The Essence Of The Darkness
Episode 43: Requesting Permission

When Elana awakens, she finds herself alone in Akram's vast room. Elana sharpens her sense of hearing and realizes there is a sound of water flowing from the bathroom, indicating that Akram is bathing in there.

Immediately Elana glanced towards the clock attached to the wall right opposite her and she heaved a sigh of relief when she realized that it was still morning. There was still enough time for him to prepare himself and leave for work without being late.

Elana immediately removed the blanket from her body and went to her own room. However, his steps came to a halt as he stared at the chaos caused by Akram last night while searching for the medicine box and he was stunned staring at everything.

Akram as if spilling all the contents of his closet haphazardly to the floor. It is strange, because Akram who behaved haphazardly as if not the usual Akram.

Suddenly, Elana thought that if the condition of the cupboard was destroyed by Akram's actions, Elana could not imagine how the destroyed condition of the kitchen used by Akram made porridge for him overnight. Maybe the kitchen was very dirty with messy cookware and rubbed with melts and porridge splashes everywhere.

"Leave it. The waiter who came here every day would clear things up," Akram's voice suddenly sounded from behind Elana, making Elana immediately turn her head in alarm.

He found Akram who was still in the doorway of the bathroom, looked fresh, moist and wet after bathing.

"How are you doing?" Akram looks to watch Elana's skin hue that is not as pale as last night, realizing that Elana already looks better this morning.

"I'm already good. Thank you," Elana's hand touched her stomach and subconsciously rubbed it. The medicine that Akram gave him was very effective. After a night of exhaustion wrestling with her thoughts, Elana instantly fell asleep involuntarily. When I woke up this morning, the pain was no longer felt.

While thinking, Elana's eyes inevitably looked towards Akram and her mind suddenly moved, focusing on the man. His mind accompanied the gaze of his eyes which looked at the figure of the man deeper.

Akram was wearing a black bathrobe tied haphazardly to her waist and Elana's cheeks flushed red when she realized that most likely, Akram was wearing nothing under her bathrobe.

Akram's sharp eyes scanned Elana's reddened face and a grin appeared on her lips when expertly, the, he managed to deduce what flashed through Elana's mind as those wide, innocent eyes were looking at her.

"Want to know?" ask slowly, meaningfully.

Elana frowned, staring at the confused Akram. "Want to know what?" reply asked.

Akram's smile slowly unraveled adorning his lips as his hand moved touching the robe rope on his waist in passing.

"Want to know if I'm wearing something under this bathrobe, or not?" rayu Akram with a sensual tone while her hands increasingly shifted seductively, as if about to untie the robe's rope.

Elana's face this time was completely red. He stepped back involuntarily, moving according to his instincts to get away from Akram, terrified that Akram would actually show off his nudity in front of him.

"I think I'm going to go to my room to take a shower first. I'm almost too late!" Elana blurted out and immediately turned around, then raised her legs immediately to run around and left Akram's room and slammed the door behind her.

Akram who was left alone, just stared wryly at the closed door.

Just this time he humbled himself to give sensual seduction to a woman, only to be rejected with an attitude of fear.

***

***

"Master,"

Elios spoke as Akram ordered him to enter as soon as his assistant knocked on his door.

"What's wrong?" Akram lifted his head from the digital screen displaying his work files and raised an eyebrow when he saw Elios standing hesitantly in the doorway.

"Mr Akram, this is about Miss Elana. He asks to be connected to you. Miss Elana said that your phone could not be reached.

Akram's eyes widened, filled with shock. Elana had never contacted him before, even the phone he gave to Elana never seemed to be used as its function to make Akram feel annoyed.

"Fetch him, tell him to go up here" said Akram then in a stern tone. He behaves indifferently on the outside, though in his heart, Akram cannot hide his strong curiosity for the reason why Elana asked to contact him.

Elios again showed doubt on his face, though, he spoke no matter what. "But, uh, Mr. Akram, actually Miss Elana didn't ask to see you. He just asked to be connected over the phone because he wanted to talk to you about something."

Akram's expression darkened. "Tell him I'm near here, not thousands of kilometers away. If he wants to talk, then he should come face to face with me" he said in an angry tone.

Akram then ignored Elios and refocused his attention on the work before him, until there was nothing else Elios could do but follow his master's orders.

However, when Elios stepped back and was about to close the door of Akram's study, Akram suddenly seemed to remember something and called back.

