A Sulawesi Romance

Chapter 39

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

Mark's POV

I watched in dismay and great disappointment as Gun obediently followed his stepfather to the waiting taxicab.

I was left speechless. I glanced at Berkah's face. His expression mirrored what I was feeling myself.

Berkah and I watched as the taxicab sped away and became smaller and smaller until it was just a speck on the long stretch of road.

As I made a move towards my car, Berkah said to me,  "Call me if you need my help."

Suddenly Berkah and I became allies.

"Thank you, I will," I said. Then I moved one step back and held out my hand to him.

He accepted my offer of a handshake, but then suddenly he pulled me close to him and gave me a comforting hug. I hugged him back.

"I know how you feel," he said with a quiver in his voice.

His comforting words let loose the torrent of tears that I had been holding back.

"There, there," he said, running his hand gently up and down my back. "We will get over this."

"I don't think so," I said. "At least not me."

Berkah shrugged his shoulders resignedly before letting go of me.

"See you around," he said before walking back into his mini mart.

I had several near misses on the road before I reached the villa. I had a specially close call with a large lorry carrying gigantic lumbers to some destination in the island.

The truck driver honked long and hard at me and shouted profanities at me but I didn't give any reaction to him. I knew I totally deserved it for not paying better attention to the road.

As soon as I parked my car in my designated parking spot at the villa, I headed straight for my father's office. I needed another good cry and whose shoulder was the best to cry on than my father's compassionate paternal ones.

I burst into his office without bothering to knock and then stopped dead in my tracks.

My father was not alone. My father's younger brother, Uncle Ernie and his daughter, my first cousin Hannah were with  him in his office.

"Mmmaaaaaarrrrrrkkkkkk !!!" she squealed, jumping from her seat and running to me to give me a tight prolonged hug.

My tears had to be put on hold for now.

"Oh my, you have grown so tall from the last time I saw you," I said, forcing a big smile on my face.

"Yeah! I'm taller than you now!" she exclaimed.

"No you're not!" I protested.

I stood shoulder to shoulder with her and measured our heights. I was still a good one and a half inches taller than her. She was a year younger than me.

She made a face at me.

"Just wait," she said with a cute pout. "In a few months time, I will be much taller than you."

"Dream on, sweetie," I said. "I will be growing taller as well. You will never be able to catch up with me."

"Mark," my father called my attention. "You have not even greeted your Uncle Ernie yet. Don't be rude."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Uncle Ernie," I said, clasping my hands together and bowing to him. "I am so glad to see you and cousin Hannah again after all these years."

"Thank you, Mark," said Uncle Ernie. "I'm so happy to see you and your father again. I have told your father about my current financial situation. I was among the supervisors in my company that had to be laid off because it has been downsizing since last month, and I was among the last to be let go."

"I'm so sorry to hear that, Uncle," I said sincerely.

"I have offered him and your cousin Hannah employment here at the villa," my father said.

"My small bakery business went bankrupt," Hannah informed me, looking very sad.

"Well it just happens that we need a General Manager for supplies and a general assistant, so your arrival has been very timely," I said, my heart still twinging at Gun's sudden departure.

"Thank you! Thank you, cousin Mark!" Hannah hugged me tightly once more.

"Any time, my lovely cousin," I said hugging her back. At least her presence would help alleviate my misery and distract me temporarily from sad and lonely thoughts.

"Give Hannah a tour of the villa while I run through the tasks and responsibilities of a General Manager for supplies with your Uncle Ernie," my father instructed me.

I had just started showing Hannah where the vending machine was located in the lobby when my phone sounded with a text notification.

"Excuse me," I said to Hannah, digging my phone out of my pocket.

My eyes got bigger and wider by the second as I read through the incoming text.

"I'm not sure that I have made the right decision to fly back to Bangkok with my step father. I am still here at the Soekarno-Hatta international airport. I want to run away from my step father before he comes back from the gents. If you promise to meet me at the ferry slip I will run away from him right now. Please reply quickly."