Author’s POV
"So, please go away from me," she said, passing him who was still standing in front of her.
That girl desires to leave the guy as soon as possible, but it is not him who still wants her to be with him. Alex held Naomi's hand, causing her to stop in her tracks. Both that girl and that man were silent for a moment before he stepped in front of her to block her away.
Alex thinks that now God is on his side, and the meeting he has been dreaming of for 12 years has come true. Unlike Alex, Naomi had already cooled her feelings for him. There is no second chance for him. She didn't intend to give any chance to him.
"I don't want you to leave until you hear something from me," he said, staring into the cold brown-eyed Naomi gave to him. Again, she stomped her hand to free herself from Alex. To her, this situation reminded her of the time when he used to freely touch her entire body.
Disgusting.
Neither he nor his own body. She felt very stupid and disgusting.
"I've saved you, now go before I force you to go," he said with a cold look. She didn't want to hear anything from him, for her it was all over.
Those eyes weren't the eyes that Alex had ever known. All he knew, those eyes always gave him the warmth he so longed for when they spent their time together. Alex wanted those times back, the time when he could embrace her as much as he wanted and kiss her with love and affection.
That man's subconscious made his move to hug her even though he didn't expect much, he didn't even deserve a hug her. He hugged her tightly, while she just stayed where she was.
"I miss you," he said earnestly.
Her mind didn't want to remember this hug. But this little body can still feel the warm embrace she once received from him as if this body is a living witness that she can't refuse. He tried to get used to it and didn't react to the hug this man gave him.
"You have no idea how sorry I am for what I did to you," that man said again. Naomi stayed silent, she forced her body not to hug the body which she had missed for a dozen years.
"And you have no idea how devastated I was at the time," he said again to her. He didn't know what she had been through after what he had done to her. Naomi had to face a very severe depression. Her pride seemed to be stepped on and she felt worthless and useless because he had ruined her. All of his sweet promises and shady words became trash for her. He didn't understand what he was doing.
Why was he didn't realize that she also devastated at that time?
Was he dissatisfied with hurting herself too?
What did this hug mean?
What was the meaning of the longing he had just said?
Naomi was questioning everything in her mind. If he felt guilty, shouldn't he just leave her alone? Why did he choose otherwise?
"I will fix everything. I want us to start all over again…”
She laughed wryly. She imagined again the time when she often punished herself with sharp objects, not to mention he had to face the paranoia which she got from a different person. Moreover, other problems have made her worse off over the past dozen years. To be sure, all this suffering started from him, all this pain comes from that man.
She did not understand why God was so unfair to her.
"Start from scratch? Don't make me laugh," she said with a wry laugh. Alex let go of his arm and grabbed her tiny shoulder. He looked into her eyes, looking for the stare he wanted.
"I promise I'll make you happy," he said earnestly. He wasn't lying, he meant it.
"You want me to be happy?"
He nodded,
She brushed his hand off her shoulder and looked at him straight, "Then go away and disappear from my life," she said. Alex was stunned for a while. He did not want to give up, he called her again and tried to approach her again,
"I know you still have feelings for me, isn't it," he said, making her stop walking.
“Even though it was just a glimmer of taste, I was right, wasn't I?” he said again before he again blocked her to get away from him. He took her right hand and placed it on his cheek as if he wanted the softest caress he had ever received from her.
His eyes were still searching for the warmness he wanted from her, but he didn't get it. He also took her other hand to place it on his chest. He wanted her to know this great pulse that was beating life inside him. Alex wanted Naomi to understand that his body wasn't lying to her,
Her heart was broken, he didn't expect that he would turn her into a different person than she used to be. He no longer found Naomi who was so cheerful and sincere with him. She used to be just an innocent girl with all the innocence and sincerity that were the characteristics that he liked so much. Her small body, along with the beauty of her face is a plus point for her. It's all Alex's fault, his fault for turning her into someone he barely recognizes.
"I love you, Naomi," he said with all of his feelings,
"Lie," she murmured. She wasn’t want to hear anything from him,
"This is me. This is me when I'm with you," he said, pressing her left hand to his chest. He hoped that with this, his feelings were also conveyed to her. Alex wants to bring back her cheerfulness like the Naomi he first met.
"I do not care,"
"Give me a chance. Give me a chance to fix things…”
"You can't turn back time, and I won't allow you to come back into my life..." she raised her voice a bit.
"I really can't turn back time. But I guarantee my life to you."
She shook her head with a wry smile, "You don't understand what you're saying."
He shook his head, "I will give and sacrifice everything as long as you can come back to me,"
Naomi was still silent, peering into Alex's brown eyes to see the seriousness he was showing her. She could no longer be deceived by her past innocence, but this time she didn't get the lie from his eyes.
"I know you still have me in your heart..." Alex stated to her. She wryly smiles and takes a deep breath,
"You're right, you're still in my heart," she said looking at Alex sharply,
"You do still occupy a place in my heart, but it's not love, but hate and disgust. You will always be remembered as my most beautiful mistake," she said sharply.
“Naomi...” he called her again. He was hurt by what she stated to him.
"Give it up, I don't want to reread the same book," she conveyed to him deeply.
"No, it's not the same," he claimed with his shook head.
“I will fight for you, no matter what. I'll make you turn to me again."
She shrugged her shoulders, "We'll see. You or I will win all of this,” she said before she walked off leaving that man alone.
As for Alex, he clenched his fists. This time he would not lose, no matter what, he had to get her back for himself. No matter how hard he would face it, he would always chase her.
