Linger

The Amaris Cafe

Know what hurts more than knowing someone we believe is hiding a lie? That is when we know the truth from someone else, not directly from him.

For the first time in a long time, Kalea again felt a sensation where her head felt heavy and her chest gradually tightened even though the oxygen around her was clearly still available in abundance and she could breathe it for free.

After spending nearly fifteen minutes just to decide whether she should open the brown envelope given to him or not, Kalea was finally made to regret the decision she had made.

Supposedly, he immediately threw the envelope into the trash and assumed it never existed.

Because now, when all the contents in the envelope were successfully removed, Kalea felt like her body was being hit with a giant sledgehammer. Dizziness, nausea and tightness become one, making him not know which one to take care of.

On the table, there were several photos that showed Gavin being with a woman, whom Kalea knew.

If they are both caught on camera being alone in public places such as Papa's office or Papa Jonathan's office, either, Kalea might think that the sender of this document is just a prankster who is trying to disrupt his household life with Gavin.

But because Gavin and Irina were caught on camera in the same car and were seen chatting seriously, Kalea could not think that there was never anything between the two.

In addition to the photos in the car, there are also two photos that still show Gavin and Irina just came out of an apartment unit, respectively, which when he looks well turns out to be the same apartment unit.

Kalea's feelings are mixed now. He did not know how to react to the photos that were plastered for real in front of his eyes. The existence of sticky notes attached to one of the photos that contains a note reads: 'Amaris Cafe, at 4 pm the last table near the glass window, at the end of the table, if you want to know more about Gavin and his secret' it also further aggravates the condition of his heart.

Kalea wanted to know what was really going on between Gavin and Irina, as well as the reason why Gavin insisted that the two of them didn't know each other at the beginning of their meeting at the hands of the busy wedding.

But Kalea was afraid. What if the information he would receive later was something bad and could hurt his heart?

More than that, Kalea hopes to hear any explanation directly from Gavin's lips, not from someone else's.

But ... Ah, Kalea is really feeling confused right now.

Should he come? Or didn't?

...****************...

The sun was still shining quite brightly overhead when Kalea set her foot in front of a cafe that looked quite crowded. After arguing with herself, Kalea finally decided to come, with a plan well laid out in her head.

He would just listen to whatever the sender of the document was trying to convey, and then he asked Gavin directly so that he knew what was right. Because, he was already determined to give Gavin a chance to explain later, for then he considered whose remarks he could trust more.

After inhaling and exhaling a few times, Kalea finally swung a step into the cafe. The glass door was pushed slowly and he immediately floated a glance at the very end table near the glass window, as instructed in the notes he received.

There was a woman sitting on her back. The woman threw a look out the window.

Doubt returned to Kalea along with her steps swayed timidly towards the woman. Because, from his posture alone, Kalea already recognized who the woman was. And, the woman did not fit into the category of someone who was just a fad as she had previously thought.

Kalea's fear grew - so when she stopped her steps right next to the table, where the woman noticed her presence sooner even before she had time to say hello. The woman, Claretta, turned to her and revealed a big smile that felt scary to Kalea.

"Welcome, Kalea." Say hello to Claretta while upholding her back which was originally leaning on the chair. Her legs were crossed and she moved slowly from the chair, only to show the gesture allowing Kalea to sit on the other side.

"Please sit down" said Claretta as Kalea did not move her body.

Kalea needed more time just to drag her legs towards the chair that Claretta pointed to then sit on it. Her feelings grew less and less and more uneasy as her eyes discovered that another brown envelope had been stored in the chair next to Claretta's. His hunch was that the contents inside the envelope might have been more terrifying than the one sent to him earlier.

"What do you want to drink?" bargain Claretta while waving a tap to a waiter to ask to bring a menu book.

"No, I'm just here to hear what you want to tell me." Kalea.

Claretta simply responded to the rejection with a smile, because the waiter she called had already stood by their desk and thrust out the menu book she had requested. At this moment, he is the control. So, she could make Kalea sit longer, as long as she wanted.

"Please give us the most recommended menu here." Claretta said as she pushed back the menu book that she had not read at all.

The male servant nodded and immediately passed to prepare what Claretta had asked for.

Meanwhile, Kalea was still busy calming down her crazed heartbeat. Squeezing both hands that are above the lap in an attempt to relieve anxiety.

