Les Laches

Home

Time showed at 10 p.m., when Tian and his friends set foot back at Jose Marti airport. Twenty-three minutes before they entered the plane that would deliver their return home.

As the group sat in the boarding room, Meda saw a couple sitting not far from her. In the arms of the husband, a cute baby boy was laughing cheerfully when he saw the strange expressions made by his father. Meda laughed when she saw the sight. Tian followed the direction of Meda's gaze and smiled awkwardly. He never felt comfortable around a child, let alone a baby.

"How old is he?" Meda tried to open a conversation with the baby's father.

The man did not have a friendly face, but there would never be a parent who avoided the topic of conversation regarding their child.

"About three months."

The man smiled thinly. It may not be unusual to start a pleasantry conversation with someone she has just met. However, unlike him, the wife looks cheerful and easy to get along with. Enthusiastically, the young woman began to tell stories.

"His name is Arthit and he's four months old. Suchart keeps forgetting that our baby is growing," said the woman who introduced herself by the name of Siriporn as she glanced anxiously at her husband.

The conversation, which was originally about Arthit, quickly widened to other topics. Siriporn told me that her husband is a business owner from Thailand whose business is engaged in automotive. In addition to the holidays, their arrival to Cuba is to visit one of the prospective clients who are looking for a manufacturer to meet the needs of supporting components of vehicles in large quantities. Luckily, their journey was not in vain. Suchart company successfully won the tender and became a contractor for the company for the next 1 year.

"Stop it, Porn. Maybe he has no interest about our family business," Suchart.

Meda chuckles slowly. He could see clearly that Suchart was not reminding his wife not to tell too much about his company, but was underestimating Meda's knowledge in that area.

"I'm sorry to disagree you, sir. Actually I kinda reasonful on that field since it's become a part of my multinational company's business," the young man made a shocked expression flashed at a glance in Suchart's eyes. "But, I'm agree with you. We shouldn't delve in each other properties and enjoy our trip home instead."

Siriporn is an intelligent woman, perhaps even more brilliant than her husband if she is not raised in a patriarchal cultural viscosity that positions herself as nothing more than a tool to support and serve the needs of her husband. To melt the atmosphere, he threw a light smile to greet Tian who was beside Meda and listened to their conversation in silence.

"Is she your girlfriend?" guess Siriporn when he saw the two young men sitting side by side were not wearing anything that looked like wedding rings on their fingers.

Meda laughed softly before leaning towards Siriporn.

"She hasn't said yes" Meda said in a voice that only the couple could hear.

"Why? I mean, you guys look so cute together."

Siriporn's voice was loud enough to be heard by Tian, even by his four companions who were a little far away from where he was sitting. From that sentence, the five people could guess what Meda and Siriporn were talking about. Meda shook her head while laughing loosely. Didn't expect that the woman would react in such a way.

In fact, he did not mind if his feelings were known to the five others in his entourage, especially Afgar. However, what he was worried about was Tian. Because, it seems that the girl was careful to show closeness between the two of them while in the middle of her friends. Whereas what Tian really did was to "protect" Meda so as not to be disturbed by the attitude of Hera and Sapphira if until both of them know the expression of Meda's love to Tian.

The two girls would not only pester Tian with all sorts of questions to make him tell every detail of the chronology until he and Meda got to that stage, but it also undermines Meda to take part in every activity of their group. Hera and Sapphira agreed that anyone who became Tian's lover would be considered part of their group as well.

"You wanna hold him?"

Siriporn looked back at Tian, making the girl grudge. Meda who saw the change in expression on the girl's face hurriedly took over the situation.

"Let me." Meda grabbed Arthit into her arms.

The little boy seems to have inherited his mother's character. He is not afraid of being in a stranger's arms. Meda slowly twisted her sitting position so that now face to face with Tian. The girl herself was staring at the tiny body in Meda's arms in amazement. He looked carefully at the young man's hand as he carried Arthit's body.

"Try the carrier." Meda thrust Arthit's body towards Tian while holding his neck with one hand and holding the baby steady in his carrier.

Tian shook his head in doubt. "I really can't."

This time, Tian's face even more paled. Meda knows the reason. Tian's past trauma obviously had a hand to make him feel that anxious.

"Silent. The baby won't do anything." Meda brought Arthit closer to Tian, making the girl reflexively raise her arm.

Within seconds, Arthit's small body was already in Tian's embrace. Tian's heart was pounding irregularly and cold sweat felt drenching the back of his dress. The girl tried to calm her heart because she had read that a baby is usually very sensitive to the feelings of those around her. Fortunately, Arthit continued to put on a cheerful face until Tian handed him back to Siriporn.

"See? No problem, right?" meda whispered while wiping the sweat on Tian's palm with his handkerchief.

"Thanks, but if there's no you, I don't know what to do when she asks me to hold her baby" Tian said before walking on the bus that will take them to the plane.

Tian sat next to Meda in the first-class cabin and spent a lot of time chatting about the titles of the novels that Meda had read. What else if not Agatha Christie's novel. As he had already said, Tian had almost all the books mentioned by Meda.

"I really have to see for myself the books you said were complete." Meda placed one side of her head on the cushion of the chair while looking at Tian who was also leaning on with a blanket covering almost all parts of her body.

"You can call me if you want to come home" Tian replied as he turned his phone towards Meda. However, instead of accepting it, Meda instead waved her own phone.

"I already have your number" said Meda.

Tian almost asked how the young man could keep his number when later he recalled that Meda knew Sapphira and probably got it from his best friend. Whereas, Meda "steals" Tian's cell phone number when the girl entrusts her phone to Meda in Cienfuegos.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the cabin where Afgar and Hera were sitting, the two lovebirds were starting a serious conversation.