"Elios."

Elios immediately stopped his movements, and looked back from the open door in a polite manner.

"Yes, Sir?"

Akram's expression did not change when he gave the order, it still looked so dark and frightening.

"Message me two sets of exclusive menu lunches from my restaurant. Choose a healthy menu, not spicy, soft and good for stomach health. Ask them to come and serve it on my living room desk immediately" he said firmly.

***

***

When the next knock on the door sounded and Akram allowed the waiting figure to enter, Elana hesitated to enter the room with an awkward look mixed with fear, elios, meanwhile, understandingly closed the door behind him to preserve the privacy of both of them.

Akram immediately put down the entire work he was holding, hooked his hands together to support his chin, and looked at Elana with his piercing sharp eyes.

"Is there anything you want to say?"

"You're not here to ask me to make love, are you?" Akram suddenly asked while narrowing his eyes when Elana did not also speak.

Her words made Elana aghast, her face instantly met with red as she looked at Akram angrily.

"Of course not! There's no way I'm doing that!" he immediately defended himself, thrusting a punching answer that directly pierced into Akram's heart.

They have indeed established an agreement that from today, Akram will not call Elana to his room every lunch hour. Instead, Elana must be willing to meet the requirements of Akram - to show an active attitude when they make love later - and it will start tonight.

"So for what? Are you here to have lunch?" asked Akram again, this time tucking in a mocking tone in his voice.

Elana this time was really offended by Akram's disdain, he immediately raised his haughty chin, then spoke with great pride. "No, thank you. I can buy my own food. I came to ask for permission," immediately Elana revealed her purpose towards Akram this time.

Akram raised an eyebrow, his expression looking extremely dangerous. If Elana asks for permission, it must be related to permission to do something careless and will ultimately harm her own self.

"No. You're not allowed." Akram cut off his eye contact with Elana then coldly refocused his attention on the work in front of him. Ignoring Elana is one effective way so that the woman does not have a chance to dispute it.

"How could you decide so quickly and arrogantly? I haven't even explained what I'm asking permission for." exclaimed angry Elana. He forgot his initial intention to keep his distance from Akram and stepped closer, right in front of Akram's enormous work desk.

Akram did not even raise his gaze when he answered Elana later.

"I don't need to hear your explanation. My decision is a decree for you and if I say 'no' then you must obey it" he replied in an irritating calm tone.

Elana's breath began to sting as anger overpowered her. "You're not my owner and I'm not your pet cat. I don't need your permission to do anything! Anything!" while exclaiming furiously, Elana turned her body.

His steps quickly crossed the room towards the door and was about to open it. But, of course he lost agile with Akram. The man was suddenly already behind her, his hand moved past Elana's face and pushed the door of his study slightly open so that it closed back with a loud voice.

Elana was stunned, raising her head only to find Akram looking down at her. The man was so close to trapping her that Elana's back stuck to her chest that it made Elana feel extremely threatened.

"I didn't come here to fuck you! Move aside! Unhand me!" Elana started to fight with all her might, she turned her body and tried to kick Akram. It was enough that Akram treated her like a stepped footgear at will, this time Elana would fight back. She would not let Akram harass her after the man had behaved arrogantly towards her.

Akram did not fend off Elana's hand punches and kicks. Elana let him vent all his frustration. Then, after Elana's movements diminished and her punch weakened, Akram pushed Elana to the door, wrapped her arms around Elana's body and hugged her firmly to prevent all the movements of Elana's subsequent attacks on her body.

"Ssh.I know. I'm not gonna make you fuck with me. I'm sorry." said Akram suddenly. Her voice turned calm without adorned with her usual arrogant tone, making Elana's entire movement come to a halt and the woman was stunned, looking up at Akram with a look of disbelief.

"What did you say?" Elana asked again to make sure, as if she did not believe her own hearing. It felt really impossible that an arrogant and proud Akram Night would be willing to apologize and humble himself.

Akram stepped back, freeing Elana willingly while the man turned his gaze to the short table located in front of the large sofa that was at the end of his study. The man seemed unwilling to look at Elana to avoid what was in his heart until it was read by the woman.

"I won't say it twice," Akram replied in a faint tone, then turned around and acted as if ignoring Elana. "Come and have lunch with me. I'll give you one chance to re-explain what it means to have you come here this afternoon."

