Elana didn't want to date a public figure either. She had no intention of pulling some stupid gimmick like the one Tama had suggested, and she didn't want to be covered by daily news shows that constantly exaggerated everything. Never mind the fact that most fans of local celebrities had absolutely no common sense. She'd already endured enough hate just for doing a photoshoot with one of the country's famous actors, who also had millions of followers on Instagram.
Elana didn't care about romance, even now that she was twenty-nine. She didn't care about the nasty rumors calling her a spinster, saying she couldn't get a man, and so on. She didn't care that people constantly made her the subject of conversation whenever she was chosen to be a bridesmaid at her friends' weddings.
Besides, who exactly was the spinster?
What was wrong with her age, anyway? She was still young! Look at Bella Hadid and Taylor Swift—they still weren't married and were doing just fine. As long as she hadn't walked the Victoria's Secret runway, Elana wasn't going to waste her time on something useless.
"El!" Elana and Tama startled, immediately turning when someone opened the door.
Yoga, who had recently been the subject of discussion, now stood staring at them with an unreadable expression. That was enough to make Elana stop mid-sip. She suddenly had no appetite for her bitter Americano. Of course, in a moment, Yoga would say something that would make her day far more bitter than the Americano with an extra shot she was drinking.
"You've got a schedule in Tangerang today, right?" the man asked. Tama answered with a nod, and Yoga smiled enthusiastically as he clapped his hands.
"Great!" He stepped inside and pulled out a chair, sitting across from Elana. Both hands slipped into his trouser pockets as he studied her intently. "You're going to Tangerang with Kaiden later!" He looked even more excited when Elana merely fell silent and glanced at Tama, who was now letting out a heavy sigh.
"There'll be press coverage too, like you two got caught red-handed and it'll make you 'look' like you're dating or doing something fishy like that~ You need a gimmick like this, El! You need a bigger name in this country! You still want to walk in the Victoria's Secret Show, right? Kaiden's really hot right now, and he's willing to help boost your name. It's okay to climb the social ladder a little, right? All you have to do is give him your WhatsApp number or follow him back. Easy, right?"
Just as she'd expected, everything that came out of the man's mouth today was going to be a bitter pill for her. Elana no longer needed to drink a huge glass of extra-bitter Americano made by that cute barista named Vincent—the string of stupid remarks he'd just delivered had already kept her wide awake, probably until tomorrow.[]
The click of shoes against the polished marble floor echoed throughout the room. Those graceful footsteps carried him across a floor lined with glass-partitioned offices. From the corner of his eye, he could see several people busy inside them—some looked annoyed, exhausted, confused, or downright sleepy.
His hand moved to undo one of the buttons on his black suit as he let out a sigh. Someone taller than him followed close behind, along with a young woman holding a tablet. Every now and then, the woman would look up, then hurry ahead of them to press the elevator button without being asked.
"You only have one meeting today, sir. At ten," the woman said after they entered the elevator.
Silence fell. No one spoke until the elevator doors opened on the top floor—the floor where the CEO's, vice president's, and general manager's offices were located. The sacred floor that almost no employee dared visit, except for the office boys who had no choice but to mop it, and maybe the interns who had gotten lost.
The woman returned to her desk in front of the CEO's office and sat neatly in her chair, returning to her administrative reports after informing them of Derin's schedule. She looked at the two men and bowed politely as they entered the CEO's office. The tall man closed the door with a soft clearing of his throat.
"You've got dinner tonight," he said, making Derin stop walking.
He'd thought he might actually get to rest today. He was wrong. Derin let out a sigh before turning to look at the tall man behind him. Haga, the vice president who also served as his right-hand man and older brother—the man who understood his life far better than either of his parents, or even Derin himself.
Amerta Hagantara was Derin Julian Sujatmiko's lifeblood.
He could force himself to stay alive and attend a meeting while suffering through a sudden attack of acid reflux, but he couldn't live with Haga gone from his side. Everyone in the company—and the entire family—already knew that Derin trusted only Haga and didn't mind when the man occasionally got a little out of line.
Haga had originally held the position of executive secretary, tasked with maneuvering Derin's every activity. He'd sat at the desk outside Derin's office and managed his daily schedule, right down to when Derin was allowed to take a crap. But Derin had changed all that, making Haga vice president while still requiring him to serve as Derin's gatekeeper. He'd done it so Haga would have authority, nearly as much power as Derin himself, and of course because he trusted Haga far more than he trusted his extended family.
Making Haga vice president hadn't been without reason. Haga had always been by his side when he made major decisions and had helped move the company forward to this point. He controlled access to Derin, ensuring that anyone who wanted to meet him had to go through Haga first. Haga had the power to reject people or decide whether they were worth seeing. That was why Derin felt Haga was more than qualified and deserving of becoming both vice president and his right-hand man.
"With whom?" he asked quietly. So far, no one from colleagues to government officials had invited him to dinner.
"Madam."
Derin let out a long sigh. Honestly, he was tired. He desperately wanted to rest for a while—to sleep soundly in his apartment, since he was too lazy to go home. Derin didn't have the energy to see Mami, who would certainly bring up the things that always drove him half out of his mind.
Haga noticed, of course. The way Derin had suddenly grown gloomy and even quieter was enough for Haga to understand that he wasn't happy about having dinner with his mother. Derin didn't want the tension to flare up again like it had the last time they had dinner.
The only thing on Derin's schedule that he wanted to do was sleep in his room, turn on the television, and watch Elana's vlog—the one he'd already watched thousands of times on the girl's YouTube channel.