3 months later…

Living alone is not an easy task, for me as well. But… the more you keep going, the more you find “yourself”.

This few month, I’d been reviewing all my life from the past days. I kept asking myself, why is my dad so protective, obsessive, possessive (anything you like to call). And I came with a resolution that . . .

Because I am their “only” child.

You might remember that I have a sister, Catherine. So why am I the only child? Well, the truth is… Catherine’s my cousin. Her dad had died. Her mother… ran away. She’s left alone in the age of three. Because of that, my parent decided to take care of her. . . Then, she officially became a part of us, and I always think of her as my own sister. . .

Maybe that’s the reason of why Dad has never been so protective over Catherine, because she is not his “direct” blood.

The other thing that I’ve keep asking to myself is … Theo…

In my seclusion, I’ve always remind of him. Don’t know why. . . Although I keep saying to myself, he is just my past, I couldn’t stop. . .


Although I had grown to be more reasonable and sociable –I am able to make friends now, there’s still thing that I couldn’t control. . . It’s my feeling.

Although I really did exiling myself from the mainstream, I still keep contact with my family and my friends. I only allowed them to call me. I just want . . . to … prove them that I could handle this alone. Somehow, someway, I could.

To my successful isolation, I found myself as the eighteen year old me. Seems like I am bluffing, how could I possibly be the slim girl for just a short time? Of course, I ate medicine, I worked out a lot, I controlled my dietary, and I … gave up eating my feeling. That’s why I could be the slim Candy. The Candy, “they” all longed to see.



// At My Family’s home.

I decided to end my seclusion officially. Therefore, I paid a visit to my family’s home sweet home.

As I step my foot on that place. . . I missed my home so much I could die. TT-TT I told you, there’s no other warmth like this. I shed tears while I walk in. . .

I see Pak Kumis, I shouted at him. When he finally look up at me, he drop his water hose and also his jaw. After a long few minutes, he finally flashes me a big smile. Hey, his mustache has grown a lot…! XP

“Dek Permen!! Ya ampun! Udah lama gak ketemu! Non, cantik banget, kek waktu zaman SMA dulu! Gih, Masuk, non!!”

Then, he help me with my bags.

Finally… I am home!

I called for my Mom, and Catherine. Of course I know, Dad is busy with his career.

Mom comes out from the kitchen with her apron still hanging around loosely on her chest. She screams with joy and runs toward me. Then she hugs me as if she doesn’t want to lose me anymore. Yeah, we’ve been apart for three months. We only talked, barely met.

“Candy! Oh my sweety Candy! OHMY!!! I’m glad you’re back!” Mom looks at me head-to-toe then toe-to-head, she shouts, “AND LOOKS. AT. YOU!!!!!!!!”

“I missed you MOM. I really do.” And with that I kiss her cheek.

Mom chuckle and let out another scream to summon Catherine.
Catherine runs from the second floor, she’s still on her pajamas. PINK pajamas, FYI. HAHAHAH. As soon as she sees me, she…

“Mana oleh-oleh gua?”

-_-^

*plak* I hit her forehead, “AIGOO! Lu gak rindu sama gua?? Gua rindu banget sama lu, kucing! Sini gua peluk!!”

Catherine avoids my affections, but she let me stroke her soft hair. Ah, she's prettier than the last time I saw her. But… HAHAHA. Now, I am still prettier than her, right? I’m the slim Candy, now. :D

“Ini barang kamu semua? Mom susun di kamar yah… Ohya, Mom sudah masak siap tuh. Makan sana. Cath…-_- Gosok gigi, makan. Cih, walau Minggu juga, kamu itu jorok banget. -0-“



//



“OHMYGOD! OHMYGOD! OHMYGOD! OHMYGOD!” – Juli ^0^

“Oh my fawking crap assholes, you look stunning!!!!!!!!!” – Franco -_-

I stood there as my lovely friends stared at me, speechless in their seat. I let a smile split my face onto two. I already arranged our meeting so Juli could leave her shop, and Franco… he doesn’t work because this is Sunday. Anyway, recently he works as a manager on a company.

Juli hugged me tightly. Then, she squeezed my hand. I could tell from her beaming eyes that she is happy to see me, and that she is in awe at me. I started to feel cool. :D

“You. . . Kamu . . . Lu. . .”

“Cantik banget. Gua tahu, kok. Banyak yang udah bilang itu ke gua.” I say, completely proud and ... shameless. ._.

“Galon. Lu … jadi cantik beneran deh. Gak nyangka lu bisa… secantik ini. Sumpah. ._.v”

I laugh.

