THE MENTARY FOR THE ESTUARY

CHAPTER 15, RETURN TO JAKARTA

        Riana was surrounded among the rows of friends who hugged her, shortly after she landed safely, returning to the capital of the Republic of Indonesia; Jakarta. Riana could only sigh while stroking the neighbor's chest (eh, wrong deng, his own chest dong of course). The slightly uncomfortable seat of the plane made his body a little sore during the flight. And now, after arriving in Jakarta, he was even beaten in an inhuman way like this. It feels like he wants to shout now ; “Lontooooong, release akuuuu!”

“Add ireng kon Ri...” led Milia while hitting her shoulder hard.

“Asem... Yo piye no more ireng me, mantai thok ae bendino.” said Riana while visiting Milia.

“Where's beb? Happy in Bali?” maura asked while taking Riana's chips.

“Happy to beb, even if there was an incident.”.

“A little what?” nico's voice boomed. He grabbed Riana's friends, and held the girl's shoulder.

“Mario told me everything, he sent a lot of evidence, plus CCTV footage to me. You're not papa, are you?” ask Nico streak.

“Gue is not papa Nic, even I helped a lot during that time there. Well this is one of them..” said Riana while touching Abhi's shoulder which is only beside her.

“Dia?” Nico was a little surprised. It's nothing, the problem is that from the stick that the guy brought, it seems impossible if he is the one who can save Riana from the dangerous situation yesterday.

“Don't see it like that..” pinta Riana firmly.

“Ta-But..”.

“People you see are weak, may not be as weak as they seem. But the proof yesterday is that he is really me, if there is no him, Rey would have played rough worse still with me.” said Riana.

“Luck Ri, he deserves to be surprised, what else do not believe that I who nolong you, anyway my condition is like gini.” said Abhi.

“Yes that's not it, Bhi..”.

“Udah, I took the luggage first yes, Ri, see you next time, thanks for being a good travel companion for me. And sorry, if during the trip I took a lot of ngerepotin you.” said Abhi while actually leaving Riana's pick-up troupe, Riana, with gestures that show discomfort due to how to see Nico who might demean him.

***

- Pov Abhi

Am I a baperan? Am I being too sensitive? Whatever. But I'm always uncomfortable with people's views of me, what else if it's a look that seems demeaning. I know, I know who I am, who I am. Especially in the eyes of Riana's friends. Ah, Riana, the smart girl I met her first figure on the plane. The figure that helped me get a lot of ease during my trip. In my opinion, Riana is beautiful, supple and friendly; she is happy to be friends with anyone, including me who is “different” with her. But I realized, not everyone can behave as well as Riana. What else was that guy, somehow, even though I can't see, but from the way he said “dia?”, when questioning about me being “sang saviour” in Riana's story, that sounds so cynical. There were two possibilities; first, he really doubted my ability because of my condition, or second, he doubted it because... Maybe he's jealous?

***

Riana looked at Nico with a very bright annoyed look. For him, Nico's attitude was completely outrageous, what else caused someone to feel offended so. This is actually one of the attitudes of a Nicolas Shon son of Fernandes whom he dislikes the most; he cannot appreciate others who may look inferior to him.

“Sorry..” Nico said as he brought a Riana trolley containing a suitcase and some souvenir bags.

“Sorry is late, why not from earlier pas Abhinya there?” ketus Riana as she walked behind her. Nico stopped his steps. He looked straight into Riana's eyes. And for whatever sake, that gaze was still hurt, because of the sense of never being reciprocated, not because of anything, but because of their differences. Nico is still so often jealous whenever Riana is close to another man.

“Don’t be a stupid, Nic. At any time, we will never be together!” exclaim Riana.

“I know, Ri, I know. Without you saying anything, I have understood that.” said Nico. He quickly left Riana and her trolley. Riana hurriedly was about to catch up, but Nico's steps were almost as fast as – shadows were not overtaken.

“Biarin Sister Nico finish her emotions, we go home now yes mbak, mbak must be tired..” said Selena who suddenly stood behind her. Riana just nodded weakly. Selena who felt the excitement Riana Just patted her shoulder slowly.

“I'm sure mbak, Brother Nico can definitely cope with his own emotions... Come on, come out, have been awaited by the others.” invite Selena. Riana according to him. He was really tired of everything, especially Nico's attitude which for him this time was completely beyond the limits of reasonableness.

***

Riana looked at the laptop that was on the table in her room. Crazy, just a week left, the work piles up already waiting for him. Already a pile of school administration tasks, this is coupled with various other job offers that appear in his email promotions. But the only job offer that caught his attention was as a radio broadcaster, one of the fields he also loved. And now, the bidder is talking to Riana over the phone.

“Ayolah Ri, this is only Thursday, same Friday only Saturday only the program...” refer a voice across there.

“Aduh Mbak Yura, this is not a matter of the day, I wonder what day can be, but the time is you know, why should night?” riana protest.

“Alaaa, come on, Ri, this is your chance... Again I remember when you used to high school even lo fine-fine aja nerima offer to bawain the evening program, now why not want it anyway? Married po lo now?”

“Where is it from? Whose marriage? Same cat? Yeah how is it? You know the truth, I am now teaching, sometimes until the afternoon... How about?” Riana scratched her head.

“Lo sure want to miss this offer so soon, Ri?” ask Yura. Riana weighed in for a moment. However, being an announcer is one of the many ideals that want to try to realize it. After quite a discussion with herself, Riana finally decided to accept this job offer. No papa, people only three days, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, start the program at 9 to 12 pm.

***

Riana's phone rang again. But the owner had neglected, he was again busy with a stack of files his work on a laptop that demanded to be completed. Time has shown at 22:00, and he remains focused on work.

Drtts... Drtts... The phone turned out to be firm, still ringing, still moving, even though the owner was half-dead ignoring it. Actually, there is news as important as what is behind the ringing that many times?

(BBC).