Until one day, he was barefaced enough to ask her for a favor. He was on a quest to woo Veronica a student from Spain. Who else could he turn to but his friend who knew how to speak Spanish? He asked her to organize a banner as a romantic gesture for his new target. Naturally Paramita accepted the request happily. She ordered the banner and placed it in the campus entrance, “Veronica, Yo Soy un Gran Hijo De Puta. Quiero Follar Contigo, Hafiz"
Chapter Four
Paramita woke up with a terrible headache, but her heart and mind was calmer than the night before. She was angry, hurt and upset. She never thought that Hafiz would be forced back into her life again. If it would have been a few years earlier, she wouldn’t have thought twice to say yes. But now, after everything that happened, after everything she knew. There was no way that she was going to marry him.
She was perfectly aware that there were people who want to take advantage of her at this moment. And it hurts even more to realize that her biological Father and Mother are part of those people, each with their own interest at mind. But she was equally determined not to show any weakness. If she had to sacrifice herself, she has to make sure that she would not get hurt in the process.
Since the beginning, she wasn’t stupid enough to go against her Father the Sultan, so she was always ready to take advantage of him, but in a different way. Ever since she arrived here in Jothar, she only saw him four times, to her, he’s a stranger. That’s why, she has absolutely no doubts to make use of what he has in abundance. Money and power. If he was acknowledging her as his daughter to put her through a political marriage, then she will protect herself from any possible harm, physically or emotionally.
A feeling of envy began to creep into her mind. How is it that other people can have dreams, and have people who love them? She never felt any warmth and love from either of her parents. The only boy she ever fell in love with shattered her heart to pieces and made her best friend pregnant. She was pulled away from the future she wanted as an architect, the dream job that she studied so hard for. And everybody expects her to bow her head and accept without a word. She smiled sarcastically, “I’m not going to suffer alone if they think it is fair game to trample on my feelings. I can do the same.”
There was a knock on the door, it opened and Noorhayati came in with a tray in her hand. “Good morning, Puteri.” She said.
“Good morning, Mak.”
“Why didn’t you sleep properly last night?” She said while observing Paramita’s face. “Your eyes have dark rings around it.”
“There was something that I needed to think about Mak. But don’t worry. I think I know what I’m going to do. Can you please help me get some tea bags for compress, afterwards help me prepare, I need to talk to my Father a bit later. By the way, did you deposit the money I gave you?”
“Yes, I deposited it in the bank yesterday. I don’t understand you, why do you need to save most of your allowances in the bank. Most young women your age will spend it on clothes, makeup, and jewelry.”
“Mak, we never know when a rainy day comes, it’s better being ready than sorry. Did you pick up the jewelry that I asked you to buy?”
“Yes I did. And I ordered the jeweler to make a set with zircon rubies and emeralds that match the real ones that His Majesty Sultan gave you last week, the ones you kept in the safe deposit box at the bank.”
“Thank you, Mak. Only you understand me well. Make sure they use the finest white gold only and charge it to the Sultan’s account as always.” Paramita hugged her nanny with love, but there was a sadness in her voice.
Noorhayati left her for a while to get the tea bags. Paramita went to her desk and sat down. She took a manila folder and opened it. Inside was a bundle of newspaper articles, reports and photos of the family Jothar’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Raden Hamza Bin Raden Abdurahman Bin Abu Hidayat Bin Sultan Umar Sharif Uddin.
Raden Hamza is the second cousin of her Father. They are about the same age, with her Father being only 8 months older. When Raden Hamza was 9 years old, he was brought to the inner palace to be raised by the Sultan’s Mother because his own parents were killed during an air raid by the Japanese troops when he was a baby. He was raised by his grandparents. But in those times life was hard for the people of Jothar, even for Royalty. The newly independent country was still struggling to stabilize its post-war economy and there was not enough infrastructure and health services for everyone. The earlier Sultan took the son of his cousin under his care, to raise him and personally educate him, since at a time of uncertainty he felt that it was the right thing to do for his next of kin.
