Hope Is You's

Twenty Eight's

Faiz drove his motorbike through the city road, this afternoon towards the place mentioned by Atika on the phone earlier. His wrist watch showed at 19:05, after the maghrib prayer he intended to go out to find dinner but he said because Atika suddenly called him with sobs.

He parked his motorbike on the edge of the park that looks dim, walked in through the park, his eyes swept around looking for the woman who called him earlier. Until his eyes caught the girl in a minimarket uniform who was sitting on a bench of cement with his head down.

He approached and squatted down in front of the sobbing girl.

"He hurt you again?" Without further ado, Faiz immediately asked his question, causing the girl to look up at him, her swollen eyes and tear-soaked cheeks making anything in Faiz's chest ache.

Atika did not answer, she looked at Faiz and just sobbed with her increasingly swift tears.

"Wait, what's your cheek?" Faiz tried to touch Atika's left cheek which looked redder than her right cheek, he pulled out his phone from his short chino pants pocket and lit a blitz to see the girl's cheek more clearly - because the lighting was minimal, ian's eyes were rounded with raised eyebrows looking at Atika's cheeks that were flushed with slight bruising.

"He hit you?" His intonation suddenly rose to see Atika's cheeks, and Atika only shook her head in wonder at the reaction of the man in front of her.

"How no? Obviously your cheeks are red, bruised like that. Crazy that's a guy." Faiz stood up while shaking his waist.

"Not her, but her mother." Atika said softly then Faiz looked back at her and sat down beside her.

"Tante Diana thought I was the one Ian met, she thought I kept teasing her son to make it back to me. Though not at all, hiks.he who means I join to hear his explanation." Continued Atika who returned sobbing considering the incident earlier.

"Why do you want to come with him? So this is why you're avoiding me? Because you want to come back with him?"

"Followed? It has nothing to do with you. I'm coming because I just want the same problem he's really done, so there's no reason for him to take me."

"Lied!"

"It's up to you to believe it or not. I'm not the one who should make you believe me." Atika stood up and turned around to leave Faiz but the man also stood up and stood in the way of Atika.

"Where are you going?"

"You go home, get out of the way!" Pinta Atika resplendently as Faiz stood looming before him.

Faiz grabbed Atika's wrist and walked with wide steps making Atika difficult to align the steps especially with the hand held.

"I'm free, I can go home alone" Atika tried to take her hand off Faiz's tight grip and just released after they were beside the parked motorbike.

"With that face?" Atika turned to the rearview mirror of the motor and saw the reflection of his face that looked chaotic.

"You can go home by yourself, so why did I ask to be picked up?"

"I'm not Nelfon Miftah you."

"Where is there? If you're indeed calling Miftah Miftah, why did the call go to my number?"

"I got the wrong color, your contact name is close together and maybe because my eyes are a bit fuzzy because of tears so it's not so clear see the name." Obviously Atika while glaring.

"No alibi!" Faiz then climbed into the front motorcycle seat while wearing a helmet.

"Who's the alibi?!"

"Relax spout. Or do I want to leave?" Faiz did not respond anymore because he knew there would be no end if he continued to argue with creatures of the type 'girl'.

Atika climbed into the passenger seat while clucking annoyed, I don't know what she regretted.

"Bring the bike don't kayak that time!"

"When is that time?"

"When you told me to go home on the bike. Just slow down and be careful."

"What is a gini?" Faiz then stuck the gas making Atika almost strayed back and again reflexively wrapped his silenced hand Faiz.

"Ergh. Faizz!" His screams were so loud that Faiz felt his ears buzzing.

"Such a rese." Faiz could no longer hold back his smile, a smile that could have burst into laughter.

Faiz's motorbike drove slowly and stopped at a suburban tent stall. He then went down and opened his helmet.

15min later Faiz came out with a black crackle containing a pack of fried chicken lalapan. They continued walking after Faiz removed the helmet from Atika's head and returned his mama. Until they turn to the housing gate.

