Bittersweet Arrangements : A Sugar Dady Affair

Elena immediately grabbed a cold drink from the fridge, regardless of not having permission from the office owner to take a cold drink. An orange-flavored drink was Elena’s choice. While walking towards the sofa in the corner of the room, Elena opened the bottle cap. She drank it while standing, ignoring the etiquette taught by her parents since she was little. Elena needed something to cool her overheated heart due to jealousy seeing the intimacy between Devan and Dinda earlier.

Abandoning her intention to sit, Elena then walked towards the glass window curtain that was tightly closed. She opened it slightly. Through the small opening in the curtain, Elena could see Devan and Dinda still engrossed in conversation. They even seemed to laugh together a few times. Elena’s heart burned even more. If she weren’t aware of her current position, Elena would have already driven that woman away. Dragged her out of the workshop to keep her away from the man she loved.

The climax arrived. Not long after, the woman left after shaking hands with Devan. After Dinda left, Devan seemed to walk towards his office. Elena hastily sat down and pretended to be seriously playing with her phone. Elena sighed deeply when she heard the door open. She prepared herself to act normal.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

“Have you prayed, El?” Devan asked while landing his butt on the sofa next to Elena.

Boom… Elena’s heart protested instantly. Just by being close, Elena twitched as if shocked by high-voltage electricity. Elena closed her eyes for a moment to regain control. Honestly, Elena herself was confused by what was happening to her. Even though Devan’s presence had not been a stranger to her since childhood. But why did these strange feelings have to arise? Without Elena’s request, Devan had become her first love. Elena’s feelings should remain the same as before. Seeing Devan as her father or uncle, as her parents introduced him since she was born.

“Uh… Yes, Uncle, I already prayed. I prayed Dhuhr at school,” replied Elena, pretending to be indifferent while still staring at her darkened phone screen without realizing it.

Seeing the black screen of Elena’s phone, Devan asked again, “What’s wrong with your phone? Is it low on battery?” Devan’s eyebrows furrowed, feeling confused about why Elena had been playing with her phone that had been turned off since earlier.

“No, no, Uncle!” Elena replied with an embarrassed grin because she just realized that her phone was off. Apparently, she accidentally pressed the power button on the side of her phone while walking towards Devan and Dinda because of her nervousness.

“Have you eaten? If not, let’s order Go Food. I haven’t had lunch either,” Devan said with a gentle smile.

“Sure,” Elena replied shortly, feeling restless. “Oh God, why does Uncle Devan look even more handsome!” Elena’s heart complained. Devan’s smile really made her awkward right now. Whatever Devan did became a special attraction for her.

Devan got up from the sofa and walked towards his desk. He took his phone lying next to the laptop. After ordering food, Devan ended the call and sat back next to Elena. Devan looked deeply at the girl he considered his own daughter. A trace of curiosity slipped into his heart; it was unusual for Elena to come alone to his workshop. The girl always came with her parents or siblings. Noticing the sharp and investigating gaze from Devan made Elena even more nervous and embarrassed.

“Why is Uncle Devan looking at El like that?” Elena asked directly to hide her nervousness. Just for a moment, Elena glanced at Devan and pressed a small button on the side of her phone, turning it on to reactivate her phone.

“What brings you here? Unusually alone, aren’t you?” Devan asked in return, while continuing to gaze at the beautiful face of the girl next to him.

“Just a craving. Is it not allowed, Uncle?” replied Elena with irritation. Devan’s question made her slightly offended. Elena felt like her presence was just a disturbance.

“Why wouldn’t it be allowed? Uncle actually likes it when there’s someone to accompany him for lunch,” Devan replied with a chuckle. His hand lifted and affectionately ruffled Elena’s head.

Unbeknownst to Devan, this sweet gesture only made Elena’s heart race even more wildly in her chest.

Blush… A shade of orange blossomed on Elena’s pale face. Feeling the heat on her face, Elena quickly reached for the cold drink in front of her. Then, she gulped it down quickly. It took a few minutes for Elena to regain control of herself. The girl tried to smile as naturally as possible before speaking again, “So, can I visit the workshop every time I finish school, Uncle?” Elena put on a pleading face to get approval from the man.

“Of course, just come whenever you want. As long as your Daddy and Mommy give permission and know that Uncle will never mind. Uncle just doesn’t want them to worry about looking for their beloved daughter if she’s late coming home from school,” Devan replied casually.

“Got it! As long as I finish school early, I’ll drop by the workshop,” Elena said enthusiastically. Finally, she had the opportunity and a reason to meet her parents’ second best friend.

After 15 minutes, a knock on the door was heard, and Devan responded from inside, giving permission to whoever was standing there. The door swung wide open, and Lucky opened the door for a female courier who delivered Devan’s ordered food. The young woman wearing a hijab entered and handed two red plastic bags containing several lunch boxes and cold drinks. Then, after receiving payment from Devan, she left. Without immediately sitting back down, Devan placed the two plastic bags on the table and opened the door, calling for Lucky. Only after that did Devan sit down and take two lunch boxes and two cold drinks from the bags for himself and Elena.

“What’s up, Mr. Devan?” Lucky asked as he entered.

“You guys eat first and then continue working!” Devan ordered while handing the two plastic bags, which still had 8 lunch boxes and cold drinks inside, to Lucky.

“Thank you, Mr. Devan,” Lucky replied and quickly left.

