Les Laches

Cuba

Terminal-3 at Jose Marti airport shows no signs of stopping even if the time has shown at 2 am. Tian walked towards the baggage claim while stretching his slightly stiff neck and hips. Pdahal he has tried to adjust his seat with a slope that best suits his sleeping position. Afgar massaged the nape of his friend for a moment before walking ahead of Tian with the other hand tightly linked to Sapphira's hand.

"Almost eat first, before going to the hotel. I'm a really good laper." The next Hera spelled out Tian's steps clenching her arm and half pulling her to hurry.

"Yes, we'll have the chauffeur stop by at Jama first." Alvin relaxes.

"In Jama there's a rice?"

The question made Tian throw a glance at the source of the voice. His eyes rubbed with Meda. The young man threw a faint smile that was only replied with a brief nod by Tian. Not that he was reluctant to forget the incident in the plane cabin earlier. Tian only anticipated not to be too disappointed as the "peace" between the two of them could end as quickly as it started.

"Asian cuisine specialist, right, Ti?" Alvin threw the question at Tian.

"Yes." Yeah." Tian answered briefly.

In addition to research on tourist destinations that he wants to visit, Tian also looks for places to eat that match the tongue of Hera. His best friend could only eat Asian cuisine. Beyond that, Hera's body will carry out various violent protests. One of them, by removing the entire contents of his stomach some time after consuming the "foreign" food.

"Fried rice isn't there, is it?" Hera's mouth began to water when she imagined a large portion of her favorite food being served warmly in front of her.

"Far to Cuba eat fried rice." Afgar who heard their conversation could only shake in astonishment.

"Indeed, the human tongue is a chameleon that can change its taste just because of different beach spots?" Hera replied ketus. Not accepting his taste of being harassed.

"Inget the diet." Safira commented. "Vin, don't forget you ask where the gym is so until the hotel. Later wake up, your girlfriend is afraid if you do not see the treadmill."

"Diem!" Hera pinched Safira's hip plan.

The small quarrel only stopped when their luggage started to look.

***

Afgar frowned when he heard Tian mention his order.

"You okay? It was bread, now it's salad. Your diet?"

Meda who was also about to reprimand Tian for coincidentally sitting next to him, closed her lips again.

"No. My stomach's too bad aja heavy-weight." Tian reasoned.

"Where there is a males stomach. There's you who's lazy." Afgar started nagging.

The tip of her eyes glanced at Safira who immediately waved her hand back towards the servant who had just returned from the direction of the kitchen.

"Si, senorita?*" The slow-skinned waiter smiled politely as he approached their table.

"Puedo hacer pedidos adicionales?*"

Sapphira asked with a perfect Spanish accent. Anyone who heard it would not have expected that the girl was a tourist who even came from a different continent. Moreover, seeing the type of face that is flat.

"For supuesto, Mam!*" The waiter handed Safira a new menu book and started taking notes when Safira mentioned her order.

"Quieres and vaso de mojito? Esta en la casa?" The waiter said something after he finished taking notes.

Safira threw a glance towards the five others who were at the same table as him, waiting for an answer. Without realizing that almost everyone sitting at the table did not understand a single word that was spoken from the lips of Sapphira and the servant. Almost. Because in the next second, Meda cleared her throat and saved the four "language-blind" victims by repeating the question using their mother tongue.

"Nobody wants a mojito? Free."

Four heads shook rapidly in response.

The waiter who noticed the incident could only laugh inwardly before adjusting to the customers.

"Okay. Your order will come in about 15 minutes. Please, excuse me."

"Hurrah!" Tian exhaled a breath that he accidentally held.

"Wow!" Alvin is making a sound.

"Where did you learn Spanish?" Alvin leaned his body in front of Tian to punch Meda's chest softly.

"At home" answered Meda briefly.

"Private?" Safira was curious.

"Todidact."