"Loh, where are we going? How do you turn here?" Atika asked while looking at her left and right.

"You're kidnapping you!" Atika fell silent feeling familiar with those words. Until it does not feel the motor has stopped in front of a small house with a minimalist yard, too, the silver-colored car - which Faiz used to use - was parked in a parking lot that was not so big only enough for a car and motor matic like Faiz's today, and the fence was not high-end neck.

"You wanna stand there all night?" Faiz disperse his daydream, Atika immediately entered following Faiz who was standing in the house.

"This is your house?" Ask Alica after they have entered.

"It's not private property, same house car in front of the facilities of the company." Atika mangut-mangut heard it.

"Eh, but why go to your house? Isn't it why I came home?" Faiz returned from the kitchen with two saucers of steaming rice, and two more empty dishes for the side dishes he bought at the stall.

"I can't possibly immediately nganter you go home in the state of the face like that, and also I laper. If you don't eat raw bogem from your father, I assume I did you." Obviously Faiz while arranging their food on the floor with a plastic mat.

"The cry is draining, you must be a laper. So now sit down and eat!" Faiz, who was busy with the dishes in front of him, got a whip from Atika who then went into the kitchen and washed his hands in the sink and sat down cross-legged with Faiz.

They eat in silence, there is no sound at all and there is not even the sound of the clanking of spoons because they eat using hands directly. Until they finished their meal, Atika swiftly cleaned the dishes and her friends-their former meals, then brought them to the sink to wash.

"What do you want?" Atika turned to hear Faiz's voice from behind the dividing curtain between the living room and the kitchen.

"You need to wash the dishes."

"Truly craving." Faiz approached Atika and stood beside her.

"I help you."

"No, I did. A little gini, at home sometimes more than this I work alone." Atika did not look busy with a sponge and dish soap in her hand.

Faiz smiled faintly as he leaned his back waist against the kitchen wall and continued to notice every movement of the girl in front of him.

"So, after this you still want to avoid me?" Atika bit her lower lip hearing Faiz's question, she did not know what to answer.

"It's the reason you avoid me because we have no reason to be close other than work.." Faiz hung up his sentence for a moment before continuing,

"We started all over again. We're good acquaintances." Faiz stood up straight while extending a hand.

"Hi, I'm Faiz. Your name?" Faiz's hand was still hanging without any welcome.

"Engh. A.what the fuck."

"I want to know you and I'm interested in you." Hearing that, Atika stopped her movement who was watering the plate under the water.

"Two weeks ago I tried to follow what you want, I tried to avoid not finding you, not connecting you via phone or chat, but still you always hold my mind." Faiz paused for a while, waiting for Atika's reaction and then resumed as she watched Atika continue and finish her work.

"You don't want to give me a chance?" Ask Faiz slowly.

"But what about your ex? It's not that you still haven't moved on to even make some women your escape." Atika who is finished with the dishwasher, drying hands on a napkin hanging above the sink.

"Maybe, some of the women I've been close to have been runaways, but none of them have succeeded. Precisely the same you, who I never thought to be a runaway can actually make me forget the same he who once made me sick." Atika listened but had not turned back from her initial position since washing the dishes.

"You can't possibly forget him just because I'm the one you know for more than a month."

"I think so too. But this is what I'm feeling right now, my mind is locked on you, my chest is in pain when you cry, see you are hurt." Faiz approached Atika who was still behind him, then turned the girl's body slowly so that she could face him.

Atika looked down as Faiz turned her back - not daring to look at the man's face, but Faiz touched her chin gently then made her head look up, and their eyes met. Atika could see the honesty and glint of the wound there. Atika quickly turned her face away, not wanting to be too drowned in her sharp eyes but was sad.

"But I'm not sure about myself."

"Why?" Faiz frowned trying to look back at the round eyes that still looked as if they were, but Atika continued to throw her hand in the other direction.

🖤🖤🖤

Enjoy SHARK 😘🤗