Chapter 3 - Misgivings
884 Words
They finished lunch with lighter conversations after that.
Lya complained about her final semester, about one lecturer who seemed determined to make every student suffer, and about how Aidan had abandoned them for a girl again.
Iskandar listened.
He laughed when he was supposed to.
Teased her when she pouted.
Passed her the mango sorbet before she even reached for it.
Everything felt familiar.
Normal.
Almost.
By the time they left the café, the afternoon sun had softened into a golden haze.
Lya walked beside him towards the car, one hand holding her drink while the other adjusted the sleeve of her dusty pink sweatshirt.
"Don't look so serious," she said suddenly.
Iskandar glanced at her. "I'm not."
"You are. You have that CEO face."
"I have a CEO face?"
"Yes. Very expensive. Very intimidating. Very annoying."
A faint smile touched his lips.
"Should I apologise for my face?"
"You should."
He opened the car door for her.
Lya paused before getting in, then looked up at him.
"Irfan is not a bad person, Is."
Iskandar held her gaze.
"I hope he isn't."
Something in his answer made her quiet.
Only for a second.
Then she slipped into the car and looked away.
That evening, after they returned home, Lya went straight to her room.
She told herself she would only rest for a while.
But the moment she sat on the bed, her phone lit up again.
Irfan.
This time, she answered.
His face appeared on the screen a few seconds later.
Handsome.
Smiling.
Familiar in the way a voice could become familiar after years of late-night conversations.
"Finally," he said, his smile not quite reaching his eyes. "Busy day?"
Lya leaned against her pillows.
"Kind of. I went out for lunch."
"With who?"
There was a pause.
"Is."
"Is?"
"Iskandar," she explained. "Aidan's best friend. You know, the one I told you about."
Irfan's expression changed.
Only slightly.
But it changed.
"The CEO guy?"
Lya laughed. "Why do you say it like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like he offended you by existing."
Irfan smiled then, but something about it felt tight.
"Nothing. I just didn't know you were that close to him."
Lya blinked.
"We grew up together. He's family."
"I know."
"So?"
"So nothing." His voice softened. "I just missed you, that's all."
And just like that, the strange tension disappeared.
Or maybe Lya chose to let it disappear.
She smiled.
"I missed you too."
Irfan looked at her for a moment.
Then he said, almost too casually, "Next time, tell me before you go out with him."
Lya paused.
"Why?"
"So I don't disturb you."
His answer came quickly.
Too quickly.
For a second, Lya only stared at him.
Then she smiled faintly.
"Okay."
Downstairs, the house was quiet.
Iskandar stood by the balcony with Aidan beside him, both men staring at the dimly lit garden.
Aidan took one look at his best friend and sighed.
"What's with that face?"
Iskandar did not answer immediately.
Aidan raised an eyebrow. "Is this about Lya?"
Still silence.
Then Iskandar finally spoke.
"She has never met him."
Aidan frowned. "Who?"
"Irfan."
"Oh." Aidan leaned against the railing. "Yeah. I think she mentioned that before."
Iskandar turned to him.
"And you are fine with that?"
Aidan blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Almost two years, Aidan." Iskandar's voice remained calm, but there was something hard beneath it. "Two years of calls and video calls. No physical meeting. No one actually knows him beyond what he tells her."
Aidan's expression slowly shifted.
"Is."
Something in his voice warned him not to say it.
But Iskandar said it anyway.
"Something feels off."
Aidan studied him for a few seconds.
"Are you worried, or are you jealous?"
The question landed between them like a stone dropped into still water.
Iskandar's jaw tightened.
"I am not jealous."
Aidan gave him a look that clearly said he did not believe him.
"Really?"
"Really."
"Because from where I'm standing, you look like a man who just found out the girl he likes has a boyfriend."
Iskandar finally turned to him.
His expression was calm.
Too calm.
"Careful, Aidan."
Aidan raised both hands in surrender, but the teasing smile did not completely leave his face.
"Fine. Concerned, then."
Iskandar looked back at the garden.
The night breeze moved softly through the trees, carrying the faint scent of wet grass and flowers from the courtyard below.
"I don't like it," he admitted.
"The boyfriend?"
"The situation."
Aidan frowned. "What situation?"
"Almost two years," Iskandar said slowly.
"Almost two years of calls and video calls. No physical meeting. No one actually knows him beyond what he tells her."
For a while, neither of them spoke.
Then Aidan exhaled.
"Lya is not stupid."
"I know."
"Then maybe she knows what she's doing."
"Maybe."
"But you don't believe that."
Iskandar's fingers tightened around the balcony railing.
"I believe Lya wants to believe him."
That silenced Aidan.
Because both of them knew Lya.
She was soft where she should be guarded.
Trusting where she should be careful.
And when she loved, she did not do it halfway.
Aidan looked away first.
"You really think something is wrong?"
Iskandar's eyes remained fixed on the dark garden.
"I hope I'm wrong."
But deep down, he already knew.
He rarely was.
- Writer
