Striking Difference I
Aruna hesitantly stepped. Hendra put the hairdryer on the table while showing where the switch was so that Aruna could use it to dry her clothes.
It was a little clumsy because the hairdryer's length required Aruna to stand up. She held the bottom of the skirt, bowed her head to make sure the hairdryer blew heat right into her wet dress.
The scene was beyond graceful. In fact, it looked bizarre because Aruna's legs were casually open even though she was wearing a midi dress.
It was still understandable in Aruna's mind because she turned her back on Hendra.
From the beginning, the man took one of his collection books on the bookshelf that stretched to the room's right. He then sat at his desk and looked focused on reading.
'What is he doing?'
Aruna didn't realise that Hendra had watched her several times. Hendra really didn't expect that the girl who would marry him was such a messy girl.
'Is it because she (Aruna) is a substitute that makes her far from expectations?'
How could his perfectionist grandfather prepare a mate for years in the form of a strange girl who likes to smile?
Hendra's mind twisted like he was playing a puzzle.
"Huh... Finally finished. Thank goodness, look at my skirt, it's now dry!" Aruna excitedly exclaimed, breaking Hendra's daydream.
"Turn it off immediately." Hendra asked, who was disturbed by the soft voice of a hairdryer.
"Ah..." Aruna even accidentally pointed the flaming hair dryer at her face.
The sudden gust of heat took her by surprise, and a funny facial expression flashed up. Her expression was quite adorable before finally grabbing the end of the hairdryer cable so that the tool stopped.
"Are you born messy?" Hendra straightforwardly asked a satirical question.
"Are you born..." Aruna wanted to reply to Hendra's insinuation but she was stuck on her mind.
Why should she reply to him? It was useless anyway.
"Why?! Just continue... I'm not as stiff as my grandfather." Hendra concluded.
Aruna just shook her head in disagreement. At this point in time, she should be careful with anyone who came into contact with the Wenceslas family.
However, the unfinished cut of the sentence made the heir Wenceslas annoyed and curious.
"I'm almost sure, a girl like you is capable of insulting me. Luckily it's just a false belief."
Wow, Hendra's words were really sharp. He was entirely consistent from the first and second meeting.
'Like you?!? Oh my god, the young master of heaven.' Aruna was trying to maintain her sanity.
'You were born with a sharp mouth.' The curse was only reached to the throat.
"Next time we have a lot of activities together, please reduce your weird behaviour." In fact, the word 'your unique' was composed by Hendra, but he ended up choosing the word 'weird' to make it seem unfriendly.
'Weird?!?' Aruna tried to trace her actions from the start of dinner until she reached Hendra's office. She felt that she didn't find anything 'weird.'
"I'm just... Not comfortable with the make-up and clothes I'm wearing." Aruna tried to defend herself.
The man observed her from top to bottom.
"Hemm... Could you possibly wear flat shoes because you can't use high heels?!"
"Yes."
'Oh my God... How crucial is high heels in the Wenceslas family's life?' Aruna thought.
"I knew it." Hendra's statement stuck out his own winning expression.
Before adding another spicy sentence, the man stopped to look at his phone for a moment. There was an incoming message on it. While hanging up his phone, the blue-eyed man stood up.
"Your father and mother have finished with their dinner. They are heading to the 1st-floor. They are waiting there." Hendra stepped out of the room, but not as fast as his arrival.
"I actually want to discuss some things with you, that's the reason I brought you to my office. There are some things that we haven't had the chance to discuss in our first meeting." Hendra explained.
"Do you mind if I ask for additional time at our third meeting?" Hendra asked. Both of them are currently in the elevator to the 1st floor.
Aruna observed herself in the elevator glass, one frame with Hendra.
A striking difference was painted there. Hendra was tall, even his shoulders were just above Aruna's earlobe. They both wore batik, but the nuance was much different.
Little Aruna was like a local ethnic accessory, while Hendra was like an imported branded product. Aruna's logic was not far from what she was struggling with, namely making knick-knacks.
"You didn't hear my words, did you?!" Hendra was annoyed to be ignored.
"Eh ya.. What was that?!?" Aruna awakened from fitting her absurd logic.
Hendra glanced at her with a sharp gaze combined with an irritated expression. Aruna didn't dare to look at him directly, but that expression could be seen by the elevator glass.
The Wenceslas Group's young CEO, the centre of attention, was never overlooked. Other people always heard and followed his words.
In less than an hour, he was twice treated like extras. Hendra felt that bad energy would come along with the presence of a tiny woman beside him.
"Huuuh...." Hendra sighed as the sharp sentences that were being composed stopped in his mind.
The elevator door opened at the right time, leaving Aruna, who was as quick as lightning, away from Hendra, trying to find her family waiting on the first floor.
***
It was a tiring day, not because of physical fatigue but rather psychological fatigue.
Meeting the Wenceslas family in person really made Aruna unable to control her behaviour, let alone think clearly. Even the expressions on each member of his family's faces grew darker.
The black Alphard, the family's pride, drove in silence. There was no fanfare of warmth as usual. Even the whispers of the dialogue between her father and mother who sat behind could be heard by Aruna and Anantha, who was driving.
"What did you talk to Gayatri earlier?!" Aruna's mother's voice was small as she didn't want to be heard by the others.
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The background of this novel is in one of the countries in South East Asia where customs, norms, and values in those areas very much inspire every character depicted in this story.
The boundaries of relationship between males and females and the habits portrayed there can be very much different from your own life styles. I hope you can visit and see the places described in this novel and you can witness it yourself their uniqueness and beauty.