Towards lunch break, from the open door of the study, Mrs. Rina seemed to be fully concentrated in front of the computer screen. Several silvery strands adorned her left loose hair. Reading glasses perched sweet in the middle of the nose bridge. The leader remains elegant in her long-sleeved white shirt. She draped her blazer on the back of the chair.
“Excuse me, Ma'am,” Kalyana said, knocked on the door of the study.
Bu Ani turned her gaze towards Kalyana. “What's up, Na?” she asked. “Come on, come on, sit down!” she asked, nodding at the empty chair in front of her desk.
Kalyana's heart skipped a beat. Swallowed hard and cleared her throat slowly, she entered Mrs. Rina's study and sat on the chair. “Look, Ma'am,” she said after sitting up straight, “in two months I will most likely have to resign.”
For a few seconds, Mrs. Rina just stared at Kalyana deeply. Then, slowly she took off then folded the glasses, and put them on the table. “You mean,” she said in a soft voice, “you want to leave our art gallery?”
“Yes, Ma'am,” Kalyana replied, nodding.
Without speaking, Mrs. Rina stood up, walked toward the entrance, closed the door tightly, then sat back down on the chair.
“What is wrong, Na?” said Mrs. Rina then, “Is there anything that makes you feel uncomfortable here?”
“Uh, there isn't, Ma'am!” argued Kalyana hastily.
“I, uh, want to get married, Ma'am,” she continued, blushing.
Mrs. Rina smiled. “That ring?” she asked, nodding her head to Kalyana's right hand finger.
“Yes, ma'am,” Kalyana replied. Her face was getting hotter.
“Congratulations, Na!” exclaimed Mrs. Rina, smiling broadly, “but you can still work here after marriage, you know. There is no company regulation that prohibits employees from getting married.”
“Yes, ma'am, but Armand plans to take me overseas after marriage.”
“Oh,” said Mrs. Rina briefly, her smile fading. She took a deep breath, then continued to say, “Well, what can I do if that's your plan.”
Kalyana only smiled.
“Even though I had just drawn up a new organizational scheme that we discussed a few months ago,” Mrs. Rina commented as she turned the computer screen towards Kalyana.
Kalyana glanced at the diagram on the screen. Her eyes widened when she saw that her name was listed as the leader of the auction house that was about to be formed by Mrs. Rina.
Bu Rina smiled, seeing Kalyana's reaction.
“The auction house is being held, ma'am?” muttered Kalyana softly.
“Of course!” exclaimed Mrs. Rina in a low voice, “Just because I haven't discussed it in a while, doesn't mean we shouldn't start this business unit, Na.”
Kalyana took a deep breath. She has been eyeing the new position for a long time, since the first time she conveyed the idea to build an auction house to Mrs. Rina.
“How about it, still want to resign?” asked Mrs. Rina with a small laugh.
“Yes, ma'am,” replied Kalyana, “Do I have to live in Indonesia when Armand moves overseas?”
“You will stay there forever?”
“I don't know, Ma'am,” replied Kalyana, “Armand just said he would be in their office in Barcelona for a few years. Whether after that we returned to Indonesia or not, he has not explained.”
“That is it,” said Mrs. Rina, “Is it not a shame if you give up this opportunity, if in a few years you will return to Indonesia?”
Again Kalyana took a deep breath. Her fingers play the ring on the ring finger of the right hand. “Well, you're kinda right, Ma'am,” then she muttered, “but ....”
Bu Rina smiled, holding Kalyana's hand on the table. “Never mind, don't think about it. Just go accompany your husband to work out there, rather than later he will be taken away by a foreign girl,” she said, “although in my opinion, it would be a big loss if he did that and lost a girl as beautiful as you.”
Kalyana just smiled awkwardly. Again, her cheeks felt hot.
Mrs. Rina took a deep breath. “You said goodbye to Mrs. Diana, right?” then she asked, “what did she said about your departure?”
“Not yet, ma'am.”
“How come you haven't even said goodbye to your direct supervisor?”
“Mrs. Diana is still on leave,” Kalyana protested.
“Ah, yes,” said Mrs. Rina, “Alright, later I will discuss with her about your replacement and who we can give the position of leader of the Auction House. Do you have any ideas?”
‘From this office, it is only me, ma'am, who deserves that position!’ Kalyana screamed to herself. “I, uh, don't know, ma'am,” she replied a little haltingly.
Bu Rina smiled again at the sight of Kalyana. “All right, Na, I agree to you to resign, as long as you have prepared a task transfer to anyone who will be appointed by Mrs. Diana.”
