Linger

Wijaya Taruna

"Sierra!"

"California!"

The two turned their heads when two voices from different people echoed at the same time. Kalea saw Gavin walking briskly towards her from the shelf hall where the kitchen spices were on display, while from the hallway next to her, a man who might be the same age as Gavin was also walking towards him with a panicked look instead of playing. Kalea was confused when the two people arrived before her at the same time and instead looked at each other for quite a long time.

"Gavin?" call Kalea slowly when Gavin never draws his eyes from the foreign man.

Gavin turned his head, then the man immediately nagged him right when their gazes met. "Where are you from? I'll take you to muters around the supermarket." 

"So I'm gonna go get some ice cream, keep going"

"Sierra, where are you from? I've been watching you since." Kalea's speech was cut off by a foreign man who was now crouching in front of her, holding the shoulder of the girl who was still in her arms.

"Sierra's looking for me, but I don't know where I'm going." Kalea was shocked when the girl suddenly cried. Their grasp was released as the boy immediately burst into the arms of the foreign man before them.

"Dad told Sierra to wait a minute. Why did Sierra leave and make Dad confused?" although his lips nagged, but Kalea could see how relieved the man was because he could finally find his daughter in a safe state. The man hugged his daughter tightly and Kalea could only silently watch the incident in front of his eyes.

Gavin began to stand unsettled in his place as his gaze with the man met. There was so much worry on his face when the man did not draw his eyes, that it frightened him in case Kalea would notice something was wrong between them.

A few minutes feels like years to Gavin. Too many random thoughts in his head that make him dizzy instead of playing. There are a lot of bad scenarios, and Gavin is too scared that one of them will come true. So when he had the chance, Gavin immediately moved closer to Kalea.

"Let's go home." Bring along. He had already pulled Kalea's arm closer to his side, but his intention to leave was to leave as the foreign man suddenly stood up and began to speak.

"Thank you for helping to take care of my son." The foreign man said, clearly addressed to Kalea.

Gavin gasped as Kalea moved slowly to release her hand, then the woman walked closer to the foreign man who was now carrying the girl named Sierra in a sling.

"No prob, but next time please don't let your guard down, pity Sierra was crying in fear." Kalea said while staring at the Sierra. The boy seemed to be puffing his arms around his father's neck, as if afraid that they would come back apart if he let go of his arms for a while.

The man just nodded. Then, before Kalea returned to walk towards Gavin, the man again made a sound.

"If you're not in a hurry, can I buy you coffee? As a thank you." 

Kalea seemed to think for a moment. He does not need such thanks at all because for him to help others when he is able is a must. But as her eyes were rubbed with Sierra's brownish bead, Kalea was powerless to resist the invitation. 

Before nodding her head, Kalea turned to Gavin for the man's approval. But until a dozen seconds passed, Gavin did not give an answer at all. He did not nod, nor shook his head so Kalea finally decided to take matters into her own hands.

"Okay, let's go to the coffee shop across the street. I'd like to treat Sierra strawberry cake as a greeting." Kalea smiled faintly at Sierra, who was then responded by the little girl with a nod of her head.

After that, Kalea walked first, followed by foreign men and Sierra. While Gavin was still silent in his place, looking at Kalea's back that was getting away and swallowing hard-earned when the foreign men who were with Kalea turned their heads for a while and their gazes met.

Outside the coffee shop, Gavin sat in one of the chairs. His gaze was thrown away towards the street in front of which still seemed quiet even though the sun had risen and the heat was so dazzling. Then, after exhaling softly, Gavin turned to the man next to him who seemed to be enjoying a cigarette clamped between his long fingers solemnly. The man's gaze was thrown away into the street, but Gavin knew from then on that man kept watching his movements.

"Gue didn't know you had kids." Gavin said, making the man next to him turn his head and then smile thinly after exhaling cigarette smoke through the red side of his lips.

"Gue adopted her six months ago." The man said as he turned off his cigarette, throwing the butts into the ashtrays available on the table in front of them. "His parents are still my relatives, died of an accident and the only family willing to take responsibility for Sierra is just me and nyokap me." Continue that man.

Gavin nodded his head in response. Then it was quiet for quite a while because Gavin did not know what to talk about with this man anymore when they met in an unexpected situation like now.

This man was named Taruna Wijaya. They have been friends since college and for the past three years, Taruna has been working as a manager for Irina. It was to the Taruna that Gavin entrusted Irina. He often asks Taruna to take care of Irina when she is busy with her work and does not have time to accompany her lover. Gavin believes in Taruna because before he and Irina dated, the three of them were already friends.

The problem now is, Gavin has to keep Taruna away from Kalea. Because Taruna is related to Irina, and anything related to that woman should not be in contact with Kalea at all. Gavin must keep the two of them within safe limits, in order to avoid unwanted things.

Amidst the silence, Gavin again glanced at the Taruna who now turned their eyes into a glass-dominated coffee shop. Then he followed the direction of the man until he could see clearly how Kalea and Sierra were so cool to enjoy strawberry cake while throwing jokes at each other.

"The same woman you were..." The cadets turned their heads, only to find Gavin staring at him with a gaze that was too difficult to translate.

"Yes." Yeah." Gavin answered quickly. He did not even have to wait until Taruna finished her question.

"Ah...See i. Pantesan lo seems very restless when I meet me." Taruna chuckles. The intention was only to melt the atmosphere and so Gavin stopped worrying, but the oddity turned out to make Gavin feel more anxious, it was evident from the reaction of his body that repeatedly stole a glance towards Kalea and Sierra.

"Pretty."

Gavin turned his head when Taruna again opened her voice. His eyebrows are linked when he finds a thin smile on the lips of Taruna. In fact, he did not feel that there was anything worth giving a smile in the situation he was in.

"How's irina?" gavin asked, trying to divert the conversation. Honestly, he did not want the Midshipmen to know more about Kalea.

Taruna again chuckled at the attitude of Gavin who seemed to want to build a barrier so that he did not touch the woman named Kalea. "She's good." He said, accompanied by a knotty smile as Irina's name buzzed in his ears.

"Although the rumors of his date with Gabriel Permana are still a conversation everywhere and sometimes make his mood so disheveled, but so far he can still pass everything." Unmistakably. It was obvious that Gavin wanted a detailed account of his lover's current condition.

"Thanks." -." Gavin. "Thank you for always being there and taking care of Irina."

"No need to say thank you, it's my job because I get paid for it." Said Taruna while removing another cigarette and immediately lit it. "But you better raise my salary anyway, because now I have a child to buy milk." Candanya after sipping a cigarette and exhaling smoke into the air.

"Sure. My salary tripled starting next month." Gavin said lightly, making Taruna chuckle because actually the answer he had predicted before. Because what he's talking to right now is Mahesa Gavin Cakraditya, the son of a wealthy businessman who sources his money everywhere, let alone raise his salary, if Taruna asks Gavin to give him a stake in the company, this guy would agree to it immediately.

But the Midshipman doesn't want money. He doesn't need a raise. Because now, he has other goals that must be achieved immediately. So that if his lifespan was not long, he could die quietly. So that when Sierra grows up, he will feel relieved because people who have done evil to him receive a proper reply. So that a long-dead person could sleep peacefully under the heaps of land after years of being left in a long loneliness. So that the Midshipman would not feel any deeper regret than when he put the person's chest into the ground.

Seriate