Les Laches

55.

“I don't know how else to show my gratitude to you, Gar.” Tian looked at the young man who was also looking back at him with a big smile. “When you should live well in Surabaya, you should instead help me solve my own family problems here.”

Tian tightened his hand on a map of mica containing important documents stating that he had been officially accepted as a student at his new campus. He went through all the transfer process smoothly thanks to the presence of Afgar who always faithfully accompanied him and helped him do everything, ranging from taking care of the files, and the, asking a lot about the lecture materials received by other students in the previous semester, campus facilities and organizations, even the payment of lectures for the next semester was borne by the young man. In short, the young man not only provided mental support for himself, but also material support.

Even so, Tian intends to return the money that Afgar issued for him. Tian knew that Afgar would have strongly rejected his intentions if the young man had known the contents of his head. Therefore, Tian planned to secretly raise money to redeem the debt from part-time work that he managed to get just a week after his arrival in the mother's hometown. 

The cafe where he was accepted to work part-time did not offer a large fee, but the cafe owner gave working hours in accordance with Tian's status as a student, that is around 13:00 until 19:00.

The fate of Bella, Tian's mother, was not much different either. The woman herself was forced to do any work that began above 15:00, having to wait for the return of Lydia whom she trusted to keep Joan and Marcela while she worked. Of course, only odd jobs rely on energy instead of thoughts that begin in those hours. Bella works as a cleaning service on certain days or a 24-hour minimarket guard on night shifts on other days. Just like Tian, his work related to the field of services and services is also not familiar with holidays.

Bella did not try to think about how tired she would be to do such a job. The fact that he was never placed in a situation that required him to work that hard did not make him tremble. All he was worried about was the reaction of his four daughters who felt they were still not old enough to have difficulties living like this, especially Tian, his eldest daughter, who insisted on working to help their family's financial income. Bella is worried that the girl's education will be disrupted because of the burden of work and family problems they are experiencing. Bella conveyed her heart to Tian after she gave the news to her mother that she obtained a freelance job. That night, Tian was only able to calm his mother down with the promise that he would not give up his studies and ideals of being a curator, no matter how hard the hardships were. Because Tian felt that the dream was not only his, but belonged to everyone who supported him along the way to that point.

“Eat first, yuk!” afgar's exclamation drew Tian from the concussion of his head. “There is still one more hour before your work shift starts, right?”

Afgar gave Tian a threatening look that he would not let the girl go easily before he complied. Tian sighed before staring at his phone screen, confirming the truth of Afgar's remarks about the rest of the time he had to arrive at his workplace.

After Tian gave a brief nod to Afgar in response to his request, the young man took Tian by the hand and guided him into a restaurant he had glimpsed since the beginning of the street. The restaurant that sells seafood processed foods is quite crowded with visitors. The two almost went out because they could not find a seat, when a servant approached them in a hurry.

“Sorry, Mom, Ma'am. The place in front of full. But behind there are several tables that can be occupied. Just yes it is, still a bit messy because it just finished expanding, just finished,” said the woman who was about in her 40s while observing the expressions of her two guests whose appearance was quite interesting and made several pairs of eyes of other visitors had stolen the view.

Afgar threw a glance towards Tian as if he was the one who wanted to enter the place from the start. Tian nodded his head quickly without any intention of arguing. The sooner they ate something, the sooner Tian could arrive at his workplace. However, he wanted to show a good impression from the beginning to the cafe owner as well as his colleagues.

“Our approval is the same,” Tian whispered quickly to Afgar as the two walked around following the woman who welcomed their arrival.

The woman was a little exaggerated when she said that the back of the restaurant they were heading to was “ kind of messy”. Because according to Tian's view, the place was much better than his expectations when imagining how the condition of a place should be called “agak mess”. In fact, the place they were headed to did not look messy at all, only empty. Tian guessed because the size of the dining room was too wide if it was only filled with two responsibility-sized tables, each equipped with four wooden chairs.

“What problems do you worry about? Then you want to help solve my problem in what way if you know?” challenge Tian while chuckling.

“Well, any problem. Anyway if there is something that makes you not feel at home working there, you say I. I'll help you find a better job than this,” Afgar replied with determination.

“Gar, you don't think I can't do anything without your help, do you?” tanya Tian was full of probes.

“Hah? Lah ngak. I mean, you should know your own limits and not forget that there is still me you can make a place to depend on,” explained Afgar clarifying Tian's suspicions. He knew how high his self-esteem was. Asking for help was not something that would be easily done by him.

"That's what I'm afraid of, Gar, depending on each other," Tian said with an uneasy feeling. "I'm afraid that one day you're not in my arms anymore, then I can't do anything alone."

"Why do I feel like you're talking not based on theory, but experience?" ask Afgar while grinning. The real intent was to tease Tian. However, to see the look of the girl's sad face, Afgar again put on a serious look.

"You still think Meda, huh?" ask Afgar again.

"Little bit. I didn't go through much of the same thing with him, but strangely I couldn't easily forget him. As if without him, I'm empty. I'm a real fool, aren't I? It's a time, huh, whose name is bucin?"

Tian asked more to himself, but Afgar decided that the girl should also hear the opinion from his point of view.

"It is not easy to forget the person who once filled our hearts with special feelings, Ti. It is an indication that our hearts are not ready to say goodbye. But, you have to realize that there are two types of people who will make us feel that feeling. People who never give up on trying to make us feel special or people who once made us feel special, but slowly change and make all those special feelings just stay memories. For this last type, you must learn to let go. Because, you will continue to suffer if you think the remnants of sweet memories can make you happy," said Afgar at length.

Tian bowed deeply, his tears welling up again as he checked his memory of Meda back. Based on everything he went through before his separation from Meda, he was convinced that the young man was clearly no longer fighting for himself, that all that remained between the two was just memories. However, his heart was still hard to give up, as if there was still room for him and Meda to get back together.

Only, Tian could not express the anxiety of his heart to Afgar. In his eyes, Afgar had just dug up his painful memories of Sapphira while giving Tian that sage advice. Hence, he had no intention of making the young man's feelings burdened any further.