Chapter 2: Chapter Two
It was the day of the well-planned private dinner. Raden Nabilla succeeded in working her magic to invite Her Highness Puteri Paramita. Although to be honest, this task was not a difficult one, since both families have agreed to the engagement, so there was no reason that the Queen, Permaisuri Farida will deny permission for her stepdaughter to attend. Raden Nabilla didn't mention her son on the idea of the engagement, fearing that it will offend the Royal Family, instead she used building rapport as a pretext.
Raden Nabilla was busy all day making sure that they make a good impression and wow their guest. She is fully conscious that she wishes her son to marry up in the social ladder, so even though tonight's guest will be her future daughter in law, she wants to leave no reason to doubt that she is knowledgeable about Western Culture and European cuisine, as she knows that Puteri Paramita spent most of her life in London, and from what she had heard from gossips in the noble wives' circle of friends, Madam Soraya after giving birth to the Sultan's daughter, received a generous gift of shares in the country's oil exploration company and national banks, and because of that she had become a Socialite and is famous for hanging out with the international Jet Setters. So naturally Puteri Paramita is used to an upscale lifestyle. There is no way she would let her future in-laws look down at her.
She had the staff lay out her best silverware, her Italian ceramic dishes, and her crystal glasses. But she was extremely careful, not to go overboard. She didn't want to make herself look over the top either as tonight's dinner is by no means a formal event.
Although Hafiz had promised to behave himself, Raden Nabilla was nervous that Ali hadn't arrived home yet. He was the only one she can count on to keep her son checked.
The sound of familiar footsteps behind her made her exhaled in relief. She turned around to see Ali walking into the dining room. He was still in his work attire. "Did you just arrive?" She asked lovingly.
"Yes. Mother." He replied while kissing her cheeks. "There was an accident near the office, so we had to take a different way home."
"Go take a shower and change, our guest will be here in an hour."
*******
Ali went upstairs to his room, he walked into his private bathroom took his clothes off. He really wanted to take a nice soak before the dinner starts, to incite his best diplomatic abilities, but time would not allow for that luxury. Instead, he went into the shower letting the nice warm water massage his shoulders and back. Right now his mind drew a blank, he didn't know what to expect, with his brother's personality and what he heard about the princess. He thought it would be better to improvise as they go tonight, he will see and react according to the situation. After finishing his shower, he went to choose his outfit. "I should wear something smart casual'" he thought to himself, he opted for a light brown hand drawn silk batik shirt that he brought back from Indonesia when he visited Dewi's family for the first time, paired with black dress pants.
When he finished dressing and arrived downstairs he found that everybody was sitting in the living room. Apparently Raden Hamza had the same idea as him and was wearing a silk Batik Prada shirt, his wife was in a pink Baju Kurung looking elegant and dignified. He felt relieved when he saw Hafiz was actually dressed for the occasion with his Gucci jacket, matching pants, and beige T-Shirt. On the other hand, he never thought his brother to be foolish enough to not be on his best behavior while greeting members of the Royal Family.
*******
A maid came in to announce that the guests' car had already arrived at the main gate. They all walked to the front door to greet them.
A black Mercedes-Benz pulled up in the driveway in front of the main door, a guard stepped down from the passenger side, and opened the door for the first passenger, while the driver opened the door for another. Two women came down from the car. One was a young woman and the other an older. They were both dressed in the traditional Baju Kurung. While the older woman wore a jilbab, the younger one had a loose scarf covering her head.
Raden Nabilla came forward with respectful familiarity to greet the older woman," Your Highness Puteri Siti Hamidah, welcome to our humble home."
They smiled at each other and gave kissed each other on both cheeks.
"Please, there is no need to discuss me formally, let me present you to Sultan's daughter, Her Highness Puteri Paramita Sawitri." She said while gesturing to the young woman beside her, he proceeded to greet Raden Hamza and his two sons.
Raden Nabilla put on a big smile and greeted the young woman, "Your Highness, how do you do, I am very happy to finally meet you in person, I have heard a lot about you."
"Raden, please do not use formalities."
