[Author's Note: So I figured out why I got stuck on this book. I think too much of the plot and trying too hard to follow professional writer's way of writing. So no more outlines to follow, I'll just follow my guts from here on out, which means, Henry and Lika must meet again. Enjoy! And sorry I've been away too long. Fingers crossed that this book gets to be finished! ❤️]

***

Eliska hung the key of her apartment by the door. Her footsteps creaked on the floorboard in the dark as she made straight towards her kitchenette. Opening her rather empty fridge, Eliska pulled a soybar, tore the packet and bit into it.

Someone shifted behind her from the direction of her couch, the shuffling sound made the hairs behind her neck stood up and her whole muscles tensed.

"Don't tell me that that's your dinner."

Her heart pounded when the deep, timber voice that she knew well entered her ears. She turned, eyes wide as she saw a tall, muscular figure came out of the darkness into the space where moonlight and Jakarta lights shone in her apartment.

"Henry."

Her voice was barely a whisper. There was both tenderness and guilt etched across his face as his name slipped from her tongue. Henry was just opening his mouth when she cut him.

"You broke into my apartment. What's stopping me from calling the cops on you?"

A small smile pulled at Henry's lips as he looked at the tenderness in her eyes–she could never lie with those eyes. He walked closer to her.

"I'm sorry, Lika," he apologized earnestly, then the tips of his fingers touched her cheek. Lika immediately pushed his hand away from her, as if his touch burned her skin. She got out of the kitchen, her soy bar left forgotten on the kitchen island.

Henry's face fell as she moved away from him. "I don't deserve your forgiveness," he began, turning to find her sitting by the couch he previously sat on, not looking at him. Despite the cold she gave him, he was unrelenting, "But you deserve my apologies, and more, for the cruel things I've done to you."

He walked in front of her and got on his knees. A shiver ran down her spine when she felt his big hands on her legs. She steeled herself and kept her eyes away from him still. But when she felt him pressing his forehead to her knees, quiet tears began to pool at her eyes.

"I can't lose you, Eliska," his voice cracked with guilt and desperation, "Tell me what I need to do to earn your forgiveness. I need you back in my life. I need you to come home."

Her eyes betrayed her despite her insistence on showing him no mercy. She wriggled from him, but his hold on her legs tightened, locking her in place while he kept his forehead on her knees. "Let me go, Henry."

"No."

She wriggled away from him again with more force, and Henry responded by wrapping his arms around her legs, hugging them with dear life. Lika knew with Henry's stubbornness, the only way to get free from his hold was to literally kick him–but there was no way in hell she had the heart to do so. Henry knew this, and he used the knowledge to his advantage.

"This is silly. You're being childish," she scolded him, her hands on his shoulders trying to pry him away from her. "Henry!"

The big man wouldn't budge.

"Fine. I forgive you. Now let me go."

"You're just saying it for the sake of getting rid of me," he mumbled.

"Damn right. Now let me go, or I call the police."

"No. Call them."

A growl escaped Lika, and Henry was for once thankful that he had his face hidden from her, so that she couldn't see his amused smile at the adorable frustrated sounds she made. He looked up.

"I don't expect you to forgive me that easy," he looked up, their eyes met, "But tell me what I can do to try to earn your trust back. I love you, Eliska."

Lika frowned in displeasure. "You abused that word a lot."

"This time I don't," he said, making Lika rolled her eyes.

Lika spent another minute trying to get off of him again, and Henry kept his strong arms locked against both her legs and pressed his face on her knees.

A sigh of defeat escaped her. "This is stupid. I need to pee," she mumbled, causing Henry to smile again as he kept his eyes on her leg.

He looked up, that amused smile still written all over his face, making Lika's frown deepen. "I can't deny you from the call of nature. But if I let you go, will you promise to talk to me?"

Lika gave it a thought before nodding.

He released her. "I'll be waiting."

With that Lika skipped off to the bathroom, slamming it close.

After a long few minutes pacing in her tiny living room, Henry realized that he had been swindled by Lika. The girl had no intention of coming out to face him. He knocked at her door.

