Hazrin, born Azrina, was born a boy and was genetically a boy. Then his mother registered him as a baby girl. When he was 2, his mother sent him away to live with his aunt, deep inside the vineyards of France. Without knowing anything, he lived almost twenty years of his life as a girl. Now he has returned home, to his home country, and decided to care for his little brother and sisters, as a man. Can he untrain himself of all feminine gestures and become a real man? Enter Iskandar, the nephew of one of the wealthiest tycoons in Southeast Asia. He had a plan, of becoming independent from his uncle, but that would cause him to betray the only one he holds dear. Will he sacrifice all for Azrina's love? Or will he sacrifice Azrina instead? Then comes Max, a german man from an impoverished noble household. For the past fifteen years, Rina Sofiana de Havensall, has always been in his mind. Now that he had fulfilled his promise, he came to find Rina, to ask her to honour her part of the promise. Bliss Behind A Stalk of Rose Part 9 By Shinieris

"So what have you found?" Dato' Zulkifli asked the man in the phone.

"We could not find any trace of Lila, Dato'," the man said, "It's like she just disappeared."

"Could it be that she's still in Malaysia?" he asked.

"If she is, she's very good at covering her tracks, Dato'. My men searched the house she lived in up til yesterday and we conclude that she wasn't planning on coming back."

Dato' Zulkifli sat down on his chair a little harder than he intended. "What makes you think that?"

"Her... roommates told us that Lila never had much in the way of belongings, but last night Lila sold everything she had at a great discount. The total value amounts to about RM2300.00, Dato'," the man in the phone explained.

"Where can she go with that much money?" Dato' Zulkifli asked.

"Not far, Dato'. Thailand, Singapore, India, Indonesia, probably Australia, Taiwan or Japan, assuming of course that she used it to buy plane tickets. There is also the added burden of bringing a two year old girl with her, we can follow that trail if we have to."

"Good. Milk as much information you can from those whores then get rid of them. Do whatever you have to, I don't want them to talk, ever."

"It will be done, Dato'," the man in the phone said.

"Oh, before I forget." Dato' Zulkifli said right before the man on the other side was about to disengage.

"Yes, Dato'?"

"Do not call my daughter a burden again. Otherwise, expect an early and violent 'retirement'."

"Yes, Dato'. It will not happen again.

------

"So that's how it goes. From my assessment, you cannot afford to settle everything in full. While you do have enough money, on paper at least, to pay for everything, in reality, those money won't be coming for at least a few months," Joe said, as he peeked at Iskandar who was watching the girls very intently. Joe noted that both girls were very pretty, and pretty fetching. He did hope however, that the focus of Iskandar's gaze wasn't the cute pigtailed middle school girl, that would be one more of Iskandar's vices if it was true.

"So if the money won't be coming for at least a few months, what do I do now?" Rina asked the man that Iskandar introduced as Johari.

"There are several things you can do. Easiest would be to make a personal loan, though if you're anything like me, you won't likely choose this option. One option is to choose the most essential ones and pay only those in full," Joe stated.

"But what about those that I don't pay?" Rina asked.

"Termination of service or suspension of service. Don't worry, all your bills are pretty minor, you won't get a lawsuit for not paying your bills. Another option is to pay all of them, but only what's necessary to maintain their service. However, this is only a temporary measure."

"So what would be a permanent solution?" Rina asked.

"Even with what I suggested, you still have a problem, namely, what would you do with next month, or the month after? What about the issue of property tax, I assume this house, which is under your stepfather's name is paid for, but what about next year? As head of the household, you are responsible for everything from now on. I understand you have never done this before?"

Rina leaned back on the sofa, her head resting on the headrest. "No, never. So what should I do?"

"For starters, you can pay half of all the bills if that is what you choose to do, and then... I suppose, get a job."

At this point, Nini, who had been quiet since the start, snorted a laugh in response. To this, Rina quickly elbowed her rib, forcing a small cry of pain from Nini. Both Iskandar and Joe noticed these, but with no reference to draw conclusions from, both of them incorrectly assumed that this was 'a sisterly thing'.

"Where would I find work at such a short notice? I tried an interview before, but they asked for papers that I don't have," Rina asked, keeping the charade.

"I heard you've been living in France, Ms. Rina. Tell me, which part of France and what do you do for a living there?" Iskandar interjected.

