[henabi]

“AHHHHHHhhhhhh….” Maria screeched suddenly.

Ahmad, who was startled by her shriek, swiveled the vehicle slightly left-right but managed to steady the steering wheel and turned around to see what happened.

“OH MY GOSH!!!" Maria screamed again, finally realizing that her top button of her blouse had come off. She quickly sat up straight and frantically used her right hand to cover the opening of her blouse and her left hand took her Burberry tote bag by the handles and placed it next to her.

My ears were ringing slightly as Maria was screaming in a very enclosed area and I was slightly stunned by her volcanic reaction.

“YO….You… Didn’t see an…. Anything at all… RIGHT?!” Maria was blushing red now and I could tell that she was full of embarrassment and trying to gather any form of confirmation that she didn’t just accidentally do anything indecent in front of me.

“Well….ermmmm.... I would be lying if I said a [No]…” I replied, choosing my words carefully, avoiding any possible [landmines]. For a brief moment I wondered, for a lady whose body was pressed against mine earlier at the Airport, and her groin grinding against my hard rod, it was quite difficult for me to understand why she was so uptight, especially when the only male facing her, was me…

It was only later then I learnt that Indonesian ladies are very mindful about their appearances, especially in the public and in front of other men.

Maria didn’t say anything for a moment. She was restraining herself from looking at me. Her head turned to her right, looking down but she didn’t seem to be focused on anything. She was just staring. From the sides, I could feel emptiness in her eyes, like a girl who has lost her way and didn’t know what to do.

There was a long pause in the car. The only sounds were coming from the ICES (In-car Entertainment System), the low rumbling of the vehicle engine and the traffic jam surrounding us. The dead air within the car seems to have just frozen in time. It felt like one hand was slowly, creeping up to your stomach, making your stomach feel furry; and the other hand gradually wrapping its fingers around your neck, tightening its grip bit by bit and forcing the air out from your lungs, not enough to suffocate you but made you felt extremely uncomfortable.

The silence was like a low deep boom, hitting hard against my ear drums and made me felt like puking. Even Ahmad, who was all smiles and cheery, seem to sense the awkward stillness, and just focused on driving, he didn’t even dare to look into the rear mirror one bit.

Her breathing was deep, rapid and irregular at first but little by little, her breathing became more regular, softer and almost rhythmic. Her right hand was gripping to her top button tightly and pressing against her breasts, pushing them sideways; while she placed her left hand on her left thigh, motionless. As she regained her composure, she seem to realize the awkwardness in the air and her fingers started to feel the position of her top button and the aligning button hole and tried to re-button it back but her fingers were trembling a bit.

She looked down and realized that a few treads from the top button have broken and that was the main reason she was unable to unbutton it back. Sensing that there was a slight tension within the vehicle, she took a deep breath, “Sorry Jon…” breaking the silence.

“H….Huh” I stumbled at her sudden speech, “Errmmm… Its… It’s alright Maria…” I tried to give her comforting words.

Maria kept quiet; her eyes seemed to be searching for the right words to say but couldn’t find any.

I shifted slightly out from my seat and leaned my body forward towards her, “Maria…” I whispered, “You don’t have to apologies… It’s not your fault at all…” I reached out my right hand, gently placed it over her left hand and patted it a couple of times, hopefully she understood my message.

Sensing that she was still trying to recollect herself, I glanced over Maria’s back to look at the time on the car’s dashboard. 10:00am [Indonesian Timing]. I was doing some quick calculations but I needed firm answers, “Ahmad…” I called out to him.

“Yesh Yesh… Mr. Jonatan?” Ahmad looking up at the rear mirror and replied.

“What time will we reach Mr. Bruno’s Office?” I asked.

“Ermmmmm… I tink alound 11:30am Mr. Jonatan…” Ahmad replied back.

“I see…” I re-calculated again in my mind “Thanks Ahmad.” And I flashed him a smile.

“Welcum!” Ahmad responded back.

Immediately, I pressed the speech button on my Jawbone Era Bluetooth set and spoke “Call Bruno Robinson”. My Samsung Galaxy S3 reiterated what I just said and mimicked the pressing tone of phone numbers. Within seconds, the call was connected and a ringing tone came through my Bluetooth set.
Upon hearing Bruno’s name, Maria stiffened up immediately, turned her head and faced me, she looked stunned and wanted to speak up but I placed my finger to her lips and gave her a grin, and my lips whispered in silence “Relax….”

A voice came through after picking up the call “Hello, this is Bruno Robinson speaking. Who’s this?”

“Hey Bruno! It’s Jono here…” I answered.

“OH!!!! JONO!!!!” Bruno exclaimed at knowing who the caller was “You just arrived in Jakarta I supposed…”

“Yeah… I arrived about 1 hour ago and right now I’m now in the vehicle you arranged to pick me up.” I commented.

“That’s great! That’s great! I will see you in a minute yeah?!” Bruno delighted that I was arriving soon.

“Well, there’s an issue Bruno…” I replied back and purposely paused for a moment, so that Bruno has the opportunity to ask me the reason.

“Oh…. What’s the issue Jono? The car? Or Maria, my personal assistant?” Bruno sounded puzzled over the phone.

“Nah… The Vehicle’s great, Bruno. And Maria has been an excellent guide so far… It’s my shirt actually…” Trying my best to cook up a lie or an obscure reason.

“You worn a woman’s blouse?!” Bruno cracked a joke and was laughing away.

“Very funny Bruno… Very funny…” sounding sarcastic, “Well, it’s more or less along that line… When I was on the flight earlier, and an old lady accidentally spilled some coffee onto my shirt and I need to get a new one… You know me… I’m a perfectionist and I can’t tolerate my clothing having even one spot of stain…” trying to sound irritated by the fake coffee spill.

“I see… Well, I am sure Maria won’t mind to accompany you to grab a new shirt. She has an exquisite taste in Fashion…” Bruno sounded rather proud of Maria’s abilities.

“Really?! Well… I will certainly need some fashion advices from Maria….” I replied and winked at Maria. At this moment, Maria had more or less guessed the purpose of my call but she just wanted further confirmation from my conversation just to be sure. “How about this, since your office is near Grand Indonesia and Plaza Indonesia… Let me drop by Plaza Indonesia to grab myself a new shirt and we discuss our matters over lunch at Café De Excelso at Plaza Indonesia?” I suggested to Bruno.

“You always seemed to be able to read my mind Jono. I was thinking to suggest lunch as well…” Bruno joked and laughed “Sure! I’ll see you at Café De Excelso at PI at 1pm then…”

After a couple of laughs and goodbyes, I hung up the call and looked at Maria again with a wide grin.

Maria gazed back into my eyes, with a weak, delighted smile and whispered “Thanks…” She turned her left hand; palm faced up and gave my right hand a gentle hand to reassure me her appreciation.

“Ahmad…Let’s head over to Plaza Indonesia.” I called out to him.

“Suah Mr. Jonatan…” Ahmad nodded on the new set of instructions given to him.

I turned back to Maria, “Let’s get you a couple of new dresses and for myself too…”

Maria nodded.

“And… Wouldn’t you saying something about report or meeting? I reminded Maria.

“Oh yes yes yes!” Maria suddenly remembered “Let’s carry on with the update…”

In my mind, I was already thinking about all the naughty and dirty possibilities which could happen between me and Maria while we shop…