Giving Birth to My Brother
42. Meet Galang & Firda

Elin arrived at her place of agreement with David, an editor of Swara Media. He glanced at the watch in his hand for fear of being late. Luckily, he arrived fifteen minutes early before the appointment time, at 4:00 p.m.

"Hello! You're Elinka Gitari?"

Elin looked up at the figure he had just seen for the first time. "Yes, hello. Greetings. David sir, huh?"

"Yes. Have you ordered a drink?" ask David to sit down.

"Not yet, sir."

"Yes, I ordered it first." David waved at a female servant who approached. "I ordered tea pull 1."

"I'm just orange juice." Elin added.

"Okay, wait a minute." The waiter recorded Elin and David's order and left the table immediately.

"Ehm, you already know what our meeting means, don't you?" ask David. Elin nodded. "So I'm interested in your manuscript entitled Loving In Silence and if you are interested, we can publish your manuscript in printed book form."

Elin and David talked for a few minutes until Elin said he would consider David's offer. It was a not bad offer, but somehow Elin wanted someone else's opinion. It would be better if he could ask Galang or maybe Ariel.

"Later you can call me if you've made up your mind" David said before they split.

Elin came down the stairs slowly, thinking about contacting Galang, but he also doubted whether Galang would still talk to him. Not only did he hurt Galang by rejecting him, he also disappointed the man with his work.

"Elin?"

Elin gasped when she heard Galang's voice. He had just thought of Galang and now in front of him appeared the figure. He nodded slowly thinking he was hallucinating.

"What are you doing here?" ask Galang.

"Oh, that was an appointment." Elin realized, she was not fantasizing. The figure in front of him was indeed Galang. There was even a woman he seemed to have seen. The woman he saw was having lunch with Galang.

"Oh, so? You healthy?" ask Galang again.

"Yes. Mr. Galang wants to eat the same ...."

"This is Firda, my girlfriend." Galang pulled Firda's arm and Firda quickly extended his hand to Elin.

"Greetings, I'm Firda. You're Mas Galang's colleague?" ask the beautiful woman.

"I'm Elin, Mr. Galang's former employee." Elin shook Firda's hand for a moment. He smiled thinly because he felt Firda really fit with Galang.

"You alone?" ask Elin.

"Yes, I met Mr. David from Swara Media. I got an offer to publish a book" replied Elin

"Which book? Have I read?" ask Galang curious.

Elin shook her head. He never showed the manuscript to anyone except Swara Media. "That's an old script, sir. But I still doubt."

"Oh, you can email me if you want a consultation. Do not hesitate," said Galang as if to guess the doubt Elin.

"It's easy" Firda said with a laugh. "I know how Mas Galang is when it comes to work."

Galang looks pulled the tip of his lips when he heard Firda's words. It made Elin feel calmer, if it was true that Galang had forgotten about it, it was good.

"You get asked a lot about the kids in the office. They miss you" said Galang.

"Yes, Mirna chat me every day. In the same period Susi also, they did not want me to leave our chat group," Elin said in a sad tone. He looked at the watch in his hand again. It's almost Maghrib and he still has to go to Doctor Ridwan's clinic. "Ah, I am first yes, sir."

"Who are you going home with? Been picked?" ask Galang.

"Alone, Sir. I still have to stop by." Elin waved her hand slowly at Galang and Firda before finally leaving the two of them.

Galang breathed heavily when Elin was nowhere to be seen in his sight. He put his chin on Firda so that Firda would climb the stairs with him immediately.

"So that's the girl?" firda asked while holding back her laughter.

"Yes. Beautiful right?" Galang turned to Firda who just nodded. "Thank you, you've been pretending to be my girlfriend for a few minutes."

Firda laughed loudly. "I'm glad I can act. Hopefully not so stiff. Why do you pretend to have a boyfriend? You really don't want to go after Elin's love?"

Galang. He did not tell her that Elin was pregnant and married because Elin said she had to keep everything a secret. "Elin is already with the others, Firda. I can't .. She doesn't have the same feelings as me. It's free for me to chase him."

"Ehm, what a pity that you are good. I just have a crush on you from a long time ago," said Firda unmitigated.

He just threw his breath. "And you're still going after me?" Firda nodded. "But you know I still like Elin. You ... Are you serious?"

"Yes dong. You like Elin. She is also not your ex-boyfriend, so I'm sure I can make you forget about Elin" Firda said in a confident tone.

"What if I can't?" ask Galang.

"It depends on you, Mom. You you want to forget yes definitely can. If not intent, how long I want to seduce you is also useless."

Galang. Firda's right. Unfortunately, forgetting Elin wasn't that easy. He has tried to meet with Firda often, even his mother supports 100% so that he can be with Firda only. But his heart said something else. He was thinking about Elin. He was also curious about the life Elin currently had.

"Do you love Elin?" asked Firda when he saw the fret exhibited by Galang. In front of him Galang was staring at his phone screen as if he was waiting for something.

"I'm .. Many things make me curious about Elin. But I never knew even though I asked," said Galang.

"So, you still wish you could be with Elin?"

"I don't know, Fir. I have a bad feeling about Elin. I hope I'm not really feeling. I'm just. I'm afraid now Elin has chosen a path that is not right for her. Elin's career could have shone if Elin hadn't come out" Galang said.

Firda smiled bitterly. He patted the back of Galang's hand which was on top of his phone. He himself already likes Galang even though his love never reciprocated. So, he could understand the feelings that were in Galang's heart.

"If you still want to go after Elin, then go after her, Mas. If you're still worried about Elin, that means your heart doesn't want to split. Maybe you hope the feeling is not real, but what if it materializes? You want to be able to protect Elin?"

Galang nodded slowly. "If I could, Fir, I'd like to take care of Elin."