Chapter 1 : A Call

The loud sound of a cell phone ringtone from the nightstand broke the morning silence. Fiona groaned as she woke up to it. The sun shone from between the uncovered window curtains, she dodged, turned to the other side of the bed, and felt the thick blanket in her arms very comfortable. Her long hair spread to the side of the bed, and the voice of the phone kept screaming as if telling her to wake up. Fiona groaned again, lazily reaching over to the nightstand, and picking up the phone.

"Fiona, please wake up. Tell me if you read my message last night." That's Tasya. The only friend from high school and the family she has. Fiona had no family since she was small, grew up in an orphanage, and chose to live freely in her intelligence. She tried to open her heavy eyes, then looked around the empty room.

"What message?" She turned to the other side of the bed and took the glass that was usually filled by Fiona’s household assistant every morning. Her throat felt dry, she drank the water while closing her eyes.

"Are you drunk? How come your voice is so hoarse? Gosh—don't tell me—"

Tasya's voice on the other side of the phone instantly made Fiona open her eyes wide. She blinked for a few seconds and then felt the skin of her breasts touching the blanket without clothes. Instantly she covered her body, surprised because last night's dream was just not a dream. But it really happened. She sat up, still overcome with shock, she glared at the side of the bed.

A white tank top, short jeans, and a flannel shirt piled up with her bra. She looked under the blanket, still using her underwear. In one breath, Fiona sighs with relief.

"No. I'm still a virgin—okay?"

"I'm really tired, I swear, I've often said that if you want to get drunk, you call me, you tell me! I don't want you to suddenly get pregnant and end up like the jerk girls you meet online!"

"But I'm not like that. I'm definitely aware if someone is touching my diamond," she said, glancing at her virgin spot that she had been guarding all this time. Fiona swears, if she gets drunk, she's sure to realize who touched her and what she touched. But that's the drawback, Fiona never worries if she's taken by criminals. Because in the small town on the outskirts of Jakarta, here is the elite area that is rarely reached by lower-class people and is far from criminals. Moreover, if there is an emergency, all she has to do is call Tasya, the number one person who always comes when Fiona is in trouble.

Fiona glanced out the window, the sun still hanging low. What time is it now? The effect of alcohol is usually not so long. She looked up at the nightstand, at the desk clock, ten in the morning.

"Now, you must see my message. Urgent!" exclaimed Tasya, continuing to discuss the message in question. Fiona just muttered low and then hung up the phone. Switched to the messaging app and saw there were five stack bubble chats unread from Tasya.

Tasya:

His name is Kian, he is a student at Nusa Satu University in West Jakarta. Here's the link.

https://candypink/Kian_Christian.com

You open it, I've arranged a meeting. Tomorrow at ten o'clock at your house. I deliberately gave you the address so you don't go anywhere, just stay at home. And don't protest why I gave your address because you always bring random guys to your room every time you're drunk. Okay? Have fun!

Fiona almost throws her own phone and screams in surprise when hears someone ring the doorbell. She glanced at the desk clock, it was ten past five, then looked back at the boy's name on her cell phone and growled. Oh my god, Tasya...

So far, Tasya has always insisted on asking Fiona to find a boyfriend of her own. Which can get drunk together and take care of herself too. Her bad habit of getting drunk every time she is stressed and depressed makes Tasya worry that Fiona would be out of control. All this time, this bad habit has accompanied her for several weeks at night. Tasya can never just sit idly by watching Fiona's habit of bringing a guy from a night bar in the middle of the city to her house and even having sex all night without anyone knowing. Aunt Nia was a victim who could only protest and scold Fiona, she couldn't act to stop the hostess. As a substitute, Tasya, who with a high level of concern, finally created a fake account for Fiona, which was run by herself on a dating application called Candy Pink. The app is all the rage right now, and it makes it easy for people to meet and get to know each other. Either make friends or become one-night standing. But when it happened in her own life, Fiona couldn't stop cursing her best friend.

The doorbell rang again. Nia is still in the market at this time. Fiona couldn't help but get up from the bed while thrashing, lazily putting on her bra, and covering her slender body with last night's oversized flannel shirt. She didn't forget to put on her shorts too and left the room opening the door.

The bell rang again, and Fiona's cell phone dinged too. Incoming message from Tasya.

He should have come home by now. In the chat application, he said, you didn't open the door. Get up, hurry up!

Fiona grumbled. She turned off her cell phone and walked lazily through the living room of the house with her sandals then opened the door of the house.

The light from outside shone brightly, Fiona's eyes had to dodge because it was too bright. Coinciding with that, a tall guy wearing a hoodie black with an undercut hairstyle stood nicely blocking the light, making his silhouette seem soft and sexy at the same time. Fiona tried to focus her eyes on the boy's face, then she was silent for a while.

"Fiona?" The boy's voice spread strangely, he furrowed his brows.

