Check out the previous part before u go further - Here
It was so damn cold. The strong and sharp wind was
blowing right to my face. It was so cold but I didn’t dare to hug him so that
I’ll stay warm a bit. That’s because hugging someone from the back while riding
a motorbike is not in my list. So there.. I was holding myself. Don’t laugh,
okay?
And much to my surprise, we didn’t feel like we’re
strangers at all even if it was our very first meeting. I felt comfortable with
him as if he’s one of my long lost friends, even if I felt a bit awkward too
but, it didn’t show. My comfortable-ness was far too great than my awkwardness.
We talked along the way about nothing. Then suddenly
he asked “Do I stink?” “Nope! Why?” I asked him back. Then he told me that he
was playing soccer with his friends and came home late. He hurried to get me
without even took a bath first and that he only changed his t-shirt. I smiled.
Of course he can’t see me smiling because I was facing his back. But surely he
didn’t stink at all, even from his sweat.
*** *** ***
“We’re already in Jatinangor”, he said. “It’s a small
town”, he added and I didn’t say anything. We’re almost home when I saw terang
bulan. I really like it, I love the taste of it especially the cheese flavor.
It’s been a long time since I ate it so, we ended up buying it.
I also told him that I didn’t bring any essential
things with me as toothbrush, towel, etc, so, I needed to have one. Well, you
might think that it was very stupid of me to travel without bringing things
that are necessary. Hellooo... you think I’ve expected to be lost at some
unknown train station with people whom I’ve never seen their faces before? I
didn’t expect that I’d be lost therefore; I only brought with me some clothes. I purposely
didn’t bring the toothbrush, etc, because as in my plan I’ll stay overnight at
the hotel (they always prepare towels, toothbrush and whatsoever in a hotel
room) before leaving to Yogyakarta on the next day with my professors. But then
as you guys knew already (part 1), they canceled their flight and I was lost.
The hotel plan was out of my list that moment because I decided to go back to
Yogyakarta but,
every train was fully booked due to Christmas and New Year’s vacation, blah...
blah... blah... And there I was – with him, a perfect stranger who was for some
weird reason, not a stranger at all. Now you do understand my situation. Well then.
While waiting for terang bulan to be done, we went to
an Alfamart nearby which is open for 24/7. I didn’t have to buy many things
because my train to Yogyakarta will be in the afternoon at 4pm. So, I brought
everything that I needed for an overnight. He bought two bottles of mineral
water of 1.5 liters and a body spray – Axe, chocolate flavor. Not bad, I
thought. Girls do love chocolates, don’t they?J
When we’re done, we went to get terang bulan and went straight to his place.
The moment we arrived, my body was trembling. I just
realized that I was freezing. Of course I commented on the weather but didn’t
tell him that I was freezing to death. I followed him meekly from his back
after he parked. “We need to go upstairs because my room is at 2nd floor”, he
said to me without even looking at me. I can’t see his expression at all.
Minutes later, we’re there, in front of his room. He knocked while calling out
someone’s name. Someone’s there, I thought. The door was opened and a young man
was standing there. He’s probably in his twenties as both of us. He greeted us
with a smile and we went inside the room. He introduced me to that man as “your
sister”. I smiled. He referred to that man as a younger brother so I thought
probably they’re cousin. Honestly, I think that “someone” is much younger than
the man which he referred as “younger brother”. I was lost in my thoughts when
they conversed. Aziz, that man’s name, was asked by “my lover” to clean and
tidy up his room. So after everything was done, he waited for us while checking
on his Facebook account.
Few minutes after we arrived, he left. Now it was only
him and me. He asked me to sit down so, I sat on his bed. I was really wanted
to taste terang bulan again so; I quickly opened it and asked him to join me to
eat. He said he wasn’t hungry but I insisted him to have even a small bite. I
cleaned my hands with hand sanitizer before I used a wet tissue. I double
cleaned my hands as usual. I gave him some tissue and hand sanitizer too. We ate
together even if he only had a bite. “Too sweet”, he commented on the food.
