Smiling, Armand watched the girl sitting in front of him enjoying his affogato. Spoonful after spoonful disappeared between her red lipstick covered lips. Her black hair fell on the shoulders of the dark blue blazer that she was wearing. Even in work clothes, the girl is still charming. Armand took a deep breath, trying to calm his uneasiness.
Kalyana slowly finished the last spoon of affogato. “What's wrong, Mand?” she asked, placing the spoon on the plate, blushing at Armand's gaze.
“How is it?” asked Armand.
“It's delicious, Mand!” exclaimed Kalyana as she sat and leaned back, “extraordinary! Thank you for asking me out here, even though I'm still confused, what kind of celebration is there.”
Armand smiled. He pushed aside the two plates of dessert they had finished, then stretched his left hand towards Kalyana.
Confused, Kalyana straightened her seat again, then welcomed Armand's helping hand. The lover's hand was cold and damp.
Armand held Kalyana's hand. Then, still holding her lover's hand, he placed his left arm on the table.
“What's the problem, Mand?” Kalyana asked while stretching out her left hand to join Armand's hand.
Armand just smiled. “You're beautiful, Na,” he said in a soft voice, “I'm lucky to have you.”
Kalyana's cheeks flushed red. “What are you talking about!” she exclaimed, “are you sick?”
With his left arm still on the table, Armand's right hand reached into the pocket of the jacket he was wearing. A moment later, the man's right hand came out of his pocket, and put it on the table side by side with his left arm. Something dark in color seemed to be in his grasp.
“What is that?” asked Kalyana.
Without speaking, Armand opened the grip of his right hand.
Kalyana's breath was cut short as her heart skipped one beat. She stared at a small box covered in black velvet that lay in the palm of her interlocutor's right hand. The man's left palm, which had been tightly gripping Kalyana's hands on the table, suddenly felt no longer cold. Kalyana's gaze slowly turned to the face of the box owner. Her gaze collided with a pair of black eyes that looked at her gently.
“Armand?” Kalyana said slowly a few moments later, “What is that?”
A smile slowly spread over the face which is decorated with a bluish tint in the beard area. His left hand gripped Kalyana's hands tighter. Carefully, the fingers of Armand's right hand opened the blue box.
A ring appeared, tucked among the tiny cushions in the now open box. The clear stone on the ring sparkled, refracting the lights of the dinner house into dozens of tiny rainbows.
Kalyana swallowed hard, stunned.
Slowly, Armand released his grip on Kalyana's hand, took the ring, then pinned it to Kalyana's ring finger. “Kalyana,” he said softly, “will you marry me?”
Kalyana was still stunned. The corners of her lips trembled. Slowly she raised her right hand which was now decorated with a ring, also slightly trembling. “Armand,” she muttered to the clear rock on the ring head, sounding hoarse. Kalyana cleared her throat. “Armand,” she repeated, this time looking closely at the man she was talking to, “you proposed to me?”
Armand nodded slowly, still smiling.
“Are you serious?” Kalyana continued.
Again Armand nodded.
“Why?”
“Because I love you.” The smile on Armand's face faded slightly. His eyes asked.
Kalyana smiled. Instead she was holding Armand's two hands. The metal circles on her finger felt lumpy. “Yes, I know, Mand,” she replied, “but, why are you proposing to me now?”
Armand's smile grew again. “Last week, Ardanis Inc., Ltd assigned me to the branch office in Barcelona,” jelas Armand.
The smile on Kalyana's face grew wide. “You were assigned overseas?” she exclaimed, squeezing her lover's hand tightly, “Congratulations, Mand! For how long?”
“Thank you, Na,” said Armand, “it was planned that I was assigned to two years there.”
“Wow!” Kalyana exclaimed. Suddenly she threw away Armand's hand. “Why are you just telling me now?” she said curtly.
Armand chuckled for a moment. “Sorry I just told you now. I need time to find a ring,” he replied.
“This ring?” Kalyana asked casually while twirling the embedded precious metal circle. Kalyana's jaw tightened as she tried to hold back a smile, even though her cheeks couldn't lie.
“Yes.”
Kalyana frowned again.“So you took the decision to propose to me in a short time?” she snapped.
The short-haired man shook his head. “No, I've been considering it for a few months, Na. This assignment from this company is just a trigger.”
