Les Laches

..., but I Love You

Safira listens to the sounds streaming from her phone speakers as she watches Tian walk the Varadero beach promontory. Across the phone, Alvin was talking to Hera, persuading her to abandon her intention to return to Havana.

After hearing about Tian's troubles from Sapphira, Hera was intending to meet her best friend. Safira had expected that Hera would act in such a way considering that the girl loved Tian very much. Therefore, he did not want to keep the news any longer than Hera despite knowing the risks. He only hoped that Alvin could be relied on to calm Hera down and convince her that Tian's situation was much better. Luckily, the bet worked.

A few minutes passed since the two lovebirds were arguing across the phone until then Alvin's voice appeared again on the speaker.

"He's calm, but he wants to call Tian tonight." Alvin sounds exhausted.

Arguing with Hera is not an activity he often does. Usually, he always obeyed his lover's will without bidding. Only, this time he agreed with Sapphira that the return of Hera to Havana would not have a significant impact on the state of Tian. It might even make Tian feel more guilty for thinking that he had ruined his friends' holiday plans.

"OKAY. I'll tell Hera that Tian is at the inn" Safira replied.

Alvin sighed. "If Tian finds out you have Hera ...."

"I know that Tian will be angry. I have not told Tian that I will not tell him about his problems to Hera as long as he wants to come with me to Varadero. But, I can't hide this from Hera or even make Hera worry less about Tian. So, if they both want to get mad at me, yeah ... That's it." Safira laughed bitterly.

There was a noise across the phone.

"I'm not angry with you, Fir. I'm just sprained because no one's spying on me to tell me about this." Hera's voice sounded still a little emotional, but Sapphira could sense that the girl was trying to control her. "I don't want you to think that my vacation is more important than your problems."

"Yes. I understand. Sorry yes, Sweetheart," Safira replied.

"Is there a problem?" Afgar, who had just returned from the tavern, looked at his girlfriend's worried face.

Safira was thinking about a lot of things after ending her phone with Hera a few minutes ago. He thought about many things that would definitely change after they returned to Indonesia. Tian's attitude is due to his family problems, Tian's relationship with Meda, even his relationship with Afgar. There was a lot of worry going through his head after a little debate between him and Afgar last night. He was not sure if his premonition this time was true or just the effect of excessive paranoia. Most importantly, he was already determined to make sure no one would be hurt in the future because of his decision.

"There's nothing, Gar. I just thought Tian had been talking to Hera" Safira replied at last.

Afgar nodded small. "What did you say?"

"She's just gonna call Tian tonight if we're all at the inn."

Safira's eyes again searched for the figure of Tian who had disappeared from her distance as she was immersed in her own thoughts. He found the girl squatting alone by the beach. Several times the waves that reached the coast played the ends of her long skirt. However, Tian who seemed to also be daydreaming about something, ignored that.

Tian was indeed thinking about the state of his family. Since his departure for Varadero, he has tried several times to contact his father and mother. However, all of those calls are connected to the voice box. He suspected that the plane boarded by his family had not yet reached the destination airport. Tian instead did not try to think of anything else to control the uneasiness of his heart. It's just that the second thing that haunts his mind doesn't make him feel much better, the thought of Meda.

A volleyball rolling near his feet made Tian realize that he was still in the crowd. The sun was already quite high, as he tried to get up from his sitting position. Spontaneously the girl raised one of her hands to protect her eyes from glare, while trying to figure out the direction the ball was coming from.

"Hi! Could you hand me the ball?" A brunette young man approached her with his hands together.

"Yeah" muttered Tian as he threw the object in his hand at the young man.

"And your phone number, please," the young man added as he stood at a distance of about 2 meters from where Tian was.

"Pardons." Tian frowned.

"Well, I've been watching you since an hour ago and I think you're here by yourself. So, I decided I can try to talk to you, since we're both strangers here," explained the young man.

Tian observed the young man's appearance which indeed did not look like a local. In addition, if considered more carefully, it looks to have the facial structure of people from mainland Asia even with bright green eye beads instead of dark like most Asians.

"Rights. My name is Sora. How about you?" The young man put his hand.

Tian shook Sora's warm hand while mentioning his name and origin. The young man frowned.

"I thought you also came from Japan or at least inherited Japanese blood. I mean you look like one of us." The young man pointed at a group of young men watching him from a point on the shore.

"Is there any problem here?"

A voice that emerged from behind Tian's body made the girl take her eyes off Sora. It looks like Meda is walking towards him while carrying a skateboard. Tian could not help but glare at all the inches of the young man's body that was wrapped in a surf top and a tight aquashort. He did not expect Meda who looks thin turned out to have a sixpack like Afgar and Alvin, two people who are both gym enthusiasts.

"You have a problem with him?" The Meda question made Tian re-conscious from his daydream.

"No. We were new acquaintances instead," Tian explained in a cold tone of voice before turning to look at Sora who was still standing nearby, but with a different expression.

"I'm sorry. Yeah, my grandfather is a Japanese, so I'm a Japanese quarter" Tian told Sora. "And he's my friend ...."

"I didn't ask you to introduce me to this boy." Meda tried to cut before Tian mentioned her name.

Sora himself felt that he had a hint of hope when he heard that the young man beside Tian was just a friend. However, when he saw the young man increasingly showing an aura of hostility to him, what flashed across his head was to blur out from before Tian as quickly as possible. It was as if he had never stood in front of the girl and tried to ask for her phone number.

