20 Years Adrift
Chapter 3. Serious Talks

Some residents are still standing outside the fence of Agung and Reni's house. They feel sorry for the fate of Aira. Not even a year he lived there, but had to leave in humiliation. Not everyone believes what Rehan is famous for being very arrogant in his village.

"Mir!" call Miss Isna, a neighbor next to her house who often chatted with her.

Aira stopped her steps. At the moment he is Affan's responsibility so he can't be careless. Without his permission he did not dare to approach Isna's mother.

Affan nodded as a gesture if he allowed her to go to see Isna and the mothers standing waiting for her.

Their cries broke as Aira reached before them and hugged Isna's mother. The other mothers hugged him in turn. They are not willing to speak up for their sadness.

"Take care of yourself, son. You can go to Mom's house if you have time." Miss Isna did not want to hold Aira any longer. The night was late and it was getting darker because of the cloudiness that almost rained.

"Thank you, Mom. Excuse us!" Aira and Affan kissed the backs of the mothers' hands one by one.

They tell Affan to take good care of Aira and not hurt her. Although it was heavy to release the orphan girl, but they could not do anything. Although newly married religiously, Affan is more entitled than anyone to Aira.

Affan opens the car door for Aira. They could no longer linger there as the drizzle began to descend.

For a moment they were silent. Affan focused on looking at the road while driving while Aira looked out the window while muttering. He was dhikr in the middle of his heart that was engulfed in anxiety.

'What would Faya think of me? I suddenly went home and became his stepmother. He will be very angry and disappointed. During this time he always refused his father's desire to marry Amanda Bu, his father's subordinate in his office.' Aira ************** its headscarf tip.

Affan observed what Aira was doing. Although his heart was troubled, he was already an adult and could come to terms with reality. In this case he should behave like a father, not as a husband.

Affan Karim is a thirty-eight year old widower. His wife died giving birth to Faya. She has been a widower for twenty years and raised Faya alone. Both of his parents helped him care for Faya as an infant, but they were also called the Khaliq a few years later.

His father died when Faya was seven years old and three years later his mother followed. For the needs of his family, Affan manages his father's legacy company which is engaged in property.

Getting married young was her choice, but who would have thought she had only enjoyed the marriage for two years. Affan and Kayra got married after high school and attended the same university. After her marriage Affan opened a cafe in front of their university. From his income he could support his wife and finance their college.

"Mir!" call soft Affan.

Aira turned to the man who a few minutes ago testified to God to take responsibility for her.

"Yes, Om. Eee .. sorry I don't know who to call you." Aira looks awkward and misbehaved.

"Call it as usual. I do deserve to be your uncle or father" Affan said with a flat expression.

His eyes look so beautiful with a beautiful face that looks natural.

"Don't make a burden just for a call. There's something important I want to tell you personally." Affan turns his car over to pull over and stops him in a quiet place.

Aira's heart skipped a beat very fast after hearing Affan's words. The car stopped in a dark place. Various negative thoughts were milling around in his head, even though they had been legitimate as husband and wife should not Affan take him to a place like this.

Affan understood the fear on Aira's face. The innocent girl seems to be inexperienced in romance matters.

"You don't feel misunderstood, Aira. I will not take away my rights as a husband. Our relationship is not based on love and belonging to each other. After this, you can choose the man you like. I don't mean to play a wedding. I just don't want to make your future ruined because of my selfishness." Affan explained what was on his mind.

Aira took a breath and exhaled slowly. As a person who understands religion, he is not necessarily happy with Affan's words. Although there was no feeling in his heart yet, but he did not want to play a wedding. What happened tonight is written in his book of destiny.

"Are you, Om, um, Mas going to divorce me tonight? Or is there someone waiting for you to get married?" aira asked after her heart felt a little calm.

Affan looked at Aira for a while then immediately shook his head.

"I have no intention of playing a marriage, but I will let you go if you want to. You're young, you're beautiful, you can get a guy to your criteria, Aira. I really didn't mean to be unkind to you."

Affan did not want Aira to misunderstand his words. He himself was confused by this sudden incident.

"I don't have any special criteria, Om. Maybe at this time I have not been able to accept my new status, but I do not intend to fight the destiny set by God. It is not taboo for an adult man to marry a young girl because in Islam it is not forbidden. All I think about is Faya and other people's judgments about this relationship." Aira.

Affan's heart warms. The warm feeling continued to spread throughout his veins. The little girl before him had a maturity that surpassed his age.

"We will talk about this with Faya after arriving home. As for everyone else, we'd better keep this marriage a secret until you graduate. In a moment you will be testing, you better think about it first and ignore our problem." Affan tries to find a middle ground for their problems.

"Thank you, Om. Hopefully Faya doesn't misunderstand and blame us. If he objected to me staying with you, I'd go find a contract." Aira said what stuck in her heart. During this time Faya was indeed kind to him, you could say they were close friends. However, she does not know if Faya still considers her a friend after she married her father.

"Faya is a good boy. I'm sure he'll understand." Affan tried to calm Aira down.

Affan drove his car back to his residence which was not far from there. It only took me about five minutes to get there.

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