“But I love it.” I answered him with a smile.
Just a short while, I thought he was going to have a
word with me but wasn’t. He did talk to me but only about today’s event. He did
talk to me but not while sitting or facing me. He did it while walking around
doing this and that, moving this and that. My eyes kept on following his every move.
Then finally he said to me and this time he was looking at me “You can sleep if
you’re tired.” “I need to wash up before going to bed”, he said again. “If
you’re thinking of taking a bath then it’s better if you’re not ‘coz it’s
almost 3am. You might catch a cold.” I said. He answered that he’ll only wash
up.
I, too, was supposed to wash up before going to bed as
I always do especially after a long and tired journey like that but I was too
tired to get up from my seat. “Hmm, I can’t sleep with the lights off so if you
don’t mind, can we just leave the lights on till morning?” I’m afraid of the
darkness so I asked. “I can’t sleep with the lights on too”, he said. “Hmm, we
can turn off the bedroom’s light then but, please let the bathroom’s light on”,
I said, hoping that he wouldn’t mind. “It’ll be fine”, he smiled and went to
bathroom.
Minutes later, I laid myself down in his bed. I looked
at the ceiling. Just sleep, I told myself. Before I could rest both of my eyes,
he was all done. He did take a bath. From where I was, I could smell him. He
smelled so good. So fresh. After few minutes, he joined me in the bed. I’ve
never in my life spent a night or even shared a bed with a man but my mind was
really tired that I can’t think of anything anymore. I slept facing him and he,
me. We distanced our self from each other so; there was a space between us. He
took my right hand, held it and placed it right in that space. He held my hand
still. I opened my eyes and looked at him but I can’t see him clear. I wondered
if he was also looking at me. It was dark to see much. No words came out from
me or him. No one broke the silence. I was half asleep but still thought that
he was going to kiss me later but he wasn’t. By the time I woke up, it was
already a brand new with the sun shone too bright that it hurt my eyes.
It was 7 past 10 in the morning. He was still
sleeping. I can only see his back. I tried to sleep again after telling myself
that it was too early for me to wake up. I went to bed at 3.30am so I shouldn’t
have woke up. I need to sleep some more, I told myself again.
However, my stomach didn’t want to compromise with me.
By 9 past 25, I can’t sleep anymore. I woke up and sat on the edge of his bed.
My stomach was rumbling. I was really hungry but there was nothing. Then I
remember terang bulan we bought this early morning. Before I could get up from
the bed and took it, he awoke. “Hi”, he greeted. “Hi”, I replied. “You wake up
so early” “You can’t sleep well?” he asked. “I had a good sleep. Thank you.”
“It’s just.., this is already past my breakfast time.” “I really am hungry”, I
added. Then he woke up from the bed. He walked to where his computer is and
took a carton of terang bulan. “Eat this first”, he offered it to me. “We’ll
find something to eat after taking a bath and changing our clothes.” He said
again while drinking a bottle of water, two steps away from where I seated. “Hmm,
okay”, I murmured quietly. Just when I opened it, “Oh.. God, don’t eat this
anymore” I said as calm as I could but felt disgust. There were those small,
diligent and stupid groups of ants near the only food in the room. “Don’t eat
it anymore”, he said. Ignoring my hunger, I packed it again and asked him to
throw it away.
I, then, asked him to wait for me outside so I can
take a bath. I couldn’t take a bath if he stays in the same room as me. He said
it’ll be okay but I wouldn’t listen. I insisted him to go out. After a few
minutes of arguing, he lit his cigarette and finally went out. Yeah, baby...
Now the room is all mine, I laughed inside of me. So, I started to undress,
covering myself with only a piece of cloth. I didn’t have a towel and he didn’t
too. He said he’s allergic to anything “furry” and towel is one of them. Oh
well... That surprised me. This was my “another first” to go to someone’s house
who has no towel at all. Another first was sharing the bed with a man. I might
have “another first” with him again, I thought.
