Meet Her

Chapter 25

After the funeral is over.

"Let's go home, Clara! Let Mama rest in peace here!" take Papa after Mama's funeral is over. I'm still squatting beside Mama's tombstone. I don't think I'd have to leave him alone here.

"Clara still wants to accompany Mama first, Pa. Poor Mama alone here!" I said.

"We have to go home, Ra. Look, the sky is getting dark. Soon it will be night, tomorrow you can come back here again!" I turned to Papa and Mas Azzam who were standing beside him. I

Immediately I stood up and walked over to Papa and Mas Azzam. My eyes looked at Mas Azzam angrily.

"You! Why do you still dare to show the bridge of your nose in front of me? You go now. I don't want to see your face again! Go!"

"Clara! You can't say that. Azzam is your husband!" Papa snapped at me.

"Yes, Papa is right! He is my cowardly husband. Because he doesn't dare to be honest with his parents about his wife. Because of his wishy-washy attitude too, that got me stuck in this relationship. Because he was also Mama to death! I hate him Daddy!" I sobbed until I sat on the ground.

I didn't care about the dirt stuck to the robe I was wearing. I don't know how long I cried while looking down, when I felt tired then looked up and saw that there was only Papa. Looks like Mas Azzam has gone home first. Papa took me home when the Maghrib call to prayer sounded faintly in the distance. A month later.

That afternoon, I was watering Mama's favorite flower on the side porch. My smile widens when I see the flowers grow in abundance. Mom would be happy to see him. I can still imagine when Mama was watering them every morning and evening.

"Clara, there's a guest who wants to see you," Auntie told me.

"Who, ma'am?" I asked without turning because I was engrossed in looking at Mama's favorite flowers.

"Um, that's ... Doctor Umam,," replied the Aunt doubtfully.

I turned to the Aunt then told her to just throw the guy away.

"But, Clara. He insists he wants to meet him," said the Aunt again.

While chuckling in disgust, I also met the stubborn and unyielding guest. Apart from Mas Azzam, who will soon be officially divorced from me, Umami is one of the men I don't want to see again. However, he still nagged and kept apologizing to me. I don't know how many times I kicked him out, but he always came and came again without getting bored.

I arrived in the front room and saw him standing in front of the large family photo in my living room. This time I don't know what other reason he will give me to talk to him. Umami turned to me, she seemed to notice my presence behind her.

"Clara, I..."

"You'd better go home, dear Doctor Umam. I'm not in the mood to have guests this afternoon!" I said sharply cutting him off.

I hope he will get angry and then leave my house. However, he turned out to be smiling as he took a relaxed sitting position on the sofa. There was not the slightest hint of anger on his face. I don't know what the heart of this man in front of me is made of.

"Sit down, Clara. Don't talk standing up!" said Umami casually.

What do you really want Umami to do? Why didn't he feel offended one bit by my scathing words earlier. While holding back my annoyance, I complied with his request. I chose to sit in the chair across from the table. Umami looked at me then leaned her back with her arms crossed.

"I want to be friends with you. I won't bring up our relationship again. How about it?" My forehead frowned at the sentence after sentence that came out of Umami's lips.

Be friends? Is it that easy for him to change his love to just friends? Alright, there's nothing wrong with trying.

Anyway, when you think about it. Our relationship ended, also not because of Umami's will. His parents didn't want me. Then I also decided to separate. Making peace with the past, maybe that's the right word for me right now.

"Okay, I forgive you. We're friends, but...." I deliberately hung up my sentence because I wanted to know Umami's reaction.

"But what?" he asked curiously. I smiled slightly, then continued my speech.

"You don't come here often. I don't like being seen by neighbors. You know what my status is now, right?" I continued. Umami seems to have just understood and understood what I meant.

"Okay, I understand, Ra. I'm sorry then, but if you send a message it's okay, right?" Really this child, can't be given a heart instead asking for a heart. However, I couldn't help but nod in agreement. That afternoon, my heart calmed down a bit after making peace with Umami. It turns out that harboring anger and resentment is not good, right?

"Please look at the ring with the eyes, Mbak!" I pointed to a ruby-eyed ring. That afternoon, I was at the market. At first I wanted to buy cloth material to sew myself. I wanted to retrain the sewing skills I had learned when I was in college.

After finishing buying cloth, I stopped by a jewelry store. It's okay to wash your eyes from time to time to see the beautiful things.

"Here, Ma'am. It only weighs 2.5 grams." The shop employee gave me the ring I asked for. Weighing only 2.5 grams, it looks small indeed. However, the shape and color of his eyes captivated me.

I immediately paid according to the price stated by the shop employee. After that, I walked out of the shop. Walking while looking at the ring beautifully attached to my finger. Suddenly I bumped into someone. We both fell, but I quickly got up and helped the woman in front of me. He was looking down while picking up his scattered groceries.

"Sorry, Auntie. I didn't mean to," I said. I felt that I was the one to blame, for walking without looking ahead.

"It's okay, Auntie also walked the wrong way while calling. Thank you, yes, for helping. You ... Clara!" The woman who was being helped looked surprised, her eyes widened in disbelief at me.

To be continued