The sun was beginning to set. The reddish sky in the west could not hide the pale face of Bintang. This was his first flight. Luna knew Bintang was afraid of heights, but the man tried to hide it. He didn't want to look weak in his wife's eyes.
Luna leaned her head on her husband's shoulder.
From the boarding room Bintang saw many planes outside lined up like toys. A plane took off across the horizon, the red sun and orange-blue sky in the background. Ah, how beautiful.
Tomorrow is Luna's birthday. They want to spend it in Singapore. Luna has booked 2 roundtrip tickets, hotel booking, and Bintang's clothes have all been prepared.
On all occasions Bintang always just accepts it. Just bring the body, and sometimes it makes Bintang forget when D-day arrives.
It's not often that they go out like this. When they were dating, they spent more time at home, chatting on the terrace or watching TV. Especially now there is Bright, their baby. This was the first time they left Bright with his grandmother.
And the evening flight went off without a hitch.
***
The sky was so clear, really clear, not a single cloud in sight. The stars were scattered, and the air was cool. They had a candlelight dinner at a restaurant by the Singaporean River.
The atmosphere was beautiful and romantic.
The people who passed by on the pedestrian along the riverbank looked happy. Cheerful smiles were on their faces. Some were joking, laughing, and taking pictures together with the background of the tourist boats that passed gracefully. Colorful lights were scattered everywhere to liven up the atmosphere. A couple was seen kissing so intimately, forgetting about their surroundings as if the world only belonged to the two of them.
Luna looked at the man in front of her. That face was cold, as usual. It didn't look excited or happy.
It was flat.
It seemed Luna never knew what was in her husband's heart. Even after three years of marriage Luna still felt alien to her husband. It was as if there were a thousand miles of distance between them.
Bintang hurriedly finished the last bite on his plate, then left the room and spent his time in the garden, leaving Luna who had not finished eating, alone.
From behind the glass wall, Luna saw Bintang light a match to the cigarette in his mouth, then take a drag and puff the smoke into the air.
Luna swept her gaze across the room.
A strange man sitting alone in the corner of the room looked at her and smiled. Luna smiled back. The man nodded raising his glass and offering a drink to Luna. The girl smiled politely but she quickly excused herself from her seat, went out to her husband, and stood next to him. Keeping him company.
***
Luna met Bintang at a property exhibition. Luna was looking for a house, Bintang worked in the developer's office and was on duty at the exhibition stand. Bintang was indeed a lucky young man. Besides being able to get a customer who eventually bought his house, he also managed to marry Luna shortly after the introduction.
Bintang was a very confident person, you could even say his PD has overdosed. He never felt insecure every time he came to Luna's house on his motorcycle, even though his rivals had luxury cars. It was his nonchalant nature that made Luna curious and fall in love with the man. In her eyes, at that time the man was very Cool.
"Mas*), this one is cute, isn't it?" asked Luna as she held up a chocolate wrapped in a white and purple velvet cloth in the shape of a cow, resembling a pencil case.
They deliberately checked out of the hotel early to have more time to walk around shopping at the duty-free before boarding.
"Bright will like it," she continued.
"Mas..."
There was no reply.
"Mas..." Once again Luna called out to her husband, but there was no sound. Luna realized that Bintang was not with her. Looking left and right, it turned out that Bintang had moved to the booth opposite, looking at perfume.
Luna rushed to the cashier to pay for her groceries and rushed to the perfume counter where Bintang was.
She helped sort through the perfumes for her husband. "This one is really good, it smells like you." Luna sprayed the masculine-scented perfume tester onto her wrist and kissed it once more.
"Mas..."
It was quiet. No answer.
Luna looked around. Looking for the man again. Looking right and left, it turned out that Bintang had already left the perfume counter and had moved back to the booth next door.
Luna let it go. She continued looking for new perfumes for her collection. When she looked back at the booth where Bintang was, he was no longer there. Luna quickly paid for the perfume she chose, and walked quickly to find Bintang.
It turned out that Bintang was looking at souvenirs in the shop opposite. Luna ran a little across, and circled the display cabinet to see the contents of the shop, a beautiful T-Shirt caught her eye then she pulled an Extra Large sized shirt out...
"Mas... look, this looks good for you..."
Luna turned to the man next to her... it wasn't Bintang.
"Mas..." she exclaimed again. Her eyes searched while carrying a t-shirt. But she couldn't find her Bintang. She looked at the next booth, but nothing either. Then he put all her groceries back.
It turned out that Bintang had crossed over again to the toy booth, then disappeared.
It seemed that if their footsteps were connected from end to end, they would form an irregular zigzag line.
Luna walked quickly while looking into the duty-free outlet she passed. She couldn't find her husband. She picked up her cell phone intending to call Bintang.
At the same time, Bintang's figure flash out of sight, apparently, he had just come from the restroom.
Luna immediately ran a little after her husband, then took the man from behind to turn around, "Let's go straight to the boarding room, tired." she said.
When she travels alone, Luna usually spends time shopping for books at the Book store. Buying storybooks or toys for Bright. But this time Luna chose to sit with her husband because Bintang didn't like reading.
Together they sat on a chair outside the boarding room. The door hadn't been opened yet.
"Btw, I don't think I've heard a birthday greeting from you yet mas," Luna said after a while.
"I did," replied Bintang shortly.
"When?"
"Last night."
"In a dream huh?"
"It's important?" he asked back
"Sure... "
"In my family, there is no such thing as an annual birthday," Bintang replied again.
"This is our family, Please .." Luna pleaded desperately.
Silence a thousand languages.
"Come on say, I just want to hear it once." her voice pitiful.
Luna waited.
"It's free too... no charge" she sulked.
Still silent.
Luna looked at the man next to her. Bintang looked out of the hangar, unmoved.
"How hard can it be to say happy birthday?"
No answer.
Luna took a deep breath, not knowing what else to say. She also didn't know what to do. Then she grabbed her cell phone from her bag again.
While in Singapore Luna had deliberately turned off her cell phone, she only turned it on again when there was no one else she could talk to like right now, even though there was Bintang beside her.
It turned out that her phone was full of birthday messages from all her friends. Luna was truly touched. The attention she never expected came flooding in, while what she wanted from the one person who had become her husband never came true.
The boarding room doors were already open. Luna took her husband's hand and headed for the line, which had suddenly grown long. Bintang let go of Luna's hand, and walked and stood behind his wife.
"So the title is Birthday without Birthday wishes, huh?" asked Luna as she stood in line, still hoping. Even though the previous year she never got a 'Congratulations'.
Let's not even talk about gifts. Even Luna's travel accommodation tickets were never taken into account, she only asked for a greeting, but even that was never obtained. And actually, Luna was used to it, Luna didn't want to be overbearing or baper. But this time she wanted to feel the luxury of getting a birthday wishes from her husband. After they celebrated together in Singapore.
She saw her husband's face was flat, with no reaction.
Alright. So be it.
"Happy birthday, dear... " she said later to herself.
***
*Mas is a respectful greeting for men. Mas is also among the most common informal prepositions in Javanese society today.