Les Laches

46.

Tian bit his lower lip and began to exhale the breath he had been holding. He tried to refrain from questioning Afgar's intentions as if he was trying to dig further into the meaning of the young man's words. Yes, the longing between him and Afgar was never the thing that would cause this kind of awkwardness before. However, for some reason, this time the remark seemed to present a different atmosphere between the two. At least so for Tian.

Tian tried to shake that feeling out of his mind. He blamed Meda a little bit because his bad thoughts turned out to be enough to affect Tian's assessment of Afgar. Afgar's words, as well as all the actions he had taken on Tian certainly had no more tendency than he should have. Afgar only looked at Tian as a precious friend, and so did he.

“Means don't play far. Don't have a chat ‘kan there.” Tian decided to respond to Afgar's statement with a small joke. 

Afgar smiled faintly. Actually his heart was quite pounding after saying the spontaneous sentence that flashed in his head. He wanted his feelings to reach Tian immediately, but on the other hand he was also afraid of the consequences that would be caused if Tian too quickly realized his wishes.

To have Tian, Afgar must get rid of Meda. Therefore, before that is achieved, Afgar should try to continue to hold back his feelings that are increasingly stirring and undermining his logic.

"OKAY. I'll be back more than a little. Maybe the day after tomorrow" Afgar said with a light laugh.

***

Meda placed the last file she read to the pile of documents on the table before leaning her wide back against the seat cushion. His eyes looked at the ceiling, but what he saw was the shadow of his last quarrel with Tian that haunted his mind for the past few days.

He was still trying to interpret the threat Tian had uttered a while ago; trying to remember exactly how the tone of voice and facial expression the girl had shown before she left. However, thanks to the emotions that dulled his entire senses that night, there was not much he could find in those memories. The solemnity of Tian's speech was getting blurred to Meda.

Meda's logic had actually forced her to accept all of Tian's decisions if the girl really meant to end her relationship. However, he was unable to deny his deepest wish that Tian would come looking for him again and make up for him as he had done. The hope is getting dashed actually, along with the longer time that has passed since their quarrel and the fact that Tian has not contacted him.

As Meda grew increasingly unable to control her own thoughts, a knock at the door led her out of the crowd.

“Log in!” exclaim Meda while improving her sitting position.

A woman in her mid-thirties opened the door of Meda's room while carrying a pile of other documents that she had to examine. Meda refrained from sighing long, but her tired expression certainly did not escape the sharp vision of Rina, the assistant who accompanied her since she was appointed to the position of GM two years ago.

“Pak Meda should I make warm tea?” bargain the woman while taking the pile of documents that have been examined by Meda.

Meda shook her head small. He is not very fond of that drink.

“I just need a little extra day off,” joked Meda so that the woman is not too take heart for the rejection.

“Flights to Paris with first class service, I would personally consider it more than enough to compensate for less holidays.”

“You want to exchange positions with me?” meda Goda.

“I am the GM, Mr Meda the assistant?” The wide-eyed woman teased him.

Lina put up a serious face mimicry over her superior's offer. “Truly tempting, Mr. Meda. Unfortunately, the person seen as the most qualified by Mr. Feri in this subsidiary is Mr. Meda. If Mr. Meda can guarantee that Mr. Meda is ready to receive a tantrum from Mr. Feri because I am leaving for Paris, maybe I still dare to agree to this offer.”

“True too. Mr Ferries' rampage is scarier than a voided deal, isn't it?” Meda put on a hard thinking expression.

“Wah, indirectly Mr Meda said that the deal with Uranus will be void if I intervene?” Rina ruffled her waist, but ended her sentence with a wide laugh.

Meda cupped her hands together in front of her face in response to her assistant's question.

“Contact me if Mr. Meda does not have enough time to prepare the necessary files to go to Paris,” said Rina finally after seeing Meda was much better after talking to him.

Meda called for “thank you” for Rina's tendency to lighten the load, before the woman disappeared behind the door of her study that was closed. He was grateful to have a deft assistant and also fun to talk to like Rina. Not many people can match the sensitive and perfectionist character of Meda in her place of work. Even Feri, the chief director, admitted that Meda's troublesome nature made her much more feared by all employees working on the same floor as her, the report said, rather than Feri who incidentally the number one person in the multi-national company where he worked it.

Meda sighed before drowning herself again in the pile of documents she had to examine before she left for Paris. The burden of thought over his personal problems was indeed quite lightened thanks to a small conversation initiated by Rina, who was, but it turned out that the silence that again filled the room 3x5 square meters in its own place made the mood somber immediately make it crowded.

Finally, Meda decided to turn on the music from her computer. In fact, Meda likes to listen to music, but she doesn't have much choice of songs to listen to from her PC storage. He does tend to prefer to use streaming services to increase his knowledge of the development of music that is trending in the market. He did it because he did not really like being faced with many choices if he continued to accumulate songs he had heard in the storage room. Even if he keeps certain songs, it is usually because the song has a nostalgic meaning for him.

A song title that was accidentally caught by his vision while his fingers were busy sliding the scroll wheel on his mouse left Meda glued. Meda's lips clenched tightly and formed a long thin line. His left hand that was holding one of the papers from the sales report map of one of the divisions he led, involuntarily joined the meeting, making A4 paper that was initially flawless slippery is now turned tangled and even almost perforated.

Meda looked at the innocent thing she finally put back in the docket.

“Sial!” snarl. His voice was slow, but full of annoyance.

Meda closed her eyes, but the lyrics of the song that made her remember the figure that was trying to be removed from her head were even ringing in her ears. No need to play the song again to make Meda nostalgic. Every word in the song that he memorized out of his head brought him back to a small restaurant in the Vinales Valley.

I wish something had happened and wiped you out completely.

A dazzling light, or snow being shed from the sky.

I hope whatever it is will lead me into the arms of death.

So that I don't see you this much, so that I don't see you this often

Author's Note:

In case someone forgot, the last part of the lyrics came from the song Ojala which was first listened to by Meda and Tian while at a restaurant in the Vanales Valley, Cuba.