At the age of twenty-five, Raden Hamza married his first wife, Princess Latifa Binti Abdullah from an Arabic Kingdom, she gave him a son Raden Burhanuddin Ali. They divorced after two years for reasons not known to the public. Soon after Raden Hamza remarried Nabilla, at that time before converting, her name was Tan Mei Ling, she is the only daughter of Tan Ping An, owner of Holy Mountain Investment Group a rich Chinese conglomerate second in fortune only to the Sultan himself. “Goodness, this Raden Hamza sure likes imported luxury goods.” Said Paramita to herself. She continued reading, Raden Hamza and his second wife have one son and one daughter. Raden Hafiz Adid and Raden Fasiya.
Paramita put down the papers pensively. “So if Raden Hamza is open-minded about marriage with foreigners, why did Hafiz doubt so much about marrying Laila? Also, she was a daughter of a very wealthy family, in fact, Laila’s family owned shares in mining companies throughout South East Asia.” There was no clear reason that she can think of. She scanned the report for any news on Laila, but there were none.
She turned her attention to a different subject, now she was holding a written summary for Burhanuddin Ali. A bachelor in his early thirties, He studied in the United States, at Princeton, he holds a Master in Finance. Currently works as Director of Finance in a state-owned company. He has dated the Indonesian pop star Dewi Chandrawati for 3 years now. Every year there was news about their engagement plan, but nothing has ever been concreted. There were a news report about how such a devoted boyfriend he is, always assisting every concert she had in Jothar, even going with her on her tours to remote cities. Photos of them together, smiling at each other so happily, photos of Ali proudly hugging her or Dewi hugging him and all other romantic poses. “Eww, they probably have diabetes from all that sweetness.” Said Paramita with disgust. She continued to read, Raden Ali is actively involved in voicing clean governance and transparency in state and private-held companies. He isn’t involved in politics, but as the son of one of Jothar’s high government official, and being opened in his political views, many media analysts expect that he will soon dive into the world of politics.
She threw the report to the floor angrily. She massaged her head that was beginning to pound again. She opened her drawer again and took out a folded poster, she opened it and spread it on her desk. “Hello Dubai…..” She smiled, kissing the picture.
Noorhayati knocked on the door and came in with warm tea bags. Paramita quickly folded the poster again and hid it, she stood up and laid down on her bed. She covered her eyes with the bags. “Mak, I want to wear my favorite purple dress today, and I think I will combine it with the lace veil that I bought in Sevilla. Also prepare my new jewelry that you brought back yesterday.”
“Are you going to wear them to meet you father? What happens if he finds out that the diamonds on that set are fake? You can get the jeweler in trouble.”
“Oh Mak. Don’t be ridiculous, although he is a smart man, but he's not a gem expert. I doubt he can identify it in one glance. And even if he does, the real diamonds are in my safe deposit box at the bank, no harm done.”
Noorhayati shook her head. “I don’t understand you.”
“Mak, you don’t have to understand me, just do what I say, love me, and trust me.”
“Of course.”
* * *
By the time she finished dressing up and arrived at the Sultan’s study, it was 3:
30 PM, just on time, the Sultan always spends his afternoon reading. She asked his personal secretary to announce her, which he did, and she was lead into the room.
It was a huge study, furnished with expensive old teak furniture. He had an extensive personal library, with book collections dating back to more than a century.
He was sitting at his desk, as she thought he would be. He was a tall and medium built man. His face shows prominence and intelligence. At his age, he is very well-preserved, his hair is still black and barely any wrinkles on his face.
Paramita came closer to him and bent down to kiss his extended hand.
“How is Ananda[6] doing today?” he asked her kindly
“Ananda is doing very well, Ayahnda[7] Sultan.” She replied. “I am here to show off to you my new jewelry that I had made from the gemstones you gave me.”
