MARIED CAMUCHO

15. Learning to Open the Heart

"You why?" arturo asked when the two of them had just arrived at the airport, returning home from Hawaii.

Dayana stroked her stomach with a limp face. "I feel nauseous. Looks like last night had too much to drink."

"Come on. You need to get some rest right away," Arturo asked before walking first pulling the suitcase.

Dayana was silent looking at the back straight in front of her. Arturo doesn't usually talk that softly, without any elements of cynicism, syndication, or ridicule.

Arriving at the destination, Dayana had to pull back her own suitcase with an excited look when entering the apartment building. While Arturo says he has to go to his office, LUPSION, because there are problems that occur related to the game design they are working on.

"Wait!" dayana started to speed up because she did not want to wait for the elevator for long.

The elevator doors opened again. Dayana went inside, joined by a man in a gray shirt.

"Miss Harvey?" call the man who succeeded in making Dayana look.

"Mrs. Reeves!" Dayana. "Why are you.. Can you be here?"

"Then I moved here. You live here too?"

Dayana nodded. "I'm on the 12th floor. Where do you live?"

"On the 10th floor." Sebastian smile. "Wow. I didn't expect to see you here and now we live in one building."

"It's fate" Dayana joked. "Have you held a celebration for your move?"

Sebastian thought for a moment. "I don't usually do that. Did I have the celebration?"

Head Dayana nodded steadily. "I'll come and give you a gift if I get an invitation."

"alright. How about tonight?" Sebastian glanced at the suitcase that Dayana was carrying. "Where have you been?"

"I've had a vacation" he said.

"Oh. Shouldn't it be tonight? Maybe now you need a break after a long vacation."

Dayana waved casually. "No need to rest. I'm not tired, though. I'll come tonight."

Ting!

The elevator door was open. Sebastian prepares to get out, but his foot stops in the middle of the elevator.

"I was in room 1005" he said.

Dayana nodded her head in understanding and then waved her hand. "See you tonight."

Sebastian disappeared from view after the elevator doors closed. Inside, Dayana is so excited to find herself now going to meet Sebastian a lot.

Evening has arrived.

Arturo was quite surprised to see Dayana humming cheerfully while wearing earrings. Her body was wrapped in a pink knee-length dress.

"You want to party again?" arturo asked and sipped his coffee.

"You don't need to know" Dayana said.

"Your lover?" arturo asked as if to be sure. "You said you felt nauseous and wanted to rest."

Dayana sighed tiredly hearing that sentence. "I told you, you-no-need-to know. Just treat the bruise on your face."

Ding! Dong!

Bell rings. Dayana enthusiastically opened the door that made Arturo go to see who came.

"This is your package, Miss." It turned out that a courier handed over a brown-colored parcel that Dayana immediately embraced.

"Thank you" Dayana said before the courier left.

"I'm leaving!" pamit Dayana came out and closed the door.

Arturo was now standing with a surrounding silence enveloping.

Ding! Dong!

Hearing the sound of the bell ringing, Sebastian opened the door until Dayana's figure was now seen. The woman hugged a box while throwing a big smile until her teeth were seen.

"For you" said Dayana, who handed it to Sebastian.

"Pretty heavy. What did you give me?" Sebastian's kind of weighing the box.

"That's a nice, rare red wine from Australia."

"Thanks. Come inside!" take Sebastian.

Dayana entered with a feeling of impatience. He circulates the view observing Sebastian's apartment unit which looks still empty without any decorations, other than tables and chairs.

"You haven't moved things from your house before?" ask Dayana while following Sebastian.

"I don't have much stuff. Maybe it will be like this" he replied.

"I'm supposed to buy you decorations, not drinks. So you put it on display here."

"You don't have to bother buying me decorations, Miss Harvey. I'm so grateful for your gift" Sebastian said, then walked into the kitchen.

Dayana's step swallowed when she saw the back of a shoulder-haired woman who was busy cooking in the kitchen. The woman's face was visible as her body turned around.

"Hello, Dayana."

"Sit. Anabela cooked all this. It's gonna taste great" Sebastian said.

Dayana sat down with a bad feeling. He thinks there's only him and Sebastian for tonight, but there's Anabela too.