The five people who heard the answer looked at each other. No one voiced his thoughts out loud, but they were sure that they agreed on a single word.

Genius.

What more appropriate word to refer to people who successfully learn a language without going through the process of transfer of knowledge between teachers and students? Maybe they wouldn't have reacted that way, if Meda only understood the language of writing. However, the young man proved that he understood a spoken language that normally could only be mastered when he actively practiced the use of that language in daily life. Take a private class with a teacher who is paid a lot, for example.

Afgar broke the silence when their order came.

"Dihabisin," he said, glancing at Tian who could only stare at the bowl of mushrooms and vegetables before him with a tummy.

"The severity of Hera's disease passed to me, Vin," whispered Tian, so that only he and Alvin could hear.

***

The time had already shown at 4am when the group arrived at their hotel room. Alvin booked two suite rooms with each room having two bedrooms. They will stay there for the next few days. Hera and Tian slept in a room that had a double bed because Hera was afraid of sleeping alone and only Tian was willing to share the room with others. On the other hand, Alvin sleeps in the master room in his suite, while Meda and Afgar are in the other rooms.

Tian felt he had slept for a few minutes when he heard the door of his room being knocked on. Tian wriggled softly before looking at Hera's already uninhabited bed. The girl groaned softly as she looked at the clock on the wall of the hotel room which still showed less at 9 am. He slept 1 hour less than Hera and Sapphira who happened to have no obligation to wait for dawn. Therefore, he hoped not to be bothered until at least a few tens of minutes away.

"Tian." The baritone voice accompanying the next beat kept Tian's eyes open wide.

His entire senses were perfectly awake when his brain recognized the owner of the voice. Tian hurriedly jumped down from his bed. However, due to his body not functioning optimally due to lack of sleep, his knees are not able to support his body weight. Tian fell in a sideways position, his left arm hit the edge of Hera's mattress. From Tian's lips slid a loud whistling sound without he could prevent it. He could have predicted that in a few hours, the part of his arm that hit would show a trace of bruising. Tian had already risen from the floor when the door of his room opened and Meda barged into the room.

"Why are you yelling?" Meda who stopped her steps near the foot of the bed Hera asked in panic.

The girl pretended to make up her bed while grabbing a pillow and holding it in front of her chest before looking back at Meda.

"Why are you here so early?"

Meda raised her eyebrows. "Are you sure it's still morning?"

"For a person who has just slept at 5 am .. sure, this is early." Tian defended himself.

"Breakfast until 10. If you don't come down now, we're gonna have to eat outside the hotel."

"We?" Tian frowned. "You're awake too?"

"Hell, no! Am I you?"

Tian clucked in annoyance. "Why haven't you had breakfast yet?"

"I'm waiting for a sleeping princess who doesn't seem to wake up unless she's kissed by her prince."

"Real for? You do realize your sarcasm is crisp, right?" Tian snorted cynically.

"Tians. I need breakfast immediately." Meda.

"So do I's. I also need something more filling than the babble of a person who if the lacer ferociously, if full of candy!"

Tian threw his pillow back at the mattress and walked towards the bathroom in his room. He closed his door with natural strength even though there was a strong urge within him to vent his frustration at an inanimate object that would not be able to reciprocate his arbitrary treatment.

***

"Come on."

Tian came out of his room in a black balloon dress patterned with flowers. This time Tian did not pigtail his hair because the ends of his hair were still wet.

Meda looked at the clothes the girl walking in front of her and compared them to the clothes she wore the first time they met. Meda, like men in general, hardly cares what form of clothing she dresses. However, for some reason, since he saw Tian's appearance when he woke up earlier, his brain could not stop raising the figure of the cute girl with three different clothes. When he finally realized what he was really looking for in his memory, his face flushed red without being able to prevent it.

"I walk first. I hope the buffet hasn't been flushed yet." Meda tried to precede Tian's step which turned out to be busy reading a small note in her hand.

