
After completing their classes, Abby and Elang walked together to the campus parking lot filled with hundreds of vehicles owned by students and lecturers. It is not new for the two to look together, but of course it does not apply to others who just saw it for the first time.
On the other hand, the intersection of their closeness has actually spread on campus since a few weeks ago. But Abby seemed to care nothing at all, and the Eagle seemed too busy studying to not have time to serve such an unimportant thing.
"You're picked up?"
Abby nodded, "i have an appointment with someone."
The Eagle's ripples look a little seductive, "What's Mr Gara?"
The woman who was wearing casual clothes today snorted, "who else is she?"
"Good, fine. Then I'll go first." They approached a large motorbike parked at the far end, "you waiting alone is okay?" Eagle ensures.
Abby nodded back without hesitation. "Go! don't forget about our group assignment this week."
The man raised his thumb after successfully wearing the helmet. Then before long, the Eagle darted away leaving Abby alone.
Having no more business in the place, Abby continued her steps towards the main gate. Yet another unpleasant thing suddenly came uninvited.
In front of him, there was a group of women with exaggerated looks waiting for him. Abby looks calm even though her heart wonders about the intentions and goals of those who seem to be still students here.
Stared fixed with an aura of hostility like that, it did not make Abby intoxicated or frightened. He casually approached them and gave a questioning look. "What's wrong?" he said without further ado.
A rude snort sounded from the crack of their lips that were flaming red.
"That's arrogant!"
"Indeed according to people's descriptions of him."
The woman's beautiful eyebrows slightly rose when she heard the insults from the people. He doesn't feel like he has an enemy here. Then who are they?
"You got a problem with me?"
"Of course we have."
The woman who was the tallest among them, now looked at Abby's appearance from top to bottom, just as she was judging someone. And it was disrespectful behavior, also annoying.
"Only with a beautiful face and the wealth of his family, but so big a head that shamelessly clings to every man."
"If you didn't have Anggara's last name, maybe you wouldn't dare to raise your head arrogantly like this."
"I heard, your test scores are also on the rise. How much money did you spend to bribe our rector?"
"Impossible. Our rector here cannot be bribed with money, that is already proven. Maybe he was bribed with something more valuable than that. Like.." the woman who stood at the very center deliberately hung her words.
"Like?" his other friend seemed to understand and deliberately dramatize the situation.
"Selling bodies?"
A moment of silence before the sound of laughter from the four people boomed, filling the parking area that was still crowded at that time. As for Abby, she felt like she was watching a bunch of pigs having fun, not realizing that she was going to be hunted any minute.
Plaque!
The sound of such a loud slap automatically stopped their fun. Surprised when he saw one of his friends fall suddenly.
Abby who became the perpetrator did not give any reaction. Since then, his face has not rippled at all. So calm and flat, as if what he was looking at was not human.
"Only a bunch of spiteful insects want to climb the highest ladder but have nothing as a buffer." Abby said low, bringing a chill between them. The three women who were helping their friend to stand back up were so compact they froze.
"As you say. I have beauty, intelligence, and wealth that you cannot have. For that, you should also know, I can do anything to you with all the things I have. Including.." a little cynical smile now he gave, then with a slight leaning, he continued, "destroying your family. Be careful when you talk!"
Abby left there without bothering to glance at their red faces, enduring embarrassment and anger. They wanted to curse Abby for insulting them indiscriminately, but suddenly their courage shrunk.
While the person who had just left, was now sitting sweetly in a luxury car owned by Gara. The man arrived just as Abby reached the main gate, with no driver to drive her as usual.
"Your face doesn't look good." Gara's comments shortly after they left the campus area.
Because he just glanced at her without responding, until suddenly storing a brown envelope on his fiance's lap. "Maybe the one who sent it to me is also a bunch of pigs or insects you mean."
The beautiful woman opened it in silence, quite curious about what she meant. He was slightly stunned when he saw the contents of the envelope. Her net glanced carefully at Gara who was driving, there was no anger whatsoever on that handsome face. But honestly, the silence because it feels more scary.