“Beautiful, they are beautiful indeed.” Replied the Sultan, without even giving it a second look. “How was your visit to the house of my second cousin, Raden Hamza?”
“It went well, Raden Nabilla, has a very exquisite taste both in her home décor and in gastronomy. She served a delicious contemporary dish.”
“I’m glad, I’m glad.” He said with a smile. “Did you meet with his sons?”
“Yes I did, Ayahnda.”
“Excellent, and how did you find his family?”
“They are nice people.” She said shallowly, “I don’t know if you know this, but I studied with their son Raden Hafiz in Cambridge.”
“So I heard. That’s a good thing that you are familiar with them, that way once you get married, you will not have a hard time adapting to your new life.”
“Indeed, Ayahnda.” She said agreeing. “But when I marry, my husband and I will be moving to our own residence, am I right.”
The Sultan let out a loud laugh, “Are you afraid of living with you Mother in Law?”
Paramita smiled, “Not really, but I would like to have some independence in managing my household, and not depending on my husband’s parents.”
“Don’t worry, of course, you will have your own residence. Your future husband will soon take office as the Minister of Finance as soon as Pangeran Kadir retires, he is very old and tired. Naturally we cannot have our Minister of Finance living with his parents, our country will be a laughing-stock in the eyes of the world. I have assigned The Lotus Palace for your future residence. I’m sure you will love it. It was my residence before I was the Sultan.”
“I appreciate it very much Ayahnda. May I go and see it?”
“Of course you may, In fact, you can go and decorate it as you want, because it’s yours.”
“Thank you, Ayahnda.” She hesitated for a while, “Ayahnda, will my Mother be allowed to attend my wedding ceremony?”
The Sultan looked at her, his eye softened. “Of course my child, why shouldn’t she attend? She is your Mother, after all, the woman who gave birth and raised you. Also, I’m sure she will be happy seeing her daughter finally grown up and starting her own family.”
“Thank you, Ayahnda.”
“I forgot to tell you, my Permaisuri, will be overseeing all the preparation and the details of your wedding and honeymoon. If there is anything you want, you can go and tell her directly.”
“Yes, Ayahnda.”
“Tomorrow I will make the announcement to the family of Raden Hamza, do you have any request for your dowry.”
“Actually I do, I will appreciate it if they gave my dowry in the form of gold.”
“My child, don’t you think you are obsessed with jewelry? You have so many already, every time I offer you a gift, this is what you ask for.”
“Father, I can’t help it to love what I love, collecting jewelry is a hobby for me, some people like cars, some people like boats or horses. I like jewelry.”
“Very well, and I suppose you will want the same as a gift from me.”
“I won’t mind a cash gift.”
The Sultan looked at her puzzled, “Excellent, I will open a bank account under your name to deposit your wedding gift, how does half a million US dollars sound.”
Paramita smiled. “Thank you, Ayahnda. Ayahnda is a very generous person indeed.”
“You made a good choice, my child. Your future husband is a very good man, but you will need to be patient with his feelings and show yourself as a dedicated and obedient wife. So he will fall in love with you.”
“I know, Ayahnda. Despite everything, I am your daughter, I’m sure Raden Ali will be a faithful husband and will not dare to disappoint you.” Paramita smiled very sweetly.
Chapter Five
Ali entered opened the door of his office, his head felt like it was going to explode. Quarterly audit meetings are most of the times seem like a battlefield, especially when auditing procurement and contracting processes, the excuses used to cover corruption and nepotism is downright outrageous and offensive. Do these people really think that he is that stupid?
He entered with big strides and threw himself on his chair at his desk. He leaned back and covered his face with his hands. He remained in that position trying to relax himself for a good five minutes when his desk phone rang. He sat up straight and answered the phone, “Yes, what is it Nancy?”
“Sir, Miss Dewi is here to see you.” Nancy Kim his secretary answered.