Do Franco and Juli. . . successfully work out? You know, Franco was always been a jerk around Juli. So I wonder if they are still the same or … AWW! ^=^

“Jahat banget lu kodok. Candy udah seslim ini lu masih juga ngatain Galon. Parah lu!” shouts Juli.

“Easih, dia memang udah kurusan. Tapi, gua juga udah terbiasa manggilnya. Lagipula, suka-suka gua donk. Idih…”

._. It seems like… they still argue a lot. -_-

“Anyway… Can. Lu tahu gak…” Juli asks me after a waitress took our order. “… gak deh. Lu beneran udah kuliah? Jadi lu tinggal cari kerja donk?”

“Iya, gua udah kuliah bidang bisnis. Makanya gua gak free banget belakangan ini.” Yeah, during my seclusion, I decided to try for college. I moved to a boarding house near the college. (There is where I met lots of new friend!) It’s also for my excuse to Dad, I told him that I am going to move out for a while to clear my mind during the class.

Although Dad was mad as hell at first, he finally agreed after a long talk with Mom. ._.

“Gua masih nyari kerja, bukan tinggal cari kerja.” reply me.

Franco who looks like dating with his phone then look up at me, “Kamu lagi nyari kerja?”

I nod. Then, he’s back to his phone. ._.

“Eh, gimana, ya ampun. Lu harus kasih tahu gua rahasia ke … langsingan elu deh. Gilak, you totally nailed it!!!! Ohmygosh, I really couldn’t believe it, Can.”

I laugh. “Santai. Gua sebenarnya juga makan obat gitu-gitu lah. Makanya lebih cepat. :P”

“OHYA? Obat apa----“

Suddenly… Franco cut off our conversation. “Can. Gua punya pekerjaan deh buat lu!”

Juli and I stare him with frown looks. This fast? I searched job that suits me well for years! And he gets it with just… a few minute? But… I still don’t know if it would suits me well.

“Jadi apa? Yang bagus kan?” - Me

“Iya, kodok. OH! Jangan-jangan. . .!” - Juli

“Iya, Jul. Jadi gini, Can. Teman gua ini lagi butuh sekretaris. Kebetulan orang sebelumnya sudah menikah, jadi… dia gak kerja lagi. Gitu deh. Jadi lu mau?”

“Sekretaris…?”

“Iyah. Pas deh, apalagi lu seksi juga tuh!”

*plak* Juli hits Franco’s head. He deserves it. ._.b

Being a secretary? It’s not that bad. It’s also hard to find a job nowadays. So… maybe I should give it a try, shouldn’t I?

“Okay then. Lu yakin ini bagus kan?”

Franco gives me two thumbs as a sign that he is sure of it while Juli just gives him a rather confusing or unbelieving look. -_-

“Can! Lebih baik lu mikir dulu deh. Memang sih, cari kerja juga gak gampang banget. Tapi. . . daripada lu menyesal nantinya…”

“Ih, Jul. Galon yang nyari kerja kok lu yang sewot sih!” shouts Franco.

“Please yah kodok. -_-^’Galon’nya itu tolong diganti. Botol masih mending deh.” I say, almost pissed off.

“Okay…okay… Jadi… lu bisa mulai kerja besok. Anyway, sebenarnya kita satu kantor, jadi yah, gua bakal berbaik hati nganterin lu kesana besok. Okay?”

Why did I think something is strange? It's happening so fast!

After a median long speech of the company background and a long chitchat, we went home separately.


AH, I am happy.

This way, somehow, I feel more carefree than ever. This time, someway, I feel livelier. . .

Until Dad returns from his workplace.


“WHAT?! Kamu bahkan gak menelepon kalau kamu mau pulang? Dasar! Kamu pikir kamu bisa datang seenaknya?”

Fortunately, there’s Mom that backs me up, “Papa! Dia itu baru aja pulang. Masa kamu marah-marah seperti ini. Udah bagus dia pulang. Dan dia sudah lebih mandiri sekarang. Bukannya muji!”

“Kamu nih yang agak salah didik anak kamu. Lihat, dia jadi gak patuh sama kita, dia gak patuh sama saya!” Dad’s fuming red face makes me feel smaller than ants.

I just show up like this just because I want to make surprise. Well, not for him, of course.

“Candy! Kamu masih temenan sama Juli kan?” asks Dad, still with his anger tone.

Three months ago, I would fight back with Dad. I would fight him tooth and nail. But because I think a lot, because I am trying to be reasonable, I choose to talk with calmness.

