"Father? I don't know, every time I ask Mom, she always says he's working for me, but until now he's never come home for me, in fact just so Om knows, my mom has to work alone so I can eat fried chicken every Sunday."

Hearing Gabriel's story, made his heart ache, when he could eat meat as much as he wanted every day, in another place there was a little boy who had to wait for Sunday to be able to eat his favorite food.

And yes, every day after school, Gabriel always goes to the market to offer his energy to carry people who have finished shopping to the parking lot, even if there is rice scattered on the road near the rice shop, Gabriel always collects it and picks it up and puts it in a plastic bag that he brings from home to sell again,so he could collect the money that he would use to buy his mother's favorite cake even though it was not enough, and don't ask whether his mother knew or not about her son's habits at the market, the answer is absolutely no, because Gabriel always said he was studying in a group if asked by his mother.

"Okay boy ... come with Uncle inside, then choose your mother's favorite cake, and save the money for your snacks," said Reksa rubbing the top of Gabriel's head, there was an unusual feeling in Reksa's heart when he did that to Gabriel.

Gabriel beamed, he was so happy, but a second later the smile faded, he looked down again.

"Is something wrong?" asked Reksa when he saw Gabriel's face change.

"I can't take it for free, Uncle... mom says it's not good."
"Ah ... how about paying with this money, and then you pay the balance ... you don't mind, right?" Gabriel suggested hopefully.

Reksa smiled broadly and grabbed Gabriel's small body and carried him in her arms, they both went inside and started to choose the cake Gabriel was referring to.

For a moment he was stunned to find Gabriel choosing the same cake he bought earlier for himself and Aneta.

After confirming that the cake was really Gabriel's mother's favorite cake, Reksa then paid the shortage of money that had been handed over to the cashier.

Gabriel, who was already carrying a packet of his mother's favorite cake, headed for the exit of the restaurant humming along, and from behind Reksa followed him with a smile, it was so easy to make the little boy happy, by adding only three thousand rupiah, Gabriel could already take the cake home.

Honestly, Reksa was amazed at the little boy's way of thinking.
Gabriel didn't want to inconvenience others for his own purposes.
And he smartly negotiated so that his hard-earned money could be used.

***

Aneta's first day of work at the company went smoothly, even though she had been underestimated by the leader in the division regarding her appearance, but Aneta proved it with perfect work results for a new employee like her.

One by one, her co-workers have begun to get used to Aneta's presence, although there is still one of them who looks down on Aneta, but she tries to turn off her hearing, because the most important thing for her is her performance.

"Aneta... you've been sent to the deputy CEO's office right now, he said it's important. Everyone in the division looked at Aneta with horror.

"What did you do wrong, Ta ... to be summoned directly by the deputy CEO?" asked Sonya, the gossipy one in the division.

Aneta ignored all the people who were now whispering about her in front of her, but she thought more about what had caused her to be summoned.
Aneta had only been working for two days, but why had things already reached the deputy CEO?

After knocking on the door and waiting for the sound of someone inviting herself into the room, Aneta immediately opened the door, but seeing who was in the room made her stunned and seemed heavy to step inside.

"Happy birthday, Net.... Reksa was momentarily stunned by his own words, today was his best friend's birthday, and he was reminded of the little boy in the shop who had the same birthday and favorite cake as Aneta, but he immediately pushed his thoughts away and smiled for the friend who was in front of his eyes today.

And Aneta was just glued to the doorway, even though the person in the room was already smiling broadly and stretching her arms ready to hug like they used to do back when they were still in school to express their happiness, because that's how they used to be close, very close but without any status that strengthens Aneta's position in Reksa's life.

Because they were just friends.

"You took so long. Without realizing it, Reksa was already in front of Aneta and pulled her hand into the deputy CEO's room, hugging her like before.

"Aren't you surprised I'm here now, why are you silent like that ... that's not you Net," Reksa chuckled because he thought Aneta wasn't as lively and expressive as she used to be.

Aneta forced a smile, this wasn't what she wanted, it wasn't seeing Reksa again that she hoped for, the wounds that she desperately tried to forget were now refreshed when she felt Reksa's embrace just now.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?"
"Did I hurt you?" asked Reksa continuously.

Actually, Aneta wanted to answer yes, it had hurt her a lot, but that expression could only be channeled in her heart.

Aneta tried to act normal, tried to act as she was before.
Yes, punching Reksa in the stomach made Reksa believe that Aneta was still the same as before.

They both showed the sweetest smiles they had without knowing that one of their hearts was hurt by this meeting, especially since Aneta thought that Reksa was the deputy CEO here, a position that was very powerful for her to have a more frequent encounter with that man.