Hot Couple: Inara's Love Story

Temporary Farewell

I was awakened by the sound of a sweet-talking azan. I blinked my eyes, and my mind floated at the moment a hundred and forty-four hours ago, six beautiful days. After a long time, for the first time I woke up feeling happy.

It was almost four in the morning, but Reza was nowhere near me. I, who was still half sleepy, tried to get up and walk around the mes while whispering his name. He doesn't exist. "Excuse me. Do you know where Mas Reza is?" I asked the resto employee I met that morning.

"The clock is like Mas Reza usually in musala, Ma'am. There," he said, pointing out the direction.

I went there, and found Reza in prayer. Like a soul asking for forgiveness. As soon as it came to my mind, in the twenty-four hours we were together, he never left the prayer, not once.

In my condition, I realized, indirectly and without intention, I was like a demon testing his faith to commit sin. I thought to myself, did his man's desire not rage when he was alone with me? Or is he fighting a great battle between passion, heart and mind? If so, I am amazed, though he is unable to refuse to be with me, but he is able to restrain himself and defeat his passions.

I went back to the room when he finished praying. I didn't want Reza to see me there. I feel small, despicable, and unbecoming for a man as good as him. While Reza just returned to the room when the sun had risen, when the room was already bright with a dazzling light.

"Have you taken a shower?" ask Reza.

I knew he was just a pleasant-nonsense idea to really ask, because obviously I had changed clothes, dark blue jeans and a long-sleeved top with matching colors, she said, I don't have to wear a jacket for the ride home.

"I've been up since four."

"Oh...."

"Where were you going?" I pretended not to know.

"From musala."

"Why didn't you wake me?"

Reza smile. "I have no right to wake you from sleep just to invite you to prayer. I'm afraid you're distracted, afraid that I'm making you feel uncomfortable" she said. Then he came closer, sitting on his knees in front of me, clasping my hands as usual. "Later, when we are married, when you are fully my responsibility, and all your sins and mistakes turn to my shoulders, I will often pray for you. You want?"

I was silent for a moment, bowing my face that seemed to be filled with dirt. "I don't think I'm worthy of a man as good as you. And you know how bad I am, why do you want to keep me as a wife?"

Once again, Reza smiled before answering my question. "You're not bad. You just need someone who can stand by you, hold your hand, and always be there for you. And I wish that person was me. But I won't force. I'll wait until you're sure that I'm the right man for you."

"Excuse me." An employee stood at the door. He brought us breakfast. I hurriedly wiped away the tears that ran down my cheeks.

Oi! You're like the director who says "cut!" as the scene progresses. Want me to say it out loud to him because he came at an inopportune time.

After he finished moving the dish from the tray to the table, he excused it and went out and closed the door. I don't know why he did it, but no one asked him to close the door. Nevermind, forget. That's not important.

"Darling?"

"Emm?"

"My jawab. You want to, right?"

"Ask our parents first" I said. "Seek blessing."

Reza nodded and looked a little disappointed. "OKAY. Aye." Yeah."

"But I want you to always wake me up for prayer" I said. "I want to be a mum to you. And I want you to be the priest who will always guide me."

Reza immediately smiled at my words, and I was happy, I became the reason behind that smile. As Raden Adjeng Kartini said: There is nothing more pleasant than putting a smile on someone else's face, especially the face we love.

I love him, even if I don't say it. That love is already in my heart. A love I believe Reza feels - even though I'm not saying. A love that grows in just a matter of days, but is deeply rooted in the heart.

Yeah, I love Reza Dinata, a regular guy, but from his arms there's a bunch of fowl feathers that keep expanding into a pair of sturdy wings. The wings were flapping and taking me flying towards a field that was once just a barren field. But now the barren field is no longer arid. The rain had drenched it and made it a lush garden. Now it is transformed into a paradise with thousands of colorful flowers. That's where I am, that's where Reza took me. A place where I began to knit new dreams, the dreams Reza realized one by one.

In short, I no longer feel barren since my eyes saw the figure of Reza Dinata. Even though that day I had to be temporarily separated from him.

Well, it's time to come. That day I didn't take Reza to the airport. It was he who drove me home to the boarding house. I gave him the address of my sister, Ihsan, in North Jakarta, my mother lived there with him.

"I'll send you a gift for them" he said, without seeing a piece of paper with the address on it, he put it in his shirt pocket. Then he looked at the watch on his wrist, apologized, and said he had to leave. With two hands put in his pocket, he looked at me while taking a deep breath. For the first time that day I got the impression he was feeling nervous. Staring at his shoes, he said, "I know I don't have you yet, but I want to say I don't want to lose you."

I smiled as I took a step towards her, hugging her tightly, so she knew that I felt the same way. He raised his face, leaned over, and kissed my forehead. "Let me call. I'm gonna miss you. Thank you for a wonderful week. I love you."

I didn't answer. I let him walk away, while I just stood looking at him until he turned the corner and his figure was not visible anymore.

I closed the door, listening to the songs from the playlist that Reza downloaded for me, over and over again. I felt like I could breathe the scent of Reza Dinata in the sounds that echoed from the earphones connected to my phone.

Ah, I already missed her new self a while ago with me.