“Iya, Dad. Kita masih temenan. Dia baik. Kami baik. Gak ada yang salah.”

“Oh, kamu pikir kamu yang paling pintar. Kamu pikir kamu tahu segalanya!!!”

Suddenly, I feel like I have pushed his button. He’s mad, or rather… frustrate.

Mind. Body. Soul. I begged you to stay calm with me. Stay calm. This way, we won’t fight. I don’t want to fight anymore.

And with that, Dad sprints to his room. He bangs the door and it makes a loud noise. It's almost scare me, even Cath’s face start to turn pale. Mom pats me on my back.

“Don’t take his words. He’s just worry karena kamu jarang nelepon dia.”

I nod. Then, I go up to my room. Cath also follows me since we share the same room.

When we finally enter the room, Cath lets out a deep sigh. She crawls to her bed and sits there. I sit on my bed too. I think she wants to talk.

“Sis. You know… saat lu pergi. Rumah ini… terasa lebih dingin.”

I look down. “I know. Sorry, Cath.”

“Mom is right. Dad benar-benar khawatir sama kamu. Gua yakin dia menunggu teleponmu. Kalian kan jarang teleponan.”

I'm not in the mood to talk about him anymore so I change the topic. “Yeah… anyway, are you lonely this few months, Cath? Or…do you have a new boyfriend??” I tease her.

She throws me pillow, “Whaaaaat? Hey, don’t you think you are such an old woman?”

I throw her pillow back. “What did you say? Old woman? YAH!!!!”

Then, we start a pillow fight for such a long time, until we are both tired. Cath must feel the same thing as me; we started to act like our past days.
I know… things would get better. Somehow, I thank myself that I could make this up all. I am not regretting my decision to live alone. Now, I am back. I just have to renew up the pieces.



It’s 12PM, and I feel so dehydrate. I haven’t drink since I entered my bedroom.

Cath surprisingly have a looooot to share. She told me that she got a new Korean boyfriend, Yoon SangWon. .__. Yes, she enters the international school. Some overseas students school there, from America, Korea, China, mostly because their parent worked and lived in this country.

She also told me that she met Korean through the internet. Yes, she’s also a Korean-freak. She shows me the picture and… To be honest, the boy is so hot, while the girl is so freaking pretty. She said that they’re also student like her. And she doesn’t stop telling me how cool they are.

Many things happen while I am not in this home, and she shared it all to me. I, then, know that Pak Kumis’s wife has already born a new child. Our family cat is in love with the neighborhood cat. Kak Surmih is going to marry soon. And lastly, Dad is working on his new project, so he is busy lately.

I open the door lightly, aware that Cath would wake up. Then, I go downstair to the kitchen to have ice water. After taking a relieving sip, I go back to my room. But. . . I see my Dad turn on the light. He doesn’t think that he will met me this late at night, so he’s shocked - just for a while. He makes a sign to command me to sit. We sit in the living room. In peace, or … killing silence.

“Maaf. Aku gak kasih tahu duluan.” I open up the conversation.

“Yeah. Saya maklum.”

Silence.

“Saya sudah mikir lama-lama. Papa minta maaf juga karena sudah terlalu mengatur kamu.”

I look down. Is he drunk? (My Dad's favorite drink is beer, FYI) But I don’t smell beer. I stare the floor for a long time.

“Sekarang papa gak akan mengekang kamu lagi. . .”

Does he really mean it?

...


FAT!! WHY DOESN’T HIM SAY IT A LONG TIME AGO! FAT!

“Jadi … kamu sudah dapat kerjaan?”

I don’t know why, but… I don’t have the mood anymore. I feel disappointed. Because he just realized that he is wrong. I want to tell him that it is too fawcking late. But… it’s not really late and I am sure that he will mad at me. Anyway… He really did make my past seem so bad, so darn bad.

“Udah. Aku bakal kerja di perusahaan Gakuen. Jadi sekretaris.”

“…APA?! …”

I look up at him. Hm… he starts it.

“Ah… Urmmmhhhgrr…” Dad brushes his moustache with his finger. “Sebenarnya kalau kamu mau, kamu bisa kerja di tempat papa.”

“Aku mau coba hidup mandiri dulu.” is all I can say to him. Working on his company? It’s not a bad idea, but … I just don’t feel like it.

Although I still don’t know what hell will gonna wait for me tomorrow at that place.

Secretary? HAHAHA. I should be nice then. What should I wear then?

. . .

. . . . .


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