K&K (Taste Features)
31. Barbed Rose
Kirana was waiting for Haikal to change clothes at home. They're gonna go watch. Anna's big house looks lonely. Neny was watering the flowers in the front garden. Kirana approached the young mother.
“You like flowers too?” neny asked after they greeted each other. Kirana nodded.
“But Haikal doesn't really like flowers. Don't expect to get flowers from her. She is allergic to flower powder,” Neny's story, Kirana laughs amusedly hearing it.
“Oh yes tomorrow we will pick up cousin Haikal at the airport. You want to come?” tawar Neney's.
Kirana gulps.
Airports.
Airplanes.
Are places and objects that become phobias for him after the accident.
“How?” neny. Kirana hesitated, she hesitated to refuse and would be too convoluted to tell the story because surely Neny would interrogate her further if he told her the truth about the phobia.
But he himself was really scared past the corners of the place, painful as it reminded him of the seconds before the accident. She nodded. And try to calm down that he'll be fine and there's nothing to worry about.
***
On Sunday morning, Haikal and Kirana went to the airport to pick up a cousin who had come from Paris. In the past, Anna's mother's family lived long enough in Paris when Haikal was a child.
After her husband's death, she moved out and opened a French restaurant. Sarah is a distant cousin of Haikal who used to be next door to her.
Haikal parked his car, and all the passengers disembarked towards the International Arrival, Kirana slowed down. His body and lips were trembling. His face paled like a corpse and his chest felt tight.
The memories of a few years ago turned back, then the tares and notification noises coupled with the sound of the newly arrived plane made Kirana crouch in fear while covering both ears. Cold sweat poured out of his body. Haikal, who had just caught up from the parking lot, ran around to Kirana.
“You okay?” ask Haikal worriedly. He held onto Kirana's wet fingers. “You sick?” He told Kirana to walk over to avoid getting hit, but her steps stopped.
“I..just go home.” Kirana's hands were trembling. He could no longer stay at the airport.
“You okay?” Haikal repeated his question.
Kirana nodded and smiled convincingly. From a distance Anna's mother had shouted at Haikal to follow soon.
“Sorry can't take you home. When you get to the restaurant, call me. After driving Sarah home, I'll catch up with you soon.” Haikal can't bear to let Kirana go home alone.
I had to call a taxi. Haikal tells the taxi driver where to drop Kirana, after which the taxi speeds up.
“Lho Kirana home?” ask Neny.
“Iya. She's ill. Suddenly his face was pale and his body was sweating coldly. Maybe a fever,” Haikal replied. Neny and Anna are concerned.they hope Kirana is okay.
Sarah Cordelia Dominique Hamas, as Cordelia, is a promoter and one of the judges in the “Competition of South East Asian Model” for Indonesia. The seeds of the superior model will be through inter-city selection from various magazines throughout Indonesia which will then be finalized in Bangkok.
Several reporters from various fashion magazines, including tabloids were waiting for his arrival as well.
“If there are so many gini reporters how do we pick him up, Ma? He must have been someone picked up from the agency,” lamented Neny felt uncomfortable. It turned out to be true, the EO party was also preparing to pick him up.
“Sarah himself requested. Mama misses her once too.”
After a few minutes, emerged super-modist women who are very beautiful and charming. Her Indo-European face like Kezia, only she is taller than Kezia and Haikal with a height of 175cm and a weight of 47kg makes her a perfect top European class model. Her blond hair was painted brown brick like Kezia's hair color.
She wore a brown laser cut dress on her knees, covered in a magenta blazer layer. The pastel nail polish color looks feminine and playful, showing her age is very young.
Sarah took off her Sicilian baroque glasses from D&G, which were carved in golden brown rose and smiled gracefully at the reporters, in an instant like a Hollywood artist or high-ranking official he was mobbed by people who jostled to interview him. After a little talk he saw his family waiting. Sarah waved her hand and directly barged towards Haikal and his family. The reporters followed Sarah.
“Bonjour ma aunty. Hello tanteku.” Sarah hugged and kissed Anna's cheek.
“How are you? you look very beautiful,” exclaimed ma'am Anna amazed.