"You know, it must be unpleasant being cooped up inside the bathroom. You can always come out and talk with me instead," he coaxed.

No response. Instead, he heard the sound of shower being turned on, as if she was trying to mute his voice.

"Now who's being childish?" he called out to her.

Henry ran his hands on his curls, frustrated when he received no response still. He waited nearby, keeping his eyes on the door. After another 30 minutes, he heard her unlock the bathroom door and peeked out.

Henry never quite appreciate his friend's simple beauty before. He knew she was beautiful, but he never really took his time to actually look at her. But now, even just being able to see her naked shoulder, her neck and her bare face, her wet hair, still damp and fresh from shower, he was able to see just how lovely Eliska had been to his eyes.

"Can you grab my clothes for me?" she asked, "It's hanging outside. Should be dry now."

He smiled at her tenderly. "It's not like I've never seen you only in your towels before."

"Please?"

Henry sighed, giving in with a smile. He left her and make his way to the balcony, where some clothes were being hung outside to dry as she had no dryer machine in her apartment. The moment he opened the door to the balcony, he then realized what she was doing.

Lika tiptoed to her bedroom in her white towel, but when she saw him looking at her with wide eyes, she broke into a sprint just as he did. This time, she was faster. With a smug look on her face, she slammed the door of her bedroom to his face, locking it.

A low growl of frustration escaped Henry. "You tricked me!"

Inside, Lika chuckled to herself in satisfaction. She dried herself and put on her panties and an old, baggy t-shirt, preparing to sleep. She dropped to her bed with a sigh of relief from the day. Upon hearing more knocks from the door, she pulled her blankets to her chest, then another pillow to cover her head, not wanting to think anymore about her best friend that she left high and dry at her living room, hoping that he would leave by the time she wakes up.

***

The morning sun greeted her, and for a moment she thought she was back in England, with someone cooking eggs and bacon.

Eggs and bacon?

Lika got up and stretched, opening her door to find someone cooking in her apartment.

"Good morning, sunshine."

She snorted when she saw Henry wearing her pink apron while he cooked at her kitchen. "You look ridiculous," she muttered. "I can't believe you stay."

"Want some breakfast?" he asked, flashing her his charming smile, one that showed her his adorable pearly white fangs.

She ignored him and made to the bathroom to take a shower.

Henry sighed at the cold shoulder she gave him. He flipped the pancake on the pan with much expertise, continuing his cooking. By the time Lika came out of the bathroom, he called out to her.

"Lika–"

She slammed the door to her bedroom, ignoring him. His face fell. He knew that getting her back was not going to be easy; but it didn't hurt less. He busied himself arranging the food on the tiny table of her apartment, setting two plates for them when Lika came out of her bedroom, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, along with a sling bag, ready to head out.

"Have breakfast with me?" he asked.

"You should go. I have the only key, and I'm not coming back until late at night. Better go now or get stuck here for the whole day," she warned. When Henry wasn't moving a muscle, she scoffed. "Suit yourself."

She made to her door, finding it locked with her key nowhere to be found.

"Looking for this?" he asked, and a sound of keys dangling in his hand entered her ears. She facepalmed inwardly. "I'll give you the key, after you have breakfast with me," he declared, before adding, "Please."

Lika had no choice but humored him. She sat at the table, feeling like a stranger in her own apartment, her expression twisted into a scowl as she glared at him.

Truth to be told, Henry was always weak whenever Lika gave him that expression. She rarely got mad, so it was usually serious when she did. He fumbled a bit with some knives and forks, setting it on both their plates.

"Please eat, Lika."

"You're not welcome here," she said rather cruelly.

"Think I didn't know that?" he flashed her another boyish grin, one that caused her to roll her eyes.

"Give me the keys."

"No. Eat."

Lika stood up from her seat, ignoring the delicious looking breakfast. She tried to get the keys from Henry, but the British man was way taller than her that he easily moved the keys out of her reach.

