A Sulawesi Romance

Chapter 13

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Gun's POV

"The key to the SUV is in my pocket," Berkah told me, turning his hip so that his pants pocket would be accessible to my hand.

I pushed my hand into his pocket to get the key.

To my horror, Berkah let go of all the big boxes he was holding and they all came tumbling to the floor. Berkah turned to me with a shocked expression, his face all red. That was when I realized that I had dug too deep into his pocket.

"I'm so sorry," I said almost in a whisper, my heart beating very fast, my face getting all warm from embarrassment.

I quickly stooped to help place the boxes back into his arms.

Before I could turn and run, Berkah leaned over to me and said, "You really know how to wiggle yourself out of a reprimand."

I did not have a chance to reply because at that moment I saw Mark limping towards me. 

Berkah quickly made his way inside the Supply Room.

Mark took one quick look at my face and said, "What happened? Did Berkah give you a scolding?"

"No, he didn't," I replied and tried to run away but he grabbed my wrist.

"Then why is your face all red?" he asked. "And come to think of it, so was Berkah's."

"Nothing happened," I insisted, and pulled my arm away and made a dash for the lobby and went down to where the SUV was parked to retrieve the rest of the materials that Berkah and I had purchased from the supermarket.

Mark's POV

My instincts were telling me that there was something going on between Berkah and Gun.

I placed two fingers against the side of my head. It was starting to throb painfully. On top of that my leg continued to hurt as I limped my way back to my room.

I met my dad in the hallway.

"Are you alright, son?" he asked, noticing the grimace on my face.

"I just came back from the doctor's office," I informed him.

"And what did the doctor prescribe?" my father wanted to know.

"Some muscle relaxant pills which I already picked up from the pharmacy," I replied.

"They don't seem to be working," my father remarked.

"Actually the cramps have disappeared," I informed my dad. "There's just some lingering pain that's why I'm limping."

I wanted to add, "It's actually my heart that's hurting" but I was afraid that my father would take it literally and have me sent to the hospital for it.

"Have you eaten anything?" my father asked. "Some pills need to be taken with food."

"Yes, I had my lunch with Gun at The Lotus Princess," I assured my dad.

"With Gun???" my dad raised his eyebrows.

Oops I didn't mean to add that information to him.

"Am I paying our new assistant to have lunch with you now?" my father was looking at me quizzically.

Before I could reply, he placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Don't overwork him," my father advised me. "He might quit before he can get sufficient training from Berkah."

The mention of Berkah made my heart start racing. My instincts were telling me once more that there was definitely something going on between Berkah and Gun.

Third Person POV

Soon the end of the two weeks notice before quitting came around for Berkah. The night before his last day at the villa was actually sad for Berkah. He didn't want to leave the villa but his parents needed him to help them run their newly opened grocery store in their village.

The real reason that Berkah wanted to stay on at the villa was because he had fallen for Gun like a ton of bricks. He had to find a way to continue to be able to see him every day.

He thought long and hard throughout the night. He tossed and turned in his bed until dawn. Every now and then he would glance across the room at the other bed where Gun was sleeping motionlessly.

Then suddenly Berkah had an idea. The idea made him want to shake Gun awake but he decided not to. Waking Gun before his alarm rang would make Gun grumpy so Berkah waited until Gun's alarm went off.

As soon as Berkah saw Gun reaching for his phone to turn off his alarm, Berkah got out of his own bed and approached Gun's bed.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Berkah said as he knelt beside Gun's bed.

"What are you calling me sweetheart for?" Gun asked grumpily. "I can't lend you any money to support your nicotine addiction."

Berkah laughed but inside he was hurting. Why would Gun think that he was being called sweetheart just to be on his good side in order to be able to borrow money. It hurt that Gun was thinking very lowly of him.

"I'm not trying to borrow money from you," Berkah said. "I am here to make you an offer of a new employment."

"What are you talking about?" Gun asked sitting up and fully awake now.

"Gun, the reason I'm leaving the villa is because my parents have opened a large grocery store in our village. It is the only one of its kind in the village. My parents need my help to run it," Berkah said, still in a kneeling position, so now he was looking up at Gun's face.

"So go and help your parents run it," Gun said, stifling a yawn and stretching his arms before standing up from his bed.

"I would like to employ you to be my assistant at my parents' grocery store," Berkah said, trying not to sound nervous. He badly wanted Gun to say yes to his offer.

When Gun did not say a word, Berkah followed him to the bathroom where Gun was headed. He grabbed Gun's wrist before Gun could step into the bathroom.

"Please say yes, Gun," Berkah was pleading now. "I will miss you badly if you don't come with me."

"Yes," Gun said, shaking off Berkah's hand which was still gripping his wrist, and entered the bathroom and closed the door, pushing the latch in place.

"Yaassssss!" Berkah screamed internally.