Les Laches

Jealousy

The rain had just subsided when Tian and Meda arrived at a cafe that was their destination. Tian threw a careless glance towards the sky. The feeling is a little bad. Not because of the cloudiness that still hangs over his head, but because of the falling water point it is almost always a bad sign for his relationship with Meda.

Other than the memories of their time in the Vinales Valley, nothing good happened between them before, after, or when it rained. Call it while in Havana the day after they returned from Cienfuegos or while on the playground a few weeks ago. Tian felt he needed more than luck to make the conversation that was about to happen in both of them go in the right direction.

Tian moved towards the cashier's table to order two cups of hot milkshakes along with one spicy cheese pizza pan. After paying his order in advance, he went back ahead of Meda to find a seating location. Again without saying a word. Meda who usually becomes "the quiet" in the interaction between the two even tried to squeeze the brain to find something that could provoke the girl to make a sound. However, there was nothing he could think of to dilute the tension considering he was not a person who was used to opening a conversation.

Fortunately, Tian did not extend his silent action as the two were already sitting in the corner of the pizza restaurant that happened to be quiet.

"I used to come here if there were more assignments from campus. Here the atmosphere is always this calm and even if there are more customers, usually I can book a place on the back. It's a little pricey, anyway, but the scenario's worth the bills."

Tian opened the conversation with a long explanation, as if there had never been such a gripping residence between the two a few minutes before. For the first time since meeting Tian, Meda finally wondered how the brain mechanism of the girl worked, to the point that he could produce magic words that could melt the ice between them in such a split second.

"You go to this place a lot like Afgar?" Ironically, those were the only words that Meda was able to think in response to Tian's speech.

Tian smiled faintly. He did not immediately respond to Meda's question, but waited until the waiter carrying the drink finished putting two cups of white viscous liquid on their table. After he finished doing his job the waiter stepped back towards the kitchen.

"Just me. This is my own mouth," Tian said as he shook his head slowly. He was increasingly pessimistic about the direction of their conversation seeing how the young man refused to mince words and immediately threw the core topic to the surface.

"You haven't invited the man you've loved since childhood to this place and instead invited me, the man you haven't even known for more than three months? Sounds convincing enough for your own ears?"

Tian knew that the question that Meda threw was rhetorical, but he felt it necessary to explain his opinion. The girl took a deep breath while trying to put together her sentence well before blurting out the contents of her head.

"I'm not bringing you here to compare who among you or Afgar is more entitled to know the existence of this place. I'm bringing YOU here because you're the one I want to talk to. You're the one I hope doesn't misunderstand my feelings. You're the one who matters now, not Afgar."

"But we wouldn't be sitting here if it wasn't for that man." Meda leaned her body towards the table.

"Don't" Tian said quickly, "call Afgar as 'the man'."

"See?" Meda laughed cynically.

"Afgar is no longer in the position of the person I like in my heart, but there will be no one who can make me throw him out as my best friend." Tian stared at Meda sharply.

"Just friends? Sure?"

"Medic. Don't disappoint me by constantly attacking my friendship with Afgar." Tian warned as he held back his frustration that began to tear up.

Meda's heart paled slightly upon seeing Tian's expression, let alone upon hearing the word "disappointed" from the girl's lips. No matter how angry he is at the moment, he does not want to make the girl reciprocate his feelings with the same emotions. He was unwilling until Tian gave up on him because of his stubbornness.

"Then what should we talk about here without bringing up Afgar's name?" Despite deciding to give up, apparently Meda still could not release the name from the list of causes of the problem between herself and Tian.

"We'll talk about Afgar, but at the right time."

The girl stopped her words again. This time it was the turn of one pizza pan delivered to their table. Tian began to dismember it into pieces and placed the first slice on Meda's plate.

"All I want to ask is where have you been for the past few weeks? What is the meaning of your disappearance lately? Are you looking for a solution or is that your way of showing that our relationship cannot continue?" Tian closed his question with an expression like after imagining something sickening.

"Do we have a 'relationship', Ti?" Pushing back questions.

"Do you think not?"

"You tell me. Try to put yourself in my position. Someone refuses to formalize his romantic relationship the same way you do, arguing you still want to try to see your sincerity further. However, while you're desperately trying to pursue her confession, you hear that she and her best friend once liked each other." Meda brushed one side of her hair back. " If you were me, wouldn't you doubt a lot of things, like 'Did he really end his feelings in the past? Or is he just trying to use you to help himself forget about his best friend?'"

Tian frowned. "I didn't expect you to think like that. Sorry I made you feel that feeling. However, you must believe that I said everything honestly to you. My love for Afgar's feelings are past."

"Where do you know all that? On what basis did you say you were moving on?" Meda scouted Tian with another question.

"On the basis of the name I always call in my heart at least five times a day, on the basis of the chat history I read every time I miss the person who sent the message to me, also on the basis of the face of the man I remembered before I fell asleep. It has nothing to do with Afgar. Well, but seeing your usual character, of course this explanation from me will still make you hold the remaining keskeptisan." Tian shrugged his shoulders slowly. "When you sit in front of me to talk about this alone should have given a clear clue about who the person who does not want me to let continue to misunderstand my feelings."

"You haven't answered my conjecture about you who might be with or subconsciously trying to use me to forget about Afgar." Meda stared at the piece of pizza on her plate that was completely untouched.

