The Hate That Ends Marriage

Sculled

Tracing the path without direction, Radit again reflected back on Mila's advice to him. If you think about it carefully, what his friend said has a point as well. Actually what caused the chaos today was her, not Widya. Maybe he is indeed Mr. Maha Benar, as Widya had told him all along.

Now that he has realized his mistake, Radit promises himself to apologize to Widya if they meet later. All he has to do now is immediately find Widya's whereabouts. It crossed his mind that Widya was in the house of his parents. And if that's true, imagining Widya walking alone in the morning to find a way to get to the city, is a very scary picture. Because it could have been in the middle of his journey he met a bad person, like when he was bullied by the two men when he came home alone from his farm.

Brushing aside the horrifying shadow, Radit hastily retrieves the phone from his pants pocket to contact Widya's parents, hoping that Widya is indeed there as she expected. Although the truth is if Radit thinks carefully, it is strange that his in-laws did not contact him at all if Widya was right to visit them in the city. Unfortunately, now Radit's mind is filled with unpleasant shadows so he can not think clearly. Her fingers felt numb while looking for her Father-in-law's contact from a cell phone.

Before Radit could press the "Calling" button from his phone, a man who was quite old greeted him. Replying to the greeting back, he tried to be patient when the old man known as Pak Budi invited him to chat. When his patience began to run out and wanted to end the talk of unimportant pleasantries at that time, Mr. Budi said something that surprised him.

"You're going to pick up your wife?"

"Oh?" radit exclaimed, his face displaying a puzzled expression.

"It seems that your wife is not aware that her sleep is too late to make you pick her up like this" she continued chuckling, unaware of Radit's confusion over the information she was told.

"Sleep?" radit asked, and the confusion grew.

"Yes, sleep. It seems that reading a book makes him sleepy, maybe that's why he's sleeping in the bookstore all by himself."

"Bookshop," muttered Radit. "Thank you, Mr. Budi, I did intend to pick him up."

After conveying his gratitude, Radit immediately left Pak Budi with half-run steps. So all this time he was there, he really didn't expect it. Finally, he now knows where Widya has been, the leg in his heart. But, why from all over the place did he have to hide in the bookstore. Moreover he had been there since dawn, was he eating? There were so many questions running through his mind and Radit decided he would ask them when he met Widya.

On his way, Radit accidentally meets Gilang, who is beaming at the screen of his phone. Could it be that he was looking at a photo of the girl he met in the bookstore first, Radit thought. Looking at his smile that was so wide, he could guess if his conjecture must be true.

Greeting his friend who was still focused on looking at his phone screen, Radit was confused as Gilang looked up at him with a shocked expression mixed with fear, as if he was caught doing something wrong. His phone slipped out of his grasp as his foot took a step back from Radit. Luckily for his friend, Radit has quick reflexes so that his phone can be caught by him and not fall to the rocky ground.

"Almost your phone's screen is cracked, thank your friend who has this quick reflex." Radit flipped Gilang's phone to see what was on his phone's screen. "Actually what the hell did you see to my surprise...."

Radit was unable to finish his words while looking at Gilang's phone screen. His tongue felt muddy as he looked at the portrait of a woman he knew so well on his friend's mobile screen. He rubbed his eyes to make sure that now he did not see wrong what was on his friend's phone.

Gilang's hand is stretched out, trying to take his phone from Radit's hand. "Give me my phone!"

Dodging quickly, Radit lifted the phone away from Gilang's reach. Squinting his eyes at Gilang, Radit's jaw was so stiff.

"Explain to me, what do you mean photographing my wife like this?" Glancing back at the photo of Widya sleeping on her friend's phone screen, Radit gritted his teeth. "Did the woman you were telling me about you ever met in that bookstore was Widya, my wife?"

Moving uneasily, Gilang froze in place with a look of guilt staring at Radit.

"My answer!" bentak Radit's.

Some people who had just returned home from work gasped at Radit's screams as they walked past him. Taking a deep breath, Radit forced a smile on his face.

"No need to pay attention to us, we were just joking," Radit said, shaking his hand casually.

Upset by Gilang's attitude of robbing the phone from his hand, Radit deliberately squeezed his friend's arm with all his might while smiling kindly at the people who were watching them closely.

Not wanting to draw any more attention, Radit decided to put an end to his dispute with Gilang for a while.

"The conversation between the two of us is not over, tomorrow I will talk about this with you again" whispered Radit, deliberately stopping beside him as he walked past him while patting his shoulder.

Nodding stiffly, Gilang patted Radit on the shoulder and walked away.

Relaxing his stiff facial muscles, Radit again walked towards the bookstore while greeting the surrounding residents with a friendly smile on his face.

Not long after, Radit had arrived at the bookstore, where Widya had been hiding all this time. Standing quietly in the doorway, he looked at Widya who was still sound asleep. Several books were scattered on the table drowned by her hair, which looked so glittering by the rays of the setting sun that burst in from the window. Both of his hands were stacked into a pedestal where his head lay. What a beautiful sight. It is fitting that Gilang devotes this amazing apparition of his wife in his cell phone camera.

Scowling annoyed, Radit's mood returned grim considering his friend still keeps a photo of Widya on his phone. Maybe that's why, when he woke Widya up, he shook her body a bit too strong so Widya jumped in shock upon waking up from her sleep.

Touching her temple, Widya groaned in pain as she looked at Radit. "Aren't you able to wake me up more gently? My head feels like it's going around in circles."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shake you that hard. I forgot to control my energy." Radit turned his head to look at the sun that had started to sink in the sky. "Let's go home, it's gonna be night."

Looking towards the window, Widya exclaimed in shock, "Jeez! As soon as a day goes by, I don't know if I'm going to sleep all this time." Looking at Radit, Widya furrowed her brows. "Why are you here?"

"Why are you asking? Of course I'm here to pick you up."

"Pick me up? Without you to pick me up, I can go home by myself."

"Omong empty! You're here because you wish I'd picked you up" Radit said, walking back and forth looking for something.

"What are you looking for? Are you looking for a book for you?" widya asked, looking at Radit in wonder.

"I'm not a nerd like you" replied Radit, still busy walking to and fro. "Where did you put your suitcase, why didn't I see it?"

"Suit?"

"Yes, suitcase."

"What happened to my suitcase?"

"Lho didn't you bring your suitcase?" radit asked, increasingly confused by Widya's confused attitude.

"Why did I bring my suitcase?" Standing up, Widya observed Radit's face with a serious facial expression. "I just want to read, not run away."