Les Laches
Unspoken Word
Tian washed away the foam attached to the last plate in the sink before handing it to Verdita. The woman standing beside him was watching his work while thinking about many things.
Verdita did not hear much from Meda about the girl other than that she was born into a wealthy family. Knowing the character of Meda who does not talk much, Verdita refrained from digging further information about the girl no matter how curious she was about it.
The fact that Meda finally shared her interest in a girl alone was quite surprising. Then, coupled with the background of the girl who is far from the usual Meda preferences. The combination of these topics certainly tickles the curiosity of anyone, including Verdita.
Unfortunately, other than Verdita not being able to ask her son directly, she could not even get Ruslan to talk about the topic. Her husband has a disposition that is as old as three money with Meda. Of course the topic will only be greeted with a faint smile by Ruslan. Therefore, Verdita decided to judge for herself the presence of the girl while visiting her family's dinner.
When he first saw Tian, Verdita immediately liked the girl. Not only was her dress polite and simple, the girl also hardly wore any accessories other than a comet-lined necklace with a sprinkling of diamonds along the surface of her pendant. Verdita works in an industry that markets accessories from gold and diamonds. Therefore, he recognized the price of the necklace that reached the number of hundreds of millions in one look. It became the only accessory as well as the most expensive item used by the girl. It was from a collection that was produced a few years ago.
Summarizing everything in one sentence, Verdita judged that Tian was quite a conservative figure. A relaxed type of woman who lives by the flow and will not force herself to keep up with the times. Verdita doesn't see that as a bad thing. He argues instead that such qualities can compensate for Meda.
Meda himself is a very purposeful and systematic person. There is almost nothing he would do without a plan. His interest in Tian was the only thing that Meda admitted was beyond his plans. That's because Meda had never felt the experience before. True, he was indeed observational enough to analyze that no falling in love could be planned. However, Meda always believed that if she fell in love, she would fall in love with someone she knew very well. The logic can only reason that interest will arise along with the discovery of compatibility with each other. And according to him, the process will not take a moment. Therefore, he underestimated the term falling in love at first sight assuming that it was all just ***** a moment that was mistaken for love.
The feelings he had for Tian were originally only considered as encouragement **** just for a moment, so Meda repeatedly denied her feelings and unknowingly held a tug-of-war against the girl. It was the quarrel on Varadero beach that finally made Meda reflect back on her feelings for Tian. He tried to get rid of the right and wrong logic mentioned by Tian before examining the contents of his innermost heart. When the girl's name repeatedly appears as the embodiment of her deepest desires, Meda finally decides to stop her stubbornness and be honest with Tian about her feelings.
Luckily, his feelings were reciprocated even though Tian was still reluctant to give a definite mention for his relationship. Meda understood Tian's reason. If he was in the position of the girl, he would not easily entrust his heart to a man like Meda who many times made him confused by the change in attitude. Seeing the girl gives him the opportunity to prove his seriousness alone has made Meda very grateful.
"Med! Son! I finished washing the dishes." Verdita called out to her son while pulling out a whole melon from the refrigerator.
"You're talking to Meda at the back balcony. Later if Aunt has finished peeling the fruit, Auntie call you," Verdita told Tian.
Meda rushed over to the two after hearing her mother's cry, but Tian, on the other hand, instead gave a faint smile before grabbing the knife in Verdita's hand.
"I want to help aunty, please" Tian said softly.
"Can you cut fruit?" Meda frowned anxiously, voicing a question that also flashed across Verdita's brain. "I'm the one who cutongin' here."
This time, Verdita threw a puzzled look at her son who seemed to be transformed into a foreign figure before Tian. It's not like Meda never wanted to help him this whole time. It was just that the young man would usually never be the one initiating an aid without being asked.
"This is a fruit cut with a knife, not a wood cut with an ax. I can too," Tian replied ketus because he did not want Verdita to judge him with a spoiled label for hearing the words of Meda.
On the other hand, Verdita laughed with satisfaction at seeing that her son could not reply to Tian's words and was only able to watch with worry. Verdita followed the girl's horn while accompanying her in the kitchen. Earlier, he asked about Tian's cooking ability and the girl replied that since her hand was able to help her mother slice the onions unharmed, she had already learned how to cook.
Initially, Verdita thought that the girl only knew one or two kinds of cooking as the "minimal requirement" she had to master to look good in the eyes of the old man she liked. However, seeing the agility of the girl's hand while working in the kitchen and her way of doing things without being told to show that she indeed mastered the battlefield on that one. Within 10 minutes, he had completed the task of peeling as well as cutting the melon.
While throwing a triumphant smile towards Meda, the girl followed Verdita into the living room. There, Ruslan was sitting while watching television. Verdita took her place by her husband's side while offering him a piece of melon she had pierced with a small fork. Ruslan frowned as he observed the piece of fruit in his hand. In just one look, he learned that the small pieces on the plate in front of him were different from those usually served by his wife. Verdita who understood Ruslan's mind immediately explained.
"This is what cut Tian, Dad. She looks like she's a lot better at cooking than Mom," Verdita said, winking one eye at Tian.
Tian almost refuted Verdita's words by saying that he did nothing more than cut the fruit, so it was nothing compared to Verdita's cooking ability. However, Meda first voiced and seemed to support her mother's opinion by telling the moment when Tian made a tuna pempek for her.