"Um, yeah..." she answered hesitantly as she hugged the doorknob. The boy's smile stretched across his sweet face. Still young. How old is he? Did Tasya ever mention it? Shit, Fiona couldn't remember, but this guy was cute too.

The boy reached out his hand to shake, and persisted with his charming smile, "My name is Kian, surely, you already know. But yeah, I'm Kian," he said a little awkwardly. Fiona kept her small smile, and turned to the boy's hand, welcoming him. When Fiona greeted the boy, without realizing it, Kian, who was looking into her eyes, turned to Fiona's body. As if there is something odd in her. Fiona wasn't realizing it, but Kian's eyes, which immediately avoided her, pointed at her while chuckling.

"Your clothes are not buttoned..."

Fiona reflexively looked down, saw her unbuttoned flannel shirt, puffed out her breasts which were only covered by a bra, and then quickly turned around in shock. Fiona cursed loudly in her heart, immediately buttoned her shirt, and returned to face Kian who was waiting for her.

"Have you taken a shower? Sorry," he said with a laugh. There was no awkwardness, but the boy just kept looking at her knowingly.

"It's okay, I.. just woke up... uh, come in." Finally, Fiona allowed the boy to step on the floor of her house. With awkward steps told him to sit in the living room which was always neatly cleaned up by Aunt Nia. While making a cup of hot tea in the pantry, Fiona heard Kian ask.

"Do you live alone? Your house is very calm and comfy?"

Fiona didn't answer right away, she came out of the pantry with a smile carrying two cups of warm tea. One of the skills taught by Nia was making sweet tea that wasn't too sweet. She lowered the glass onto the coffee table and sat down next to Kian.

"Usually there is my housekeeper—also known as my aunty, Nia, but now she’s still in the market."

Kian, who had a simple facial line—not—like the man last night, nodded slightly. He glanced around Fiona's living room. Around the walls were only the paintings she had bought on a trip to the downtown gallery. She likes the surreal minimalist painting style. Which is not too meaningful but gives a picture of herself. There was no equipment other than a small buffet where she placed various awards from abroad as a writer from various categories.

"In Candy Pink's bio, you said that you're a writer. Is that true?"

Another stupid thing that Fiona never asked was, what kind of Candy Pink account did Tasya make up to today? Fiona didn't know what developments, with whom Tasya made the matchmaking transaction until a cute boy came to her house, without a clear and definite reason whether this guy was really interested in making love like what Tasya meant.

Fiona nodded thinly, lazy to answer because the cup explained enough. Since leaving the orphanage, Fiona has won competitions in writing short stories and poetry. Her writing style resembles the surrealism of the paintings she enjoys. Because back in the orphanage there was often an evening chat, the nun who took care of Fiona often told stories and made Fiona's imagination grow from there. Covered with talent as well as intelligence, that's what made Fiona until now cultivate this field as a career and life.

"If that's the case, I really—" Before Kian finished speaking, a voice interrupted him. Fiona reflexively looks at her own phone, but the voice is not from her phone. So did Kian who shook his head if it wasn't his phone. Standing up, the sound of the phone still didn't stop. Fiona followed the source of the sound and headed down the path to her room. The voice was getting louder and stranger, while Kian followed behind, the sound of the phone got louder when Fiona opened her room.

Over there.

Under the rug, tucked a little in. The screen lit up, and Fiona furrowed her brows. Whose phone is it? Is it Nia’s?

She quickly grabbed it and read the caller ID.

Assistant Rika.

Equally confused, Fiona glanced at Kian, who was waiting for her at the door of the room. While answering the phone, Fiona walked out of the room and closed the door. A low, memory-piercing voice instantly greeted Fiona.

"Fiona?"

"Who's this?"

The phone line was silent for a moment, then a low laughter sounded, "The guy who brought you home last night. So you found my cell phone?"

Slowly, Fiona's eyes widened. Her tongue went numb for a few moments, and Kian's gaze in front of her was getting more and more curious. Before answering, she swallowed saliva first. For some reason, the memory of last night that flashed made her embarrassed.

"Yeah. Under the rug," Fiona said with an awkward chuckle, glancing at Kian again.

"I think we're fated to meet again, right? Okay, tonight I'll be going to your house again to pick up my pho—"

"Oh, no need!" Fiona screamed instantly, "Um, I'll just go to your place."

The man chuckled, "Seriously? Do you want to come to my house?"

Fiona shook her head trying to get rid of the annoying tone of voice. "No, don't meet at your house either. I mean at the cafe maybe?"

"Hmm. Meet me in my office then."

"Your office?"

"Yeah, I'll give you the address later. All you have to do is tell the security guard to meet Leonard."

Fiona muttered under her breath, "Leonard..."

"Yes, that is my name," he said in a low voice, "I'll wait for you after lunch, okay?"

***