"Of course, of course, please let me introduce my family, this is my husband Raden Hamza, the eldest son Raden Burhanuddin Ali, and of course you know my son Raden Hafiz Adid."
Paramita saluted them. "It's nice to meet you Raden Hamza, Raden Burhanuddin, how do you do? Raden Hafiz, it's been a while."
Ali observed the princess discretely, she truly is in no way the ugly girl described by the tabloids. In fact, she could be considered a beauty, she was tall although not so slim, her body tended to be on the curvy side, with the silhouette of an hourglass figure hidden behind her loose clothes, her big eyes adorned with natural long lashes, she had a pretty nose, and full lips. Her skin was fair, and her black hair tied into a bun hidden under the scarf.
They entered the living room where drinks and snacks were served. The elders exchanged pleasantries and made small talk about family and mutual friends.
"How is the health of His Majesty Sultan, Your Highness?" asked Raden Hamza making small talk.
"His Majesty the Sultan is very well, Allah be thanked. He has been feeling tired lately, but between Her Majesty the Queen and myself, we make sure that he takes enough rest and eats well." She replied cordially.
Raden Nabilla smiled understandingly, although deep in her heart she could never understand how two women can share a husband, if she at times feels jealous over her husband's ex-wife, who he hasn't seen for more than twenty years. And every time Ali would come back from visiting his mother, she can't help feeling a little hurt when her husband asked him about how she was doing. She turned to Paramita and smiled," Oh look at us old people talking on and on and boring these youngsters. Hafiz, why don't you show Her Highness your brother's bonsai garden, I'm sure that will be more entertaining for her than listening to our nonsense. Ali will go with you two there so he can explain the different varieties of plants we have there."
"Yes, go ahead." Said Puteri Siti Hamidah.
"Diner will not be ready until an hour from now, so you can take your time." The hostess added meaningfully.
Paramita smiled and stood up, she followed Ali and Hafiz's lead towards the back garden. Passing through the mansion, she couldn't help but praise the Raden for her exquisite taste in interior décor. It was obviously luxurious but without giving a feeling of arrogance and coldness. There was a nice and warm ambient to the mansion that made it feel like a real home, but a very big one at that. There was something here that gave her a comfortable feeling, she couldn't quite understand it, much less explain what it was, but it made her feel good in the inside.
She looked at Hafiz's back as he walked in front of her, he hasn't changed. Still handsome, stylish and elegant. He always moved with the confidence of an aristocrat. Soon her attention fell to his older brother Burhanuddin Ali. She had investigated a bit into their background before she came here, she found that they were from different Mothers and that the eldest son Ali was a mixed Arab Melayu. Now looking at him, she could see it in his physical appearance. She noticed he had hazel colored eyes and very "tall nose", his hair was rather dark brown instead of black, with white skin, these were not really traits of the Melayu people.
They arrived at the garden, Paramita could see that it was very well laid out. It was tediously organized according to species and color. She also saw many fern species and orchids hanging from tall palm trees. Just like the interior of the mansion, its garden was certainly designed with high taste.
Ali lead them towards the far end of the garden, there she saw a collection of old bonsai trees, organized tastefully on small artificial mounds. There were various species of trees, tamarind, Benjamin tree, avocado, pine, and many other. Paramita couldn't help but gasp with awe. She looked to Ali, "And did you plant these?" she asked.
"Most of them, not all. Some of them are gifts." He said with pride. "This is my secret paradise, this is my favorite place to be when I'm not at work."
"It's amazing." Paramita responded. "I imagine it takes a lot of dedication, patience and love to be able to have such an extensive collection like this."
"Yes it does." Ali smiled.
Suddenly Hafiz coughed, "You know while you guys talk about little trees, let me get something to drink."
"As you wish." Replied Paramita not ven trying to hide her fake kindness. As soon as Hafiz walked away she turned serious and said to Ali. "I believe I wasn't invited here to look at bonsais or even to eat, so please be straight forward, what is it that you and your family want from me?"
Ali smiled, "She definitely was educated as a westerner." He thought to himself.
"Why are you standing there and smiling?" She asked sharply.
"I'm sure you know that both our families have agreed that you and Hafiz are engaged to be married." Replied Ali.
