TAGGED WITH OM RICH
02. Lecturer Sucks.

“What are you thinking, non?” Tanya Gista, Renatta's best friend since entering college.

“Ta.”

Renatta did not continue his words. He had to either talk to his best friend, or not.

“What's up? It seems you are in a dilemma. Did you miss the flash sale promo on the online shopping app?” Joking the girl.

Renatta. He dropped his head on the table. They are now in class. And without realizing it, the lecturer was already standing in front.

“I'm upset, Ta. I—

“RENATTA PRINCESS SETIAWAN.”

Baritone voice interrupts. The two girls looked at each other. Finish us. That's how their eyes talk.

Renatta closed his eyes tightly. He knew exactly who the adult male voice belonged to. Who else if not John Richard Wijaya.

“If you guys want to gossip, please quit this class. My class, not a place to chat.”

Renatta's eyes closed tightly, his head shaking tightly. Again he had to deal with that shitty guy.

“After this lesson is over, you come to my room, Renatta Putri Setiawan.” Richard spoke again. The man emphasized the pronunciation of Renatta's name.

‘Basic old man sucks. I pray no girl wants to be with you.’

Renatta's hand was clenched under the table. He always had problems with this one lecturer. According to the girl, he did not make such a fatal mistake.

After Richard's class ended, Renatta obeyed the man's orders. He had to go to the lecturer's room to not prolong the problem. Because, if he did not comply, Richard would complain to one of the Setiawan family members about Renatta on campus.

“Why do you like to look for problems with me?”

Not the welcome word that the girl heard upon entering her lecturer's room. But a sentence that sounds very unfriendly.

Hey, what did that forty-year-old man say? Renatta was so happy to find trouble with him? God, it's too bad the girl hit Richard's head on the wall.

“I asked you to come here not to stand.”

The man spoke again. There is no sweetness, but they have been neighbors for a dozen years.

“Sorry for the mistake I have made, om—I mean, sir Rich.” Renatta lowered his head. He pretended to be sorry. The girl was tired of the forty-year-old man.

“What punishment should I give you again? Looks like, all the punishments you've got.”

Renatta sighed softly. “As far as you are, sir.”

The girl resigned. I don't know how many times he has received punishment from Richard since the man became a lecturer at this campus.

***

“Basic weathered bujang sucks.”

All this time, I don't know how many nicknames and swears he has given to Richard. His once great love for the man, is now slowly changing the deep hatred.

Feeling less fortunate, Renatta decided to go visit the tomb of his twin brother. Things he often did after getting into trouble from Richard.

The girl drove her car to one of the elite cemeteries in the capital. The place where Rianna was buried.

Before entering the cemetery, Renatta bought a bunch of white lilies. Flowers are his favorite. He was sure that Rianna would also like to remember them twins.

“Hai, Ri. I came.” The sentence Renatta always said every time he arrived in front of the tomb of the twin.

The girl placed a bouquet of lilies on top of the mound of earth. He then calmed down, and bowed his head, momentarily offering a prayer.

“How are you doing there?” Ask on the gravestone bearing the name Rianna Putri Setiawan.

Renatta could not remember childhood memories with his twin brother. They separated when they were five years old. She doesn't even know she was born a twin.

Papa Roy and mama Dona just told the truth when Renatta was eleven. The girl was in disbelief, but the photographic evidence of two little girls with very similar faces convinced her.

“Ri. You know, he said the family business was having problems. The company is threatened with bankruptcy if it does not get financial assistance.” Renatta told me with eyes that were starting to heat up.

He could not hold back his tears when talking to Rianna's tomb.

“And to help the company's finances, papa betrothed me to his business partner.” The girl sighed softly.

“Actually, I don't care if I have to get married young. If it helps the family. You must know, I also do not want to live hard.” Renatta spoke fluently as if the interlocutor was in front of him.

“But, the problem here is, the man is forty years old. You can imagine, he must have been belly-bellied and his hair back backwards.”

The girl snorted in annoyance. He simply described the forty-year-old man as he had in mind. Renatta forgot, if the man he loved at once who he now hated was also four heads old.

John Richard Wijaya. Although this year the man is forty years old, but he still looks handsome, flat-bellied and his hair is still thick and neatly arranged.

“Ri, I'm sorry. I was forced to agree to this matchmaking to help my family and not be a burden to my father and brother. Help me out yes. After a few months of marriage, I will divorce the man.”

Renatta. As long as the man has helped his family financially, he will sue the man for divorce.

“I'll go home first, Ri. Next time I'll come again.” Renatta bent down and kissed the headstone of the twin.

He then got up, and left the elite cemetery.

***

Seriate.