The Untouched Heart

Chapter 158 - The Holidays are Over

“I dataaang ..!” Qiana chased after Charlotte who was swimming using her duck tyre. The little girl shouted hysterically, trying to get away from Qiana's reach.

I pouted watching them swim enjoying the lake water. I only have an Official sitting with me in a recliner by the lake. Even though I no longer bleed, Hendra forbade me to do heavy exercise or be in water whose cleanliness is not guaranteed. So, I can just soak in the bathtub. I can't swim at all.

A week in this place, we relax more in the room, eat, watch, swim, just one time we go out together from the inn. When my friends and I shop. We really enjoyed our relaxing time in this place. Imagining the journey home, I sighed softly. Six hours by road, ukh.

But Claudia, Lindsey, Qiana, and Rasmi go to tourist sites every day with their husbands, children, and grandchildren. They exhibit their visits to viewing towers, beaches, waterfalls, hot springs, even spiritual attractions. I'm not jealous because I've been to all those places with Hendra.

“What are you doing, Official? Why does my wife complain all the time like this?” asked Hendra who was sitting in my recliner. My sister-in-law laughed.

“So I laughed in the lake there leaving Sister's wife alone here, who is more properly referred to as the cause of her gloomy sister-in-law?” official Reply.

“I am the source of my wife's happiness. He will never frown because of me,” god Hendra. I grunt softly. The official laughed to see us. “Is there anything you want to buy or do on this island before we return to Jakarta tomorrow?”

“I just want to go home.” I shook my head slowly.

Then that's what we do. In order to avoid congestion due to the weekend getaway, we chose to go home on Monday. Different from our arrival, when crossing by ferry back to Parapat, we did not stop taking pictures together.

The beautiful view that morning was not wasted. We were lucky today it didn't rain, the sky was clean too, and the wind wasn't too cold. We sat together on the top floor and enjoyed the strong winds blowing due to the speed of the ferry. Slowly the island across from us got closer.

Since it was not a weekend, no small children would welcome us while expecting a coin toss. They're excellent swimmers that I have to thumbs up. Because they could catch every coin thrown into the lake.

I saw Claudia staring towards the port exit gate with a sad face. She must have remembered the little Clarissa-like child she saw when we came here. Yeah, God. I can't imagine what would have happened to the little girl if she were alive. Her disappearance from the crash site is still a question for all of us.

If he's really alive, who did this evil thing? Why separate such a small child from his family? Lindsey and Edu had already traced out everyone who might have had a grudge against them. Niente. We even help by investigating their children's past as well. But the result is the same. We didn't find any leads.

“How can a two-year-old child go missing without a trace from the scene of the accident? Both her parents were found dead on the spot, but Clarissa was not,”. “Is this possible to do with people who don't like me or Mason?”

“Already, darling. Thats enough. We came to this place to gather with our friends. You've been grieving long enough.” Mason grabbed Claudia by the shoulder. My best friend put her head on her husband's shoulder. The conversation about Clarissa was over.

We stopped for a moment at one of the stalls to enjoy the view of Lake Toba from the top of the hill. It does not feel like moving from that place to see the blue of the lake, green plants around it, also bright sky. We took photos together as memories. I'm not sure we'll be able to come back to this place anytime soon. These photos will be an antidote to longing.

“There is only one big shortcoming of this place,” Claudia said. We looked towards him. “The location is too far with poor road conditions. Why not build tolls, railway lines or airports to make it easier for tourists to come?”

“This place has great potential if only treated like Bali. You can see for yourself my friends want to come here after seeing my posts on social media. I'm an honest person, so I tell them that getting to this place is not easy.” Claudia sipped her coffee.

“Important officials in the province are often caught committing bribery or corruption, that has become one clue why the infrastructure is bad,” whispered Helmut. Important offices? Bribery or corruption? Why didn't I think about that before? I know what we can do to repay them.

The driver several times offered us to stop by a place that sold special food every place we passed. Hendra agreed on almost everything. So I'm not surprised to see the car filled with various delicious smells.

Parapat mango shrimp typical that we have spent half, fresh bread that has been smeared with jam of his own choice and bread laugh, or better known as onde-onde laugh, from the famous bakery in Pematang Siantar, the typical High Cliff bean cakes, even the variety of chips we buy in one of the long line of shops in the Workshop, the Blonde. I'm confused about where we'll keep all that food on the plane?

Arriving at the airport, I let the husbands be helped by the driver to take care of our luggage. I hold Hadi's hand, while Darla holds Dira who is still engrossed in licking her mango. Hendra takes care of every remaining payment.

“This is just from us, sir. As a thank you for using our services for eight days.” A woman gave two large cardboard boxes with a store label that is famous for its roll in Medan. Oh, dearGod. How else are we gonna get that cardboard?

“Oh! I know this sponge! L like it. Thank you.” Qiana took one cardboard from Hendra's hand, then placed it on the trolley held by her husband. We looked at him in disbelief. He sauntered towards the entrance gate, ignoring our gazes.

The flight was full of drama because Dira was so finicky. He was sleepy but would not sleep in his chair or on his papa's chest. He wants to sleep in my arms. The thing is, Hendra hasn't allowed our daughter to sit on my lap since I miscarried. The only solution was to leave Hadi sitting by himself. I sat with Hendra with our daughter in his arms and I hugged her.

I couldn't even calm down when we got home. Dira still does not want to get away from me. I had to be with him until he fell asleep in his bed. Hendra chuckled as I walked into our room with a dragged step. I'm really exhausted.

After two days of rest, Hendra invited me to come with him somewhere tonight. We brought the kids with us. Seeing us heading towards Lindsey's house, I looked at her not understandingly. But I'm glad to see my friends again.

We had dinner together while talking about light things, then nanny Charlotte took the kids to the living room to watch. We parents gathered in Edu's study. I looked at my husband in confusion.

“I used to work alone in my own way, but this time I had to give up. My wife wants to be involved in my plan.” Hendra started our conversation. Hearing that, I understood the purpose of this meeting. I smiled at him.

“Your plans are good, unfortunately, there are many weak points that can make you get a backlash at that very moment.” Hendra took out a loose disc and put it into an available laptop. Then the LCD projector displays an image that we can see on the white screen in front of us.

“What is this?” tanya Qiana looked at the beam and the information inside and outside the beam of different colors on the screen.

“Our mission is to trap the three people who think that they can get away with it. We will be divided into three teams. So, listen carefully to the tasks of each team. We will not fail if every step is done well. I'll start with my team and Za.”

I swallowed heavily. My heart is beating faster. Not because I was afraid, but because I could not wait to repay the three of them.