Clouds moved slowly across the evening sky, mingling with the bustling noise of the crowded capital. After making his way through a long traffic jam, Peter finally arrived at the Husky mansion. He got out of the car while carefully keeping his phone call from disconnecting.
"If you want to meet me, tomorrow between ten in the morning and four in the afternoon, I'll be at the north harbor," Peter said. He grabbed his suitcase and walked toward the front door of the Husky mansion.
Peter chuckled softly during the phone call. "Hahaha, alright, I'll ask Mr. Graham for permission first. Meet me tomorrow." The call ended just as Peter entered the lobby of the Husky mansion.
He walked toward the dining room. At the table were only Sophia, Aurel, and Graham, along with the freshly served dishes. He furrowed his brow in surprise, glancing at the several empty chairs at the dining table. He set aside his curiosity and joined them, placing his suitcase beside the chair he sat on, then turned toward Graham at the end of the table.
"Mr. Graham, I was just talking with one of our partners. They want to switch their export products to something else, and they're asking if we have any empty containers," Peter said.
Graham narrowed his eyes. "Empty containers? What exactly do they want to send?"
"Previously they were sending charcoal products, but now they're shifting to sending spices," Peter explained.
"That's a very big difference." Graham nodded in understanding. "I don't know for sure, son. Maybe the south harbor still has some unused container stock. Try checking on that tomorrow."
Peter smiled. "Alright, sir, I'll check it tomorrow along with our partner, who happens to be visiting."
"Good, son. Carry on with your work."
Afterward, Peter glanced to the side. Sophia seemed quiet, with a hint of anxiety on her face. Added to that... Uncle Roy, Aunt Eva, and Jordi were not at the table. He began to think that they must have been fighting again.
Dinner finished, and it was time for the Husky family's tea hour. Unlike before, when the Husky family usually enjoyed tea at the dining table, one by one they left, starting with Graham, who went straight to the vineyard behind the house. Followed by Aurel, who didn't even touch her tea. Then Sophia, who took two sips before taking her tea to the swimming pool beside the house. Only Peter remained at the table now.
His mind was full of unanswered questions about his family's lack of harmony lately. He sipped his tea, then opened some files he had brought from the harbor to distract himself from thoughts he didn't need to entertain.
Meanwhile, by the pool, Sophia sat on the edge with her feet dangling in the water. She took out her phone and tried to call someone, but... the calls wouldn't go through. She began to feel anxious, thinking the worst.
She tried once more, but with the same result. Sophia looked frustrated. "Where are you, Kaelino!" she growled, staring at the failed call on her phone screen. There were also her messages from the past day, all unanswered.
In that quiet night, she felt truly alone for once. She swayed her feet, making ripples in the still pool water. Right now, her mind was filled only with worry for Kaelino.
As the ripples in the pool subsided, the reflection of Sophia's sad face was clearly visible there. She missed that person very much at this moment.
*
*
*
Two days passed. Captain Lubis and Kevin returned with several tools they would use to infiltrate Satrio's office. Because his teammates were curious, Kevin explained each tool one by one.
He started with the smallest one. "This is called a UV flashlight," he said, then turned it on, and the light immediately landed on Regi's eyes.
"Ow!" Regi rubbed his eyes, then complained. "Use your brain!" he snapped, and a few people laughed softly.
Kevin began with a tool smaller than the size of a palm. "This is called an EMP jammer. Its function is to disrupt or disable electronic devices."
Adam raised his hand. "Why not use an ESP jammer?"
"Because I'm sure the CCTV there uses physical cables as its network medium, so ESP wouldn't have any effect," he explained. Adam nodded in understanding.
Kevin moved on to another tool, which looked larger. "This is a portable scanner, capable of scanning any documents quickly."
After all the tools were introduced, Captain Lubis asked Adam about his mapping project. "Adam, how's the 3D building mapping going?"
"Done, Captain." He immediately opened the 3D file of Satrio's building. He explained each floor and the blind spots, even marking CCTV zones on every floor.
Captain Lubis looked at it. He was impressed because there were many blind spots they could exploit. However, there were always cameras in front of the elevators and stairs, which would make their movement difficult later. They did have an EMP jammer to disable them, but it still felt hard to get past all the CCTV in one room.
