"Master is willing to give you freedom. Are you going to leave him?" Harris asked while looking straight at Luliyah.
Luliyah looked back at Harris when the man asked her that question. She pondered for a moment after hearing Harris's question. Would she leave Kelvin, for the freedom she wanted?
No answer came out of her mouth. She immediately got up from the sofa and walked towards her room with brisk steps, leaving Harris to stand alone in the living room.
After climbing the stairs, she could see the door to her room was wide open. Her steps got faster as she got closer.
As soon as she stood in the doorway, her legs suddenly stopped as if they wee stuck on the ground. She couldn't move.
What should she tell Kelvin? What should she do now?
She could see Kelvin sitting on the edge of the bed staring out of the window. His hair was still wet after bathing. The water continued to drop, soaking the pajamas he was wearing. His back looked a little limp, making him look helpless.
A feeling of guilt crept into Luliyah's heart when she saw the man's back. She could see the heavy burden he felt with his inability to see.
"Did Harris tell you?" Kelvin could feel Luliyah's presence. Even though he was closing his eyes, he could hear the sound of the woman's footsteps as she walked toward the room.
When he opened his eyes, he could see the reflection of Luliyah's figure walking towards him even though his sight was a little blurry. It seemed like he was too exhausted that his eyes got more blurry than usual. He could not see the woman's face and expression, but he could see her figure.
Without saying anything, Luliyah immediately went into the bathroom and took a dry towel. Then, she walked over to Kelvin and stood in front of him. She wanted to help the man dry his hair.
When she stood in front of Kelvin, Luliyah realized that the man had buttoned his pajamas shirt wrongly. His pajama looked messy because the buttons were put in the wrong place.
Luliyah tried to keep her tears from spilling out when she looked at the man in front of her.
The man who always thought about her in any condition, always helped her whenever she was in trouble and all the while bearing his own burden. A man who was so tough and cruel in the face of his enemies, turned out to have a side where he was helpless and could not do anything about it.
Luliyah dropped the towel she was holding and stretched out her hand to help fix the buttons on his pajama.
Kelvin's body felt stiff when Luliyah suddenly touched him. After seeing what Luliyah was doing, he realized the pajama he was wearing was a mess.
Kelvin cleared his throat and held Luliyah's hand, "It's okay, I can fix it myself. This is normal." After saying that, he adjusted the buttons on his shirt. He felt a little embarrassed by carelessness, he didn't make small mistakes like this.
Luliyah knew that Kelvin was a man with high self-esteem. He hated getting help from other people and was used to doing things all by himself. It was as if this little mistake he made had tarnished his image. It made him look like he couldn't do anything at all for himself.
Luliyah didn't insist. She rose to her feet and began to dry the man's hair gently, "Let me help you. Even if it's just a small thing, I also want to be useful to you..."
Silence enveloped them, no one started a conversation. There was only the sound of the crickets from outside the window.
"Why don't you want to sign the divorce papers? I gave you freedom..." Kelvin said, staring a conversation.
"That's not the freedom I want. Together with you I can be free. You never forbid me to do what I want...and that's freedom." Luliyah said as she was holding onto Kelvin's hair.
She stared at Kelvin's beautiful brown eyes. 'God is so cruel, he gave this man beautiful eyes but also made him unable to see. There was only darkness that followed him all the time.' Luliyah thought within.
Tears started to drop down Luliyah's face, unconsciously falling into Kelvin's hands.
Luliyah cried. The woman was crying over her husband's situation.
"Why are you crying?" Kelvin asked. The woman did not want to open her mouth because she felt the tears would increase.
Kelvin took a deep breath. He didn't know what to do at a time like this. He didn't know how to comfort a woman who was sad. Before meeting Luliyah, he never paid attention to any woman who approached him.
Luliyah cupped her hands over her face as tears came out even more. Kelvin immediately grabbed her body, sat her on his lap and hugged her. He gently stroked her back and waited for her to stop crying.
"Leave me...and you will be free, like before." Kelvin said in a low voice. His voice was hoarse as he said it. It was as if he was holding back his tears.
"I will not leave you..." Luliyah replied with a chuckle. She felt her throat tighten.
"I'm only giving you one chance. After this, you can never leave me..." Kelvin said again. But when he said that, he hugged Luliyah tighter because he wasn't willing to let her go.
"Hmm... I'm not going." Luliyah muttered.
Luliyah knew how hard it was to fight alone. Even if she had perfect eyes, she still had to struggle to survive. Kelvin needed someone to share his burden. Luliyah was willing to be that person even though she didn't love Kelvin yet.
Kelvin had helped her a lot. Maybe this was the only way she could return the favor. By standing next to Kelvin and taking care of him.
"We might have gotten married not because of love. But there must be a reason why we are meant to be together..." Luliyah leaned her head on Kelvin's shoulder.
Kelvin was silent and did not answer Luliyah.
Silence enveloped them again. The comfortable feeling that Luliyah felt made her feel sleepy. Especially after crying, her puffy eyes felt heavy. However, Kelvin still hugged her tight so she couldn't move.
In the end, she closed her eyes and fell asleep in Kelvin's arms.
Kelvin could hear Luliyah's breath and saw the woman sleeping in his arms.
Kelvin kissed the top of Luliyah's head gently, "Who said I don't love you..." He whispered softly, while his hand was still touching her hair. Luliyah didn't hear what Kelvin said as she was fast asleep.
That day, they fell asleep while hugging each other. There was no distance between the two of them like the previous days.
That day, they both realized that they needed each other.