"Farm work, mostly. Mama- I mean, my aunt has a large vineyard in Provence. I've been working there since I was a child. But when did I tell you about living in France?"

Iskandar was about to tell her that he found out from Nini, but a glance at Nini's face told him that he better keep her name out of it. "It was just one of those things you let out the last time we talked, I'm surprised that you forgot."

"I did? I totally can't remember. Why do you ask though?"

"Nothing in particular. Just wondering, what qualifications do you have?"

"Academics, you mean?"

"Of course."

"I have baccalaureat diploma, that's the French equivalent of SPM and a degree of agriculture from University of Nice."

"A degree from Nice?" Joe stepped in, "How come you can't find a job here then? As long as you're not too picky, you can get jobs easily here. You can even get management positions with your overseas degree, and I imagine you can speak french?"

Rina nodded.

Joe nodded. "Another plus. Employers here are always looking for people who speak foreign languages. I don't see how they can refuse you."

"I've told you earlier, I don't have my papers."

"You can ask your friends there or even the faculty at the university to mail or fax them. You have an aunt there, don't you?"

Rina felt trapped. "It's complicated."

"Either you do, or you don't," Joe said pointedly.

Rina started feeling really trapped.

"Then there's also the issue of ownership change. From the documents I have seen, this house is in your father's name with your mother as the co-owner. Since both of them are now gone, the house needs to change name soon, both for convenience and for legal purposes. Then there's also the debts."

At this point, Rina's head is starting to swim and her eyes are starting to spin in it's sockets.

Joe then continued, "They're giving you grace period now, it's customary in Malaysia, but pretty soon, they're going to pounce on you like it's the end of the world. If you are to delay them, you need to find an excuse or a proof that you're doing something to pay them back. Otherwise-"

"I think we've done enough damage for a day, Joe," Iskandar said as he saw that Rina was about to faint.

Joe finally noticed Rina's state and with an apologetic tone said, "Sorry, I get carried away sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Iskandar chuckled, "Try everyday."

Joe simply ignored his boss as he suggested that he come back another day to let Rina digest the information.

"No," Rina refused, "Please stay, I need to know how to go about doing this. If I delay it any more, there's a good chance that it would have already been too late."

"Would love to, Miss Rina," Iskandar said, emphasizing her name, "But you see, Ms. Rina, it's already seven in the evening, and you said yourself that it's mannerless for men to come to a girl's home in the evening. Besides, we men shall need to perform Maghrib* prayer soon, then perhaps grab some takeaway dinner before we go home."

Rina blushed at the mention of prayer. She knew that the daily five prayers were compulsory to all muslims. She felt very ashamed that she never actually did it seriously. Her aunt was never a very religious person and had never pushed her to do any prayers except for the yearly month-long fasting on Ramadhan. When she moved in here, the only people she had seen to pray consistently were Fahmi and Mira, as well as her half-sibling's relatives. She pursed her lips as she thought it over, "Then stay for dinner. You can use my brother's room for prayer. We can continue after dinner."

Iskandar mentally punched the air in victory.

------

"Why did you say you need to pray? You never prayed. Why start now?"

"Ulterior motive and all, you know how it is," Iskandar smirked.

"Right. That's so like you. Do you even know how to pray?"

"I did go to school remember? Islamic Education was a compulsory subject in school."

"Yes, and the way I remembered it, you'd rather go for Moral Education instead, though you never were very moral even at school. Can you even read the Quran?"

"Hush, I'll read it when I'm old."

"If you live that long. There's a very good chance you will die in sin long before that."

"Nah, I'll be more likely to die from a road accident. It's one of the most common cause of death afterall."

------

"So, which one, kak?" Nini said as she hit some chillies a little harder with a pestle.

"What do you mean, which one?" Rina asked as she turned to tend to a whistling pot.

"Which one do you think is more handsome?"

Rina blushed. "Wha- how would I know?"

"Oh, don't deny, I saw you checking him out."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Nini," Rina said as she sliced some baby carrots.

"Oh, I think you do," Nini nudged Rina's side, "Come on, you were flirting with Abang Is with your eyes. Admit it."

"I was glaring at him," Rina hissed. "That man, how dare he come to our house uninvited, and bringing another man with him too. Brought another man-" Rina chopped some onions, "-into a house-" Rina cut some squids, "-lived in by only girls!"

