At 12:00 PM, Naufal was still sitting upright in his chair. The morning light streamed through his office window, illuminating the towering stack of files on his desk.
Naufal sighed deeply, his eyes scanning the sheets of paper waiting to be processed.
Among the pile of documents was the arrest report of the drug lord he had captured yesterday.
The ringing of his cell phone broke his concentration. The screen showed an incoming call from an unknown number. He hesitated for a moment before answering.
"Hello?" Naufal greeted, his voice still sounding a little hoarse from lack of sleep after what happened early this morning.
"Naufal." A soft voice answered from the other end.
"Sinta? What's up?" Naufal asked, slightly surprised.
"I'm leaving on this afternoon's flight," Sinta said, her voice sounding a little excited.
"Where to?" Naufal asked, confused.
"To your place, where else? My vacation plan is obviously ruined," Sinta replied, her voice sounding spoiled.
"Didn't you say Friday? You wanted to spend the weekend here, right?" Naufal reminded her. "Don't you have college?"
"That's too long, I already miss you!" Sinta replied, her voice sounding a little urgent, a voice full of longing. Naufal could feel the vibration of that longing in her voice.
"You're already in your final semester, are you going to keep playing around? When are you going to finish college?" Naufal tried to remind Sinta of her responsibilities as a student. He knew Sinta was sometimes too impulsive.
"Whatever! It's okay to take a day or two off from college." Sinta sounded a little dismissive of Naufal's concerns.
"You've already taken too much time off, honey..." Naufal reminded her gently, trying to stay calm.
"Ah, you're starting to sound like Papa!" Sinta chuckled, her voice sounding spoiled. She knew Naufal loved her very much and always reminded her of her responsibilities.
Suddenly, a knock on the door interrupted their conversation. Naufal turned his head. Aretha, his teammate, walked up to him. Aretha looked a little tired, her face pale. There was a small wound near her temple covered with a bandage.
"I'll call you later," Naufal said to Sinta, his voice a little hurried.
"Ugh, you'll forget later." Sinta sounded a little sulky.
Naufal laughed. "Hopefully not."
"Okay, then. Pick me up, okay?" Sinta asked, her voice full of hope.
"Yes, Ma'am." Naufal replied in a joking tone, his voice sounding calmer now.
Naufal hung up the phone with Sinta, a smile spreading across his face. The surprise from Sinta had slightly banished his fatigue. He turned to Aretha.
"Come on in?" Naufal asked, concerned about Aretha's condition.
"It's not nice to stay in the hospital for too long, Bang. It's boring. Besides, the wound isn't that bad. It's too spoiled if I have to be treated," Aretha replied with a small smile, trying to look strong.
"At least rest at home first," Naufal suggested, worried that his team member would push herself too hard.
Aretha placed a thick file on the table. "Additional files for you to look at," she chuckled, her voice a little weak. "It's lunchtime, aren't you going to eat?"
"Oh yeah?" Naufal looked at the clock on the wall. He was so focused on his work that he lost track of time.
"Do you want to have lunch outside or do you want me to order lunch for you?" Aretha asked, offering help. She knew Naufal often skipped lunch because he was so busy.
"Let's have lunch outside. You probably haven't eaten either, right?" Naufal put his cell phone away before standing up.
"Just the two of us? Aren't we inviting the rest of our team?" Aretha tried to hide the feelings in her heart. Being able to eat alone with the team leader she admired clearly gave her a sense of happiness.
"I want to discuss something with you. Let's go." Naufal looked at Aretha with a more attentive look than usual. He felt that there was something more than just a desire to have lunch together behind his invitation.
"Okay," Aretha hurried to follow her senior out of the room.
Outside the room, they ran into Razak and Rangga, two of their team members.
"Sir, we'll have a case hearing at 2 o'clock," Razak said.
"Yeah, you guys have lunch first. Retha, let's go." Naufal nodded to Razak before taking Aretha away.
"Okay, Bang." Aretha replied in a slightly trembling voice, trying to cover up her pounding heart.
The two of them left the investigation room.
"No wonder Aretha didn't want to stay in the hospital, she couldn't see the handsome commander," Razak said, smiling mockingly.
"As long as there's no marriage, there's still a chance to fight for it," Rangga whispered, adding in a joking tone.
They both laughed. Aretha, who heard their conversation, felt her cheeks turn red.
In a simple restaurant, Naufal and Aretha sat side by side. The atmosphere of the restaurant was lively, full of chatter and the aroma of tempting food. However, the atmosphere between Naufal and Aretha was rather quiet.
There was something different, something that created a subtle tension between them. Naufal looked calm, but Aretha could feel the tension within herself.
She tried to keep her feelings from being too obvious, but her pounding heart could not be completely hidden.
Aretha started the conversation, "I heard a story earlier that thugs came to your house early this morning," she said, her voice a little shaky. She was worried about Naufal's safety.
"Yeah, but a gunshot made them run away. They were sent by a drug lord who threatened to kidnap Azam," Naufal replied calmly, but the look in his eyes showed that he was still disturbed by the incident. The tension in his voice was more palpable now.
"Azam?" Aretha asked worriedly, realizing how serious the threat was.
"Yeah," Naufal replied, "I've asked Aipda Dimas to keep an eye on him. He's already assigned Bripda Evan to ensure Azam's safety while he's at school. His teacher has also been told not to let just anyone pick Azam up from school. I even forbade Mama from picking Azam up, worried that Mama was also being watched."
"Then, is Bang Naufal's mother safe?"
"Mama is temporarily at Grandpa's house. Later, after Azam comes home from school, Evan will take him to Grandpa's house."
"Oh." Aretha nodded slowly, still looking worried.
"You eat," Naufal scooped rice for Aretha. "Oh yeah, is your wound really okay? You can go home after this, get enough rest."
"It's okay, Bang," Aretha replied quickly.
"Wait," Naufal reached for his cell phone because of an incoming call. Aretha breathed a sigh of relief. Like she could breathe again.
Trying to calm her heart that was beating faster because of the attention Naufal was showing. She took a sip of the water in front of her, Naufal looked like he was talking to someone, so serious, she didn't know who it was from.
Aretha reached for her cell phone, trying to steal a photo of Naufal from an unseen angle.
She glanced at Naufal who had finished taking the call and was reading an incoming message from Sinta. Slowly Aretha tried to peek from the corner of her eye.
It was seen that Sinta sent a photo of herself in the airport waiting room, with a short caption: "See you in 2 hours, darling!"
Aretha was stunned. Sinta's surprise, and Naufal's gaze still fixed on his cell phone, aroused a deep curiosity in her heart. Her mind wandered. Would the woman named Sinta really arrive?