I being excited, my heart beat wasn't hardly fluttered while Ryan acted like nothing happened instead. He looked normal without any changing expression. It seemed that I was overreacting and acting stupid.
It took about 40 minutes from Ryan's residence to the third branch of Da Lusi Restaurant.
There were already some invited guests coming. Aunty Lusi and Uncle Sofyan met their guest and apologized them for being a bit late.
The opening ceremony started around 15 minutes later after most of invited guests arrived.
I was happy and proud seeing Aunty Lusi symbolically cut the red ribbons. She smiled beautifully and looked totally bright in an elegant brown long-dress.
***
She is like the second mother of mine. Since my childhood, she gave me a lot of attention; maybe because I have some similarities with the late Riana.
Riana's shadow in me isn't something which can be easily removed while time passes, I knew it. Therefore, I had learned to accept that as a part of my life.
"Congrats, Aunty", I said while approaching her.
"Thank you, my beautiful daughter", she replied.
After the opening ceremony, they were having a brief conversation one by one with invited guests. Ryan was also busy with several guests at his ages, I only recognized one of them, his best friend, Hanan Mikail.
I quietly walked away from all the boring pleasantries that they did. I switched to the dining area, grabbing some foods for dinner. Suddenly, a woman came up and greeted me.
"Hi", she said and I responded with a smile.
"Are you Dr. Sayed Ryan's girlfriend?", she continued.
"No, I'm not", I replied.
"Bella Puteri Ershad, just call me Bella", she said then stretched out his hand.
"Ara Sofia, Ryan's cousin", I replied while shaking her hand.
I often claimed myself to be Ryan's cousin, even though our kinship is four generations apart; we are still distant relatives.
The word "cousin" is the simplest way to introduce myself and describe this complex relationship. So, I'm very careful with my feelings as it might destroy our family relationship.
We continued chatting at the dining table after picking up some foods. In the middle of our chat, another woman the same age as her approached us. Then, pulling out the chair next to her.
"This's my cousin, Anne Kumala", Bella said which surprised me.
"Anne", she said while holding up her hand.
"Ara", I said and greeted her by shaking hands.
I was amazed by the figure of Anne who turned out to be beautiful and gentle. What an ideal woman!
If I were a man, I might fall in love with her figure. How could Ryan's heart can't be fluttered by Anne's appearance. It can't be denied, they looked amazing together, they looked good in the same frame.
Bella is also beautiful with a different charm. Anne has soft impression, while Bella stands out more with strong character.
Both of them are friendly and sociable even though they were born from respectable wealthy families in Malaysia.
Bella is the one and only daughter of Tan Sri Ershad and Puan Sri Maharani whose had died 15 years ago due to the airplane crushed.
After losing her parents, she grew up under Anne's father protection, the bother of her mom, Dato Ilyas.
Today I changed my perception about these famous families, it turned out that many of them are kind and friendly.
Dato or Tan Sri is an honorary title pinned on certain people who have contributed and succeeded in their fields. They are also highly respected and well known to be rich in Malaysia even Southeast Asia.
"How could three of you are becoming friend easily? It seems that I miss something", Ryan said, who had just come while pulling the remaining chair next to me.
At that moment, I could see the changing expression of Anne's face. As a fellow woman, I knew, there was an attraction or admiration which was hard to hide.
Although I didn't have any courageous to interpret her feelings as love, but I was pretty sure that they were beyond the admiration.
Of course, this was only my judgement, it could be wrong. As you know, a jealous woman is hardly interpreting something with 100% of the rightness.
***