Adeline And Ronan

Andrea was very surprised when he landed at Heathrow, London, and tried to call Ludwina. His wife didn't answer his call. He tried again when he got to the hotel, but she still didn't pick up.

He sent numerous texts and emails, but none of them got any reply. He was so afraid that anything would happen to Ludwina, so he finally called Johann.

From Johann, he learned that Ludwina was in Sumba with him. Ludwina had locked herself up since arriving and looking depressed, said Johann.

Andrea was aware that Ludwina still hadn't forgiven him and deliberately refused to accept his phone calls and refused to reply to any of his texts or emails.

He could only sit dejectedly on the chair in his hotel room and cry slowly as he imagined the face of the woman who had been with him for four years, whom he had hurt.

Andrea was eager to return to Indonesia and pick up Ludwina, but his logic forced him to stay in London. He had promised Joe to help him at the company and he couldn't back down now.

He could only be patient and give Ludwina time to recover from her pain. Andrea knew her very well, and he knew that Ludwina had a kind heart. She wouldn't hurt Andrea in order to heal her own pain. She wasn't that kind of woman.

***

<<London, England>>

Andrea didn't have the energy to find a house, so Joe helped him. All matters of looking for a house were assisted by Joe's personal assistants, and Andrea only needed to mention the criteria.

Before a month passed, he had viewed three apartments and found one that looked very much like their apartment on Beach Road. The only difference was that the unit in Camden, London, had one bedroom and not two. Andrea immediately signed a two-year lease and moved there from his hotel.

Some of the furniture wasn't up to his taste and Ludwina's, so they were replaced with white and gray accents. The sofa he bought was very large and soft, very similar to their sofa in Singapore.

Andrea tried to make his flat as similar to the apartment where he and Ludwina lived together in as he possibly could. He really missed the girl and their life together in Singapore.

***

<<Lakey Beach, Sumba>>

Ludwina finally finished her first historical novel, entitled "Taishi, The Prince of the Water Kingdom". After printing the entire novel with its synopsis and table of contents, she sent the printed manuscript and an email containing the soft copy to several publishing companies in her country.

A week later, she received a reply from Genta Publishing. They were interested in publishing her novel. They discussed the contract and asked Ludwina to be patient because the manuscript had to go through an editing process by an editor before it could be published.

Ludwina was elated because, for the very first time, her novel was getting a warm reception and would soon be printed. She told Johann and her parents, and they were all truly happy to hear that.

She didn't tell Andrea. Instead, she let Johann tell him. She knew that Andrea often communicated with her brother and parents to find out about her progress. That was also one of the reasons why Ludwina didn't tell her family about her illness. She was afraid that they would tell Andrea.

***

<<Camden, London>>

After a few months, Andrea finally got used to Ludwina's treatment. He realized that whatever he did wouldn't change Ludwina's attitude. So he hardened his heart to hold back his longing and didn't demand that Ludwina reply to his email or texts. He hoped that over time, Ludwina would soften up and be willing to forgive him.

Andrea regularly emailed Ludwina every Sunday. He shared everything that had happened to him in London during the week and ended it by praying that Ludwina would remain healthy and happy wherever she was - because, after two months of solitary in Sumba, Ludwina was flying around the world again.

Andrea also always insisted that the door to his Camden apartment would always be open to Ludwina whenever she would come. Andrea deliberately made his apartment passkey the same as that of their apartment on Beach Road, so that Ludwina could come anytime.

He then told Adeline, his former girlfriend, that he had moved to London. However, Andrea never asked to meet her, because he had promised Ludwina not to see Ronan. Even though he was hurt by the decision, Andrea didn't want to break his own promise.

That's why Andrea was very surprised when he suddenly saw Adeline appear in the lobby of his office, one afternoon.

"I'm sorry I came so suddenly..." Adeline looked a little embarrassed when she got up from her seat to welcome Andrea. Her face was still as beautiful as the last time Andrea saw her. She just looked more mature and her body was more beautiful than he remembered. "I can't bear to see Ronan always asking about you..."

Next to her was a handsome brown-haired boy who was staring at Andrea without blinking.

Adeline's sudden appearance in front of him was quite a shock to Andrea, but when he came face to face with the boy he had been missing all this time, Andrea's defense collapsed, and with tears in his eyes, he walked over to Ronan and crouched down to hug him tightly.

"Ronan... Papa rindu sama kamu..." Andrea said softly. (Ronan, Daddy misses you)

"He doesn't speak Indonesian," said Adeline, "You have to speak to him in English."

In the end, Andrea greeted Ronan in English and immediately chatted with his son, who was almost 7 years old. Ronan looked very smart, and it was clear in his eyes that he also missed his father very much. He stroked Andrea's face as if he couldn't believe his father was really in front of him.

"I'll go in first," said Andrea. "You guys wait in the lobby for a bit. I'll take you to a restaurant for dinner and we can chat."

Adeline nodded and smiled. Ronan smiled too. When he smiled, the child looked very much like Adeline, but when he was silent, his face was exactly like Andrea's. People in Andrea's office thought that he was being picked up by his wife and child, and many people praised how good looking the family was.

Andrea was too tired and he didn't have the energy to correct them.

[I am attending a conference at Hilton. Do you want to meet up for dinner?]

Suddenly there was an incoming text message from Johann. Andrea almost forgot that this week, Johann was attending a medical conference in London and he had promised to see him. Andrea missed Ludwina desperately and was eager to talk to Johann about his wife.

But just now, he had invited Adelina and Ronan to dinner together. What would Ludwina say when she found out that he was seeing his former girlfriend and their child?

The dilemma gave Andrea a headache. Finally, he replied to Johann's text and asked if he could bring guests to their dinner.

[Are the guests Adelina and Ronan? If so, that's fine, you can bring them.] Johann replied.

Andrea was relieved to read Johann's text. He realized that Johann was on his side and was very understanding of the predicament he was in.

They ended up having dinner at one of the Hilton's restaurants. Johann looked very sympathetic when Andrea came with Adeline and Ronan. He shook hands with Adeline and Ronan and hugged Andrea.