“Thank you, ma'am,” said Kalyana. “Well then, ma'am, I ask permission to go home early today.”
Mrs. Rina raised an eyebrow. “What's up, Na? Wedding preparations?”
“No, it is not!” exclaimed Kalyana hastily, “I just want to go to Jogja for personal matters.”
“Is your work done for today?”
“Yes, it's already done, ma'am.”
“Then, go home!” said Mrs. Rina with a smile, “later I will send the concept of this establishment proposal to your email. Monday, please help check out, OK?”
“Yes, ma'am, and thank you for the permission!” Kalyana replied as she stood up and left the room.
As soon as she arrived at her desk, Kalyana immediately turned off the computer, carried a backpack containing an electronic tablet and several pieces of clothing, then walked towards the toilet. Before long, her work clothes, blazer suits, straight skirts, white shirts, and high heels, had been replaced by more casual clothes. T-shirt, casual jeans, and sneakers are now attached to the little girl's body. After considering it for a moment, she decided to let her hair curl up. Kalyana then put on a light jacket and walked towards the front door of the gallery. Arriving at the lobby, the taxi she ordered was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Kalyana immediately went in there and asked the driver to go to the airport.
On the way, Kalyana picked up a phone and then dialed a number from the list of favorite calls.
“Hello, Na?” says the recipient of the call.
“Mand, I'm going to go to Yogyakarta now,” said Kalyana.
“All right, be careful on the way!” replied Armand, “Let me know when you get there, OK!”
“Sure!” replied Kalyana, “See you later!”
“Okay!” replied Armand.
Kalyana ended the call, then stared at the congested Surabaya traffic in the afternoon towards the weekend. Her mind began to regret the journey she had taken in such a hurry. The novel had been ignored for several weeks. She gave up. Somehow that night she felt the need to finish as soon as possible before she left Indonesia.
Mrs. Rina was also annoying, because she intentionally showed the plan she is working on. Maybe she felt that she could prevent Kalyana from resigning.
Kalyana grunted irritably, then closed her eyes, trying to sleep so that the trip to Juanda could past soon.
***
Lenses always managed to keep Rajata out of trouble. Behind the camera's aperture, he didn't feel the hot sun over the village of Bokoharjo that weekend, nor did he feel that he was in a hollow mood. He also didn’t care about the tourists bustling around him. The man was busy looking for photo objects and shooting angles around the Prambanan temple area.A relief attracts attention. Rajata took a stone, then stood on it so he could take the photo from the direction he wanted.Suddenly, a voice full of joking screams in the distance startled Rajata. Reflexively, he turned toward the sound. However, it seemed that the movement made his footsteps shaky. The man fell off the rock and his body swayed towards the temple.In a panic, Rajata tried to protect the camera he was holding. It works. The base of his thumb hit the relief, protecting the camera. An instant later, thousands of fireflies flooded Rajata's eyes when his head hit the temple wall.For a moment, Ra
Kalyana dropped her backpack on the floor, then slammed herself onto the bed. It was already dusk, even though only an hour ago the plane she was traveling in landed at Adi Sucipto. Kalyana is annoyed, regretting her decision to buy a sudden ticket at a busy hour. She didn't know what she could do in Yogya the rest of the day. Tomorrow, maybe she'll rent a vehicle. The girl took her cell phone and surfed the internet, trying to learn about some tourist attractions in Yogyakarta. There was nothing interesting, all the information that was displayed felt like passing by, only makes her head dizzy. The breeze from the air conditioning system slowly made Kalyana fall asleep.***Phone ringing woke up Kalyana. Reluctantly, she grabbed the phone from her trouser pocket. Call from Armand, as expected. Kalyana hesitated for a moment, before finally hitting the 'Receive' button.“Hello? What's up, Mand?” she said, still lying on the bed, still sleepy.“Have you arrive
“One coffee, ma'am!” A woman's voice disturbed Rajata's reverie.Rajata raised his gaze towards the voice.A girl was buying a glass of coffee and a plate of fried bananas from the elderly lady, the Lesehan caretaker. Rajata watched the girl walked to the next pillar and then sat back against it with her knees bent. While enjoying the fried bananas, the girl took out a tablet and started working. Her black hair was curled upwards, revealing the shape of her face, ears, and neck.Rajata could only be stunned. The girl's figure and voice reminded her of someone she had seen in Prambanan.Then, as if sensing someone was watching, the girl looked up and turned to the side, towards the Rajata. She smiled briefly, then returned to busy with the device on her lap.Rajata was shocked with embarrassment. After hesitating for a moment, he finally stood up and walked over to the girl.“Hello,” said Rajata, standing in front of the girl.The girl raised