"What do you want to tell me?" her demands were just as Claretta looked back at her.

Claretta chuckled instead, making Kalea wonder, what's so funny? Then, the woman grabbed the brown envelope beside her, carried it to the table and then placed it in front of Kalea.

"Same as you received this afternoon. Just a little wilder, I guess." Again Claretta ended her speech with a very disturbing oddity.

"Ah, there is another one" said Claretta suddenly and immediately reached into the small bag beside her. From inside there, he took out a small object the size of a thumb and directly placed it on top of the brown envelope before. "Bonus," he said with a grin.

"I don't need these things" Kalea said. He thrust back the envelope and the small object (which Kalea knew was a flash) in front of Claretta.

"Just tell me, why did you send those pictures to me earlier?"

All of a sudden, Claretta broke down. His back slammed hard into the chair and the woman began clapping.

Kalea looked at him confused and once again asked what was funny until the woman could laugh out loud and did not care at all that they were currently the center of attention of the other cafe visitors.

"Are you plain or stupid, Kal?" claretta asked after her laughter subsided. His back was re-enforced, and he moved leaning his body closer towards Kalea. His two hands were intertwined and placed on the table, his eyes looking at Kalea seriously.

"Even after you see the photos I sent you earlier, you can still ask why I sent them all to you? Seriously?" claretta's gaze began to turn slightly mocking.

Kalea did not answer. He just kept staring at Claretta who was still grinning at him until finally the woman was caught off guard and immediately changed her facial expression to flat.

"Your reaction is not cool" said Claretta, returning to her original sitting position.

"You're his cousin, Gavin." Kalea said suddenly, making Claretta who was originally cool to play nail art immediately raised her face and looked at Kalea not like it.

"Why are you trying to ruin your own cousin's household? Because money? The department? Or-"

"He's not my cousin." Sela Claretta before Kalea gets to the end of her sentence.

Hearing that, Kalea was certainly confused. She clearly knows that Claretta is the son of Om Arya, who is Mother's older sister. Then why did Claretta confess that she wasn't Gavin's cousin? Kalea knows Claretta and Gavin aren't too close. But that doesn't mean Claretta should be denial about the status of the two of them, right? What's actually going on?

"The man you married is not my cousin, Kal. He's not even part of the Cakraditya family."

Kalea was getting confused. The amount of vocabulary in her head that she was ready to throw out suddenly disappeared, and she could only be silent waiting until Claretta continued her speech.

"Ara never gave birth to Gavin. He's just an illegitimate son of Jonathan's barbarians with a cheap woman he met somewhere."

Gavin's not your mother's son? Inner Kalea.

"What do you think he married you for? Yes, so that he can remain recognized as a member of the Cakraditya family. Because he knew, no one would dare to harass him as long as he was the daughter-in-law of the Pradipta family. He's just benefiting you, Kal."

But, Kalea was sure her feelings were not wrong. In the past, they may have married because they were betrothed. But lately, Kalea believes that they have fallen in love with each other. Or ... was he wrong? Has she been in love all this time?

"The woman in the photo with Gavin is his girlfriend."

Kalea looked back at Claretta, with her lips still tightly clenched and her heart pounding.

"He married you when he had a girlfriend, just to keep his place in the family. Don't you think how fcking bastard he is?"

Claretta paused when the waiter came with a tray of two drinks and asked for permission to put them on the table. It was only after the servant left that Claretta continued her chatter.

"He can leave the woman he loves for power, don't you think he can do the same to you, who from the beginning was just a stranger to him?" Claretta smiled mockingly.

The golden in Kalea's hand grew stronger as her head grew heavier. In the midst of increasingly disoriented feelings, he hoped that what he heard from Claretta's lips was just a joke. Kalea wants to assume that Claretta is just that against Gavin and wants to destroy the man because of a problem she doesn't know about.

However, as Claretta got up from her seat, rested her arms on the table and leaned back toward her, Kalea seemed to no longer know how to breathe.

"I just want to tell you the truth, as a form of caring for fellow women. Your marriage is still a corn and there's not much Gavin has gotten from your family."

After saying that, Claretta straightened her back, grabbed the bag from the chair and was about to rush away. But before that, he put a soft pat on Kalea's shoulder as if he really cared about her situation.

"Order whatever you want after this, I'll pay." Then he passed from there, leaving Kalea alone with a devastated feeling that was too difficult to explain.

Seriate