"You're ready, Andi?"
"Is there any other choice, Mom?" asked Andi while tying her black shoelaces?
Andi's mother came over and placed her hand on her son's shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Ndi."
Andi nodded without looking at his mother.
Finally, Andi's family left for one of the restaurants in the city of Bandung. His father and Mr. Hartono had arranged their meeting schedule there at noon this afternoon and had lunch. On the way, the atmosphere between this father and son was cold. Andi and his father have not spoken to each other since the arrival of his parents on the first day. Andi and Mr. Soni are equally prestigious to strike up a conversation first. In the car, his mother was sitting in the back row, and Andi, next to his father, felt sad to see this situation.
"When do you guys want to keep going? Months of not seeing each other, don't you miss each other? If this is the way, how do you go all the way back to Indonesia?" scolded Andi's mom.
"Dad! I'm old instead of talking to the child. Don't think about the prestige all the time, Dad."
Seeing that his father was reprimanded, Andi smiled at himself.
"You too, Andi! Parents come instead of being welcomed, ignorant of ducks!" continued Andi's mom.
"HAHAHA." Soni laughed with satisfaction.
Andi snorted irritably. Both of them are like just tom and jerry. Luckily, they had reached their destination, and Andi didn't have to feel awkward with his father anymore.
Arriving at the restaurant, Mr. Hartono and Putri had already arrived first and sat down sweetly at table number eight. The two looked calm and relaxed with sweet smiles.
"Wow, the distant guests finally came too," said Mr. Hartono.
"How are you, sir? Have you been here for so long?" asked Mr. Soni.
The two also shook hands and hugged each other.
The two families had a heated conversation. Andi and Putri didn't say much and occasionally stared at each other. Finally, Putri smiled and raised her eyebrows at Andi as if to signal that this moment was coming too! Andi, who didn't feel strange to see Putri's excitement, just looked away without responding.
"So, how about our plan?" asked Hartono.
"Originally, I wanted to apply for an event first. But, because my wife and I can't stay here for long. If you just go directly to the wedding, how about it? I'm two months here. In my opinion, with such a time, it is enough to hold a wedding in the near future," explained Soni.
'Tsk! This guy already knew I didn't want to marry Putri. Did he forget that I once contacted him and asked for this arranged marriage to be canceled?! If it weren't for my mom, I might have escaped from Bandung!" said Andi silently.
Upset, emotional, disgusted. The feeling was unbearable again as if to break his head. However, the annoyance appeared even more significant in Andi's father. But how about Putri? Surprisingly, the irritability seemed to disappear gradually.
"Andi," Andi's mom whispered as she elbowed her dreamy boy
"Y-yes? Oh, I just follow which one is the best," Andi replied.
"Finally, thank goodness."
Andi was stunned to hear his father's answer. When did he ever tell the story of a dual Putri? Besides, what the hell did his parents know about that scheming woman?! At least, that's what Andi had in mind.
'Is that right? If so, I didn't expect that Andi secretly turned out to be watching me. This man is very romantic," the monologues Putri said to herself. Then, again, she was just a smile-as-her-own. It felt like this was her best day, starting before the other's happiness came.
"Well, we will set the wedding on the first day of September, aka next week. Agreed?"
"Yes, sir. I will prepare everything. You, Putri and Andi, just list the friends you will invite. Later, there will be my friends who work in the printing house who will print your invitations."
'These two parents are preparing marriages for their children or are doing business deals, anyway? So who wants to marry? Is it them or me? Crazy! Not to mention, Putri, whose job is to be a little bit of a joke,' Andi joked in his heart.
Throughout the conversation, Andi's mother just kept silent. In the beginning, she looked as if she was excited, but why, at this time, did she keep silent without saying much and occasionally give a smile?
As it turned out, Andi realized that. So what happened to his mom?
Andi asks permission to go to the toilet. Yes, of course, he quibbles. He needed space to breathe for a moment without the people who arranged it. In the car park, he sat in a small stall and bought a cigarette. It seems that doing this is a way of expressing his annoyance toward someone who rarely smokes.
"What are you doing here?" Putri asked surprisingly at Andi. As it turned out, she followed him from behind.
"I'm the one who should be asking. What are you doing here?" asked Andi back.
"I want to go to the toilet too, but see you here so I come here too. You're not happy, are you?"
"No need to ask. You must also know the answer," Andi replied.
"Actually, if it weren't for you and our wedding, I wouldn't have come here either. I prefer to talk about this with you and your parents." Putri sat on a bench next to Andi.
"Why?" asked Andi.
"I've never told you a story, anyway? Is my relationship with my dad not good? Yes, that's the way it is. Apart from the fact that I like you, I also want to be free from my parents, especially my dad. I don't want to keep the burden. I also want to be cherished and cared for. Fortunately, the matched person is you. If it's someone else, maybe I've ended my own life because of my parents' suffering, " Putri pensively.
Andi looked at the girl sitting next to him. He didn't expect that, as it turned out, someone he looked at was quite 'bad,' turned out to have something dark behind it. Although Andi didn't know exactly what it was, the look in Putri's eyes seemed to tell all her sadness.
"Uh, let's go in. Later, our parents must be looking for us," Putri invited, rubbing something on her cheek.
"Put, wait....."
"Yes, what?"
"Are you sure, marry me you will be happy?" asked Andi.
A difficult question for Putri to answer. She knew very well that something forced would not be good. However, again she refused.
"yes, I'll be happy," Putri replied with a smile.
At noon, the meeting went according to plan. The wedding date has been set, and the two candidates agree with their parents' ruling. Finally, these two families returned to their respective homes.
When she arrived home, Andi's mother still showed the same look on her face as last afternoon.
When his father was on the house's porch, Andi took advantage of the time to talk one-on-one with his mom, who was in his room alone.
"Mom, what happen?" asked Andi quietly as he opened the door to his mom's room.
"Hmm, it turns out that you noticed me, huh? I'm happy. But, over time, My's heart felt something strange. A sense of sadness arose when I faced off against Putri. I didn't saw love in your eyes. Granted, I already knows that you don't love her, but I don't know that your dislike is that deep. I felt like she was failing as a parent. But, on the other hand, i have no choice," explained Andi's mom.
"Then, I also saw something from that girl. She is a good girl, maybe not perfect, but I can guess that her true nature is very good. If you can be honest, in the restaurant, I had wanted to retreat, but, I also felt sorry for Putri. What I sees, her love for you is sincere."
Andi just kept silent, not wanting to comment yet. But, of course, the mother's dilemma may not affect anything. Andi had resigned himself to it all.
"So, you more sorry for Putri than for your own child?" asked Andi muttering.
"Yes, it's not like that, anyway. But, as a woman I knows very well what she feels. In the past, Me and your da were matched too. The position is the same, I love your dad, but he doesn't. Even though we were forced to, we loved each other for a long time, really. And it's durable to this point,"
"Yes, but right, You don't like dad's tough nature, right? Finally, you knows dad true nature, right?" asked Andi.
"He also human, Ndi. No one is perfect. Getting married is not about getting the one we want. But how will we be able to supplement each other's shortcomings. If you're looking for the perfect one, you won't get it until any time. Getting married is worship. I didn't say that my marriage was the best. But, at least you can take the positive side of all the marriage stories of anyone who is assured as me. Marriage is the most extended worship."