"That's really us. I mean nothing but to do a task together. Sorry if that makes you misunderstand." Obviously Abby was calm, not wanting to make Gara even more angry.
Because of course I understand what Abby said. But when he realized that the two people in the photo look suitable, he felt annoyed himself. Abby may not have any feelings for the man, but what about the other way around? did his fiancee not know how strong the charm she had was? that's enough to destroy a city.
"I understand."
Abby knew that Gara would not be easily persuaded, but she was in no hurry. The girl looked back at the photo of herself with the Eagle who was somehow taken by whom. But if you think about the goal, it seems Abby understands enough. Someone does not like it, then tries to make himself and also because of misunderstanding. Actually this tactic is easy to read, only Abby did not expect that cheap events like this would happen to her.
"I'm really sorry, Gara." Repeat Abby again. He had heard that apologizing more than once was a sign of sincerity.
Because he had not answered, the man took his car to the side and pressed the brakes suddenly, making the vehicle stop right on the side of the road. The shocked Abby could only glare as she held her seatbelt tightly, forgetting the thing she had been observing.
Gara's body suddenly approached, making the woman hold her breath. There's nothing the man does but unbuckle Abby's seatbelt and escape her tiny body to point at her. In the next second, Gara had brought Abby into the fold, something she had been desperate to do. All the anger, anxiety and jealousy that gathered in the heart, now he vented on each squeeze of his hand on the slender waist of the fiancee.
"I'm angry, I'm jealous, but I'm more worried if you're happier with someone else." The honest sentence touched the heart of Abby who felt guilty for thinking she was less sensitive to the situation that Gara faced.
Slowly, his hands rose to hug Gara's steadfast back and pat her gently there, giving her warmth as if to say that everything was not as Gara had thought. The fragrant aroma that emanated from the sturdy body made Abby close her eyes for a moment. He was never this close to any man other than Gara. It always starts with its own initiative.
"Don't worry, I can't turn away when I know someone is fighting for me."
. . .
It was getting dark when Gara invited Abby down in a hospital area. After they spend lunch interspersed with small talk, Abby agrees to agree to Gara's invitation saying she will take him to meet someone. I don't know who they're going to meet, but he seems to be an important figure to Gara.
"This guy, is he sick?" abby asked as they passed the elevator door leading upstairs.
"Hm." Gara answered with a rather empty eye view, which made Abby feel a little strange. "He's been sick a long time."
The woman rounded her small mouth, understanding with Gara's words but too hesitant to ask any further.
Within three minutes, they arrived at the very end of the door on the sixth floor. The room with VIP writing was enough to make Abby aware that the person they would meet soon was not just anyone. Right beside the door stood a burly man in all-black clothes who looked down respectfully as they arrived. It seemed like he was a guard who was intentionally assigned.
Gara entered slowly after the guard opened the door swiftly. While Abby followed from behind with a step that was no less slow. A middle-aged man sitting on a chair was the first sight he saw. His face shriveled faintly when he realized that the person felt familiar in his brain.
"Papa."
The low call filled with longing made Abby unable to resist looking at Gara who was now resting in front of the middle-aged man.
"Papa?" I don't know who it was. But his feet faithfully followed Gara and stood not far behind the steady back of his fiancee. Silence watched the two who had different expressions on the face.
Because the distance is quite close, Abby can see clearly how the appearance of the man who called the 'papa. Long enough Abby pondered with a view that could not be separated from there until she could conclude that the face must be similar to Gara when young first.
Then a few seconds later, a flash of memory coming from the past comes crashing down on Abby. The green garden was filled with flowers and weeds, the sound of laughter that warmed the hearts of everyone who heard it, two figures who were chasing each other happily, and the, then a grown man stood by the fountain and looked at everything cheerfully.
Abby closed her eyes for a moment when she realized that the figure in her memory just now was a middle-aged man who was now in front of her.
Coinciding with Abby who raised her eyes, at that moment she found old eyes that were staring at her with sadness and longing.
"A-abbys..Abbysa."
Uncle.
. . .
TB
28/12/2020
Nasal Dinarta's.