Captain Lubis turned around. Behind him stood Kaelino, at attention. He grabbed his shoulder. "I'm going to have you and Kevin enter that building," he said firmly.
"Yes, Captain. I'm always ready, whatever it takes," Kaelino replied.
Since it was getting late, Captain Lubis decided to return home. His six subordinates stayed at B'Bread to continue monitoring the latest developments until the mission preparations were fully mature.
The clock kept turning, showing two in the morning. Adam and Kevin had not yet returned from the workroom; they were tinkering with the tools they had received. During testing, the lights and several electronic devices there died or even weakened, accompanied by their booming laughter, proving that they were truly pushing the tools' capabilities to their maximum.
Meanwhile, Kaelino was already lying in his bed. But his eyes hadn't closed yet. He reached for his phone, which he hadn't used in days. There was still a little battery left. When he connected it to the internet, many messages from Sophia appeared, along with notifications of missed calls from her.
He knew Sophia must be worried because she hadn't heard from him for days. But he also hesitated to see her now; he couldn't let his guard down even a little until the mission was over. To ease her worry a bit, he sent a short message to her.
"I'm fine, don't worry. I love you."
After that, he turned off his phone again without connecting to the internet. He began to feel calm now, slowly closing his eyes and falling asleep, even though Kevin and Adam's laughter from upstairs could be heard down to their sleeping quarters.
***
Morning came earlier than usual. B'Bread quickly became crowded with customers, even forming a queue on the sidewalk. Chaos was evident, especially in the kitchen. Kevin even left his post as a waiter to help Omar and Adam with baking bread.
Everyone looked busy except for one person: Regi, who had been sitting on his scooter by the roadside, staring at the long queue beside him. He was waiting for an order to deliver.
Kaelino kept making coffee for customer orders. He began to feel anxious when only one pack of coffee beans remained. With a slightly worried face, he turned to the side, toward Thomas, who was busier than anyone at the cash register.
"Thomas," he called. Thomas immediately turned around, out of breath.
"What?" Thomas said, his eyes returning to the cashier monitor screen.
"There's only one pack of coffee left. It's not enough to finish all these orders," Kaelino said worriedly.
Thomas grabbed some money from inside the cash register and handed it to Kaelino. "Then hurry up and shop. We can't let these customers wait too long."
"OK." Kaelino quickly took off his apron. He had to close his coffee station to buy several more packs of coffee beans.
Kaelino's departure frustrated some of the customers who had been queuing, as they had been waiting a long time for a cup of coffee. Slowly, the queue began to shrink, leaving only those waiting for their coffee.
Kaelino finally arrived just in time, carrying a box full of coffee beans he had bought at the store. He immediately heated up the coffee machine, and one by one, the orders were completed that day. Everyone looked exhausted; the kitchen was even very messy.
"Good job!" Thomas approached the kitchen. Kevin, Omar, and Adam had worked very hard.
Omar stood up, straightening his back. "I want a thirty-minute break," he requested. Thomas gave him permission.
Now the bakery's situation had stabilized, with only a few people coming and going with their orders.
Approaching lunchtime, a luxury car parked on the side of the road in front of B'Bread. A woman got out, wearing a navy blue blazer and a black pencil skirt, along with a hat and a mask. The woman entered, and Thomas immediately welcomed her with a friendly smile.
"Excuse me, how can I help you?" he asked.
The woman said, "A latte, please."
"OK." Thomas entered her order into the cashier computer. He looked back toward the kitchen. "Kaelino, there's an order!" he shouted.
"Please go to the next table," Thomas said to the woman again, maintaining his smile.
The woman went straight to the next table, where the barista was already standing and looking at her order. "Latte, right?" Kaelino asked, confirming.
The woman nodded, her eyes starting to glisten. Meanwhile, the barista in front of her was too focused on his work. After her order was ready, Kaelino handed over the cup of latte with a friendly smile that might have been rarely seen.
"Kael," the woman said softly, removing her mask and then her hat, revealing her devastated expression.
Kaelino was stunned, the cup of latte still hanging in his hand. "So-Sophia?"
Finally, the two stared at each other after so long without meeting. Sophia slowly carved out her smile, knowing that her beloved was fine and looked healthy. At least she had chased away the worry that had been haunting her for the past few days.