Author’s POV Alex was still swamped with the files he had to sign. Luckily, his secretary, Darius, had already checked the contents of the piled-up files, so Alex's work began to be a little less. He is Alexander Louis, the CEO of Indonesia's largest gaming company. The company was originally founded by his grandfather and eventually passed down to him. Currently, the company is working on a 3D game project, which is a tough and busy time for him. He was silent as he received a resignation letter from one of the senior 3D artists which said that he would be leaving in the next two months. Alex then called his secretary, Darius, and asked him to explain why he had not been informed of Adrian's resignation which had already been submitted 1 month ago, "The file is piled-up with other files, sir..." "Obviously, why didn't anyone tell me?" he asked as he iswaving the resignation letter in front of Darius. "I'm sorry,
Author’s POV Naomi sighed, she was still thinking about what just happened. She tried not to think about it, but she couldn't. She didn't concentrate on the character designs that she should send to the client tomorrow afternoon. She leaned back and sighed again, she lifted her head, staring at the ceiling of his house with tired eyes, Her eyes were baggy because these few days she couldn't sleep. She was doing her freelance work allnight long. Not to mention she had to think of the fastest way to pay off her father's debts. Being an only child was tiring and boring because she had to bear everything alone. Many things happened in her life that had to movea lot because she and her father were trying to stay away from the debts that chased them. This time she was already working, even though she was only a freelancer, she was able to pay off his father's debt little by little. She had to kneel a few times to the moneylender
Author’s POV Naomi wiped her sweat, today she has to prepare food for her father's sale. Benny sells mie ayam and bakso, and every day Naomi helps him prepare his ingredients. Seeing Naomi who seemed exhausted, he asked her to take a break and leave the rest to himself. "Dad, it's okay... Well, it's almost done," she said while making meatballs. Benny smiled calmly, he was lucky to have a daughter who understood his condition. He felt very guilty for what had happened to his family. Starting from a decline in their family's economy, until he put a burden on his only daughter who should be having fun at her age. He never heard her daughter complain about their life, never. "Yosh! Finally done," said Naomi with a proud smile. It was still 6 in the morning, and Naomi only got 3 hours of sleep because this dawn she was working on a CV to send to Louis Studios. Naomi looked at her dad and called him while he was makin
Author’s POV Naomi stepped out of her house and met her father who was getting ready to go to sell mie ayam and bakso. "Well, today Naomi will join you, won't me, Dad?" Naomi asked very strongly, it could be seen from her holding Benny's hand as a form of her request. She wanted to join her father sell their wares together. "What about your work, is everything done?" asked Benny to which Naomi nodded, "It's okay, I am free today," she said, and she immediately ran towards the cart that his father was supposed to bring. This time she took the initiative to push the cart, replacing her father who always did it. Benny could only nod slowly as he followed his daughter who had already started to push the cart. The two of them walked hand in hand with Naomi pushing the cart. Arriving at her father's usual place of selling, she wiped her sweat, waiting if there were buyers who would buy her father's wares. This wa
Author’s POV Naomi straightened her gaze again, pushing her cart to get to their house. Along the way, there was no meaningful conversation between Naomi and her father. When they got home, that tiny black-haired girl cleaned herself up before she went back to her work. After a few hours of working on the design, she stretched her body for a moment to relieve the tiredness and fatigue she felt. Often she also yawns because she takes her bedtime back to do her work. "Keep on going!" she said as she pulled her fists, After fewhours, she took a break by opening her phone and social media. Naomi just got an email from a client who wanted her to revise the character she has drawn. She immediately worked on the design according to the client's request. Shortly after she submitted the design, she moved on to another job waiting for her to be done. She couldn't deny that she often complained about his life. But she really likes producti
Author’s POV What an unexpected encounter. He was even stunned because he was too shocked by what he saw. He wasn't wrong, was he? He checked again the works and CV she had been sent. He did know that she had always loved to draw, but to apply to his company as a senior 3D artist was an unexpected thing for him. Even Alex had to enlarge the CV poster to see the photo on the poster, to make sure that it was Naomi he had known all along. And all he coulddo was speechless by what he had seen. A feeling of surprise and joy was mixed within him. He looked back at the CV poster and he entered Naomi's number into his phone. With a crooked smile, he clicked OK to save Naomi's number for himself. But his smile immediately faded because he remembered that this girl was only a candidate from the 10 chosen people. If he looked back at the works of the other nine people, the others were no less good than her. Huh... he wanted
Naomi smiled, she was lucky to have a big sister like Seira who helped her and her family a lot. With everything Seira did to her, she would not waste her opportunity to enter a giant company like Louis Studios. There was a thought that made her a little curious, she wanted to ask Seira but she was a little confused about how to start. She struggled with her mind, she took her phone and she looked for Seira's contact. She made a call for her and when Seira picked up the call, Naomi started to ask, "Um... Seira..." as she called her big sister, "Yes, what is it?" "Are Louis Studios have a good salary?" she asked carefully, hoping Seira would not be offended "They are, especially if you're already a senior. If you are the one who is elected, I will be the manager. And this company is environmentally friendly.” "Wow, you're the manager? Seriously?!" said Naomi in surprise. She didn't expect itbefore, "That's right, coincidentall
Naomi started to enter a very spacious room and in that room, there were Adrian and Seira who were waiting for her to enter. As soon as she entered, her first gaze fell on Seira who looked at her as if both didn't know each other. She was invited by Adrian to sit in the chair provided.Politely, she nodded and started to sit her butt on the chair. She sat up straight, to give the impression of being dominant and assertive."Hmm... Naomi..." Adrian said while looking at the sheet of paper he was holding. He glanced at the photo on the sheet for a moment before turning his gaze to Naomi."Tell me about yourself," said Seira who nodded understandingly byher,“I am Naomi Tjahara, previously I was an alumnus of computer science from Unijaya University, Jakarta. I've been working as a freelancer for the past few years," she said in a friendly manner. As much as possible for her to be calm in explaining and answering all the questions which be asked