Meda who saw that the young man named Sora had already lost his battle spirit, grabbed Tian's wrist.

"Well, if you have no further issues with my girl-friend," Meda deliberately gave a meaningful pause in the last two words, "let us excuse ourselves."

Meda did not wait until the young man replied while pulling Tian away. Tian hurriedly greeted Sora before following Meda's long steps. The young man had just stopped walking while the two were at the end of a deserted beach. He looked at Tian who was also looking at him with a cold expression.

"What do you mean by that look in your eyes?" ask Meda with a flat expression.

"What do you mean to suddenly cut off my conversation with someone else?" Tian threw back a question.

"What talk? He's obviously trying to get close to you" Meda snorted.

"Where does the error lie?" Tian still gave him a cold look.

"You're still asking me to explain where it's wrong?" Meda rubbed her face. "You don't know him."

"Therefore we are acquaintances," Tian said quickly.

"You can tell he's evil or good with such short introductions?"

"It's not about how long it takes you to get to know someone, but rather the standards of right and wrong that you use to judge that person. Want you to know him for any length of time, if your mindset about him has been ugly, yes that's it!" Tian smiled meaningfully at Meda.

"I've never given you a bad judgment, Tian."

"You sure about that? Because the last time we spoke, you even showed that very explicitly." Tian laughed sinisterly.

"Enough! I just want to protect you from a danger you might be so petty about." Meda raised her voice.

"Enough? Okay." Okay." Tian intended to walk away, but Meda held back her arm.

"Why did you suddenly associate all of this talk with yesterday's problem?"

"You're the only one here who doesn't want to admit that this is all related to yesterday's problems. In fact, the problem on the first day we met. You're the only one here who doesn't realize how twisted your thinking patterns are!" snapped Tian.

"I should have said enough here, Meda. I shouldn't try to constantly understand you and give you a chance. What was I expecting? Can a Meda truly overcome her trauma thanks to me? It's utopian. You are not trying to find where your problem lies. No," Tian shook his head softly, "more precisely, you close your eyes and don't want to admit that that's where your problem lies."

After saying that, Tian actually stepped away. This time, Meda did not have enough courage to hold back her departure. Tian truly showed how the momentary emotions of Meda had inflicted a deep wound on his heart. Once again the young man took a wrong step, then his relationship with the girl would never recover.

This is the first time Meda has hesitated to make a choice. More precisely, fear of the risks that occur if he made the wrong decision. All because of Tian. In fact, he himself had repeatedly established the intention to stay away from the girl he had only known for a few days. However, when only a little more effort was needed to make it happen, his heart always tried to reach back to the girl into his grasp.

For the rest of the day, Meda disappeared. Safira, who began to be confused by not seeing her figure at dinner time, repeatedly tried to contact Meda's phone before Tian reminded her that Meda's phone was not active while in the country. The young man had no intention of contacting or receiving calls from anyone while in Cuba. To contact his family only, he took advantage of the hotel's wi-fi service and sent messages via e-mail.

Afgar who stole heard Tian's words as he reminded Sapphira, smiling inwardly. Grateful that it seemed that the girl was not affected by the news of Meda's disappearance. What Afgar didn't know was, Tian's heart was actually very upset. The girl felt that the quarrel between her and Meda was what kept the young man from appearing until almost midnight.

He tried to refute his thinking with the fact that Meda was a stubborn young man who would not let anyone's opinion shake his principles. However, hours of conversation on the phone with Hera and Alvin did not even make the girl forget the possibility that she was the main cause of Meda not wanting to return to the inn, the girl came out of her room and walked towards the terrace of the resort which was strangely still crowded with guests.

Tian crammed the black oversize cardigan around his body as he sat on a sofa in the corner of the lobby. He's shivering. Not because of the cold, but because of the eyes of some men who passed around the lobby as if trying to swallow himself raw. Were it not for worrying about Meda, she would not have done such a thing. Although both choose the inn with the best facilities, the quality of the lodging they managed to rent this time was several levels below the quality of their previous hotels, especially in the field of security. There was only a guard standing in front of the inn door. The amount is far from adequate when suddenly there is a mass riot in the lobby of the inn.

Tian again hid his head deeply behind the magazine he was pretending to read when a middle-aged man was seen walking over while constantly glancing at him. However, apparently, this time the attempt did not succeed in keeping the man away. Tian had already nearly dashed back towards his room and forgot his intention to wait for Meda when a hand caught his arm, making his stride restrained.

"Tian?" The familiar voice made Tian cancel the intention to shout.

"Why are you here?" Meda looked at him confused.

"Why are you still outside?" Tian growled furiously as he smacked Meda's chest.

The young man was still wearing the clothes he had been wearing this afternoon. The young man's eyes were a sign of fatigue and his lips looked pale and dry. Tian's hand moved itself towards Meda's forehead. Just as he expected, the young man had a fever.

Tian was ready to nag. However, as the memory of the quarrel filled his head again, he swallowed all those words back while distancing himself from Meda's reach.

"Let's go back to the room," Tian had already turned around when a pair of Meda arms coiled around his body, holding him back to move further.

"I'm sorry, Tian. This might sound crazy enough, but I think, I love you."