"Correction." Paramita slightly lifted her brow in surprise but cut him. "I am to be engaged to one of the sons of this family. But by what you told me just now, it is Hafiz who is to be sacrificed, to become my husband."
"Sacrificed?" Ali raised his eyebrows
"Obviously, I'm sure he is less than willing! Has he told you that he and I are not in good terms with each other? Well, no. Actually that's not the right way to say, let me correct myself. He is not in good terms with me." She said emphasizing.
"He did mention it, yes. But it's no sacrifice, it's an honor for him, and for us as his family."
Paramita was silent, her face clearly showing that she tried hard to control her frustrations.
This made Ali more curious. "She's actually very cute." He thought to himself. Then asked, "If you don't mind telling me what happened between the two of you?"
"I'm sorry." She said. "I know you care about your brother and want to help him, but I can't tell you. Well, if Hafiz didn't say anything, it's perhaps because he's still not over it, and is still embarrassed about it. So who am I to gossip?"
"So you're not going to tell me anything?"
"No. I don't really know you, so why should I share someone else's shame with you?"
"Good point."
"But I'll tell you what. In good spirit, I will apologize to Hafiz about the prank so he will stop being angry at me. But the subject of marriage is another thing. From the time I spent with him during our college years, I can see that he isn't a good husband material for me, we are too different, and there are things about him that I can't accept."
Ali wasn't all that surprised at her directness, but he still asked. "May I ask you why you think he won't be a good husband?"
"Well, first, he is a well-known playboy."
"That's the national tabloids looking for cheap scandal."
"No. It's not. I know many girls that cried over him, plus going back to our previous conversation, if he wasn't such a playboy I wouldn't have done what I did to him." She said, he could see a shadow of a smile on her lips.
"Is that so? Aren't you a little exaggerating? It's common for men to have a girlfriend or two, or even more before marriage. I know you might think that it's unfair, and you are within all your rights, but it's the way our society sees it."
Paramita sighed, "I know, and I'm not trying to change our culture or anything. I'm just speaking my mind. I'm very frustrated and angry about this arrangement. But of course I can't do anything about it, all I can do is accept. No matter what, I do have to show piety to my parents and country."
Ali saw that her eyes turned misty and sad. He felt a sharp stab of sympathy towards her. He was surprised at himself that he suddenly found himself fighting the urge to hug her, seeing how this young woman was wholeheartedly laughing a few minutes ago and now her eyes are hiding a great burden.
Paramita shook her head and took a deep breath. "Oh well, I'll have to live with it I guess."
Suddenly they heard footsteps approaching, it was Hafiz and a maid who was carrying a tray with drinks.
Paramita accepted a glass of orange juice and took a sip at it. Ali could see that she was still trying to calm herself down.
She handed the glass back to the maid before turning to Hafiz, "Hafiz, I sincerely apologize about what happened in London. It was wrong of me to treat you that way. I understand that you feel hurt about it. What I did was wrong and hurtful, please forgive me."
Hafiz looked at her with surprise as if he saw a ghost, "Excuse me? Is this a trick or something? Did I hear you apologize to me?"
Paramita smiled," You heard right, and if you don't believe me, I'll say it again. I sincerely apologize for my behavior in the past. Please understand I was immature back then, since we are at this point in our lives we should act like mature adults, I hope you will forgive me for my wrong doings and not hold it against me."
Hafiz looked at her doubtfully. But with Ali there and his meaningful look, took a deep breath and said with resignation. "Of course I forgive you and anything that I did in the past to offend you, please forgive me too. Let's forget everything and start clean."
Ali looked at him inquisitively, "Start clean?" Ali laughed feeling satisfied with himself, "Congratulations, now that everything is clear, we can go ahead and tell the elders to move forward with the wedding plans."
Paramita looked at Ali with annoyance, but hastily smiled and said. "Wait, please don't say anything to the elders yet. Please let me be the one to talk to my Father first and give him the good news, he will be the one to talk to Raden Hamza."
Ali thought for a while, "You're right, we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. This is an important matter and it does involve the Royal Family. Hafiz, let's not mention about our discussion to anyone yet."
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