"Calm down, Kak Rina, you're going to end up cutting your fingers," Nini said as she looked worriedly at Rina, who had instead of cutting the squid gently like usual, had been smashing the blade of the knife onto the squid as if the squid intended her great harm.

"I AM calm!" Rina hissed again just as the kettle whistled steam, but she did slow down and finally came to a brisk, but not angry pace.

"I'm just annoyed, that's all."

"But Abang Is was flirting with you too, I saw that as well, clearly, you know."

"I wasn't flirting! Besides, have you forgotten that I- I-" Rina paused, then looked behind her at the direction of the hallway that led to the living room before she bent to Nini's ears and whispered, "You know that I can't have children. There's nothing I can give him."

"You can give him mouth service," Nini said.

"NINI!" Rina yelled.

On the other side of the house, the two gentlemen were wondering what war was being fought in the kitchen.

------

"Seriously?" Rina's aunt, Sarah laughed, "You're here to search for some rich girl?"

They were sitting in the living room, after Sarah ordered her men to cut him loose. Nathan, aka Bernie, who were once part of police-military intelligence task force had already experienced interrogation and didn't hold the men at fault. They then drove him to the main house where Sarah waited with a flute of good Provencal white wine.

S. Karanathan, the P.I. that Iskandar hired laughed and said in his indian accented voice, "Aiyoo, not rich yet. She stands to inherit billions, but she doesn't know it yet. Anyway, it's not her I'm looking for, I'm looking for proof of her lineage. My client has already met up with her, though I'm not so sure if he realized it yet."

Sarah's eyes grew wide as she grabbed Nathan's collars. "Zul has already met her?"

"Uhh? What? No, my client isn't-"

Sarah pulled Nathan's collar upward before she accused, "Salmah then?" Salmah being the name of Iskandar's aunt.

"No! But how-"

"Iskandar!" Sarah let go of Nathan's shirt collar as she paled.

"How did you know? Were you spying on me?" Nathan asked after he fell with a plop onto the wooden chair.

"Excuse me for a moment," she said as she got up. She then went into another room, locked it firmly, closed the curtains and made a long distance call to Malaysia.

------

Iskandar was sipping the orange juice in his hand when he felt a pair of slender arms wrapping itself around his neck from behind. He was about to turn around when he got chills in his spine as he recalled that Rina would never do this. He knew of only one person in this house who would be bold enough to do this, and he froze in horror.

"Abang Is," Nini said in a seductive tone, "Kak Rina said dinner will be served in about ten minutes. You might want to pray first. There's some of Abang Fahmi's kain pelekat** and some sejadah*** on the bed, you can use that. And then..." Nini nuzzled the back of Iskandar's neck before she breathlessly whispered rather loudly in his left ear, "...maybe later we can have some fun? Just the two of us, of course. Or with Kak Rina maybe? We don't mind sharing."

Iskandar saw Joe's face forming an expression of shock at the implication of the words and was about to stutter a reply when Nini disengaged and left him stuttering alone.

"Is, I suppose congratulations is in order. Good to know that you're no longer gay. I have a sudden respect for you now," Joe said as he patted Iskandar's shoulder.

------

Mira glared at the faces at the dinner table. They were sitting at a low table with the girls sitting with their ankles to the side and the men sitting crosslegged. Her glare passed over Rina, who was looking embarrased and avoiding her eyes as she handed plates of white rice to everyone on the table. Then she glared at her younger sister Nini, who was sitting next to Iskandar and apparently trying her best to meld her body into his. She glared at both men then and considered approaching the subject of why they were there having dinner with them. One of them she knew because he had come before. The other was someone new.

Then she glared at the meal. "Ri- Kakak Rina, are we entertaining the Prime Minister?" Mira remarked about the number of dishes on the table.

"I was just..."

"Kak Rina was excited about having men over for dinner," Nini answered for her.

"No!" Rina denied.

"Is this true, Kak Rina?" Mira asked as she squinted her eyes at Rina.

"No!" Rina crossed her hands in front of her in a symbol of denial, "No, no, it's not like that at all!"

Nini giggled seeing Rina's exaggerated gestures, "Kak Rina, the way you deny it, it's like it's really true."