Devan opened his lunch box. His stomach had been hungry since earlier. Usually, at noon, during his break, he ordered lunch for himself and all the employees. And now it was already 1 p. m. Earlier, he had been engrossed in chatting with Dinda, his college friend, so he neglected the time. Fortunately, when Dinda came, Devan had just finished performing the Dhuhr prayer with his employees.

Elena stole glances at Devan repeatedly, who was starting to enjoy his lunch with enthusiasm. Likewise, she felt a different sensation when having lunch with the man she loved. With just crispy chicken, capcay, and sambal, Elena found the lunch very delicious.

It took only 10 minutes for Devan to finish his meal while Elena still had more than half left. Realizing Elena’s different behavior, Devan was once again puzzled. The Elena he knew was not a shy, gentle girl. She was usually spoiled and mischievous. Or maybe, because she wasn’t with her family, Elena felt awkward. Various speculations started to fill Devan’s mind. But Devan chose to remain silent; he went to the sink to wash his hands.

“You have to finish it! You can’t waste food; it’s a sin!” scolded Devan when he saw Elena still had food left. After drying his hands, Devan sat back down next to Elena.

“I’m full, Uncle. I’m not used to eating a lot,” Elena admitted. Indeed, Elena’s portion had always been small. She preferred snacks and fruits, just like her Mommy.

“No, it’s not allowed. You must finish it!” Devan insisted while taking the spoon that Elena had left on top of the remaining rice.

“I’m full, Uncle!” Elena retorted, pouting. In her heart, Elena was curious about what the man would do to her.

“Just have to finish it. So that your body doesn’t get skinny like this,” said Devan, then scooped up the food and fed it to Elena’s mouth, which immediately closed tightly. Elena shook her head trying to refuse.

Not lacking in sense, Devan then gave conditions which of course made Elena unable to move anymore.

“Uncle doesn’t like seeing people who like to waste food. So Uncle won’t give El permission to come here again if the food doesn’t run out!” Devan said firmly, successfully making Elena open her mouth wide.

Elena quickly chewed the food in her mouth. Ignoring the feeling of fullness in his stomach. Truly the food from Devan’s hands was the most delicious food he had ever enjoyed. Even the helpers’ cooking at home felt inferior.

“Thank God,” said Devan because Elena managed to finish her food.

Elena chose to remain silent with her eyes constantly following Devan’s every move. There was nothing more interesting in Elena’s eyes except the man who was currently cleaning up the remains of their lunch on the table. Elena quickly got up when she saw Devan who was about to throw away the trash. Elena took over and took him out of the office, throwing the rubbish into the rubbish bin on the south side of the workshop.

As he walked back towards Devan’s office, he greeted the employees, almost all of whom he knew. Some of them are children from their family’s orphanage. So it’s not surprising that they respect him.

When she returned, Elena saw Devan already sitting in his desk chair. The level of handsomeness of this adult man increases many times in Elena’s eyes when he looks serious like now.

“Wait a minute, Uncle, I want to finish my work first. There’s just a little bit left. You play a game first or something like that,” said Devan without taking his attention away from the laptop screen in front of him.

“Uncle, just relax, besides, El just came here to meet Uncle De…” Elena quickly covered her mouth when she realized that she had almost slipped up.

“Who did El meet?” said Devan curiously while giving him a searching look.

“You’re dead El, that’s why you have a brake on your mouth!” Elena grumbled to herself, blaming herself.

“Dirga means Uncle!” Elena said carelessly, which actually aroused even more curiosity in Devan’s heart.

Receiving Devan’s searching gaze made Elena feel embarrassed again. It turned out that the man’s sharp gaze was very similar to his father’s. A look that definitely succeeded in paralyzing his defenses.

“He’s a student who has a crush on El, Uncle,” said Elena, which actually caused problems without realizing it. By confessing to Elena, it would be the same as committing suicide now. “But El isn’t dating, Uncle!” continued Elena, increasingly nervous.

In her heart, Elena cursed non-stop. He might actually ruin this precious moment because he mentioned Dirga’s name. Devan just responded with a flat look then returned to focusing on his laptop. Instantly, Elena breathed a sigh of relief because Devan didn’t interrogate her like her father usually did. However, without realizing it, Devan ended his work and turned off the flat screen in front of him. Not immediately moving, Devan stayed where he was while looking at Elena. As an adult, of course Devan could understand the meaning of the girl’s gaze at him. But when he heard Elena say Dirga’s name, he felt relieved. Don’t let him misinterpret the girl’s feelings for him.

Elena is having fun replying to chats in the WhatsApp group The Angel which consists of women from the Club Cogan family. As usual, the chat group is never quiet. They just discussed something there.

Devan slowly closed the laptop in front of him then got up. Elena, who was still smiling to herself reading the chat in the group, still didn’t realize that Devan was now sitting next to her again.

“How far is your relationship with Dirga?”

Devan’s question immediately shocked Elena so much that Elena accidentally dropped her cell phone. But before the cellphone touched the floor, Devan caught it. Elena suddenly looked down to reach for her cell phone. Unwanted things happened. Dug… Their heads collided quite hard. But it wasn’t pain that Elena felt, it was her heart that was beating fast again because their faces were too close.

“Oh God, forgive Uncle. It hurts, doesn’t it?” said Devan while rubbing Elena’s head frantically while Elena was still frozen, staring at Devan’s face which was only a few inches away.

The citrus aroma that penetrated Elena’s sense of smell made her lose her mind even more. Even though Elena’s eyes were reluctant to blink to enjoy the handsome face in front of her. Then Elena swallowed hard before rushing into the man’s arms.

“El likes Uncle!”