"Have you asked Tian?" Afgar reminded Sapphira of a question he had asked while they were still in Cuba.

"I won't do anything except Tian himself to start the story," Safira replied annoyedly.

"If so, I'll go to Tian myself" Afgar broke up.

"Stop obsessing over Tian, Gar. He wants to date anyone who doesn't have the same effect on you!" snapped Safira in a stifled voice as her cabin was only one row adrift with the Meda and Tian cabins.

"Did you see with your own eyes that he was sick of Tian?" cut Sapphira fast.

"They fought repeatedly ...."

"We date too often. Then does that mean we should also stay away from each other?" asked Safira cynically.

"It's different, Fir. Not a thing yet they fight that often." Afgar is still insistent.

"It's because their nature is opposite."

"And that adds to the list of reasons to keep them both away."

Sapphira's eyes narrowed. "I can't believe I heard that remark from a person with the principle that broad connections are a mandatory asset for a potential heir to the family business. Or maybe you've given up on that one position?"

"When has this conversation been about me?" ask Afgar coldly.

"It's about you. The center of this problem is your excessive worry. You keep trying to make sure that their relationship never works. I'm curious, is that a prediction or an expectation?"

"Firs. Stop twisting all the facts to attack me." Afgar's tone of voice was cold, as if he was warning Safira not to constantly confront him.

"You're the one who's supposed to stop making me worry about weird things. This is my last warning, Gar. Don't interfere in that matter anymore. If your concerns are proven, I'll be the first to make sure that Meda bears the consequences." Safira gave her final ultimatum before closing the sliding door in her cabin.

The plane arrived at Juanda International at around 8 a.m. A Hummer complete with the driver has been waiting for the arrival of the six people. Prior to his departure for France, Adler advised his private driver to pick up Tian and his friends after returning from Cuba.

"Sir, Papa said he'd come back to Indonesia when?" Tian asked Diro, the middle-aged man he had known since the first time he was part of the Adler family.

"Bad said I'm going home on the 30th, ma'am." Diro took his eyes off the street for a moment when he answered the question from his employer's eldest daughter.

Tian calculated inwardly the number of days remaining until that date and obtained the number of weeks. Tian groaned softly, making Diro chuckle. Not only is Bella the only one who thinks of her daughter as a blanketed creature in the entire Adler family residence.

"You can stay in my house if you're afraid of being alone" Afgar bargained quickly.

"Have a son! If you have to step up, Tian goes to my house." Hera firmly.

Meda and Sapphira who almost launched her protest each returned to shut her mouth. Meda felt like she could stop worrying as Hera spoke. If one of Tian's female companions had already intervened to block Afgar's intentions, it would have been impossible for the young man to force his plans to proceed. Safira, on the other hand, became calm for different reasons. He knew, Hera would not want to lose to Afgar when it comes to fighting for the "ownership" of a Tian.

"My house is the closest to Tian. It's easier if Tian needs to take something from his house." Afgar is still trying to bargain.

"I will provide whatever Tian needs without waiting for Tian to come home. After all, if that guy starts Tian, he'll easily find Tian in your most DEKET house the same as the Tian house." Hera also had no intention of giving up.

"Well! You happen to be talking about the terror." Afgar flicked his finger. "If the man really showed up, wouldn't it be safer if Tian was in a house with many men?"

Hera widened her eyes. "You think even though almost everyone in my house is female, I can't guarantee Tian's safety? I can hire even more bodyguards than the number of people in your house."

Tian's ears began to itch at the quarrel of his two best friends.

"I'm at home. The man will not come home. I'm sure," leerai Tian. "If anything unusual happens, you'll both be the first people I call."

"Five dong" sahut Safira.

"Four," timpal Afgar.

"Can't you count?" Safira pointed to Meda who could only exchange glances with Alvin.

The two young men have barely spoken since arriving in Indonesia.

"Yes. Anyway, everything in this car will call me one-on-one if there is a problem. Including Mr. Diro who slept in the lower room. Okay, Sir?" Tian pointed his thumb towards the man.

Diro responded to Tian's question by giving a similar gesture. Inwardly, she was relieved that the girl had friends who cared about her. During the trip, the man thought of some way to comfort Tian. However, looking at his current state, it seemed that his help was not very necessary. His job is to make sure that his employer's favorite daughter is safe in his supervision.

"If you're home, call me?" pinta Hera as she and Alvin descend in front of the gate of her house.

Alvin suddenly plans to replace Tian who canceled his stay at his lover's house. At first, Hera refused. However, when Alvin followed him down from the car, he gave up on saying no.

The next destination was the Safira house. The girl looked exhausted from how she spent most of her time in the car sleeping. He said nothing after getting out of the car and peeking at Tian's cheek. He did not even give Afgar a "special" farewell. The rare event certainly did not escape Tian's sight, making him remind himself to contact Sapphira and hear the explanation.

The last house is the house of Meda. The rustic-style building, with exposed brick walls that became its main foundation, it consisted of two floors. What stands out from the building is the presence of two porches on the second floor. The first porch is medium in size and is in the front center of the building. The walls are composed of white painted wooden pallets arranged vertically. The second porch is larger in size with an elongated shape following the basic shape of the first floor.

"You coming by now?" Meda seduces Tian who looks amazed by the exterior style of her house. In fact, his castle-like house clearly has a property value that is much higher than his house building.

"Next time's. Greetings to your mother's father, yes." Tian smiled as he waved his hand.

Author's Note :

Meda's House