wants to ask Nadia, who may understand what happened between ra and the older man.
“ra confessed,” Nadia whispers, covering her lips with her index finger.
Hearing that, Mario doesn’t ask any more questions. He just feels heartbroken, but there’s still hope because it seems Uncle Joe has rejected ra’s feelings.
To be continued…