"Nini, stop teasing Kak Rina," Mira scolded, "And stop doing that with him!" Mira glared at Nini who had been rubbing her shoulder on Iskandar's arm since the start of the meal.

"I was just playing," Nini pouted, but proceeded to separate herself from Iskandar, to his ultimate relief.

It was then that a cellphone rang to the tone of Rihanna's Te'amor. It came from Nini's schoolbag. Everyone at the dinner table looked and wondered.

"Back in my days, any handphones brought to school would be confiscated," Iskandar said.

"Yes, I remember the discipline teacher being so pissed he found your handphone for the third time that he kept it under lock and key for a week and forgot about it," Joe agreed.

"To which I just bought a new phone. Man, handphones back then were heavy bricks, it was impossible to conceal."

"That's beside the point! How come you even have a cellphone, Nini?" Rina asked.

"How can you even afford it? It and the monthly bill?" Mira added.

"Hey, I bought it, ok?" Nini replied defensively, "I have a part-time job. Besides, it's prepaid. I only top up the credits when I want to use it."

She went to her bag on the floor, took out the cellphone from her bag and uttered a single, "Oh!" when she saw who was calling. The ringtone stopped, but then started again.

"Excuse me for a bit," she said to her sisters and the guests as she stepped out through the opened sliding door and out to the garden.

"Must be her boyfriend calling," Mira supplied as she started eating again.

"She has a boyfriend?" Rina asked.

"Yes, a badboy wannabe. I won't worry about him though, she's not serious about him," Mira explained.

"Pretty girl like her, there's bound to be guys who wants to be her boyfriend," Iskandar said, relieved to know that Nini already had a boyfriend. In his mind, he reasoned that Nini was just in need of an older man in her life, what with being orphan and all.

"She's too young!" Rina said just as Mira said, "Stay out of this!"

------

"Hi, Aunt Sarah," Nini said into the phone.

"Don't you 'hi' me. Is there anything you wanted to tell me?" Sarah said on the other side.

"Seeing as you called, I bet there's no point in me reporting anything, Aunt Sarah," Nini answered.

"Damned right! Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I just found it amusing, that's all. Did you know that they're already at the point where Abang Is gropes Kak Rina's tits freely?" Nini giggled as she exaggerated the incident.

"They did WHAT?!!!" Sarah fumed.

"Do I get paid for this information, Aunt Sarah?"

"You watch them properly and tell me everything that happens right away and maybe I'll give you something for your time. Do NOT mess this up!"

"You can count on-" the line went dead, "Bitch!"

------

"Maximillian speaking."

"Max, this is Sarah, Rina's mother. I know where Rina is." In Sarah's panic, she totally forgot that she was speaking English.

"Oh, I thought I would have to wait longer. What changed your mind, Aunt Sarah?" Max taunted, also in English, though heavily accented.

"Doesn't matter. Do you want to know or not?"

"Of course, Aunt Sarah. Where can I find her?"

"If I tell you, you will persuade her to come back?"

"Of course, it will be as you wish," he said as he opened his little notebook to jot down Rina's address.

Then he made a call to one of his friends, a classmate from his business degree class. "Hello Fahmi, how would you like to go back to your home country, all expenses paid?"

------

"Oh, before I leave," Iskandar said as he turned around facing Rina and feeling his pants pocket, "Here," he dropped a cellphone onto Rina's hand, feeling his finger brushing Rina's outstretched palms.

A minute touch between Iskandar's fingers and Rina's palm caused an electrical charge felt by both. Iskandar who was no stranger to both men and women wondered what the feeling was. To the virgin Rina however, it made her heart go flip flop and her face red from a deep blush.

"What's this?" Rina asked once she composed herself.

"It's a handphone," Iskandar said, stating the obvious.

Rina glared at Iskandar's grinning face. "I know it's a handphone. I may have been raised on a farm but I'm not stupid. Why are you giving me this?" Rina asked as she raised the phone in her right hand and showing it to Iskandar.

"I'm thinking... you should come work for me. I can offer you a very competitive salary as my secretary," Iskandar said, to which Joe gave him a raised eyebrow.

Rina gasped. "Excuse me?"

"Think about it. I'll have Joe come over to help you with the bills in the coming days, if you don't mind."

"But... but..." Rina stuttered, "I already told you... I don't have my papers."