Meda, who initially intended to move away to relieve strange thoughts in her head, stopped to see the writing that became the title of the small note.

"Escape plan?" Meda read the sentence out loud. "Seriously? What are you running away from, Ti?"

"So polite." Tian threw the note back into the backpack that Meda had just realized its existence.

"Where are we going to get a backpack, Ti?"

Tian stopped his steps, turning to look at Meda who came to a stop. "There's no 'us', Meda. Just me. You're out of the plan." Tian said firmly. He needs a vacation to relieve fatigue, not to add stress by continuing to clash with Meda.

"You can think of me as a surprise. Out of plan, right?"

Tian gawked in disbelief. "You're not a surprise, Med. You are disaster. You not only ruined my mood, but also ruined my plan to try to be nice to you. Seriously, really! I came to think I had a brother with a face that looked like me and he once sent you off just like you again alas!"

Meda could not help but laugh at the absurd chatter that slid from the little lips of the girl.

"Sinetron, really," he snorted in between laughter.

"yeah? You want to know what's more soap opera? You are hostile to the person you first met. Do you know why it's a soap opera? Because the possibility of occurrence should not be more than 10 percent. But, it turns out that this is happening between us thanks to you." Tian let out a long breath before continuing his words. "So, if you REALLY want your life story to continue with the plot like those soap operas, you are free to keep acting like that to me."

Tian turned his steps towards the hotel lobby and exited the magnificent building. His stomach that had been showing signs of rebellion had made him lose his appetite. He was ready to step back when Meda's hand restrained his arm.

"I'm coming with you." Meda said firmly.

"No!" reject Tian without hesitation.

"I'm coming with you." Meda repeats with emphasis on every word she speaks.

"No. We cannot be less than 100 meters away. You're poison to my mood." Tian did not hold back at all anymore to put out any harsh words. The young man before him seemed to have a magnet to drain all negative emotions out of him.

"Fines. I won't talk if I know it'll make you angry. So, let me come with you." Meda still did not release her grip from Tian's arm.

"On the plane you said you were going to stop judging me and give me a chance to be 'normal', but you started a fight before it was even an hour you said so. We haven't even gotten off the plane yet and we're not getting along anymore." Tian shook his head slowly. "I'm not usually the kind of person who gets into fights about right and wrong, but you make me look like a person who likes to find trouble in meetings this short. I can't break my identity any further because of you, Med."

Tian tried to forcefully pull his arm, but Meda flinched.

"I'm also not a person who likes to make a fuss before this, Ti." The young man rubbed his face. "OKAY. I'm sober. I started all these fights and I can't tell you why. It's also foreign to me, but that doesn't mean I hate your existence. I'm just ...."

Meda bit her lip. Tian's anger melted slightly seeing the regret that emanated on the young man's face. He no longer tried to shake off Meda's touch and listened patiently to what the young man wanted to say.

"I feel .. I repeatedly feel wrong giving the same assessment of you. All because, more or less like you said, you remind me of some people in my past who have hurt me."

Tian rolled his eyeballs.

"I know you're not them and you don't look like them at all, but you made me feel the same way I did back then. I know, equating you with them is unfair. I realize you're not that bad. Therefore, I am trying to correct my mistake in judging you by being around you and paying better attention to you" explained Meda.

"You do realize, doesn't this sound really weird? Do I have to be flattered that you want to 'note' and 'judge' me as if I'm an item that must pass the due diligence before being displayed in a display case?" Tian laughed sinisterly.

"Dian, Tian! I need your help to overcome this annoying trauma that made me carelessly pass judgment on to others." Meda tightened her grip unconsciously.

"Fine, Meda. Then you can start by judging my actions according to my point of view, not according to your standards. We begin by talking without sarcasm and mutual tendencies. Can you?"

Authors Notes

Si, senorita? = Yes, Miss?

The puedo hacer pedidos adicionales? = Can I order extra food?

By suduesto, senorita! = Of course, Miss!