ANTHOPHILES

ROMY

[IN FRONT OF THE DOOR OF THE APARTMENT]

Lea noticed Romy who walked away from where he stood, Romy was no longer seen, Lea went back in and then kept the flowers that had been still in his grasp.

After Romy left, the apartment felt lonely, Lea laid her body on the sofa where Romy was sitting earlier. Lea's gaze spread throughout the room, the incident of the afternoon was still very attached to Lea's memory.

"lupain, please lupain" said Lea, flailing her head.

Lea then woke up, then tried to busy herself with cleaning the apartment, hoping with her busyness she could forget the incident.

*Start by wiping things that look dusty*

While busy cleaning suddenly heard a knock on the door.

*TOK TOK*.

Leah did not respond to the knock on the door, her body stiffened, Leah covered in fear.

Afraid that the one outside the door was the same man who had harassed her in the office earlier.

"afternoon, this is my food delivery"

The sound from behind the door.

Hearing that, Lea hurried to walk towards the door in confusion as Lea did not order any food.

*Open the door*

"Sorry sir, but I didn't order any food"

Lea said to the Father.

"the name of the sender is Shaga mbak"

answer the food delivery.

"ohh if that's my friend"

Leah said, bringing the food that had been offered to her.

"this is a note from the sender"

He gave the paper to Lea.

*take the paper*

"thank you very much sir"

"Sama-sama mbak, I go first ya mbak"

"oh yes please sir"

*Lea re-enters to apart*

Lea opened the paper given by the father.

"Romy said she forgot to buy you food for dinner, so I bought this for you"

After reading the contents of the paper, Lea then stored the food Shaga gave her.

Because the day is getting darker, Lea intends to take a shower and then continue to pray magrib and isya.

..........

Brief story

Lea finished the shower.

*Then directly perform the prayer*

Lea's feeling was very chaotic, her mind was filled with that man earlier. Although there were 4 men ready to take care of him, still they could not be 24 hours with Lea.

Leah could only weep on the prayer mat to God, for for her it was a powerful way to make her feel calm.

After feeling calm, Lea then took the food that Shaga had sent her this afternoon, and immediately ate it.

After eating, Lea headed to her mattress and immediately lay on the mattress with a position staring at the ceiling.

I don't feel her tears falling back.

"god, why are you so sure of my shoulders, that I am not so strong"

Lea fell asleep in a state of crying until the next day.

[IN THE MORNING]

Lea flew up and rushed to the bathroom, right in front of the mirror, Lea saw that her eyes were swollen from crying last night.

"Our eyes are even swollen, surely later Romy nanya"

Lea said as she walked into the bathroom.

*Time indicates 8*

*TOK TOK*

The sound of knocking from behind the door.

Because you know what's coming is Romy,

Lea opened the door immediately.

"morning" said Romy with a smile.

*Lea replied to Romy with a smile*

"definitely nangis abis semaleman"

"today don't cry anymore yes, we're just fine-grained"

"ohiya, do you have the same sim card memory card?"

Ask Romy.

"uh uh? what are you doing" asked Lea confusedly.

"i want to buy you hp, so all of you bring a sim card so that later it can be used directly"

"duh gausah, gausah.I join hp"

Lea rejected Romy's offer.

"grabutuh how, if there's nothing with you, you stay on our phone. You need hp for our ngabarin"

Romy explained.

Lea was silent, she thought it was also true what Romy explained. Lea rushed into the apartment to take her sim card and memory card.

[IN THE CAR]

"here there is a park that has a lake, we will eat there while enjoying the scenery" said Romy began a chat.

"are you safe? does anyone know you there?" Ask Lea.

"Look, I'm used to going out without a bodyguard. I can wear this" Romy replied, showing her a hat and a mask.

"ohiya later malem there is a gathering event, Justin told me to take you there. You want?"

"what show?" Ask Lea.

"not an official event, just a casual chat"

"hmmm yeah, I'm going along. But go home don't be late"

"siapp"

Romy refocused driving his car, seen the streets are not too crowded, maybe because they go on the day people are at work.

While Lea was busy looking at the side of the road while looking for a cafe that was close to her apartment, because she intended to return to singing at the cafe in order to have income.

*Not felt, they have reached their destination*

Romy wears a hat and a mask and takes Lea out of the car.

"what do you want to eat? look there's a lot to sell" asked Romy.

"just be with you" replied Leah.

"you're sitting in that chair, I'm buying food first" Romy said as he passed away.

Lea walked to the seat that Romy pointed at earlier, the right place facing the lake.

Lea sat on the chair, she closed her eyes to feel the breeze of the wind blowing as if rubbing against her skin.

"Lea"

Romy's voice surprised him.

Lea opened her eyes, looking at Romy who was already standing before her.

"eat first yuk" said Romy.

The two of them ate together while enjoying the beautiful view of the lake.

*finished meal*

"it's great, plus this beautiful view"

"Do you like this place?"

*Lea nodded with a smile towards Romy*

"thank you for the flowers, sorry I didn't say thank you yesterday"

"do you like the flowers? I didn't choose the wrong flower, did I?"

