Love Redux: Fated to the Handsome Doctor

The cigarette smoke curled and spiraled as Mahya gazed out over the rooftop of the Channel Insight office the newsroom where she worked. She was waiting for the editor to arrive for a discussion before taking action.

Mahya was preparing herself for a promotion, after three years as a junior investigative reporter without any advancement.

“You’re here already?” she greeted the black-haired woman who had just emerged from the emergency exit.

“Yeah. So, any ideas for coverage?” she inquired, probing. Her brown eyes widened as if demanding a satisfactory answer from her conversational partner.

Mahya smirked. The two women in their late twenties exchanged glances in silence. Mahya certainly had something to offer the editor. But before that, she wanted to pique the editor’s curiosity even further.

“Do you remember the medical businessman featured in SOWA magazine? I’ve sniffed out something fishy about him.”

“SOWA? Which edition, geez!”

“Last month. Huh, can’t even remember!”

“Hmm…”

The editor then tried to recall for a moment. Moments later, she pulled out a flat object from her jeans pocket. Her fingers surfed the internet with the keywords mentioned by Mahya.

A name, Seno Adhijaya, then appeared at the top of the search, complete with the business he was involved in.

“What’s the issue? People selling drugs get rich quick anyway,” the editor remarked, half in disbelief.

Mahya chuckled, mocking the older editor’s indifferent attitude.

“Is all his business legal? I’m not sure. Just so you know, I know him,” Mahya said arrogantly, exhaling thick white smoke to her left.

The relatively shady atmosphere of the rooftop as the day was approaching dusk added to the intensity of this discussion. The editor’s eyes widened, feeling intrigued by the bait from the junior reporter.

“You want to play with this?” she inquired further.

Mahya nodded. The ponytailed girl snapped her fingers, indicating that it was something she could handle. A wide smile immediately appeared on her square-shaped face, with glasses perched on top of her head.

She took a deep drag of the half-smoked cigarette, leaving behind fragile ash that flew freely when the strong wind blew.

Her editor nodded, agreeing with Mahya’s idea. For a moment, they laughed. It was already 5 o’clock. It was time for them to pack up and get ready to go home or not?

“Do you think we’re just ordinary office workers? What madness!”

Mahya laughed. She knew very well that being a reporter meant dedicating her entire life to her job. Let alone going home on time, even on holidays, they sometimes still worked to meet deadlines.

There was no personal life while being an investigative reporter.

“Alright, I’ll start putting together the investigation proposal,” Mahya said as she walked away.

“Keep sniffing like a hunting dog, Mahya. You know, you’re better than that.”

“Okay. I’m definitely getting promoted!” she exclaimed confidently.

Mahya’s eyes showed no hint of fear. Seno? That man was initially poor. Why did he suddenly become rich? That was highly unusual.

Mahya’s personal motive for investigating Seno was because of… Lara.

Mahya’s proud demeanor turned melancholic when she remembered that girl. Her friend. Lara.

Some time ago, by chance, Mahya found a photo of Seno on the cover of a famous business magazine, SOWA.

At first, Mahya didn’t recognize the man, but Seno’s strange smile always lingered in her mind.

That odd smile was what made Lara fall in love. According to Mahya, they were truly unbelievable! Such a silly couple. Somehow, Lara chased after Seno’s love, even though Mahya’s intuition always felt bad when talking about that engineering student.

A few months after Lara and Seno started dating, Lara disappeared. Mahya tried to find Lara, but the girl seemed to have vanished into thin air. Mahya couldn’t trace her whereabouts anywhere.

Days passed, months passed. Years passed. Mahya gave up. She decided to pursue her dream of becoming a reporter. That dream was even postponed before she could find Lara.

Mahya loved her friend so much. Lara had no one else. Mahya was so obsessed with finding her, even though the result was nil.

Who would have thought, fate unexpectedly reunited them in an unexpected situation.

Mahya was challenged by her office editor to make a phenomenal report. She agreed, even though she didn’t know what she would write about.

Mahya an ambitious girl wouldn’t give up easily.

She conducted in-depth research on controversial figures and began digging deeper into their information. But no particular figure captivated her.

Until one day, after Mahya had exhausted her search, a magazine brought by her cousin caught her interest.

“Seno?” she murmured when she saw the portrait of the up-and-coming young entrepreneur.

Mahya immediately grabbed the magazine and read the articles one by one. Lara. One of the names listed in the family directory. It turned out Lara was truly married to Seno.

Tears of emotion welled up behind her eagle eyes.

Mahya rarely cried. People called her a stone-hearted girl. But this time, Mahya couldn’t resist the urge of teardrops that wanted to pour out after being held back without being able to flow freely for so long.

“Lara…” she murmured softly, then wiped away the embarrassing tears. According to Mahya, there was no reason to cry if no one had died.

Lara was the name she wanted to call out, again and again. Mahya missed Lara so much.

For the first time, news of the missing girl was found. Mahya wouldn’t miss the chance to meet her again.

That morning, the long-awaited day, Mahya followed Seno’s car seen on the Depok-Jakarta road.

Who would have thought? Seno’s house was still the same. Mahya had been to that house before. But there was a striking change.

The narrow house, which was only a few blocks, now looked magnificent like a palace. It seemed that Seno had bought the surrounding area of his house to make it look like the residence of a newly wealthy person featured in the media.

“Lara!” Mahya screamed in her heart, when she saw the figure of a girl with long brown hair from behind the window of a black BMW sedan.

Mahya turned the corner, trying to judge where the road would end. True to Mahya’s prediction, they would go to Jakarta.

With her innocent face trained in recent times, Mahya pretended to suddenly brake to make a strong impression on their first meeting. She even lied about saving a cat so that Lara could remember their moment together.

But Mahya’s hope faded. Lara didn’t want to see her.

Finally, Mahya would only do her professional job investigating Seno’s business.

With the intention of killing two birds with one stone, Mahya only got Seno’s attention. Lara didn’t even want to talk to her.

Mahya was very disappointed. She didn’t want to create an awkward situation by pretending to know Lara or Seno.

Mahya intentionally kept her distance so that her tricks wouldn’t be read by the target to be preyed upon.

That target, finally, came willingly.

***

“Hello? I want the compensation from you!”