THE GUARDIAN OF THE HEART

Chapter 19, Old Wounds (Part 2)

Sherly also intends to go inside the house. But his steps came to a halt as Shaka held his hand while saying :

"I want to see you, Sher. I miss you."

Sherly turns her body and looks at Shaka. He didn't say anything. He just stared deep into Shaka's eyeballs. For a moment, Sherly felt a sense of joy and pleasure stopping in her feelings, but then she began to realize that Shaka was like the old days again. He now has Besty in his heart. Sherly then releases Shaka's hand which holds her hand and turns away without saying anything.

Shaka just silently looked at Sherly who passed from before him. He then said as he looked at Sherly's back.

"Sher, I know I let you down."

"But I also know you still care about me."

Sherly stopped her steps and then turned her body around saying :

"But you don't care about me, Shak."

After hearing Sherly's words, Shaka walked up to her. He looked at Sherly who was standing in front of him with a smile.

She then rubbed Sherly's hair and said :

"If you weren't my best friend, I would've hugged you."

Sherly looked at Shaka while saying :

"Is there only Besty you can hug?"

"Is there only Besty you can care about?"

Sherly turns her body again and intends to step onto the porch of her home. But before he steps up, Shaka holds Sherly's hand and then pulls her into his arms.

Shaka hugged Sherly with both hands. Then he rubbed Sherly's hair slowly. Shaka is now convinced that Sherly likes him. He knew that maybe Sherly was left with Besty. He felt jealous and moved away from her.

But Shaka did not want to say or ask whatever was on his mind. He didn't hurt Sherly any deeper. What's more, he doesn't want to lose Sherly if he rejects Sherly's feelings. Shaka does not want to lose the person who always helped him. Shaka also did not want to lose the person who had always accompanied him. So Shaka just pendam himself what he felt it was without asking Sherly further. He is afraid that he will never be friends with Sherly again if he has to choose between Sherly and Besty. Shaka understands that he will not be able to make friends with other people who become his ex.

"If you want to say something, say it near my heart now. So that I can better understand it." said Shaka.

"If you want to cry, cry now. My chest is still wide enough to hold your heart's weight." she continued, wiping Sherly's black hair.

Sherly feels the warmth of Shaka's body. It felt like he was spilling his feelings in Shaka's arms. He wanted to cry to reduce his burden. If Shaka were single, he would have expressed his heart now. But he realizes that Shaka already has Besty as his girlfriend. He only hid his face in Shaka's arms while shedding tears.

"Why should I tell you about how I feel?" he said while sobbing.

"I also have to cry in your arms?" continued saying.

"Are you not my girlfriend, either?" mutilate.

Shaka smiled at Sherly's words. He let go of his embrace and then looked into Sherly's puffy eyes.

He is increasingly anxious about Sherly's behavior which is actually a spoiled child. He then rubbed his hair and said :

"Sher, as long as you don't have a boyfriend. I will always be there for you."

"Why did you leave me and never have time for me?" ask Sherly while pouting

Shaka laughed at Sherly's spoiled behavior, but he held it by tightly closing his lips and sighing. Shaka said as he held onto Sherly's shoulders :

"Sher, I'm sorry that you feel like that."

"Gombal, I don't trust you" said Sherly, who is not sobbing anymore.

"Yes, now what should I do for you. I promise I will do it as long as it doesn't hurt my heart and my feelings." Shaka said as she looked at Sherly's face.

Sherly was silent and furrowed her brows upwards. He tried to think of something. After that, he looked at Shaka while saying :

"For now. I'll have to ask for something later. You promised you'd give it, didn't you?" ask Sherly.

Shaka smiled as he nodded his head.

"Yes, Sweet Miss" said Shaka

Sherly smiled at Shaka. Shaka's presence that afternoon was a little comforting and removed the pain in Sherly's heart. He then invites Shaka into the house. But as usual, Shaka is more comfortable on the terrace of the house.

"I don't know why, but I'd rather be on the porch with you, Sher" said Shaka when answering Sherly's curious question as to why Shaka would prefer to be on the porch.

"The pleasure is other and it calms the heart." he added with a smile.

In the afternoon, Shaka chatted more about other things. He doesn't want to talk about Dance with Sherly right now. He is still trying to treat lara who is in Sherly's heart for her attitude all along. Let him keep his own Dance problem for now. Importantly, he felt calmer to see Sherly return to the story by laughing again.

In the afternoon they talked more about their past. They spend their time joking with each other laughing considering the time of their meeting used to be up until now. They also laughed at what had happened. Shaka let himself dissolve in that atmosphere. She was happy that Sherly's feelings had melted and returned to what they used to be little by little.

Until the end, the wall clock in Sherly's living room chimed 9 times which showed it was 21:00 WIB. Shaka finally said goodbye to go home. Sherly escorts Shaka to the front fence of her house.

"Thank you, Shak. You're going to play at home" Sherly said.

"I thank you for meeting me." replied Shaka with a smile.

"Other times, if you don't care about me, I won't see you again" Sherly said.

"Yes, it's in there. Lock the fence" Shaka said, ruffling Sherly's hair.

Shaka leaves Sherly's house after Sherly enters and locks the front gate. Shaka walks towards his bike and after that returns home.

Arriving at home, Shaka meets his father and mother who are chatting in the living room. After greeting her and kissing her parents' hands, Shaka intends to enter her room. But his steps came to a halt when father called him and gave him a business card.

"Shak, my friend gave me this business card" said the father, handing Shaka a business card.

Shaka takes a business card that says name :

"Bramantya Bagaskara"

"Friends dad told dad that he used to be a very talented taekwondo athlete in Malang" said the father.

"At the time of the selection for the championship in Korea, he resigned and stopped being an athlete when his father died. He then continued his father's workshop to support his sister and mother at that time." he continued.

"You have less than 3 months to train if you want to go to the National Championship. Try to consider father's advice first" said father.

"Good, yeah. Shaka will try to consider father's advice. Thank you very much for your help" Shaka said, saying goodbye to going to his room.

Shaka went into his room. He put the card in his pocket. Then he cleaned himself and then put his body on the bed. He took the business card on his shirt, then flipped through the business card while remembering all the events that happened today.

Then he picked up his cell phone that rang on the table. He saw a message from Besty. He smiled at Besty's message and decided to call Besty. They talked and laughed together as usual. They close the night with a kiss bye from Besty which makes Shaka want to meet her the next day.