"i really like all flowers, only the ones that were Azaleas yesterday"

"do you know what kind of flowers?"

"whatever, I know the Azalea flower because it's my name"

"ohh your name is Azalea, I think your name is Lea aja, it turns out that is a nickname doang yes. What flower is that again?"

"the flower that fit me on that bridge? that's Lily's flower, my sister's name"

Leah started telling stories.

"my mother loved flowers, and her children's names were named after flowers"

"that name is perfect for you, because you are as beautiful as a flower" Romy said with a smile.

Lea blushed in embarrassment, but she did not want to show it to Romy. Lea tried to divert the conversation.

"where are we going?"

"you want to go to the mall? or watch maybe?"

"Ah waving to the mall"

"Who knows if you want to buy clothes, bags, etc?"

"you want to buyin?"

"quiet down. everything I pay for"

"can't you buy painting supplies?"

"uh uh? you paint"

"Can dong, I can even cook, menejahit, sing etc"

"wihh this complete package" Romy told Lea.

"mother said if mother gabisa lecture me, mother teach me a lot of skills so I can still develop. Mother also once said, everything I can learn is just learn, science is not always obtained from the university"

"you must be pretty close to mom" asked Romy.

"banget, because I only have a mother with a sister"

Lea was silent for a moment, to sigh.

"but I never thought that mom and Lily would leave me this soon"

"i once said the good man was called God" said Romy trying to comfort Leah.

*Lea looked at Romy with a smile*

Lea then switched the conversation because she did not want to remember her mother and sister.

"ohiya how is the progress of your second song?"

The look on Romy's face that had been smiling for a moment turned flat.

Lea, who noticed the change in look on Romy's face, asked.

"Why? I was wrong, right?"

Romy shook his head uninspired.

"create this second song suddenly my spirit is flashing"

"can I?" lea asked in astonishment.

"i saw my newly released songs immediately won awards, while my long-released songs never won" said Romy explained.

Leah held onto Romy's bowed face and then lifted her up and turned her face towards Leah until they looked at each other.

"it's only natural that you want to get credit for your hard work" Lea said, then removed her hand from Romy's face.

"you think the song you made is definitely the best song, right? the meaning of the song, the music, and other details in it"

Romy nodded in agreement.

"kalo you think it's good, it means your song is really good" Lea said.

"but don't I get an award? though I think my song is worth an award. Don't people like me, do they?" Ask Romy who is still confused.

"really ridiculous" Lea said as she pinched Romy's cheek gently.

"you're already at the peak of success gini you think because what? in addition to the work, yes it is because of the support of people who like you" continued Lea.

"more precisely like the group, not me" said Romy.

Lea took a long breath.

"how do you want to be appreciated by others if you can't appreciate yourself? The award starts with yourself" Lea said as she placed her index finger on Romy's chest.

Romy was only speechless, with a still down position, Romy tried to hold back his tears.

Lea let Romy who was still silent, Lea thought maybe Romy was taking time to understand the meaning of what he said earlier.

A few minutes later, Romy began to speak in a trembling voice.

"i just realized that all this time I did not appreciate myself, I was busy blaming myself, whereas.. not winning an award does not mean I made a mistake right?"

Lea smiled, happy because Romy finally understood what he was trying to say.

"Not anyone else, not anyone, but you should be the first person to appreciate yourself. Winning the award is a bonus, but far from it you actually won. Let's just say the song's release was a victory. You win against laziness, make it out of your comfort zone and more.

The tears that were about to shed were now changing with a smile.

Romy felt that half the burden that was on his shoulders had instantly disappeared.

Unknowingly so happy Romy was about to hug Lea who had been beside him.

Lea who realized it immediately got up from her seat to avoid Romy's embrace.

"eitsss, our interaction is only limited to handrails" Lea said.

Romy who had raised his hand then immediately lowered his hand, his face reddened with embarrassment and made him misbehave.

Seeing Romy's behavior, Lea laughed loudly with the intention of melting the atmosphere so that Romy was not ashamed of him.

Romy also joined Lea.

Laughter gradually stopped, Romy then stood up and thanked Lea for making her happy today.

"it's getting hot, we go to the mall aja yu" Take Romy.

"ayo" Lea replied as she passed away towards the car.

..........

Long story short they arrived at the Mall.

"we've gabisa a long time here, the place is very rame" said Romy as he walked quickly to the counter to buy a cellphone, followed by Lea who walked behind him.

Can not linger there, after buying a cellphone and painting equipment they immediately returned to the car.

*Romy opens the car door for Lea*

Lea got in the car, followed by Romy who immediately got into the car.

Romy took a deep breath.

"safe" Romy said.

"this is what it feels like to be an artist" Lea said as she put on her seat belt.

"meaning now go straight to the gathering place?" Ask Romy.

"where else to go" replied Lea.

Romy looks at his watch, time shows at 4 p.m.

"the place is quite far, about 2 hours so until there it's getting dark"

"great fit, later there I want to pray first yes"

"may be able"

The car started to run quietly.

Throughout the journey Lea just focus on looking at the streets, until without realizing Lea was asleep.

Looking at Lea who was asleep, Romy just smiled then stroked her head. Then continue driving the car.