For a moment Elana was still stunned to look at the back of Akram who was away. Really, Akram Night is the most elusive human being in the entire world. The man started everything with an annoying arrogant attitude, then suddenly changed his attitude like a wise figure who was willing to listen in an instant?

But, of course Elana had no other choice. He knew that compromising with Akram was the best path for now. That's why Elana finally complied and followed Akram's steps to the sofa and sat there.

That's when he realized that on the front desk of the sofa was already presented a variety of appetizing dishes, which were appetizing, arranged on small plates beautiful gold flower pattern that contains several menu offerings with a very beautiful appearance. It seems that Akram spends most of his lunch time not getting out of his study and enjoying a specially ordered lunch meal served in his study.

"So?" Akram had suddenly thrown a large plate into Elana's hand. Elana received it and placed the plate on her lap when she felt how heavy the load inside the plate was . Apparently the man had taken a large amount of each available dish and transferred it to the plate he had given to Elana until the plate appeared full.

When Elana still did not respond to his words, Akram again spoke with a demanding tone. "Explain to me what you want to ask permission for. Just talk while eating. Finish your food, don't leave any food on this plate. You know that with your pain you can't be late to eat, so learn to take good care of yourself and not be late to eat for now."

Elana just looked at Akram who continued to grumble will be incompetent Elana in taking care of herself. He was amazed by Akram's ability to give a series of commands without pause. Perhaps when this man was a baby, Akram could already point while babbling and rule in baby language towards his nanny fiercely and demandingly, making anyone who happens to be unlucky must take care of it so feel troubled.

As Akram continued to nag, Elana was finally able to only comply and feed a spoonful of dishes into her mouth. His eyes widened as his senses tasted a streak of delicacy that rolled quickly around his tongue, wrapping it with a sensation of immensely delicious taste, making his appetite increase rapidly and wanting to come back to bribe again and again.

"Nake?" ask Akram later. And when Elana nodded, the man's lips immediately revealed a smug smile. "Of course it's very tasty, it's the cuisine of the chef who once worked in one of the three-star Michelin-predicated restaurants that is the standard of the number one restaurant in the world. He was used to serving typical dishes that were processed using the best ingredients with impeccably high-level cooking techniques. You feel it too, don't you? This is certainly more delicious than home-cooked processed dishes just with just the ingredients anyway."

Elana's eyes narrowed hearing Akram's arrogance. Was the man mocking his cooking on holiday yesterday? Akram did not protest at all and finished his cooking until the toilet of that time, why did the man now take the opportunity to mock him? Is it Akram's basic attitude to always attack and start a fight every man opens his mouth?

"In my opinion, all cooking will taste better when compared to someone's porridge," Elana replied with insinuations, deliberately provoking the man in front of her.

In a flash a red hue flashed across Akram's cheek. However, the man managed to hide it quickly. Akram immediately put on a cold expression and instantly switched the conversation. It seemed like his act of cooking porridge overnight was a recklessness that finally showed that the perfect figure of Akram Night turned out to have a weakness. That's why Akram doesn't seem to want to talk about it anymore

"So, what do you want to ask permission for?"

Elana placed the large plate on her lap and finished chewing and swallowing the food in her mouth before speaking.

"The head of the hygiene division held a twenty-five-year celebration of his marriage to his wife at a restaurant not far from the company. The event was held later in the afternoon and of course all his men were invited to come. All employees of the cleaning division have received permission from HRD to use the employee bus to take them to the party location together to then also be escorted back to their respective homes by employee bus after the party's over." Elana stared timidly at Akram. "I... Can I go with you?" tanyanya.

Akram's expression darkened with a hint of an angry hue on his face. Of course he knew about the celebration of the party, he even got an invitation to attend there. However, an Akram Night only shows up at formal events that concern companies or generate favorable coverage for companies, he is very rare and even almost never appears at his employees' private events, as big and as fancy as that.

Akram's eyes watched Elana and his brows furrowed.

This woman did not realize how dangerous the situation they were in right now was. With Xavier who continues to lurk, there will always be dangers that come to attack and can take the life of Elana.

In fact, in order to minimize any risk to Elana, Akram has ordered an invisible, strict guard that will always surround Elana wherever she is. Even when Elana was in the company, the guard against her was very strict, forcing her men to work twice as hard as usual.

And now, that woman was about to make things difficult with her desire to go to a party outside the corporate environment?

***

***