4 First Stage Negotiations

It's been more than five minutes Yara was silent in front of the dark brown door. She has gone through various things, from scratching her hair that doesn't itch, biting her own lips, to pacing incoherently in front of the apartment unit.

With a heavy sigh, Yara finally got up the courage to knock on the door in front of her. She knocked again, hoping someone would open the door for her soon.

"Yes?" Adam poked his head out of the gap in the door that he seemed to be deliberately trying to keep from opening it completely.

"Night, Dam." Yara smiled kindly as if there was no painful past between them.

"Why did you come to my apartment?" Adam asked coldly.

"I need to talk about your house project, Dam."

"Oooh, have you heard from Pak Ranu? So? You said you wanted to party all night if I canceled this project."

Yara swallowed hard. Can she swear in front of this man's face?

"Apparently ... the situation is a bit beyond my expectations. Please, Dam. Talk to me for a second, okay?"

"Tsk!" Adam chuckled. "We're talking at the coffee shop downstairs, it's unethical for us to be alone in the apartment. Wait a minute, I'll take my cellphone and wallet."

Adam returned to his apartment unit before closing the door. Yara's hand was pounding the air because she was annoyed with Adam's behavior.

"Come on."

Yara followed Adam, while compiling the words she would say to make Adam undo his intentions.

"What do you want to drink?" Adam asked as they were about to order at the apartment's coffee shop counter.

"As usual, Dam." Yara slapped herself in the mouth when she realized she was saying what shouldn't have been said. "I mean, Vanilla Latte, less ice."

Adam shook his head. Not only Adam who was embarrassed by Yara's behavior, Yara was actually like that too.

"You sit down first."

Yara complied, choosing to sit in a chair near the window so she could look away in case the negotiations didn't go well.

A moment later, Adam pulled the chair in front of Yara. That man sat and crossed his arms, as if waiting for Yara to speak.

"So, something happened, Dam—"

Before Yara started the negotiation trick, a coffee shop employee came to bring Adam and Yara's orders.

Yara took a sip of the Vanilla Latte in front of her to reduce her nervousness.

"So, hmm ... can I do the interior design for your house? I promise I will make it as good as possible, according to what you want. Before, I used to work on the interior design of resorts, hotels, official houses, artist houses, So you don't have to doubt my abilities."

Adam tugged at the corner of his lips, smiling disdainfully. "I can find an interior designer on your level, even one far above your level."

"I promise, I'll do it with all my heart, just think of it as a wedding gift for my ex."

"Just by you saying that, I'm getting scared."

Yara suddenly became panicked because of Adam's words. "Eh, no, I mean, every job that I work, must be done with all my heart. I guarantee this time I will give my best, Dam."

"Why, Ra?"

"Hah?"

"Yeah, why are you suddenly lowering your self-esteem like this. This afternoon you clearly said you were going to have a party if I canceled this project, now you're begging me to give you my house project, which isn't worth much."

Adam's words hurt Yara's pride. But what can she do?

"I haven't been back to Jakarta for a month, Dam. I got a resort project in Manado a few months ago. And this time my boss told me to work on your house, or I'll be sent for a resort project in Papua." In the end Yara chose to be honest, who knows Adam still feels sorry for her.

Who would have thought, Yara's story, which was full of honesty and hope, actually made Adam laugh out loud.

"Think you're short on cash or something," Adam teased.

"Hey! I'm Narendra Rafardhan Candra's daughter, if you forget. Even if I don't work, I won't be short of money," Yara said arrogantly.

"Well then, tell your father to talk to your boss, after all, it's impossible for your father to be willing to let his daughter go to Papua for months to work on a resort there?"

"The thing is...." Yara played with the dewdrops in her glass. "I work with my uncle, my mother's brother. And my parents won't get involved in work problems, because that's an agreement between my parents and my uncle. Om Ranu won't hesitate to send me to the north pole, especially since it's only Papua. Yes, Dam? Please. You know now how complicated my life is."

Adam laughed again. He was holding his stomach which felt stiff from laughing too much.

"Adaaam." Yara let out a pitiful expression. In the past, this expression of hers always managed to get Adam to fulfill her request.

Adam gasped for a few seconds then one finger pushed Yara's forehead. "It doesn't work. Who do you think you are, you think that by being so pitiful I will do what you want?"

"You don't feel sorry for me, Dam? You already have a future wife. Most of our friends are already married. Me? I don't have a boyfriend yet, Dam. Guess why?”

"Because you make resorts on other islands too often?" guessed Adam.

"No. Because of your curse." Yara looked at Adam with a look full of annoyance.

Yara's words succeeded in making Adam frown. "What curse?"

"Tsk! You don't remember when you swore at me when we broke up?"

"Hah?" Adam was getting confused by the random words that came out of Yara's thin lips. "Swear what?"

"Come on, don't talk about it. Maybe this is my fate. So, you really don't want me to do your housework? I'll give you a 50% money back guarantee. If you don't like the design, I'll refund 50% of the cost. How about that?"

"Your office is so cool! You can give a guarantee like that?"

Yara laughed. "It wasn't my office that gave it. Om Ranu is not that good. The guarantee is from me, don't worry. I'll pay for it, as long as you don't tell Om Ranu."

"I can't decide now," Adam shook his head.

Yara almost cried seeing Adam's head moving left and right. Usually she never mind going anywhere to do the interior design of a resort, hotel, or whatever. But this time it felt different. For some reason, she still felt too tired to travel. Her longing for his family is still unfinished.

"Ok. Papua, I'm coming," Yara said quietly.

***

"Yara, Yara," Nana called excitedly. Nana, who just finished meeting with a client that afternoon, immediately rushed to Yara's desk and grabbed Yara's hand.

"What the hell? It's so noisy."

"Please accompany me to the mall. I want to go to the pharmacy, I run out of vitamin E." Nana glanced at Ranu who turned out to be near them. "May I, Pak Ranu? May I leave before break time? Less than ten minutes, Pak."

"Yes. The job is done right?"

"Yes, Boss."

"Come on, there's something I want to buy at the pharmacy too." Yara raises her voice when she realized her uncle still hadn't returned to his room.

'Nana, ask me what do i want to buy,' Yara whispered to Nana.

Although confused by Yara's request, Nana finally followed her wishes. "What do you want to buy?"

"I want to buy pill Kina, I'm going to Papua soon," Yara shouted so that her uncle could hear her words. "I think so, soon, the household members at my house will forget that I'm the owner. I might be kicked out when I want to enter the house because other people think I'm never home."

Ranu smiled when he heard his niece's chatter which always made his day more colorful. He chose to enter his room before sending a message to Yara.

[Om Ranu: Your ex who is also our client asked to meet you, tonight, at the same place as last night]

[Om Ranu: I don't know if he wants to deal or not. You just come anyway. It's up to you, want to connect the rope of love or want to deal with projects]

[Om Ranu: But just in case, buy the pill Kina]

----

Author’s note:

-‘Om’ has the same meaning as uncle.

-‘Pak’ is used to address father or older men in a more formal setting.

-Pill Kina are drugs to prevent or treat malaria (an endemic disease in eastern Indonesia) which is deadly,