His
bathroom’s door was a history. He broke it for months already for some silly
reason. He said one of his toes was wounded by the bathroom’s door so he kicked the door hard, so hard that it was
unattached from its hinges. The door was still there but we can’t close it
normally. He told me to close the door
whenever I want to use the bathroom. He said to just lift it and place it right
in the place where it once belonged. Sounded easy, huh? But I didn’t do as what
I was told. I was alone in the room that’s why. The main door was locked. The
window was closed. No one can see me. So I decided not to close the bathroom
door because I didn’t feel like to lift up any heavy load with an empty
stomach. I poured some mineral water into a plastic cup and brushed my teeth.
The water was cold. I was a bit holding back to take a bath but I did it. No
heater, cold water will do. I enjoyed myself taking a bath. I probably taking
quite some time but I didn’t care at all. It felt so good after all that
happened yesterday. I felt like the water just washed them away from my head to
toe – all the weary. Afterwards, I grabbed the same piece of cloth I used to
cover myself, which is actually my pink scarf (it was large enough) and dried
off my body.
I was
half done when I heard the knock on the door. “May I come in?” he said. I knew
he was already tired of waiting. I was really taking my time in bathing and
dressing up. “Give me 10 minutes”, I answered without open the door. I hurried
myself and did everything I needed to do and lastly I opened the door. “You may
come in.” I said with a smile curved on my lips. He was standing near the main
door, smoking his almost-finished-cigarette. He looked at me and said nothing.
He said nothing at all. He threw the cigarette and walked in. I moved backwards
to where the bed is. “You washed your hair”, he said after a while. “Yeah, you
should take a bath too.” I said. “I’ll wait outside”, I added. “You can stay
here”, his answer surprised me. “Are you sure?” “Yeah, just stay. It’s not like
you’re going to peek on me, right?” he laughed. “Of course not.” I said it coolly,
hiding my embarrassment. He was almost went in to the bathroom before he turned
to me again and said “You didn’t close the bathroom’s door, did you?” he
startled me. “How did you know that I didn’t close it?” I asked in return,
feeling uncomfortable. “I saw you took a bath”, he said with a low voice and
very fast that I was almost unable to hear it. “WHAT?” “YOU... WHAT?” I was
half screaming. I can feel my heart beat. My body began to tense. I was mad but
I waited for him to repeat what he just said before I can explode. I waited for
him to answer my question. “I said, I saw you took a bath”, he said but, this
time I can hear him very clear saying “I saw you took a bath.” I stared at him.
Too intense. I can’t stop staring at him. I was mad as hell. I just wanted to
slap the shit out of him and made him realize that what he did was so wrong.
“Why are you this stupid?” I heard me saying. That’s all I said. I was unable
to speak any of my thoughts anymore because I was too mad. Damn it!!! Give a
girl some privacy, I screamed inside of me. The room suddenly became so quiet.
“I was just kidding”, he broke the silence, again with a laugh. “I know you
didn’t close the door because the water was all over the place near the
entrance to the bathroom”, he said again with a big smile. “Really?” I said,
still not taking my eyes off him. “Yeah”, he said again. “It’s a relief”, I
heard me saying. “I thought you really saw me when I was in the bathroom.” He
might think that I was talking to him but I was saying it to myself. I felt so
relief when he said he didn’t see me at all. Before I could say anything else,
he went in to the bathroom.
I was
playing Temple Run on my iPad when he went out from the bathroom. He already
wore his dark blue jeans. Again, I could smell him from where I was seated. I
didn’t look at him, pretending I was too busy playing the game. Every time he
wasn’t looking, I took a glance at him. He took his Axe and sprayed it all over
his body. He smelled delicious. He made me craving for some chocolates. I was
glancing at him every minute I got the chance. He put on a deodorant before he
finally wore his dark blue t-shirt with “REBEL” printed in front of it. Rebel?
