Lisa pulled up a chair and then raised her hand to call the waiter. "Sir, I want to order two Ketoprak with iced tea— ugh wait, what do you want to drink?"

Bastian blinked, he was lost in thought for a moment. "Eh, sorry. I'll take the same order,"

A few minutes passed, the waitress then brought a tray with two glasses of iced tea and handed it to Lisa.

The woman stirred her drink while staring at the sugar deposits at the bottom of the glass with knitted brows. Her right hand turned the mixing spoon excitedly.

The man sitting in front of her stirred her iced tea glass slowly. He stole a glance at the glass that Lisa stirred excitedly. Seeing the sight made Bastian chuckle.

"What's wrong?" Lisa asked, staring at the man in front of her in surprise.

"Nothing. I just think it's funny to see Sis Lisa is really excited in stirring up the tea," the man answered with a smile.

"Is there anything wrong with the way I stir my tea?"

"No, it's just that this is the only time I've seen something like that."

Lisa replied with a grin on the corners of her beautiful lips. This man was very quiet and awkward not so long ago. Now he took the initiative to make small talk with Lisa first.

"You're so funny, you know," Lisa said and then took a quick sip of her sweet iced tea. "By the way," she added as she leaned forward.

Bastian tilted his head and looked closely at Lisa.

"When you were at Petersson Communication, you said you worked in the hiring department, right? But now you worked in the IT department at Colors Advertising. Why?" Lisa kindly asked, breaking the silence.

"Oh, right. I was studying Information Systems in the past. But when applying, hiring was the only department that still had some vacancies. I didn't know why but my application was suddenly accepted at the Petersson Communication company. So I just took it instead of straying and wandering around the streets without a job," Bastian explained at length.

A waiter then came and handed two ketoprak plates to Lisa and Bastian. Lisa thanked the waiter and started reaching for the spoon and fork.

"But it's really weird. Back then, how come I never met you when I was still working at Petersson Comm,huh?" Lisa asked, stirring her food.

"I think it's because we're in different departments? Maybe we've met before but not too often. The problem was that my department is on the ground floor," Bastian replied, smiling at Lisa.

"Oh yeah, I also heard that you were immediately promoted to finance manager just in a few months, is that right? Congratulations! Your achievement is really admirable and I'm really proud of you."

Hearing Bastian's sincere praise, Lisa's face suddenly turned red. The woman lowered her head while blushing, scooping the food awkwardly. "Yes, by coincidence, I didn't expect that I would immediately become a manager that fast!"

"But people from the hiring department at Petersson Comm used to say that your performance was amazingly good. So yes, I am also not surprised if you were also promoted in this new company in such a short time!" The man said then sipped his iced tea.

Lisa chewed her food slowly while staring at the man's dark eyes. Really, Bastian's face was very charming though it wasn't comparable to Rangga. But looking at his white and clean skin, Lisa's eyes feel as if they were washed by holy water from a fountain in heaven.

The woman then shook her head. She wouldn't let herself blush in embarrassment just because of Bastian's handsome face. Not when she'd just met him a while ago!

"Ah, they can just be exaggerating!" Lisa spontaneously said then she sipped her remaining iced tea.

"Seriously, Sis! They weren't just exaggerating. The head of hiring department even talked about you when you were transferred to become the personal secretary to the new president when Mr. Peter retired. They regretted it anyway. But since that was a direct order from the president, we from the hiring department couldn't do anything."

"Oh," Hearing Bastian's last explanation made Lisa reminisce and think about her past when she was still working under Oscar. If she had resigned immediately when the golden-haired man offered her a job that wasn't worth her accomplishments, her life might not have been as complicated as it was today.

"What could I do? At that time, I was really down. My parents were divorced, I needed money and I'm afraid to be homeless in Jakarta if I resigned," Lisa shrugged her shoulders.

"But to be honest, I am happy that you've moved to a better office now. Although the salary was not as big as at Petersson Communication, I always see that you never look tormented when working at Colors Advertising."

"That's funny. By the way, why do you call me Sis Lisa? Aren't we the same age? It's weird to hear it you know. Don't use formal language with me too!" Lisa frowned while playing with her spoon on the plate.

"Hehe sorry Sis, I just knew. Shame on me," the man's smile was very sweet and looked sincere, making Lisa's heart skip a beat as she was amazed by him. After spending quite a long time chatting with him, Lisa thought that the shy man turned out to be talkative.

They chatted for almost two hours over dinner with simple dishes at a restaurant that didn't look too special. They both looked very familiar when a glass of sweet tea and a plate of Ketoprak accompanied them.

Lisa really missed a happy moment like this. In the past, when she was still with Oscar, she didn't feel the pleasure of eating street foods like this. Her idea of happiness was simple. No need to eat in expensive restaurants as long as she was happy.

The night breeze felt so nice while enjoying dinner and chatting with a friend, accompanied by the roar of motor vehicles and car horns. That was enough for Lisa to fill the emptiness of her heart.

***

After they had their simple dinner in a Ketoprak restaurant, Lisa took out her wallet and handed the money to the cashier. The woman came out of the place and said, "Once again, thank you for helping me fix my computer. Sorry if I overreacted, but I'm not lying, I know little about computers,"

"With pleasure, Sis! Don't hesitate to ask for my help again. If you need a ride, I am ready too!" Bastian kindly answered.

'Oh my God, this guy is just too good to be true!'

"Oh by the way," Bastian spontaneously asked. "Do you want me to take you to your boarding house?"

"Uh, no, I'll just walk. It's not far from here!" Lisa replied dryly.

"Sis, are you sure it's okay? It's already late, I'm afraid it's not good for you to walk alone down the street at this hour," Bastian said anxiously.

Not having time to answer Bastian's question, Lisa saw a tall man with slender build she knew walking towards the depot.

The man waved his hand at Lisa and the woman responded to him.

"Well, Mr. Rangga also ate here?" Bastian asked in amazement.

"Yes, I just finished the meeting and I was hungry, so I just stopped by here," Rangga said.

"Wow, Mr. Rangga likes to eat street foods too," Bastian added.

Rangga looked at Lisa next to Bastian with suspicious eyes. He didn't know that Lisa had a personal relationship with Bastian. The atmosphere around the three of them was suddenly awkward.

"Okay, I want to eat first. Lisa, can you stay for a while? I want to talk to you," Rangga said, looking at Lisa.

"Okay then. I'll go home first!" Bastian lowered his head to Lisa and Rangga and then left on his motorbike.

When Bastian left, Rangga grabbed Lisa's arm then whispered, "Lis, what kind of relationship do you have with Bastian!?"historical