At five minute to eight o'clock, the car driven by Rajata entered the courtyard of Hotel 404. He hoped to prove that Kalyana's phone number was really needed. However, it turned out that Kalyana was seen standing on the lobby steps. Her hair was no longer tied up.Seeing Rajata arriving, Kalyana immediately walked over. “Why are you late?” she said as she got into the car.“But it's still five minutes short, Na,” snapped Rajata.“But you said you wanted to come early!” replied Kalyana.“I know, it's still five minutes short.”“But I've been waiting a long time!”“Sorry, Na,” said Rajata, “When have you been waiting?”“From six minutes to eight!” Kalyana replied curtly.“Huh?”Kalyana burst out laughing.“It's only been a minute, Na!” exclaimed Rajata, shook his head and smiled broadly.“For girls, waiting for one minute is too long, you know!”“So, give me a phone number, please, so that next t
While waiting for the lift, Kalyana took out her cell phone from her jacket pocket. She smiled at Armand's unanswered call. The elevator doors opened. Kalyana returned the cell phone to her pocket and stepped inside.Arriving at the room, Kalyana immediately called her lover.“Hello, Na?” said Armand after two rings, “so busy writing the novel that you didn't have time to answer my call?”Kalyana chuckled. “No, I just forgot that my call was silent,” she replied as she took off the jacket.“So how about Jogja?”“Interesting,” said Kalyana, “Last night I visited Malioboro, then last afternoon I went to Prambanan, and I just came home to have dinner at Gudeg Yu Jum.”For a moment Kalyana was silent. On the other side, Armand is still waiting for the continuation of her lover's story.“Well, at least,” Kalyana continued, “I got to know this place before we left for Barcelona.”Armand just chuckled at that. “So are you co
Rajata sat back on the seat of the carriage. Shortly thereafter, the train left the Yogyakarta station for Surabaya.The cell phone in the pocket vibrated. Meanwhile Rajata took the device. The digital screen displayed a notification of an incoming message on social media accounts. He was stunned as he read the name of the sender of the message: Merina Tambunan.“Hi! Are you my high school friend Rajata?”“Yes,” Rajata typed briefly, replied to the message, still amazed.“How are you, Ta? It's not unusual for you to look at my social media accounts?” Merina replied moments later.Rajata smiled, realizing his carelessness in opening Merina's account last night. “I'm fine, Mer,” typed Rajata, “and you?”“I'm fine too, Ta.” Merina's answer came to Rajata's phone a few moments later.Rajata was stunned, wondering what message he should type.“Are you in Surabaya?” Merina's message came in again.“No, I'm in Yo
The announcement of the landing of the plane from Yogyakarta blared all over the corridors at Juanda airport. Armand immediately left the coffee shop and headed for the arrival door which was already filled with pickers. His height helped Armand see the passengers walking out the door. He immediately stepped towards the end of the guardrail when he saw a small girl walking with a backpack slung on her back.Kalyana smiled brightly when she saw Armand behind the crowd of pickers. The man seemed to half run to the end of the fence, and was already there before Kalyana. Armand's arms spread, ready to embrace.Kalyana also spreads her hands and then enters her lover's arms. “Thanks for picking me up, Mand! Hmph ...!” Kalyana's words were cut short when Armand chewed her lips.For a moment, Kalyana tried to break free, uncomfortable being treated so intimately in public. However, the man's lips and tongue always managed to melt Kalyana, making her forget her surround
Kalyana was awakened by the soft hum of the air conditioner. Her body was covered by the blanket, warm. Her thoughts were light now. Every now and then a keyboard and mouse sound can be heard from behind. Smiling, Kalyana turned around. Armand seemed to be sitting on the bed, busy working on a laptop that was placed on his thigh covered by a blanket. “You're awake, Na?” said Armand while still typing. “Uh-huh,” Kalyana replied with a nosy smile, “you are noisy!” “Sorry,” replied Armand, still busy with his work, “I have to finish today because my boss waited.” Kalyana sat up, kissed her lover's cheek for a moment, leaned on the sturdy shoulder, then took a moment to pay attention to the computer. Tired of diagrams and writing full of technical terms she didn't understand, Kalyana got up from the bed, grabbed the nightgown that she hadn't had time to put on, then grabbed her backpack which was lying on the sofa. Feels light. “Where are my clothes?” she