If You Met Me First...
The Jakarta

Hotel Pullman, lobby

Hugo smiles to see Radyta coming along with a handsome young man who looks like Thea and Stefan just that his face looks more Asian.

"Hello. Why not just go up?" ask Hugo kindly.

"Good in the lobby. Remy, this is Hugo Melker, Thea's boyfriend." Radyta introduced both.

"Hello, I'm Remy Giandra" the young man smiled as he extended his hand.

"Hugo Melker's. Nice to meet his sister Thea" Hugo replied kindly.

"Well we're leaving now" Radyta asked. They get into Radyta's Lexus.

***

RR's Meal Kuningan Jakarta

Hugo was shocked when he saw the plenary-faced men in the VIP room. His brown eyes looked at Radyta and Remy who were just smiling knots.

"Tonight is Boys Night Out. You don't have Thea, so we're guys at a gathering" replied Radyta casually. "Boys, this is Hugo Melker, Thea's boyfriend. He's on a mission to get the blessing of the Ramadan family..."

Everyone stared at Hugo with probing and super-poetic gazes.

"Hello, I'm Hugo Melker..."

"You're Thriller's mystery novelist, aren't you?" ask a guy who looks like a Japanese.

"Yes ..."

"Stranger in the Window" chirped the cold man. "I love the plot twist."

"I didn't expect you to read the novel, V ?" goda Radyta invites Hugo to sit down together.

"Because Kay... Oh, Katya my wife. He if he has read a mystery novel, must have forgotten especially the Kaivan pregnancy era. If he can't sleep, he reads novels until he falls asleep" replied the man called V by Radyta. "I'm Valentino Reeves by the way." Valentino extended his hand to Hugo and the two shook hands.

"I introduce them one by one. Valentino Reeves, commonly called V or Valet Parking, then Arkananta Baskara, commonly called Arka, then Dewananda Hadiyanto, commonly called Dewa, Remy Giandra, Romeo Akihiro, brother-in-law Valentino and Pahlevi Hassan, commonly called Dewa, Remy Giandra, Romeo Akihiro, brother-in-law Valentino and Pahlevi Hassan, my cousin from Australia who is on vacation here" Radyta said, introducing the men.

"It's nice to meet all of you, Thea's brother and sister." Hugo smiled as he shook hands with Thea's brothers. "Oh said Thea..."

"What did Thea say?" cut Arkananta with a face. "Must be careful with us, because we are minus morals? Because we don't hesitate to shout?"

"That's kind of .." replied Hugo clumsily.

"Yes !!!" exclaim the men there while being wide-eyed.

"Eh?" Hugo gazed dazedly at the handsome men he knew the average businessman and a heart doctor.

"Listen Hugo. The requirement to enter our family is that in addition to you really love our brother without any tenting-aling like looking for profit from the family name, you also have to be steadfast with all our scholarship" said Dewananda.

"Seriously?" ask Hugo who is confused how they accept him very out of the box. "Does Omar Zidane's agent experience the same thing?"

"More than bang Omar. He gets julid most often." rasping Remy.

"This is not how Hugo is. If our brothers in Tokyo, Italy and New York were together... You'll be more exhausted than this" Arkananta sneered.

"So, we start the show. Hugo, do you really know Thea because of your wife's death?" ask Devananda in serious style.

"Wa, this isn't an FBI or NYPD interrogation room" Romeo said.

"Oh yes. There's much more horror.." murmured Arkananta. "OKAY. Back to the initial question. Is it true that you met Thea in the interrogation room?"

"really. I asked Nelson to be my lawyer, but he's on a case and Nadya's on trial, too, so Nelson sent Thea. And that's where I met Thea" Hugo replied.

"When did you start falling in love with Thea?" ask Valentino.

"since... Omar Zidane and Billy Boyd got gum from Larry, my undercover manager and assistant, into the strip club*tease. I saw Thea with a different feeling.. "

"Are you sure you've moved on from your late wife?" ask Romeo.

"It has. I don't like betrayal the most so when I find out if I'm having an affair... I threw it out of my heart."

"Absolutely you don't remember?" ask Pahlavi who is confused how someone who has lived together for so many years but can directly eliminate from his brain and heart.

"Nope Pahlavi's... Sorry if I sound sarcasm. Indeed If who accompanied me from the beginning of my writing career but when he knew he planned to make me die and master my treasure... Really?! I used to love him so much but he slept with the man I was supposed to kill in a conflict zone. I am of Serbian descent but I am a citizen of the United States and I swear to protect my country as a soldier. But my own wife who slept with a war criminal? I can't take it." replied Hugo at length. "This is why I do not accept betrayal..."

"We all are. Especially those who already have a partner so you can say, once you have betrayed, it is not impossible to do again" said Radyta.

"So, are you now free from all the entanglements of the law?" ask Valentino.

"Alhamdulillah. All the perpetrators have been arrested by the FBI and have been prosecuted" Hugo replied. "Possible maximum punishment... Death sentence."

"Oh yes. New York still has the death penalty." Remy muttered.

"Yuk we eat first." take Radyta as the waiters come to bring her dinner.

***

Boston Massachusetts

"Seriously Thea?" apsarini asked in disbelief when she heard Hugo Melker, Thea's lover was in Jakarta.

"Seriously. This is them all on inviting Hugo to dinner at RR's Meal" Thea answered by phone call. The two girls were at their desks. Thea in Manhattan and Apsarini in Boston.

"But I salute Hugo. Want to come here to get the blessing of the Ramadhan family. Really serious with you" said Apsarini who was also happy to get her cousin a partner who loved her.

"Alhamdulillah. What about Shane? Already got the green light from Oom Tristan?"

"Alhamdulillah... Daddy took Shane by the chest. Moreover, Shane still have family relations so Daddy ayem ... And Shane has converted, add more plus from Daddy."

"Aren't you thinking about Khrisna Rao?" thea Goda.

"Not ! I haven't remembered Khrisna in a long time. He has returned to Mumbai ... Married to a girl who was betrothed to her parents. I get a much better man Thea and Shane is my soul mate" Apsarini replied firmly.

"Thank God... When do you want to get married?" seductive Thea made Apsarini speechless.

"Don't know yet..."

***

Yuhuuuu Up Siang Yaaaaaa gaaeeessss

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