Seriously? I can’t help myself thinking that he’s probably a bad boy. If he is,
then I’m totally with the wrong guy. I don’t know him well, I thought. Anything was
possible. I was scared of my own thoughts. “Do I look okay now?” he asked while
looking at his reflection on the mirror. “Yeah, you do.” I said with a smile,
hoping he’s not a bad guy. He doesn’t look like one after all. “Let’s go”, he said.
The
weather was really refreshing, very much different from last night. “I’ll take
you to the only shopping mall in town”, he said. “We’ll eat our lunch there.” I
smiled at him. We walked our way towards the mall. It was quite near. “I don’t
really like this mall at weekend because all the people in Sumedang usually come here for
shopping and make it crowded.” “The things they sell here are the clothes from
the factory outlets that are not selling anymore in the shopping mall in
Bandung. It’s a good thing because once you buy some clothes here, you don’t
have to be afraid that someone might wear the same clothes as what you’re
wearing”, he explained with a big smile. “I came here a lot that I knew almost
every corner of it”, he said again. I looked around us. It’s quite big, as big
as Robinson mall in the Philippines. There are a lot of restaurants and fast
food chains around it too. “Parking lot is at the left side.” He explained
again. There was a security guard at the entrance. There were a lot of people
too. They were everywhere. We finally entered the mall with me walking by his
side. I made sure that I didn’t lose him and got lost again. We took an escalator
to the second floor. When we arrived, he suddenly grabbed my hand and changed
my direction. Then I realized, I was too into “not to get lost” thing that I
almost collided with a cute little girl, 4 or 5 years old. We took another
escalator again to the floor where the local foods were. He still held my hand.
I looked at our holding hands and decided to hold his this time. We walked hand
in hand. It felt good. We looked everywhere for the foods that we like before
finally decided on having quite a strange sound of food’s name for me – nasi
bakar. I wondered how they smoke the rice. When they waitress brought the food
to our table, I saw that the rice was cover with banana leaf. The leaf wasn’t
all green as it should be. Some parts of it were already brown in color. “They
just cover the rice with the banana leaf after it was cooked and smoke it for a
minute or two”, he explained with a laugh, again. I smiled at him. Then we
enjoyed our lunch. I did almost the talk during lunch. I told him about the things
at the university where I studied at. He laughed at my stories before he
suddenly said, “I love your expression when you tell a story.” I looked at him
and smiled. “Everyone used to say that I talked too fast that they’re having
hard time to understand what I’ve just said, even my mom”, I laughed. “You
surely talk very fast”, he laughed too. I smiled, I grinned, and I laughed
whenever I talk. That’s quite me. It comes out naturally. My expressions depend
on the story that I want to tell. My friends said that they love my expressions
because I’ll be so into what I was telling. And here, I heard him saying to me
the same thing. Weirdly, I was happy when he said it.
*** *** ***
We
were holding hands on our way home, not like when we went out for lunch – no
holding hands. I was happy that we held hands. I think he was happy too. It was
almost 2.20 when we arrived. He took a key from his pocket and opened the door.
“Let’s take a nap”, he said. “What if we wake up late and miss the train?” I
asked him. “We’re supposed to leave now to Bandung at this hour to avoid being
late due to the traffic jam”, I added. “I know. I’ll be the one to drop you to
the train station. There’ll be enough time so, don’t worry”, he answered and
looked right into my eyes. “Okay then. We’ll leave after an hour”, I agreed. We
went to bed again to sleep awhile. He’s probably still tired because of last
night soccer with his mates, I thought. I slept facing him and he, me. He held
my right hand again. Then he touched my face. I didn’t know how it started but
he was kissing me. He was really close to me.
The space between us from last night wasn’t there anymore.
Curious about the next part? Don’t worry. I’ll be up
with the next part after you’re done with this.
Xoxo