“A trigger?” Kalyana catches up again. Slowly a wide grin spread across her tiny face. “You were afraid I would disappear while you were there, huh?” accused Kalyana. “Take it easy, Mand,” she continued, squeezing Armand's hand tightly, “I can take care of myself, really. All you have to do is just to focus on your job there.”
“I want to take you there,” said Armand curtly.
Kalyana fell silent. She let go of Armand's grasp and sat back down. Her fingers play the ring, while simultaneously reducing itching. “Then how about my job?” she asked slowly a moment later.
“If you can, just ask for unpaid leave, Na,” replied Armand, “then you come with me there.”
Kalyana slightly tilted her head. “If it doesn't work?” she asked.
Armand smiled. “Then you just resign, Na,” he replied. “My salary is enough, really, to support us both there.”
Kalyana was silent, staring at Armand closely. The voices of diners' conversation at other tables were faintly heard, interrupted by the soft clink of cutlery.
“Do you mind marrying me?” asked Armand from the other side of the table. His smile faded.
Kalyana smiled as she shook her head. She tidied her hair behind her ears, trying to get used to the rings on her fingers.
“Then what's on your mind now?”
Kalyana straightened her seat again and took her lover's hand. “I'm just shocked, Mand, didn't think you'd propose to me now,” she said with a sweet smile.
Armand took a deep breath. “So,” then he said, "Kalyana, you will marry me, right?”
Now it is Kalyana's turn to take a deep breath. For a moment her attention was distracted by the diamond sparkle that was at the corner of its eye, dazzling. “Yes, Mand, I will,” she replied with a smile.
Armand smiled broadly and let out a deep breath. “Thank you very much, Na!” he exclaimed hoarsely and slightly loudly, squeezing Kalyana's fingers.
Kalyana frowned slightly when Armand squeezed her fingers with the metal that was now coiled there. “By the way, it's clear now why, when you picked me up at the office this afternoon, you looked tense!” she said jokingly.
Armand only chuckled. His face flushed slightly.
Kalyana smiled amusedly seeing her lover. With a tall stature, cropped hair, and a black suit, the man sitting in front of her looks funny when he is embarrassed.
Armand smiled back at Kalyana.
For a while, the two of them fell silent, deep in their own thoughts.
“So,” Kalyana finally said, breaking the silence between them, “we have any plans tonight?”
Armand gasped. “Oh, yeah, it's not Saturday night!” he exclaimed, “let's go home then!”
“Okay!”
Armand calls the waiter for the bill. Not long after, he stood up, offered an arm to Kalyana, who immediately accepted it.
“You are not usually like this. Since when have you been holding me?” joked Kalyana as they walked towards the restaurant door.
Armand again just smiled as he gently patted Kalyana's right hand tucked into his elbow.
***
Soon, their car left The Jannah hotel and merged with the heavy traffic on Mayjen Sungkono's road. Armand drove the vehicle while Kalyana sat there beside him."Armand ...," muttered Kalyana suddenly."Yes?""When are we leaving?" asked Kalyana."It's still a while, maybe two or three months. Anyway, we have to get married as soon as possible so I can register your name in the company's relocation department."Kalyana felt her cheeks heat up. She smiled awkwardly. "That fast?" she asked, "is there enough time to prepare everything?""I've arranged everything," replied Armand, "the party is simple, I hope you don't mind. For the honeymoon, we'll live it when we're there.""Wow, last week you were really busy, apparently," muttered Kalyana. "Why are you so sure I will accept your proposal?" she teased, smiling idly.Armand chuckled. "I'm just thinking positive, Na."Kalyana grunted with a smile, then looked out the pass
The girl sat stretched out on a cast iron chair by the lake. Her hair that covered the back of the chair was slightly played with the cool November breeze. She seemed engrossed in writing while occasionally looking at Jet d'Eau.Harso's chest skipped a beat. It was the exact same sight he had seen years ago. He could feel himself stepping closer to the girl.Getting closer to the sweet girl, the wind brought a glimpse of the fragrance of the familiar perfume. Then, as before, some static disturbance began to appear in Harso's sight and hearing. The scent of fragrance came and went. Harso tried to ignore the noise.It was useless, about ten feet from where the girl sat, Harso's vision became chaotic, full of colorful lines. His ears only heard a meaningless sound, like dozens of radio stations playing simultaneously, while various smells burst forth, sickening. Only the beating of his own heart he could still feel in his chest, the pounding heart and fluttering f
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
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