Lies
A Gift to My Wife

Karan looked at his phone screen again, then he sighed softly. Ian who sat in front of him just shook his head, feeling strange with the behavior of the boss. What is the man looking forward to from the phone? Phone from Raya? No. gabe. Raya just called him less than an hour ago. There's no way Raya will contact Karan again. Ian also if it becomes Raya will not want to contact cold-hearted men who like to torture women.

“Haaahh!” Karan let out his long breath for the umpteenth time. This time accompanied by the tap of fingers on his desk and eyes that remain faithful looking at the screen of the mobile phone picture Kingdom. He hesitated, but his head was filled with questions. “Sial!”

Unable to hear that puff of despair, Ian ventured to ask. He moved from his place to Karan's desk. With great politeness, Ian addressed the question. “Sorry Sir, do you have a problem?”

Eventually Karan moved from his phone screen to look at Ian. “Ya, slightly. Ah, naw. Maybe this is a big problem.”

Ian's forehead spontaneously frowned. “If you may know, what is the problem sir? Who knows I can help you find the solution.”

What Karan likes most about Ian is his sensitivity. Ian is not the first personal assistant to work on Karan's side. Since the age of 18, Karan has been taught business by his father. That's why he had a few assistants before Ian. But the average assistant Karan is an elderly man whose age is far from Karan. The purpose of the father is to hire them so that Karan can learn quickly. Yes, it is undeniable that they did teach Karan a lot of things. But there's something else Karan doesn't get, which is a conversation partner who can understand him. Ian has all of that.

“You know why I canceled my show tonight?” Karan opens the conversation by asking Ian a question.

Ian actually knew what the cause was. Raya, the wife of the boss must have asked the boss to go home early. Ian would not answer that soon. He chose to pretend not to know. “I don't know, Sir. Is there anything important at home? Or the Madam and Mr suddenly visit your home again?”

Karan's head shook. “No, not that. Mom and Dad are going to Berlin. They said they'd only come home in two days so they wouldn't bother me. But Raya invited me to dinner at home today.”

Really, Ian's really wide-eyed right now. Both of his blackish brown eyeballs almost popped out so surprised by the man. So, almost an hour Karan mused while looking at the phone screen just because of the invitation of Raya dinner? Can Ian believe that?

During his time working with Karan, Ian had never seen Karan eat dinner with women in particular. The employer did have several times to hold dinner at the restaurant with women, but only limited to business dinner. Or a meeting deliberately arranged by his family. Karan never wanted to personally take a woman out to eat with him.

However, Karan is a graduate student from a top university in the United States. Most of her teenage years were spent there. Was Karan just focused on college? That's not possible. The association in the land of Uncle Sam is not like in Indonesia. Karan must have had a girlfriend of one or two during his college years. The man was unlikely to be a nerdy child because he only thought about his education.

“So apparently. So, what's the problem sir?” ian asked directly at the point because the more he thought about it, the more confused he felt as to why Karan was feeling so agitated.

“The problem is I never had dinner with Raya. That is, dinner alone at home.” Karan stood up from his chair while picking up the cigarette box and the lighter that was on the table. Then, the man walked towards the window. “This is weird. My wife never wanted to see my face. But why is he taking me suddenly?” muttered. He pressed the button that made the window open.

“Looks like I want to convey something to you, Sir,” guess Ian.

Where does he know? Ian wanted to say that. But it's impossible. Ian still needs this job, especially Karan pays him very big, twice as much as what Ian gets in other companies. Ian needs money to support his parents. He also needs funds to be able to prepare for his marriage with the lover next year.

“Hm ..” Ian thought hard, figuring out what the boss' wife wanted. From what Ian observed, Raya did not have any shortcomings, either financially or physically. Ah, naw. There is one that Raya does not have. The libertad. Maybe the woman had invited Karan to dinner so he could negotiate with the man about his work. “Maybe I want to get back to work, Sir.”

Instead of feeling angry as usual Karan heard about the proposal for Raya to work, this time Karan looks calmer. “So yes?” mumbling again. As he was about to bring the lighter flame closer to the end of his cigarette, Karan gasped. Then, he hurriedly pulled the cigarette from his lips. “Sial, I almost smoked again.”

“Are you trying to quit smoking, Sir?”

“Yes. My wife doesn't like to see me smoke. Our relationship has been good lately. I don't want to ruin it because of trivialities.” Karan moved. Unexpectedly he threw his expensive cigarette with the lighter made of gold into the garbage can. “Please keep all the cigarettes away from me. I want to try to stop.”

People say quitting smoking is hard, but Karan doesn't care. Like he who tried to smoke tobacco because of Raya, then he will be able to stop smoking because of his wife. No matter how difficult the struggle may be, it will not be as heavy as what he went through 12 years ago when he lived without the Kingdom. Karan had already surpassed every torture that no one else could have imagined. Just because it does not suck a few milliseconds of nicotine will not make his body tormented.

“Good Sir. I'll get rid of all your cigarettes,” said Ian. At least now he has to obey Karan's orders, but he doesn't really mean to throw away all the man's expensive tobacco. Not for personal consumption because Ian is not a smoker, but in anticipation of Karan changing his mind. Karan's emotions are so labile. No one will know when Karan asks for that item again.

“And another one, what should I do tonight? Em, I mean, do I have to prepare anything before I go home? This is our first dinner after marriage. There is no way I can go home without bringing anything for my wife,” Karan said again while thinking what Raya likes. From the information he got, Raya showed no interest in anything other than her work. Maybe if Raya asks him to go back to work, Karan will allow it.

What Karan thought was different from Ian. He even thinks practically about what Karan should bring tonight. That's why it appeared in his head. “How about flowers sir? You never give flowers to Mother Kingdom. I see, Mom likes to see some flowers in the garden next to the house. Maybe Mom likes flowers.”

What Ian said was not bad. The idea of giving flowers to Raya tonight sounds good at least quite natural. Actually Karan can give anything to Raya. Keep in mind, he works for Raya, meaning that every nominal balance in his bank account belongs to the woman. Even if Raya asks for a luxury gift, such as a car or decoration, Karan will not hesitate to buy her.

The problem is that Raya doesn't really like the expensive gifts Karan gives even though Raya never rejects them. Raya did wear those luxury items but only limited to formality, probably meaning that Karan was not offended. This is quite strange considering the Kingdom that Karan has seen so far always looks glamorous in front of the media. But when they get married, the woman actually displays her simplicity.

“Yes, then you prepare a bouquet of flowers for my wife. Make sure the flowers are still fresh when I bring it later tonight,” said Karan agreed to the idea of the assistant.

Karan's message was well received by Ian. “Good Sir. I will soon find the best flowers for Mother Kingdom,” he said excitedly. The reason Ian was so enthusiastic about preparing a gift for Raya was twofold, first because he felt bored seeing the strange relationship between the spouses. While the second reason is because he will get a bonus every successfully makes Karan happy. And Raya is Karan's source of happiness even though Karan himself is unaware of it. Or rather, rejecting the reality.