This afternoon at Ms. Veni's house - Veer and Selfi's mother, was having a guest, a beautiful girl who had known Veer's family for a long time. Even Ms. Veni herself often said that she had considered her as her own daughter.
"This one's for you, Aunt Veni. I chose it by myself according to your taste. Hope you like it. " said Ellen. Give a blue paper bag to Ms. Veni.
Inside the paper bag was a box with jewelry inside. It's nothing strange that Ellen always brought this kind of gift to Ms. Veni or anyone. Ellen came from a wealthy family, so it was not so difficult for her to buy any kind of luxury items such as jewelry.
"Thank you so much, Ellen. Next time, please don't bother bringing gifts like this, Honey," Ms. Veni smiled gently after seeing the gift that Ellen gave.
"It's nothing troublesome at all, Auntie. I'm actually happy if I can bring gifts especially for you. It feels strange if I came here just empty-handed," Ellen replied with a smile on her face.
Her name is Ellen Ayudia, a close friend of Veer since elementary school. In the past, when Veer's parents were still together, their house was next door. Then, no wonder she was so close with Veer and his family.
Veer and Ellen grew up in the same neighborhood. Until when Veer was twelve years old, his parents decided to get divorced. What was the reason behind this? Veer's father was caught having an affair. And it turned out that the affair had been going on for more than five years.
That's what made Ms. Veni unable to forgive her ex husband. She decided to divorce. And her two children became the custody of Ms. Veni. However, even though Ms. Veni and her ex-husband had divorced; in recent years, she had finally begun to allow her children to meet her father.
It's just that Veer and Selvi didn't want to meet their dad. Every time their dad wanted to meet them, there's always an excuse they used to refuse. No more than three times they met their dad after the tragedy of the divorce between their two parents. It was also because of coercion from Ms. Veni.
After the divorce between Ms. Veni and her ex-husband, she and her two children then moved to another place. Since then, Veer and Ellen were no longer living close to each other. But the two of them actually still could see each other often because they were in the same school until they were in high school.
"Hasn't Veer already been home from campus, Auntie?" asked Ellen.
"He should have. But, earlier, he texted me that he's going to meet Marvel. Have you met Marvel yet, Ellen? I heard that you guys are in the same major and have just graduated, right?" asked Ms. Veni. She remembered pretty well the information she got from her second child.
"Yes, Auntie. Marvel and I are on the same campus. In the same major and even in the same class too, " said Ellen then laughed softly after that.
"From the first grade of high school til graduating from college, I's always with Marvel. And I's like freaking tired of seeing his face," Ellen joked.
"Maybe you guys 're destined for each other," said Ms. Veni with a witty smile. "You two look good together though. Beautiful and handsome. More importantly, you're both well established."
Ellen smiled after hearing the compliment. "Thank you, Auntie. But Ellen and Marvel are just friends. And I have no other feelings for him."
Ms. Veni nodded that she did understand what Ellen said. It's already several times she heard such stories from Veer. Her son said that Marvel had liked Ellen for a long time. It's just that Ellen couldn't accept his feelings.
You could say that Marvel's love was one sided. That's how it actually was. Because in Ellen's heart, there was only one name that will forever never be replaced by.
***
Veer arrived at his house at 10 p.m. Actually, he had finished his work at one in the afternoon. But he had an appointment with Marvel to go to his grandmother's place.
Marvel was the only child of his parents, and the only person he often asked to accompany him to go to his grandma's house, visit the hospital to meet her father, or just play games on the playstation was the one and only, Veer.
"Are you home, Veer?"
The question stopped Veer's hand from opening his shirt. In front of him now, there was his mother who was staring at him lovingly.
"I just had dinner at Marvel's house. So I'm late, Mom," said Veer as he took off the shirt he was wearing.
Veer changed his clothes with a black t-shirt which he took from his wardrobe. Then, after he had finished changing, he invited his mom to sit on the sofa in his room.
"Marvel's parents 're all healthy, right?" asked Ms. Veni, then Veer immediately nodded to her.
"Is there something you wanna talk about to me, Mom?" Veer seemed to be able to guess if there was something his mother wanted to convey.
"Ellen came here this afternoon. She wanted to meet you, but you're going with Marvel," Ms. Veni immediately said the thing she wanted to tell her son.
"So what's the problem?" asked Veer.
"Veer… Do you really have no special feelings for her? Like, maybe you ever felt nervous when you're near her? Then, when she was approached by another guy, how did you react to it? Did you feel angry? Or was it just mediocre for you?" asked Ms. Veni non-stop. She really wanted to know the true feelings of her son.
Veer, after hearing the question, chuckled softly. It's not the first time he got this kind of question from his mother. Like, every time Ellen came to his house, her mother would definitely ask about his feelings towards Ellen.
"Mom," Veer gently gripped his mother's hands. "Ellen and I are just friends. Basically we're close friends who have known each other for a long time. If you asked, do I love her or not? I will say yes."
"I actually love Ellen like a brother who loves his sister. Like how I love Selfi."
"So you don't love her at all? Like, with the kind of love that you wanna be the partner of each other's life," for the umpteenth time, Ms. Veni still wanted to confirm Veer's answer.
"I'm not the kind of guy who easily changes my decision, Mom. Once I said no will always be no. I only consider Ellen as a friend. That's all. Nothing more and nothing less," said Veer, emphasizing his irreversible decision.
If Veer had decided something, no one else can change it. Including his own mother.
"Okay. I'll keep your word, then," said Ms. Veni, ending the topic of their conversation about Ellen.
"Then… when will you bring a girlfriend home?"
GOD! Veer just breathed a sigh of relief, then his mom asked again about the topic Veer wanted to avoid the most. It sure made him feel dizzy. Poor him..
"Mom, you know I don't have a girlfriend. And I don't wanna have that kind of relationship yet," Veer was already tired of this sentence he often said multiple times.
"Come on, Veer. Soon you'll be in your thirties. How long do you wanna close your heart? Don't you feel sorry for me? The more you delay your wedding day, it would mean you wanna torture my feelings," said Ms. Veni, making Veer turn his head.
"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, Mom."
"I really wanna have a grandson, like immediately, Son."
Never mind, Veer was always running out of words whenever he argued with his mother. Whatever the reason he said will not make his mother stop telling him to get married asap. Isn't there another important topic they could talk about than talking about marriage? It's so annoying!
***
30062022 (3.20 PM)