“Je vais bien's. I'm fine. Hey, is this your kid? so handsome. What's your name?” Sarah bowed her body while holding Niko's round cheeks.
Niko's face flushed in embarrassment, she looked up at her mother. I don't understand what that beautiful woman said.
“Na..manya si.what's dear?” repeat Sarah with the French accent that is still thick and stammering.
“Niko aunt,” Reply Niko happy.
“Usually called Sarah aja happy, now pretentious called Cordelia all. Potatoes become a ngetrend model,” muttered Neny while rolling his eyeballs. Anna's mother elbowed her daughter.
“Pardon? sorry?” Sarah frowned in surprise, feeling herself being talked about and something was wrong.
“Oh rien's. Oh nothing.” Answer Neny gurgled.
“Ma che’rie, Haikal. Dear Haikal. I miss you so much.” Sarah hugged Haikal and kissed him on the cheek, until reporters photographed them and grew increasingly violent.
“Hey. After Sarah, behind you a lot of reporters take pictures of us.” Haikal pushed Sarah.
“Cordelia, who is that guy? Is he your Indonesian girlfriend?” ask a reporter from a gossip magazine.
Haikal and Neny glanced at each other and began to smell the unpleasant news.
“Oh they are my family. And he is my lovely cousin,” replied Sarah with a very fluent English rather than Indonesian.
He now hugged Haikal's arm tightly and stuck his head on Haikal's shoulder as if he did not want to escape.
Journalists are increasingly flooding questions that are out of the context of his arrival as a promoter and jury of the Southeast Asian model competition. Fortunately, the EO bodyguards immediately confronted the reporters and saved them from questions such as mosquitoes ringing in the ears.
A dashing man came to greet them, he introduced himself as the managing manager of the EO COSEAM-Competition of South East Asian Models.
“Welcome to Indonesia miss Cordelia, my name is Adit. I'll take you to the apartment.”
“Not now. Thank ye. I want to go to my family's house first,” Sarah said.
“But..”.
“Don't worry, my father is a Jakarta man. At least I have been to Indonesia several times,” Sarahpun took Haikal and took them to go to the car.
In the car Sarah distributed the souvenirs. Niko gets a miniature Eiffel tower from shiny oak. Neny received a bouquet of bath liquid soap from Lavender flower essence. He was hysterically happy when he saw that it was the original product without the addition of water and alcohol.
Ms. Anna thanked Sarah for buying French kitchen spices that are ancient and rarely found other than expensive. Haikal got a dark blue tie from silk.
“You are very attentive Sarah. I'm so happy.”
Sarah mangosteen. And he is content because he is liked.
“You are now using softlens yes ?” neny asked in surprise, but he was quite envious of the pitch-black eyes of his cousin.
The color of the lens is green.
“Ya. here's a model, should be the center of attention. Long time no.times meet ka.lian. Glad...in Indonesia,” said Sarah. He looked through the car glass.
“And you're getting pretty,” Haikal chirps while driving.
“Really ? I look beautiful in your eyes?” Sarah was so happy to hear that.
“Of courses. You were beautiful before. If not beautiful where might be a famous model.” Haikal.
Sarah breathed heavily. He thought Haikal's thinking had changed about him. Sarah realized that she was beautiful and talented. As a youngest model who became a promoter and jury in Indonesia is an extraordinary achievement.
He was not surprised and was accustomed to the sight of men who were amazed and fascinated maybe even crazy about him.But his beauty did not thrill Haikal. He wanted to look beautiful which thrilled the man.
“You've eaten baby? what do you want to eat ?” ask Anna's mom.
“I don’t know aunt. I had no appetite anymore,” replied Sarah sadly.
“But, I’m starving grandma,” said Niko suddenly who had been silent since.
He is upset with adults who use foreign languages without translating. Sarah looked amazed. Anna and Neny too.
“You can. ba.hasa england,my dear?” ask Sarah.
“Yes. But little-little,” answered Niko confidently. Everyone laughed when they heard it. In the end Haikal invited in a Padang restaurant on the roadside to eat.
***
