Love That (No) Blind
Part 29: Between NFC and FTC

[Sara]

“I-it ..”

Sara's panicking isn't playing. A few minutes ago, he was sure Agam was still asleep. And now, all of a sudden his wrist was gripped by the man. Obviously he panicked. What's he gonna say? What could be the reason?

“A-anu ... I-it ... The mosquito! Yep! There's mosquitoes! Haha ... Mosquitoes are many, yes,” Sara said as she wagged her other hand in the air like she was chasing something away.

Agam did not answer anything. He's still holding Sara's wrist. Agam's eyes were still fixed on Sara as if he was looking at her. Sara's nervousness gets out of control.

“M-mas ..”

Agam then released Sara's hand. He raised his body to sit. Then his hand started to move looking for something on the nightstand. His hearing aid.

In that instant, Sara already felt like she was a fool. Maybe he forgot that Agam was not using a hearing aid. So who did he explain it to at length?

Sara swallowed her saliva hard as Agam was sitting facing her. Although Agam's eyes no longer looked at him, Sara's nervousness and panic still did not subside either.

“N-mosquito! Actually there was a mosquito!,” exclaimed Sara again repeated the words that Agam had not heard.

Agam lightly ruffled the hair on his head, then said, “True? I thought you were shaving my hair.”

Eh?

Sara scrunched her forehead. “For what do I do that?”

Shrugged his shoulders. “Entahlah. Fad possible?”

Can't believe it feels like he just heard that. “Mas think I'm what age?”

“Yes, if a cooking prankster remembers age?”

Sara immediately snorted in annoyance. He turned his face the other way, away from Agam. “Ah, don't know, ah.”

As she returned to Agam, Sara saw the man smiling quite widely. “Ish, even smile,” grunts. And turned his face back.

Pissed it.

But, over time, Sarah could not hold her lips to expand. She smiles. The longer, the smile grew wider, then laughed. Sara could no longer hold back the tingling in her chest.

Sara is unable to hold it back when Agam laughs with her. For the first time since they got married, Sara saw Agam's smile and laughter all at once one night.

Thank goodness it's better now.

“Thank you,” said Agam suddenly. Sara immediately stopped laughing when she heard Agam say it. It just feels weird. Because he felt like he had done nothing since then.

“Thanks for ... not going.”

Sara smiled with relief. One thing that he himself had hesitated earlier, but it was not bad also if done.

If I had followed his request, Mas Agam would have stayed that way all night. The wound ... might be widening.

“Thank you too, Mas,” Sara said later. “Thank you for believing in me.”

Trusting others is hard. And when someone has decided to do it, it means that he has passed through many doors that he has to open and go through. Opening every door is not easy. Because each door represents his sense of insecurity.

I worked very hard to do all that.

“I don't trust everyone.” Agam again said something to reply to Sara's words. “I just ... protect myself. I'm afraid .. with treason.”

What Agam did next was to tell her the things that were fussed about by her and her stepmother this afternoon.

Next Future Corp (NFC) used to be a company that sells electronic goods, where Agam's mother became the head of the Engineering Team (ET), and Agam's father was the owner who continued the leadership of his father, or Agam's grandfather.

But everything changed since Agam's mother died. After that, NFC is like walking in place, not forward nor backward. Thanks to the expertise of Agam's father in negotiating, NFC is able to survive with old products that can still be sold.

When Agam was 20 years old, when he was still a student, Agam had many brilliant ideas that Agam's father finally realized. Be the NFC where you experiment and create. Agam joined the NFC at that time as an inventor or creator as well as a researcher.

Selene was the first product of Agam.

This is in stark contrast to what NFC does.

Therefore, Agam's father founded Future Technology Corp (FTC), a company that will become a distributor or seller for NFC.

The FTC's job is to sell products produced by NFC. However, the FTC is free to create its own products that are not manufactured by NFC.

“FTC was built 3 years after I joined NFC. At the time the FTC was led by Papa himself. All the selling work that NFC usually does is transferred to the FTC. So some people see the FTC as a company controlled by NFC. So is Mama.”

NFC is not so ...

“Mama considers FTC a newly established company. Not like NFC. So he thinks the FTC is nothing.”

When Agam's father died, Arya was 19 years old at the time. Too young and inexperienced to lead the FTC. Therefore, Agam sent it to America for school there.

“But, Mama thought I threw Arya away so I could control both NFC and FTC at once.”

Undeniably that ...

“I know, Mama just wants to merge NFC and FTC into one. Making him the only one Arya can lead. I also believe Arya wouldn't do that. He knew how valuable these two companies were. But, I'm worried that if NFC isn't under my control, it will happen.”

“NFC used to be the pride of both my parents. I just want the NFC intact so I can continue the ideals of the late Mama first. He has some designs he can't work on just yet because it's against the NFC field. NFC can stand on its own. I can make it happen.”

Agam clenched both his hands, and said, “I want to make it happen.”

Sara understands it now. That's why he's being so defensive. He was too protective of himself, as if the whole world was hostile towards him. Though not all.

Arya is still supporting him. But his worries, plus his physical shortcomings resulted in him becoming ever-vigilant. He continued to worry that people would attack him when he could neither see nor hear.

He felt alone in his dark world.

Sara then reached out her hand and clasped one of Agam's hands. Didn't say anything. Just stay so until Agam finds out he's not alone.

The night is getting late. Agam continues to tell stories until the time has changed. And Sara still remained there faithfully accompanying.

Somehow the story goes, when tired of attacking, Sara finally fell asleep again with Agam who (again) fell asleep in his lap.

......................

The next morning, while Sara was preparing breakfast with Mbok Jami, Arya then went in to greet him, still with the same sluggishness as yesterday. Her slurred eyes clearly indicated she was sleep deprived last night.

Sara smiled looking at Arya who was already sitting on the dining table. The look on his face showed his unwillingness to eat breakfast. But the sound on his stomach clearly forced him to eat breakfast.

Maybe he didn't eat last night.

“Tadi Mbak makes fried rice. Want?,” asked Sara offered.

With a weak move, Arya nodded.

With a smile on her face, Sara got up to get her sister-in-law a plate of fried rice.

Shortly thereafter, Agam entered and immediately occupied his usual place. Arya who saw Agam immediately stood up and greeted him. Clearly, Arya was nervous because she wanted to talk to her brother.

“Mas ..”