"Look at my eyes and say that if you see me hope that this one sitting in front of me is not an Andromeda Harel. Tell me you saw insincerity there."

Tian was aware that the thing he said was too dramatic to hear in real life. However, with a part of his brain could not find any more convincing words than that; while others feel fairly confident that scientifically proven eye contact can make humans read each other's hearts, he blurted out his closing statement.

Meda complied with Tian's request to look into the girl's eyes. Unfortunately, Meda could not help but laugh as she looked at Tian's cheeks that were getting redder as the longer they spent staring at each other. Tian frowned in disappointment as the young man broke off the eye contact first. However, the annoyance did not last the same as when the young man's hand was raised on the table.

"OKAY. We're better" said Meda, throwing a sincere smile.

Tian hurriedly welcomed Meda's helping hand as if afraid that the young man would change his mind if Tian did not react immediately.

Tian threw an amused look towards Meda for the umpteenth time. The young man was seen still feeling the spicy effects of the pizza he had eaten, even though he had finished two bottles of mineral-sized water on his way home from the restaurant. Tian had already nearly opened his mouth to tease Meda back when a call came into his phone.

"Yes, Ra?" greeting Tian after reading Hera's name on her phone screen.

"Tian!" hera squealed across the phone, making Tian almost drop his phone in an attempt to keep it away from his eardrum. In fact, Meda who was sitting next to Tian could hear the volume of Hera's voice that was beyond the limits of that reasonableness.

"Why don't you tell me you fell down the stairs?! When I have to come to your house like this first to hear the latest news from you?!" hera complained still with a shrill voice.

"Yes, sorry! The plan is I want to call you later as soon as I get home."

Tian threw a glance towards Meda as the young man whistled softly upon hearing her last sentence. Meda would have guessed that the story of the conversation between herself and Tian would be the main topic discussed on the "phone.

"Well, by the way, what's up until you go home without chatting first? Not usually," continued Tian again.

"There's something I want to talk to you directly, Ti. Soon," Hera replied.

"About?" Forehead Tian wrinkled.

Meda who occasionally stole a glance at the girl's expression on the phone, followed by frowning involuntarily.

"LIVE." Hera answered with great emphasis.

Tian sighed before saying that he was on his way home and would arrive in a few minutes.

"Call me when you're done talking to Hera." Meda advised before leaving the front yard of Tian house.

However, the phone that the young man was waiting for did not come until almost midnight. And just after he decided to try contacting Tian first, which he had been thinking about for a few hours, his phone rang indicating a message coming in.

From Tian.

Meda hurriedly pressed the "see" button on the pop-up display on her phone screen that had not even been locked since hours ago, so often the young man checked his phone every few minutes.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make my appointment for your call today. I'm the same Hera and Alvin have to go to Denpasar tonight. I can't explain much to you right now. But, I promise, I owe you so much explanations when I get back home."

The message from the girl.

Meda knew that she had to refrain from forcing Tian to answer all her current curiosities. This includes the question of why the names of Afgar and Sapphira were not mentioned in the group. Meda shook her head slowly before putting her phone on the nightstand beside her bed and began to lay down herself to pick up sleepiness.

Meanwhile, Tian on the other hand, was sitting in the first class seat on the plane that was a few hours away from landing on the island. The girl was indeed seen resting her body, but actually her mind was wandering in all directions. His memory returned to the news that made Alvin and Hera rush to look for him to the house, this afternoon.

"Safira fled to Bali." As soon as Hera opened up a conversation between the three.

"How sows?" Tian's eyebrows almost intertwined to hear the words of his friend. At one time, Safira who came from Bali was often "home" there when he wanted to.

"He's been making a storm with Afgar."

Hearing the name again called for the umpteenth time all day that made Tian scowl involuntarily.

"Do you know?" This time it was Alvin's turn to ask, thinking that Tian had heard the news from Afgar who was very close to him.

"I just heard," Tian's correction.

Arriving in Denpasar, the three young men went to Safira's villa by taxi. At that place, Safira turned out to be holding a party. The massive-sized villa was packed with nearly a hundred invited guests who were engrossed in their own busyness. Safira himself, who was only discovered by Alvin after almost half an hour of searching, was on the roof of a villa that resembled a rooftop of tall buildings in the middle of the capital. The girl was busy sucking smoke from a cigarette in her hand while looking at the twinkling lights of the settlement residents who were to the west of the villa.

"Oh my gosh! Sapphira!" Hera immediately rushed over and hugged Sapphira as the girl turned her pale face towards the three guests.

"What are you doing here?" safira asked with an unusual voice that sounded so weak.

"We're worried about you, you idiot! You must have fought so hard with Afgar that you ran here and ruined yourself like this again." Hera threw a blaming gaze at the pile of cardboard cigarette packs that had almost all been smoked by Safira.

Alvin did not wait until Hera resumed her scolding as her wide hands threw all the remaining cigarettes towards the ground. Safira did not protest because her attention was now turned to Tian. After being silent for quite a while as if he was weighing what he wanted to say, the girl finally opened her voice.

"Tians. Did something happen when we went to the playground a few weeks ago?"

The question was in fact pure curiosity from Sapphira, but in Tian's ears that were indeed hiding something from Sapphira, it all sounded like a crushing accusation that dropped him in a guilty verdict.