The Woman Behind The Scenes

Chapter 1 - Bandung

The house looked busy as usual. With the cold fog in Bandung, Dara remains as usual the spirit of carrying out his duties.

Dara has been a single mother in six months. He was so good at playing his part, without the slightest hint of awkwardness. Usually a woman who bears the status of a single mother looks more lethargic, but not with her.

As a perfectionist, he knows what he wants in a household that he currently manages. At least with the current conditions, his children stay awake in a clean house, and get good nutrition.

“Ma! Foot t-shirt where,” exclaimed his eldest boy from the front porch. The boy is now in elementary school. For children his age, Kio is quick to become independent in everyday things such as getting ready for school, tidying up his toys, and sometimes helping his mother take care of younger siblings when needed.

Dara ran small from inside the house with her left hand holding a 1-year-old baby boy, as well as a right hand trying to hold a box of supplies, socks, and a bottle of facial moisturizer for the children.

“Kio. What did mama say? Do not forget this again, yes Nak” he said while applying a thin moisturizer on his son's face.

He quickly stuffed his lunch box and drink bottle into Kio's bag. Do not forget to also tidy the inserts of the school shirt a little careless. Kio has been in elementary school for a week. With a slightly longer study schedule at school, his mother can do other homework a little, while working for money, and take care of two other children who are toddlers.

“Kio remember ‘kan what mama said about crossing the road?”

“Look left and right, if empty can cross. If you are afraid, you can ask for help from adults nearby. Yes ‘kan ma? Mama couldn't get between Kio today, huh?” the boy answered and asked his mother.

Dara had always been filled with heart with Kio's question like that. As a mother, she was well aware that Kio was starting to get less of his time.

“Mama's at work this morning, and Jeje hasn't woken up. Tomorrow if Jeje is awake, we all go between Kio to school yes,” this time again he must be able to encourage his eldest.

Luckily, Kio's school isn't that far from the house they occupied. Dara deliberately rented the house because it took into account the distance to the elementary school. In addition, fresh air and a quiet environment, of course good for him and the children.

Dara is a newcomer to the world of single parents. But it seems he has been preparing himself for a long time. He was arguably well trained, before finally bearing the status. In his daily life, he took care of his three children without the help of anyone. She is not a native of Bandung, but was once a female nomads who finally decided to settle in the city of flowers. With a slim thin body, no one expected him to do everything himself. Working as a translator, taking care of the house and children, also occasionally looking for other activities that can balance his brain health.

At 08:00 that morning, as usual his house was clean from the front yard to the backyard. All of his herbs looked wet, an adam house with lemony fragrance from the floor scents he used mopping. There is almost no dust on the window glass, as well as the sink that has been empty from a pile of dirty dishes.

He pulls the curtains in the living room, closes them a little and walks to and fro to put Ray to sleep. The baby will usually sleep in the hours after his eldest brother leaves for school. It did not take long, the baby who was full with breakfast porridge wheat and fruit, finally fell asleep. Dara immediately laid him on the bed, then tightly closed the door so that Ray could remain sound as long as possible.

Instead of relaxing, Dara sat in her chair, opened her laptop and checked all incoming messages in her email. One of the advantages is that the work he has done in the past year is done from home only, which is translating various foreign language documents into Indonesian. With that income, he could continue to live in sufficiency with his children.

As a woman who is good at foreign languages, she has other job opportunities. But for now, he hopes to get more work from home in order to keep an eye on his children.

His hands clicked the documents one by one. This time there was a book with the contents of several chapters that he had to translate. Dara closed her eyes for a moment. He was not praying, but closing his eyes, pulling and exhaling quietly many times before starting his work on that day. Do not forget to also sip coffee that is almost cold.

This morning everything was done perfectly. Laundry that has been dried, breakfast that has been available, children who have left for school, and two toddlers who sleep soundly. All this he did from the time of dawn.

This morning he got up early to take a bath, and dried his shoulder-straight hair. She looks so beautiful despite not wearing any makeup. Her fair skin, red lips, and the smile that was always reviewed when meeting her neighbors, no one thought Dara was almost three-headed. A good luck, she has an ideal body despite having given birth to three children. Not only that, lately he has returned to being his slightly more cheerful self than usual. At least he already has an interest again for gardening, taking care of his hair that he rarely combed when still in marriage.

Yet... Beautiful and smart women like her ... How can you be a single mom at age 26? It was a question that stuck in the head of every person who had just met Dara, but not with his friends.

Dara doesn't have many friends. Who really exists in any situation? Yeah, just a finger count. With an attractive face, and a smile that is always plastered, of course, he will easily get friends, but he has insisted on himself in order to filter again everyone in his life.

In Bandung, he also very rarely has time to go out laughing, walking, or just get time to watch with his friends. Fortunately they were not a fussy figure about those things. The friends who tend to be close friends, know very well Dara's position as a single mother with three children.