Rooster had just finished talking to his former publisher, letting him know that he had gone over and finished the second novel of his trilogy. It was an exciting, wonderful conversation, one that had Rooster bristling with happiness, and he couldn't help but wonder what exactly he had been so scared of in the first place.
Was this 'actual' happiness he was feeling?
And he hadn't needed to aggressively cheat on his girlfriend to feel it?
On the other hand, maybe it had just been because of the weather; it had been really bright and sunny as of late, after all. He had also lost a few pounds, had been having good luck with Netflix as of late, and the bills had been pretty light this month.
Or, maybe it was because of all of the schoolgirls he had been banging.
"Wooh!" Rianti said, as she proceeded to outpace Rooster on the run they had decided to go on together. "Isn't this fun?"
"You know what? This isn't that bad at all," Rooster answered, doing his best to keep up, running not being quite his favorite exercise. Still, this had been a very pleasant Thursday.
"I like meeting up outside of our tutoring sessions-not that I don't really, really enjoy those, of course," Rianti continued. Rooster himself already had a very good idea from the constant and hot banging they did that Rianti was in good shape, but he had no idea just how sporty she really was. A hot young thing, she was wearing a simple pair of jogging shorts and shirt, her hair short enough to not need to be tied up. He really, truly didn't want to throw Callie under the bus, but he couldn't help but wish that Callie was more of a fan of exercising; whenever she came back, he'd have to do better about encouraging her.
Rooster didn't want to, but he thought this would be a good time to start asking Rianti some questions. He hoped it wouldn't ruin his chances for later, should things start to get steamy; she had already told him as much that just before they made it back to her home, she knew a secret little spot where they could get a quick fucking in.
But Rooster knew he had to talk to Rianti, and he preferred to do it in person rather than just through texts.
"So, Rianti, dear, can I ask you a question?"
"Of course, guru Rooster."
"Rianti, who is your father?" Rooster asked. Rianti didn't answer immediately, seemingly carefully thinking about the best way to answer that question while simultaneously making a quick hop over a large branch that had fallen on the path. She didn't look angry, but there was an air of disappointment suddenly around her.
"Rooster, why would you ask about that? I thought boys didn't like asking about their bae's daddy."
"I've just never met him."
"He travels around, he's a consultant."
"Is he a consultant in the tech or gaming industry?"
"Um, maybe."
"Maybe?"
"I, I don't-I think maybe he has a few times, but he's mostly helped out with logging companies," Rianti said, as smoothly as she could. But Rooster caught it, a brief stumble. And now, as they made a turn around the path, he could now tell that she was definitely hiding something.
"Rianti, have you and your family lived in America before?"
"No! This is our first time."
"Dear, I mean this sweetly, but your English is far too good to make me think you haven't. It's not just that you're fluent, it's that you already have a good grasp of modern English parlance; you swear like a sailor, you're already aware of casual terms-"
"Rooster?"
"Yes?"
"Are you asking about my father because you want our relationship to go further beyond just banging?"
"No," Rooster replied. His response was curt, but not harsh; this had been an information gathering session for him. This had been the only real time that Rianti and him had had a normal, mostly decent and normal gathering together. Still, as they made the final turn where Rianti's house just lay behind, Rooster found himself trying to retract. "Rianti, it's not like that. But my girlfriend-"
"Guru Rooster," Rianti said, stopping, and then calmly resting a slender hand upon his chest. "Look, Rooster, I genuinely like you, more than just for banging. When I was in high school I was, well, a bit crazy. And I know I just threw myself at you, but there is a maturity about you that really centers me. And I can tell you're smart, because you are right to question things.
"But for your own safety, I hope you never have the misfortune of meeting my father," she said with finality. Rooster felt a chill run down his spine, as he saw Rianti turn around and walk back into her house.
Nothing else was said between them for the rest of their day, or on their phones. There was much less any chance of banging for him. And as he made his way back to where he parked, he couldn't help but frown as a cloud suddenly covered the sun.
It was Friday and Rooster found himself driving around town, not exactly to any specific location. It had been a few days since hearing of his name and in the meantime he had tried to do some research about Agung Septriasa. He had now picked up enough bahasa to be able to peruse a few things, but not enough to apparently uncover anything. Callie herself, who had now been working directly underneath Mr. Septriasa, hadn't even found any sort of main contact information for him, outside of a basic company email.
Just hearing his name, 'Agung Septriasa,' gave Rooster a bad feeling.
"Be careful," he had told Callie on Thursday night.
"I will; as a project supervisor, he seems nice enough, but something about him just gives me a bad vibe."
Eventually, Rooster found a random lot to park in and began to stroll around downtown Bonville. There were various shops, stores, small restaurants and it was an all around fairly bright and colorful place. Plenty of people happened to be out today, which allowed Rooster to feel like he could blend in the crowd easily enough. That gave him time to just stroll around and do some window shopping; no real plan on buying anything, but just focusing on things gave him a chance to sort his thoughts.
While he was thinking about who Pak Septriasa was, there was also a part of him wondering about how to begin the third book of his trilogy. He had tossed out his notes long ago, but still had a good idea of where he had originally wanted to take the finale.
He had just been strolling through Peter Street, when he heard his name.
"Mas Rooster!" came a cry, before Rooster felt hands wrap around his back.
