The Way Back Home's

Hot Beverages

Farrell woke up again. The sky still covered the sunlight. There was only a hint of light that had penetrated into his room. The wind was no longer heard. The storm has stopped. Even so, he needed quite a lot of time to adjust and sleep again beforehand. His sleep cannot be said to be good. Even now, he was sure it was still dawn. He held out his hand from the blanket. Against the cold, Farrell grabbed the phone at the bedside table to watch the clock. Still six o'clock less. It is not surprising that fatigue still lingers on his body. Unfortunately, the sleepiness has disappeared.

Farrell pulled himself out of bed. While maintaining calm so as not to wake his two younger siblings, Farrell put on a jacket and scarf, then walked out of the room. This time, it was his turn to look for a snack. Probably not a snack but a warm drink. Because there was no phone in the room, he was forced to go down directly to the lobby to ask for something to be made. Warm chocolate will be very comfortable at a time like this. Especially when he can't sleep anymore.

As he descends the stairs to the first floor, he crosses paths with his new friend, Vincent. On the contrary, Vincent looked very tired. They threw smiles at each other without any intention of continuing the conversation and then parted ways.

On the ground floor, Farrell sees a familiar woman in the waiting room. His movements were agile even though his body was quite fat. High average. Her hair was short curls of black with a few strands of gray. The dark red thick coat is in line with the boots he wears. Around it, there were two suitcases and many shopping bags. He looked out, at the uncle's black jeep, where William was dropping off more shopping bags.

“Aunt Melanie,” greet Farrell approaching the woman.

“Farrell! Geez, you're getting good-looking.” Aunty gives a hug with a kiss on each cheek. “Jeez, your body is cold once.”

“Yes, the air is cold. Especially last night there was a storm.”

“Absolutely. The airport was also hit by bad weather from yesterday until my flight was forced to pull back today. I look forward to meeting you, my sweet children. Where are Milo and Libby? Are they still sleeping?” My aunt and uncle had no children. So they referred to Farrell and his sisters as their children. Both of them finance all needs until now including blue coble-cabin cars.

Farrell nodded. “It's not even six.”

“And why are you awake, baby? Can't sleep? Cold?”

“Weather adaptation.”

“Oh, I know!” Auntie took one of the shopping bags and pulled out three knit hats. Black, blue, and pink. “Which one do you want? Aunt brought you each a hat and a scarf. Ah, also a jacket! William is bringing it here.”

“People black feel good. Thank you.”

“Sure!” Aunty asks Farrell to look down and puts the hat on her. Bibi also picked up a black scarf with a white accent on the tip, then put it around Farrell's neck regardless if there was a scarf there. “Very compatible! Hows it? Warmer?”

Farrell chuckles, “Actually, kinda tight.” Aunt laughs. Farrell took off the black scarf with his hat. “Auntie dyed hair again?”

“Your uncle will nag when he sees my hair gray. The color is as dull as the snow out there. I usually choose brown, this is the first time I've tried black. Wh why? Not suitable, yes?”

“Not a problem. Suitable, kok.” Farrell turned his head when he saw the shadow of people passing by near the resto. Skinny and tall man, that's Christo. Initially, Farrell intended to ask hotel employees to prepare a warm drink. But, it might be better to wait for William to finish lowering the goods or wait for another employee to pass. Anyone as long as it's not Christo.

“What's up, baby? You need something?” aunt asked when she saw her nephew.

“I only think about warm drinks.”

Auntie looked over. As soon as he saw Christo, he immediately called out. “Christo, make him warm chocolate. Fast!”

Christo nodded and vanished into the inn.

“He's a little... rigid, don't you think?” farrell said to his aunt.

Her aunt took Farrell to sit on the couch. “Dedicated, disciplined, diligent, maybe also a little stiff. Very different with William.” Auntie glanced at William who had just entered the lobby. The young man was carrying shopping bags in both hands.

“Oh, good morning Farrell. Sleep well last night?” greet William when he sees his aunt and nephew.

“More soundly if there is no storm.” Farrell is honest.

“I'm sure last night wasn't the worst.”

William smiled. “From level one to ten, maybe last night's storm was only level six. We many times escaped bad weather.”

“Ehem!” Auntie cleared her throat.

“Ups..” William turned to aunt. “That's it all, Ms. Melanie. Is there anything else I can do?”

“Maybe you can help Christo. She is making warm chocolate,” replied aunt.

“Warm brown with special seasoning, eh?”

Farrell sure saw aunt's eyes grow bigger when he said, “That's right! Special chocolate from Eden’s Lodge. Now go and help Christo!”

William chuckles and salutes military style, “Siap, mistress!”

Now replace the uncle who went into the lobby. However, he did not join his wife and Farrell. He only greeted them for a moment and said goodbye again. He said there was a lot of business. Farrell understands that. As the owner as well as the manager of the hotel, it is not surprising that there is a lot that he has to manage. Maybe in a moment, uncle will hold a briefing or something.

“How many workers are here?”

“Four.” Auntie took a cookie tin from one of the shopping bags. The fingers attract plastic wrappers and tape.

“Four people only?” Farrell repeated his aunt's words.

Auntie hurriedly turned her head and corrected. “No, no. I mean I only know four people here. Memorized. Knew, I mean. I don't know exactly how many. I only help when needed. I'm the new guy here. Oh, silly me.” She shrugged and laughed at her own jokes. “Your uncle knows the ins and outs. You know for yourself that your uncle and your father used to take care of this inn. I've only been here a few times.”

“It's been a long time.”

My aunt handed me an open can of cake. “Soft cookies, very good,” he said while taking one. Farrell took. “How is your mother?” Aunty asked as she bit the cake.

“Same as usual. Quiescent. Slept.” Farrell forced himself to smile. It's definitely not his favorite topic. Not today and not anytime.

Aunty nodded slowly, letting the silence come over. But, not for long. Christo approached them. A round tray with a bright green cup was above his right hand. He lowered the cup of warm chocolate on the coffee table. The whipped cream covers the top with a red white peppermint candy.

“One cup of warm chocolate. Anything else you need?” ask Christo. Farrell and aunt both shook their heads. “Good, then, enjoy.”

After Christo went away, Farrell interrupted, “Don't aunt feel she's a bit unfriendly?”

Bibi did not answer, just rolling her eyeballs to and fro. “Compared to others, Christo worked the longest here, with your father first. He was a child, probably a dozen years old. He understood a lot about this inn and was reliable. Wh why? Is he being unfriendly to you?” Aunt asked back.

“Ngak also.” Farrell hasn't told anyone about what happened yesterday. Denise's joining to dinner yesterday made her cancel the intention to complain to uncle. Farrell doesn't want Denise to get a bad impression on her family's lodging.

“If there is any problem, suspicious actions of the employees, or maybe you need something, just tell me or your uncle. Okay?”

“Oke.”