A few days later, Gabriel drove Ethan to the airport. The secretary hugged the CEO tightly, which made Ethan feel very embarrassed to be hugged by a man in such a crowded place. At first, he didn’t want Gabriel to accompany him because he wanted to enjoy his time alone, but Gabriel insisted, saying that the taxi fare from Ethan's residence to the international airport was quite expensive.
“Can you let me go, Gab? This is embarrassing,” Ethan complained.
“Hope your flight to America goes smoothly, Sir. I’m so scared something will happen. There was a news report about a plane crash yesterday,” Gabriel said, his voice trembling.
“You watch too much TV!”
“I don’t even have a TV, Sir.”
“I don’t care!”
Even inside the car, Ethan argued with Gabriel frequently, occasionally discussing work that Ethan could handle remotely. Gabriel had already arranged many meetings via video call. All this was for Ethan’s comfort as he accompanied his mother, who needed emotional support during her treatment.
“I’m not poor, Gab, my salary and bonuses every month are many times more than yours,” Ethan grumbled in the car.
“No, Sir, I still want to accompany you. We’ll be apart for over two weeks, I’m afraid I’ll miss being scolded by you,” Gabriel glanced at Ethan, who was sitting next to the driver’s seat.
Ethan grinned. “Are you a masochist, huh? Do you like being tortured? BDSM?” he teased.
Gabriel focused on driving, occasionally smiling. “I enjoy working with you, Sir,” he replied shyly.
Ethan had already informed his mother before heading to the airport. After all, the flight from Indonesia to the U.S. took a long time, and Ethan didn’t want his mother to worry. He also hoped Gabriel’s prayers would be answered, that nothing major would go wrong during his journey to his mother. Why? Because Ethan hadn’t prayed in a long time. Not because he didn’t believe in God, but Ethan wasn’t sure if prayers from someone like him, a sinner, would be answered.
He opted for business class for greater comfort. Usually, he would take first class on long flights, but for some reason, he agreed when Gabriel offered to book the ticket. After all, he trusted his secretary. Ethan was sure Gabriel wouldn’t lead him astray.
On the plane, Ethan chose to sleep while listening to a random playlist of music for several hours. He didn’t care about anyone around him. If what he was feeling right now was God’s punishment, then Ethan would accept it with an open heart, knowing he was wrong.
At some point, Ethan woke up because one of his earbuds was taken out by someone, disturbing his sleep. Ethan immediately glared at the person who had disturbed his peace.
“Hello, Mas Ethan,” Rica greeted teasingly, tilting her head to flirt with him. “Come on, watch a movie. Don’t sleep all the time.” Rica lifted a tablet, showing the video that was playing.
Ethan blinked a few times, rubbing his eyes in disbelief. How was Rica here? But his logic quickly drew a reasonable conclusion: this must be Gabriel’s doing. His secretary had probably intentionally booked tickets for both of them.
“You still haven’t learned your lesson, Ca?” Ethan gave a crooked smile.
“It’s semester break, Mas, I’m bored just staying home. At least I want to have some fun before focusing on my thesis.”
Rica complained nonstop, talking about her uninteresting thesis supervisor, how her mom pressured her to graduate on time while comparing her to her older sister and brother-in-law, and how difficult it was to approach Bisma. Ethan turned off the music and focused on watching Rica, who was being very noisy.
“Just so you know, Ca, I graduated from college at 21, then immediately took a master’s at two different universities, and you’ve seen my many degrees. I get tired of hearing complaints about your school life.”
Ethan showed off to make Rica annoyed. Sure enough, she stopped talking and gave him an expression of frustration that Ethan found amusing. Now, he was curious about Rica’s real reason for chasing him all the way here. The girl must have gotten too comfortable with him and wanted to go wherever Ethan went.
“You are so mean,” Rica said, her eyes filling with tears.
“So, why did you voluntarily come with me to America? I won’t be sweet to you like before. We’re done, you’re my boss’s little sister, and I hate seeing your face because it reminds me of someone.”
A flight attendant arrived with a lot of food, and Rica immediately ignored Ethan, her eyes sparkling with joy as she thanked the attendant for delivering her order. Ethan rolled his eyes in annoyance while Rica busied herself with eating, occasionally offering him snacks.
“By the way, why do you dress like a bum? A CEO only wears a T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers? Still handsome though, but your style is just off.”
Rica’s comment made Ethan laugh. He then noticed her outfit, which was very fashionable and typical of Rica’s style. She smiled sweetly, holding up a bottle, signaling for Ethan to open the cap, behaving in her usual spoiled manner.
“Other people might go to California for a vacation, but I’m going home. My hometown is in San Francisco. I’m a foreigner, Ca.” He handed the bottle of water back to Rica.
“Thank you.”
Watching Rica eat made Ethan feel full himself, even though he hadn't eaten.. The girl probably hadn’t eaten anything earlier. Since Rica had followed him like this, Ethan had no choice but to look after her while they were in San Francisco. He didn’t want Indra to blame him if anything happened to Rica.
“You have to meet my mom later, Ca.”
“Why?” Rica’s eyes widened.
“I want to introduce you as my girlfriend,” Ethan answered lazily.
Rica blinked several times, smiling in a way Ethan couldn’t decipher. He already knew what the consequences of his request would be, Rica would get even more spoiled and go wherever Ethan went. He remembered the paper Gabriel had made about Rica, which clearly stated that Rica loved to travel, both domestically and abroad.
“So, now we’re dating, right? It’s fun!” Rica leaned toward Ethan, pointing to her right cheek for a kiss.
“Rica,” Ethan sighed.
“Hurry up,” she whined.
Ethan kissed her cheek to make her back off. Rica immediately continued eating as if nothing had happened. Ethan thought that Rica was really crazy and illogical. She probably knew he wouldn’t go too far because Indra would get angry with him. So, Rica could act however she wanted, taking advantage of her status as Ethan’s boss’s sister-in-law.
“You’re pretty, but you’re a little crazy.” Ethan rested his chin in his hand, observing Rica who was still busy eating.
“We’ll break up if I start getting bored, okay?” Rica asked.
“Whatever. I can’t marry you, Princess.”
Rica pouted. “Ugh, don’t start teasing me like Mas Indra does.”