Chapter 3 Handsome Widower

The young woman next to Ricardo Esteban's car stared at the handsome man for so long that Richie turned his head because he felt he was being watched.

"Hmm ... she's so beautiful," Richie thought to himself as he returned the gaze of the young woman whose car was stuck in Jakarta traffic on the left side of his car.

Richie laughed when he saw the young woman look away in surprise when he caught her staring at him. How cute!

The damn horn from behind the girl's car ended that memorable moment. They had to part ways. Richie waved as he passed the young woman's car, hoping they would meet again another time.

Richie had a visit scheduled to his nightclub, Dark City, in Central Jakarta. He owned several nightclubs in partnership with an Indonesian citizen, his former college friend in LA, Adrian Barata. They both majored in International Business and shared the dream of opening a promising nightclub business. In Jakarta, they managed eight nightclubs together.

Adrian was like most crazy rich kids, a playboy. At 39, almost 40, he still liked to change girlfriends and was not ready to get married.

Meanwhile, Richie has been married once and has a 5-year-old son. He is actually a normal family man, but unfortunately, his ex-wife was caught cheating while Richie was busy taking care of his business in Indonesia. Richie immediately ended their marriage and decided to leave LA to settle in Jakarta, Indonesia.

After 10 years of living in Indonesia, Richie is now very fluent in Indonesian. He has blue eyes and a Caucasian face, but his accent is indistinguishable from that of a native Indonesian. In fact, he can even speak with a Betawi accent. Adrian always laughs until his stomach hurts when his friend speaks with a Betawi accent.

Richie's love story ended after his dramatic divorce from Stela Dubois, his ex-wife. She demanded a large share of his assets and a large sum of money for the care of their only son, Devlin Esteban. To Richie, all the women who approached him seemed the same, only after his money.

Women were merely a means of satisfying Richie's momentary desires; he was tired of playing with their hearts because it would only leave his wallet empty. So it was better to just pay up front and in cash, and be done with it!

Doja Cat's song "Woman" rang from his cell phone while he was still driving his black BMW. Richie turned on the Bluetooth feature to answer the call with wireless earphones in his ears.

"Hello. Yes, Adri, how are you?"

"Hello, Richie. Are you supervising at Dark City tonight?" Adri's voice came from the phone call.

"Okay, I'm going home to take a shower first, Man. The club opens at 9 p.m. anyway, no need to rush," replied Richie while watching the traffic ahead of him.

"All right, see you at Dark City tonight, Dude," replied Adri bluntly. He just wanted to remind his friend.

"Got it, Boss!" Richie replied, ending the call, removing his wireless earphones from his ears, and putting them back in their special place on his car dashboard.

Finally, he arrived at his penthouse apartment on the 20th floor of Senopati Penthouse, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, after battling Jakarta's traffic jams.

Richie chose that apartment because he liked its complete facilities and its proximity to premium business centers and many large malls such as Plaza Senayan, Pacific Place, and Plaza FX. In addition, there was a private elevator for penthouse apartment owners.

Sometimes he felt lonely living alone in the 140 m2 apartment. However, his divorce still left a trauma in Richie's heart. Maybe one day he will rediscover the love he has long lost, but not now.

Richie walked to the balcony of his apartment unit, looking at the sunset and the hustle and bustle of the city of Jakarta from the 20th floor. He lit a cigarette and took a deep drag. His mind wandered to the beautiful girl next to his car earlier. Her face was memorable because it was special, like a celebrity's. Was she a new artist? Richie wondered curiously.

After finishing his cigarette, Richie hurried to the bathroom to take a cold shower. Even though his body didn't smell, he felt so hot after a day of activity.

After showering, he looked at himself in the mirror in front of the sink. Brown hairs were starting to grow thickly on his face around his mouth and jaw. Actually, even with a beard, he still looked handsome like a blue-eyed devil, but Richie felt that he looked untidy, so he decided to shave his face until it was smooth. Then he put on aftershave with a fresh musk scent.

He dried his long bangs with a hairdryer until they were completely dry, then applied a little pomade to smooth them back; the rest of his hair was cut short.

Richie then walked to the walk-in closet to find clean clothes suitable for wearing to the club. He chose a dark blue suit with a white silk shirt and no tie. He owned the club, so he didn't need to be too formal, just neat.

Before getting dressed, Richie sprayed his favorite Summer Eternity CK perfume on his naked body, which was only covered by a white towel around his hips. His body was perfectly sculpted because he diligently worked out at the gym three times a week. None of his dates had ever failed to be mesmerized by his perfect body when he took off his clothes in bed, unless they were too drunk, of course.

Richie put on his Alexander Christie watch on his left wrist and grabbed the keys to his black BMW before leaving his penthouse apartment.

It was already evening when Richie drove his car back to the club. He decided to stop by the McDonald's drive-thru and buy a Big Mac and french fries for dinner, accompanied by a glass of cola during the drive to his club, because the roads were congested around 7 p.m. Everyone seemed to be out looking for dinner or just hanging out with their friends.

So he ate dinner while waiting for the traffic jam to clear up on its own. Richie had become very adapted to life as a resident of Jakarta after living in the metropolitan city for 10 years.

Ariana Grande's song played in his car; he liked the young singer. Some of the lyrics were so naughty that they made him laugh to himself when he heard them. He needed a 'dangerous woman' to play with too; lately, his life had been too flat and boring. Maybe later he'll go hunting for an attractive woman at his club. He wants someone naughty and challenging to his desires-a stripper, perhaps?

Finally, the traffic jam cleared, and his car could cruise at a steady 70 km/h toward Central Jakarta.