Verdita's eyes widened. "Here's the same recipe as Auntie."
Verdita put her hand on Tian to bring the girl to follow him. Both disappeared behind the study. Meda looked at the door of the study room as if afraid that if she looked away for a moment, then the room would disappear from her view.
"Beautiful, Med?" Ruslan suddenly opened his voice when he saw his son's behavior.
In contrast to the usual response she showed to others, including her mother, Meda answered her father's question with an honest nod. Having a trait that is both not much to say makes both of them emotionally close. Only to his father, Meda recounted his deepest anxieties and hearts. Instead in front of Meda, Ruslan transformed into a parent figure in general who has a lot of advice and knowledge of life to be passed on to his son.
Ruslan shook his head. A smile spread on his lips.
"Your mother used to be like Tian. Calm. Not as chatty as this. However, try to imagine what would happen if this house is inhabited by people who talk little just because they are comfortable with silence? The word limitation imprisons many flavors, Med. I wouldn't know how to change your diaper if your mom hadn't crammed Dad's brain with those manuals every day. You also will not hear stories about your behavior and new things that you learn while you are outside the house if your mother is not a person who likes to tell stories. You wouldn't be able to speak this well if you hadn't prepared your ears and tongue to learn so many words." Ruslan shrank the volume of the television.
"Your mom's actually not used to talking much either. However, he encouraged himself to change in order to bring warmth to this house. And never expect your mother to return to her former self-image. Your mother has been getting used to her new character for years. Even later, when you have a family, there will be another woman who will add to the crowd in your life. Watch it yourself." Ruslan chuckled shutting down his explanation.
Meda smiled at another suggestion from her father. He did not feel at all patronized when he explored the meaning behind the story. Instead, he was grateful for having this deep topic with his father. The thing he indirectly attributed to Tian's existence in his home.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Verdita was caught listening to the conversation between her husband and son. His heart dissolved in a day and gratitude as the existence and hard work he did for his family was appreciated as such. If there was no Tian by his side, the woman would probably cry happily. Funnily enough, when he looked at the figure by his side, he saw Tian's face that was flooded with tears. The girl's face looked red and her eyes were slightly swollen. I don't know when the girl started crying without a sound.
The novelty that Verdita felt seemed to just disappear and be replaced with an amused feeling when she saw Tian's sad face that was apparently no less adorable with her normal expression. Verdita pulled the girl towards the sofa that was in the study room and asked her to sit down while she picked up some ice blocks from inside the small refrigerator located at the end of the room.
While putting a few pieces of ice into a packet of clean compress cloth, Verdita poured a glass of water directly spent by Tian in one gulp. Tian grabbed the ice pack Verdita handed him and started compressing her swollen eyes. Verdita patted Tian's back which was still as he pleased. Occasionally he let out a stifled laugh seeing Tian weeping over the conversation instead of himself.
The sound of the door being knocked from outside broke the silence between the two.
"Mom? Are you done not talking yet? It's late, I want to drive Tian home." Meda's voice rang out from behind the door.
"A little while." Tian and Verdita answered with almost the same timing.
"Tante, how's my face?" Tian asked sheepishly at Verdita who immediately laughed out loud.
"If the point of your question is whether you seem to be crying out, the answer is no."
Verdita almost added that Tian even looked beautiful even though her makeup was erased by tears and revealed her natural ayu face. However, the sound of an impatient knock on the door of the room reminded him to rush to let the girl go home.
"Bring this up." Verdita put down a thick journal—that she had been looking for from her desk drawer—in Tian's hand.
"This is what Auntie?" tanya Tian was confused.
"Aunty's recipe book. Because Auntie does not have a daughter, so Aunt intends to give this to his future wife Meda."
Tian's face turned red again hearing Verdita's words. Stammered, he tried to say something, but Verdita cut his efforts.
"Tante knows this might seem rushed, but Auntie wants you to be able to think of this as a little gift from Auntie, huh?" Verdita clasped Tian's hand. "So, you don't have to feel overwhelmed by all this. Aunty was happy enough to meet the first woman that Meda brought home."
Tian planned to confirm Verdita's remarks on the topic of the "first woman. However, when the door of the study room behind him opened wide, Tian knew that the mystery would not be solved tonight.
Meda drove Tian home to her doorstep, so she could apologize directly to Tian's parents for the delay.
Adler, who had been careless for the last 15 minutes, in the end did not until the heart scolded the young man who said an apology many times as if what he did was a very fatal mistake. Well, a while ago, Adler did have time to categorize the violations committed by Meda as very crucial. However, when he saw the young man's sincerity, he finally admitted that it was too much if he continued to look for faults.
Meda had just returned home after Adler threw an understanding smile while assuring the young man that he would not dispute the incident. After Meda leaves, Adler plans to interrogate her daughter instead. However, the girl slid quickly towards Adler's room and slid into Bella's arms. In tears, he recounted the pieces of conversation between Ruslan and Meda that he had accidentally heard from the study.
Adler, who had panicked to see his daughter crying, was finally only able to exchange meaningful views with his wife. Once again, he was forced to admit that letting Meda get close to their eldest daughter was really not a wrong decision.