...----------------...

Dinner feels so awkward for Dayana right now. He feeds his mouth carefully, even occasionally glancing at Sebastian who is even seen continuing to stare at Anabela.

"I heard from Sebastian that you live here too." Anabela throws a warm smile at Dayana. "I'm glad to hear that. Can you look at Sebastian once in a while? Sometimes he forgets to eat."

"Ana" called Sebastian as if to signal him to stop.

"Not to worry. We will probably meet often from now on" Dayana said trying to relax.

"Good." Anabela breathed a sigh of relief. "How long have you been living here?"

"It's only been a few weeks" Dayana replied. "Where do you live, Ana?"

"I live in Brooklyn, but now I'm moving here because of my job. Then suddenly the boy moved to this town too" Anabela pointed to Sebastian.

Sebastian was willing to move far just because he wanted to be with Anabela. How impressive it was for Dayana, but she was also quite disappointed that there seemed to be something between them.

"I heard you were married. What happened to your husband?" ask Dayana curiously.

Anabela was frozen in an instant, as if something painful had been stirred in her mind until her eyebrows slightly clenched.

Dayana turned her net on Anabela's trembling hand, making the spoon she was holding fall onto the plate. Anabela's body woke up with a glazed look.

"You guys go ahead and have dinner. I'm gonna go to the toilet for a second" she said and left.

Dayana felt guilty seeing Anabela's expression earlier. There seems to be something painful about her husband and even Dayana just ungkit it.

Stupid dayana!

"I'm sorry, Mr. Reeves. I didn't mean-"

"It's okay, Miss Harvey. Anabela just took a while to calm her feelings now. I'll talk to him later."

Dinner continued. Anabela had returned with her eyes full of tears.

When dinner is over, Sebastian goes to his room first to pick up a call from someone. Meanwhile, Anabela starts cleaning the dirty dishes aided by Dayana.

"Ana, I'm sorry about my question. I shouldn't have talked to you like that" Dayana said.

Anabela looked over while smiling. "It's okay, Dayana. I'm doing fine. It's just... I sometimes think of something."

Dayana stared at the hand of Anabela who was still slightly trembling. "Everybody has a lot of memories. It's okay if you're afraid of those memories."

Anabela smiled. "You're right. I was really scared. You must have heard it from Sebastian that my husband is gone."

Dayana's head nodded small.

"I have a bad relationship with my husband. I understand that it is not always chosen for reasons of love... Will love us back. Is love not about freedom? No pressure, coercion, and stifling rules."

Anabela found Dayana's face turned sad and pitying. His hand was stuck to his forehead with a crisp laugh.

"I'm sorry, Dayana. I'm even going to confide in you."

Unexpectedly, Dayana instead gave him a soothing warm hug. His hand even gently rubbed Anabela's back as if to give her a calm remedy for her fear and sadness.

"Wow. What happens after I leave for a while?" sebastian sees Anabela and Dayana hugging.

"I was giving her some calm medicine" Anabela replied as the embrace slipped.

"Thanks," Anabela said with a big smile.

"Because it's all done, I'm going home" said Dayana who now took her bag on the chair to prepare to leave.

"Miss Harvey, wait!" prevent Sebastian who now holds Dayana's hand.

"Yes?" Dayana's eyes glanced at her wrist that Sebastian now held.

"Will you... accompany me to buy some things to decorate this house?"

The sudden call made Dayana blink, quite surprised. Meanwhile, Anabela moved back to clean the dishes she had washed with both corners of her lips raised to form a smile.

"Sure," replied Dayana.

The handle on the hand was also released. "Okay. I'll call you later."

"Okay." Dayana smiles and goes out of Sebastian's apartment.

Now Anabela and Sebastian are left in there with silence left.

"Then it's my turn to go" said Anabela, walking to pick up the bag on the front sofa.

"I'll take you home, Ana."

"No. It's okay, Sebastian. I can go home by myself. You're still worried about me overreacting."

"It's not so, Ana..."

"I'm fine" Anabela replied and stroked Sebastian's shoulder tenderly.

"I'm glad you heard my advice. Isn't it fun to learn to open your heart to others? Dayana's a good woman, Sebastian."