“Let her in, please.” His voice suddenly became cheerful.
This was certainly a pleasant surprise, Dewi arrived a few days earlier than expected. The door opened and a petite woman with short hair entered. She closed the door and walked to the desk.
Ali got up to greet her, he swept her in his arms and planted a long kiss on her lips. “You are really an angel sent from heaven, you always appear when I’m down and my whole day improves dramatically.”
“Abang, you’re exaggerating.” She said while blushing, “I miss you so much, I couldn’t wait to see you, so I asked my manager to change my schedule so I can make it here earlier.”
“I miss you too.” He hugged her again tightly. “Let’s sit down.”
They walked over to the L shape couch and sat side by side.
“How are your parents?” Ali asked.
“They’re fine. They came back from visiting my sister in California.”
“Oh, that’s right, so she had a baby boy did she?”
“Yep, they named him Rudy. From the photos my Mother took, you could see that he is a very healthy baby, I think he weighed like three and a half kilo when he was born. My Mother said my sister had a pretty hard time during labor.”
“Well, with a baby that big, I’m not surprised.” He said, then smiled mischievously, “I wonder how our babies will be in the future.”
Dewi blushed again and bowed her head. Ali gently held her chin up and gave her another kiss.
“You know I hope our first child would be a girl, just as beautiful as her Mother.”
Dewi smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. “Even if it would be a boy, I would be happy.”
Ali caressed her hair lovingly. “Have you had lunch yet?”
“Not yet, I came here straight from the airport.”
“You did? Where did you leave your luggage?”
“Rita my manager will arrive in a later flight with it.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Let’s go then,” He said while getting up from the couch, and then extended his hand to help her up too.
They walked out from the office together hand in hand, “Nancy, I’m going out for lunch, is there anything in my calendar for this afternoon?” He asked
“Yes, you have one on one meetings with the group managers, sir.”
“Okay, can you please schedule them for tomorrow? I won’t be coming back this afternoon.”
Nancy smiled knowingly. “Certainly. I will let your driver know that you are going out.”
“Tell him to bring the car up front, I will drive myself.”
“Yes, sir.”
“If something comes up, page
me.”
“Goodbye, Nancy.” Smiled Dewi. “Oh, by the way, this is for you this is my new album.” She took a CD case out of her handbag and handed it over to Nancy, “I autographed it for you.”
“Thank you so much, Miss Dewi,” Nancy said with a wide smile. “I was looking forward to the release of your new album.”
“You’re welcome, bye-bye.” Dewi smiled
Dewi and Ali walked away, then entered the elevator. Nancy looked to make sure that they were gone. She quickly tossed the CD in the garbage bin.
“Please, who listens to that type of whiney, suicide-inducing music?” she said to herself. She opened her thick agenda and took out a photo of the Backstreet Boys. She kissed the photo, then slipped it back in. “Nick, my ears, and heart only belong to you.” She whispered.
* * *
“What do you want to eat today?” Said Ali without taking his eyes off the road.
“There’s a nice Italian restaurant in the Wirakarta[8] Continental Hotel, can we go there? I love the salmon cannelloni there.”
“Your wish is my command, my lady….”
They arrived at the hotel lobby after a few minutes’ drive. Ali got out and gave the key to the valet parking staff. He took Dewi’s hand and they walked passed the lobby to the Il Capriccio restaurant.
“Table for two, please. Oh, and if you have any by the window.”
“Certainly, this way sir.”
They sat down and received the menu from a waiter.
“I already know what I want, what about you? Asked Dewi.
“I’ll have the same as you, my love.” Said Ali to her, “I’m sure your taste buds are refined.”
Dewi looked at him with a happy smile, she turned to the waiter. ”Please bring us Salmon Cannelloni, mango juice for me and lemon frappe for the gentleman.”
Princess: Nuance Of Love Book 1 Page 4
