Till Death Do Us Part

Chapter 36 - Ludwina's Mission

Andrea became very worried. He rushed to the Raffles Hotel to check on the girl.

"Miss Ludwina Kurniawan already checked out this morning," said the receptionist after Andrea asked to be connected to Ludwina's room.

"Oh..." Andrea was very surprised to hear that. He didn't expect that Ludwina would leave without saying anything to him. He waited an hour before trying to call Ludwina again.

This time, his call was picked up and he could hear Ludwina's slightly sleepy voice on the other end.

Andrea was so relieved...

It turned out that Ludwina was all right. Her phone was turned off because she was flying back home.

"Have you returned to Jakarta?" asked Andrea in his casual tone. He didn't want Ludwina to think he was possessive and made her feel like she had to report her decisions and actions to Andrea.

"Uhm, yeah... I just arrived. I'll call you later..."

"Okay. Get some rest..."

"Thanks."

Ludwina put her phone in her bag and went into a daze in the taxi. Andrea didn't ask why she suddenly returned to Jakarta without saying goodbye...

Did the young man not care about her?

Her lips pursed in annoyance at herself and Ludwina took a deep breath. This was all her fault. If she hadn't prevented Andrea from confessing his love in Paris, it would all have ended romantic and pleasant.

Now, she must think of a way to save face...

Ludwina tried to keep herself busy for a few weeks and didn't contact Andrea. She was still embarrassed, so she pretended that the incident on the plane never happened. Andrea also didn't discuss it, and for almost a month, they were distant.

Johann, who saw that Ludwina wasn't going anywhere for more than four weeks, even suspected that his sister was sick or was possessed by aliens. Ludwina had never stayed at home this long.

"You're not going to Singapore again? How unusual... You've been staying home for over a month." Johann teased Ludwina over breakfast after weeks of seeing his sister at home and going nowhere. "You've changed after you return from Europe... What's the matter?"

Ludwina didn't answer. She was also surprised at herself. If it were the usual, she would already be busy planning her next trip after staying at home for a maximum of two weeks. But now that it had been more than a month, she had no desire to travel.

Johann touched his sister's forehead then touched his own and muttered, "You don't have a fever."

"I'm not sick, Johann." Ludwina pushed away Johann's hand. She's been in a bad mood lately. "I'm just mad..."

"Mad at whom?" Johann became more sympathetic seeing Ludwina looking more sad than mad.

"I'm mad at myself..." said Ludwina after a while. She refused to elaborate further and Johann didn't insist. In the end, he stroked his younger sister's back affectionately and didn't tease her anymore.

Inside, he could guess that this had to do with Andrea, the man Ludwina fancied. After all, his younger sister is all grown up, and Johann believed that Ludwina could take care of herself.

Ludwina's mood started to improve due to Johann's attention and she decided to sort through the photos from Amsterdam, Paris, and Toscana after breakfast. She moved the photos to her laptop and began sorting out the most interesting ones.

Immediately, she reminisced about the wonderful times in Europe with Andrea while sorting out the photos and was instantly touched with nostalgia.

I wonder what Andrea was doing right now, she thought. It had been almost a month that they didn't intensely communicate as they usually did.

Her sight was long fixated on the photo of her and Andrea taken in the restaurant in Amsterdam by a tourist at that time. The two of them were smiling and looked really good together. They barely had a photo where they were together.

When they were traveling, the two of them took more photos of the tourist attractions and rarely took photos of themselves together like this.

She decided to send the photo to Andrea.

[Do you remember this photo?] she wrote him.

Andrea didn't reply to her message until nightfall. Ludwina received his reply after dinner.

[Ah, yeah, it's that time in Amsterdam, right? Looks good.]

Ludwina was about to question why it took Andrea so long to text back to her, but she soon realized that she had no right to protest because she wasn't his girlfriend. Maybe Andrea was busy and he didn't have to explain anything to her.

[Sorry, I was really busy all day. Joe went back to Canada and I have to take over his duties.] Suddenly, an additional text message from Andrea came.

Ludwina was stunned. Just now, she thought Andrea didn't have to explain why he was slow to reply to Ludwina's text, but she received an explanation. She felt as though Andrea could somehow read her mind.

Suddenly, she really missed him...

[I was just thinking about looking for more inspiration in Singapore.] Ludwina hastily added, [But if you're busy, I'll just go to New York.]

Andrea immediately replied.

[Nothing I can't manage. I'd love to see you in Singapore.]

A smile formed on Ludwina's lips as she opened the airline ticket booking application and ordered tickets for the next day.

[I'll fly to Singapore tomorrow then.]

[What time?]

[Landing at 7 PM. Why? Do you want to pick me up?]

Ludwina wrote her last sentence just to tease Andrea because she knew how busy the man was. But she didn't expect that Andrea would answer yes.

[Yes, I'll pick you up. I want to buy you dinner to celebrate my promotion. I was appointed to replace Joe. I'd love to share this happy moment with you.]

Is this for real? Thought Ludwina. Andrea had only been working there for less than a year, but he's already been appointed manager to replace his boss who returned to Canada?

He must've been so special that his office chose to promote him rather than hire an external talent to replace Joe. Secretly, Ludwina felt proud.

[That's amazing! Congratulations! Yes, I'd love to have dinner with you. See you tomorrow!]

Ludwina immediately packed her suitcase excitedly. She couldn't wait for tomorrow, for her to return to Singapore.

***

Ludwina's mood seemed very bright today. She had been humming since the morning, making her family wonder what made her so happy.

"I'll be going to Singapore to search for more inspiration," Ludwina replied when Johann finally asked her about it when they were having breakfast together.

Her mother, father, and Johann looked at each other with meaningful faces. It seems that whatever situation happened between Ludwina and Andrea was now over and their relationship was fine again.

"You go to Singapore so often now, wouldn't it be better if Daddy buys you a house for you to live there?" Mr. Kurniawan asked, "It's your birthday soon. This could be your 25th birthday present."

"Wahhh... that'd be great, Dad!!" Hearing this, Ludwina became elated. She got up from her chair and hurriedly hugged her father, exclaiming happily, "You read my mind!!! I love you so much!!"

Mr. Kurniawan just laughed and ruffled his spoiled youngest child's hair.

"Okay then, find a house or an apartment that you like when you're in Singapore. You can arrange it yourself."

"Thank you, Dad. I'd love that!"

Ludwina was even happier because she now had an additional mission to go to Singapore. Finding a house so she could stay there longer.