"You can't just pop up into my place and act as if you own it! You don't own this place and you don't own me anymore!" she yelled angrily, pushing his chest away as she failed getting her keys from him.

"I never said that I own you!" Henry said with a raise of his tone, "I'm just trying to get you to eat something, for god's sake!" Lika flinched, remembering the way he shouted at her that night when he sent her away. As soon as he said that, Henry regretted raising his voice at her. "Lika..."

The guilt in his voice or his expression did nothing to soothe Lika. In fact, it only made her feel small. She sat back on her chair, looking down on her hands on her lap. Henry circled the table to kneel in front of her.

"I'm sorry Lika. I didn't mean to raise my voice at you," he said gently, "You haven't eaten anything last night because of me. I didn't want to send you off with an empty stomach."

She remained quiet, her dark eyes glassy with unshed tears. "I'm sorry, Lika," he said softly, taking her small hands in his and gave it a small kiss. "Here," he fished her apartment keys from his pocket and placed it in her hand, "A sign of good faith. I'm not trying to kidnap you. I'm trying to feed you. Please just promise me to eat something before you go?" he pleaded gently, his baby blue eyes tender as he looked at her.

Henry was probably imagining it, but he saw a hint of a twitch in her lips, as if something he said amused her, but it was gone as fast as it came.

They ate in silence, him being anxious at the way she refused to meet his eyes. Like he was a bad guy trying to get to her. It hurt more than he anticipated, but he figured he deserved it. In her story, he was indeed the bad guy.

"I'm sorry I hurt you, Lika," he said, starting a conversation as she bit unenthusiastically at her food, "I hired a private investigator to find you, who also finds the truth about what happened. What happened to Annika wasn't you, and I was too blind to see it."

Having no response from her, he continued his monologue. "You're a hard woman to find, Lika."

She couldn't help but feeling curious about Annika. "So... What did your detective find? About Annika's allergy?"

A small smile made its way to Henry's lips as soon as he heard her start talking back to him. "It was Deveroux."

Lika's eyes widened in disbelief. "No way. She was close to Annika. They had history," Lika defended her, "Don't tell me you fired her too–"

Henry lifted his hand, "Let me explain. Annika planted Raina on our team, so that she could keep her eye on me. Raina did everything she could to get rid of anyone that hinder her from forcing her agenda on me and my career. You being one of them. The sushi debacle was a perfect setting."

"No... That's not possible," Lika gawked. "She almost died. There is no way Annika planned to poison herself. Do you know how crazy you sound?"

"Raina did everything without Annika's knowing. I got rid of you, and Annika wasn't dead, so she succeeded," Henry supplied with a flat tone. He shook his head, "I should've believed you. I was an idiot."

Lika took a while to study Henry's expression, finding slight hurt lurking behind his eyes as he self-deprecate himself.

"Your detective found this out? Have you any proof?"

"The recording of Raina admitting to the whole thing."

"Then you went to look for me," Lika concluded.

"No," he said, "I've been looking for you long way before that. You are my best friend and I treated you unfairly. Despite what I thought you've done, I found I didn't want to lose you. You were missing, and it scared me, especially after finding out about your Aunt Mercy–which I am very sorry about, and I am very sorry that I wasn't there by your side when you needed me the most."

The earnestness in his eyes and his voice warmed Lika's heart. She smiled wistfully at him, the first smile she gave him after a long time, he noted. "Thanks."

Silence filled the atmosphere between them again. The only sounds could be heard was Jakarta's traffic below and the sound of their cutleries as they ate.

"And... Annika?" Lika inquired again, curiosity got the best of her.

"We're over. I confronted her and broke off our engagement."

Lika stared at Henry, who looked intently to his plate, avoiding her eyes. She knew it would hurt him too, finding out about this whole thing. "I'm sorry," was all that she managed to get out.

"It's not your fault. I was blind," he smiled bitterly as he bit on his pancake, "I was madly infatuated by her that I failed to see the signs. I failed to listen to those that really matters," he said, looking intently at Lika. She looked away.

"How's... How's your family?" Lika crossed her arms and changed the topic.