"No problem. You have your passport and Identity Card with you, don't you?" Iskandar asked, to which Rina nodded.

"Excellent," Iskandar smiled, "I'll leave the phone with you for now. Think about my offer. If you will excuse me, Miss Rina," Iskandar said as he turned back to his car.

Rina's body froze on the steps in front of her front door and only came back to life when Iskandar was about to enter the driver's seat. "Wait!" she shouted, "This is expensive!"

Iskandar shouted back, "Keep it for now, that's just my spare!"

Rina shouted back, "Are you sure? I'm going to call Alaska!"

Iskandar laughed good-naturedly as he shouted, "Go ahead! I can afford it." Then he closed the door and drove off, leaving a very conflicted Rina behind.

When Rina went back into the house, both Mira and Nini approached her together. They had heard the conversation outside, what with the walls being so thin and was very curious at what Iskandar gave their eldest sister/brother. When they saw what Rina held in her hands, they gave ooohs of amazement.

"Is that what I think it is?" Mira asked.

"Yup, that's an Iphone 4," Nini confirmed, "I can't believe he gave you this. This is state of the art."

"What's an Iphone?" Rina asked.

"You don't know what an Iphone is?" both Mira and Nini exclaimed.

"Is it something good?" Rina asked.

Both of them groaned as Mira muttered, "Country bumpkin!"

------

"So Is, explain to me how you of all people ended up offering a nobody a job. My job no less! She cast a spell on you or something, Is?" Joe asked.

"Nonsense! I'm just trying to help a poor orphan," Iskandar smiled beatifically.

"That the fact she's gorgeously beautiful didn't enter your mind, I suppose?"

"Nope! I'm a charitable person at heart if you don't recall," Iskandar grinned.

"Bullshit! Charitable my butt, I suppose this means you're finally going straight? I suppose you want me to convince her to take the job?"

"Listen, Joe. You need to look at this from your point of view."

"Whose point of view have I been looking at this from, then?"

"Okay, consider this. If I have her as my secretary, then I won't be needing you anymore."

That ticked Joe off. "That helps me how?"

"You can go anywhere you want then. You can resign, if you so choose and you can be free. Heck, I'll go all out and have your record cleared to pristine condition. What do you say?"

"That does sound attractive," Joe pondered, "Alright, I'll persuade her. If I dont succeed in a week I'll tender my resignation."

"Nice try, Joe, not going to work. How many times do I need to tell you that I won't ever approve your resignation letter?" Iskandar smirked.

Hi all. Sorry for the extremely slow progress. Thing is, lots of things had happened, and I was not in a position to write. Oh well, what's past is past. Still not in the pink, but I suppose I'm better than most. No, I don't have AIDS, I am very healthy in that regard.

Anyway, thank you all for your support. Of course, I appreciate your comments and feedbacks. Praises helps me write faster. Constructive criticisms helps me get better. Insults better not be said, but if you must, well, I can take an insult or two. I am very much in the zoone...

*Maghrib - One of the 5 daily prayers for muslim. It is often performed after the sun has set. The other four prayers are Subuh, Zuhur, Asar and Isya'. There are also specialized prayers for certain occasions, like the Juma'at prayer every fridays. Tarawih during the fasting month and Solat Hajat for asking a specific boon of Allah. As the definition of Malay includes being a muslim, both Rina and Iskandar are muslims by birth, although they never practiced it. Converting from Islam, otherwise known as 'murtad' is against the law and in most muslim countries are punishable by death.

**Kain pelekat - A simple piece of stitched cloth which functions as replacement for pants during prayers. As it is abhorred for muslims to pray with soiled clothes, kain pelekat or anything similar serves as a change of clothes just for prayer. It is quite thin and coarse, but can be folded and can be carried inside a person's pants pocket.

***Sejadah - A medium for prayer. It is unnecessary and not a required piece for muslims. However, since muslims pray on the floor or ground, a sejadah (or whatever it's called in the middle east) helps reduce contact between the praying person's face and the dusty floor. In this respect, it is considered necessary, as it gives comfort to the person who prayed and allow him to focus better on praying instead of wiping dust from his face. Sejadah is often sewn in intricate patterns, much like tapestries, and to foreigners, it is considered a work of art displayed right next to nude paintings. It has no special powers, so the foreigner wouldn't be cursed just from doing that.