"Missing you. Worried about you. Terribly," he added, a lopsided smile made its way to the actor's face, "Morgan is here."

"What?!"

"He's at the Pullman Hotel right now. He accompanied me in my search for you. We all are worried that something happened to you, Eliska," he said with a frown on his handsome face, "I understand you being angry at me. But why also cut every communication with my family? They're your family too."

"Didn't you tell me to not see them? The last time you told me not to come."

Guilt rose in Henry's chest as he realized that mistake. He did tell her not to come to see them the last time for Christmas.

Seeing the kicked puppy look in Henry's remorseful eyes, Lika added. "But it's not just because of you, Henry. I have my reasons to get off the grid completely," she muttered, the faces of Henry's whole family members flashed in her mind. She put down her fork and smiled at him in almost a comforting way, "It's something I'm doing for my aunt. She left me a series of letters containing..." Lika looked around, as if looking for the right word, "...challenges for me to complete. Hence why I'm here."

"And she wanted you to cut off all communication with the outside world?" Henry questioned with a frown.

"Yes. No social media, no emails. Just basic necessity," she explained, "Looking back, I should've said something to your family. But I wasn't thinking straight."

Remorse was heavy in Henry's eyes. "I'm sorry, Eliska."

Lika shook her head. "I lost count of how many times you said sorry already."

"And I will keep saying it again and again, because I am. I was cruel to you."

"You were, which happened at the most unfortunate time," she smiled at him slightly.

"So you're forgiving me?"

"I don't think I should let you off that easy," Lika chuckled, though deep in her heart, she found that she had already forgiven him.

The forgiveness in her eyes, the warmth and kindness of her expression felt like a bucket of cool water being poured on him on warm summer day. He smiled at her tenderly, "You should not forgive me easily," he agreed with her, "I will do everything in my power to get your trust back. And to earn your forgiveness."

"Once you get my forgiveness, will you leave me alone?"

"Absolutely not."

Both of them chuckled at his dramatic response; the glow of their friendship warmed their hearts. Lika missed this, but she had to tell him the truth about her decision.

"I can't work with you again, Henry. And I'm not going back to England for an unforeseeable future."

The smile on Henry's face dissipated as soon as she said that.

"You are wasting a lot of time trying to find me here. So I will save you some time and say this," Lika said, "Thank you for finding me. You found me, and I am doing fine, as you can see–"

The sound of Henry's phone blowing off interrupted her speech. He fished the phone from his pocket and declined the call. They were only staring at each other for another second before another call rang in his phone again.

"You should get that–"

"–Not important," he said as he turned off his phone completely and turned to her.

"I doubt it."

"Let's go back to the topic," Henry ignored her comment, adamant on not letting anything interrupted their time together, "You lost a significant amount of weight. You ate energy bar for dinner. Your fridge is empty–"

"That's because I usually eat out–"

"–I don't think you're doing very well at all, you're not taking care of yourself," cut Henry with a frown on his temple as he looked at her.

Lika looked away uncomfortably at that.

"Either way," Henry continued, "I'm not leaving anytime soon."

Lika looked at him with an unhappy frown. "There's nothing for you here."

"There's you," he said as he chewed his food.

Lika, having used to eat small portion of food, felt full already with the breakfast that Henry had served for her. When she put down her fork and began fumbling with her bag and her keys, Henry looked up.

"Finished already?" he asked with a frown.

"Yeah. I'm going. I have a job to do," she said, getting up. Henry quickly put down his cutleries and got up as well.

"What job?" he demanded, following after her and grabbing his cap and a mask on his way.

"I'm an assistant."

"To?"

"You ask too much question," Lika blurted, as she closed the door to her apartment, locking it while Henry stood next to her, frowning. He was about to open his mouth when Lika cut him, her tone grew colder at the last part, hinting a warning, "You still stick out like a sore thumb even with a cap and a mask. Don't follow me."

With that Lika walked away the corridor of the apartment. Henry, being Henry, didn't listen. Not wanting to lose her again, he tailed her from a distance away, following her to work.

***