I'm looking at my laptop monitor as I tapping my fingers. Kirana had already left two hours ago. She may be directly going to Austin. "Julia… you hear me, right?"
I'm nodding my head. Mrs. Sherlyn wanted to discussing my book. She's my editor. "Something I wanted to tell you, ma'am." I'm straightened my body. "Why do people here… in the Rocknesse and the Hill don't like their private life exposed? I mean… we should open, right? I already…"
"Julia, stop asking that questions!" Mrs. Sherlyn exhales and massaging her temple. We did not speak for minutes. Mrs. Jenkins get inside my study room with Mr. Rakesh followed her.
"I call you later," I hang up and took a deep breath.
"Why you are still here!? Are you not…"
"I just want to know more about this orphanage. Is that wrong?" Mrs. Jenkins exhales in defeat, then leave. I know my existence here could damage her reputation. I took out my cigarette and put it in my mouth.
I'm already quit smoking a year ago, but it's habit coming back since I live here. "You shouldn't smoke inside the study room,"
She shows up. I'm looking at her standing in front of me with a white cane in her left hand. "I just want to bite it, it's that okay?"
She did not reply to my question. She fingering her surrounding and almost tripped. I hold her arms and pulled her to my side. "Thank you." Her soft voice. I've her this soft voice before, but where? I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and try to remembering her.
"D-do I know you before we meet here, ma'am?" She shook her head. Or is it just my wild thought? She sits on the couch, then shook her head.
"I just met you at the orphanage several days ago. Did I look a like someone you've met before?" Be honest, yes.
"I… thought you were one of my friends." I said.
I sit in front of her. "Feel yourself at home?" I don't know your name. I guess she doesn't want me to know her.
"No. I feel inside the cage." She said. "My grandma, she was the owner of St. Lucas Orphanage, but she always put restraint on her granddaughter. Ironic isn't it?"
I'm sorry for ask you that. I thought you enjoy staying here. "What you bring to this hell?" She seems losing her patience. Her eye bag underneath. I can tell she's depressed.
"Work. I'm an author," she hummed. I wanted to know her more, but something was bugging me. Does she… pretending to be blind, or she's a normal human being? Her eyes seem normal to me. "How about your parents? Why you not stay with them?"
She shook her head. "They divorced when I was 2 years old."
"I'm sorry to hear that." She nodding her head. It's not fair if I did not tell her about my family. "My mom died after I was born, and my dad dumped me. I lived with my uncle and moved to Austin after I graduated." Same condition, different level.
"I'm sorry to hear that." She fingering the table. "Can you tell me which is the jar with cookie inside?" I cleared my throat.
"My… lawyer had them all, sorry." I guess she likes cookies.
"It's fine." She snorted. There's another jar, but it's not a cookie. What is it!? I opened the right jar, then found something weird. It's looks like a cricket and grasshoppers.
She's the host's granddaughter. "Um… do your family like insects?" I raised my eyebrow.
"My grandma does." She said no. Now, awkward. I'm looking at my left. The door is still open. It's still afternoon. I'm bored.
This atmosphere makes me yawn. I lay my body on the couch, staring at the ceiling and wonder. What should I do next? After finishing my book, cleaning my mess, and what? Should I return to my glamorous life? Sometimes I was wondering why people in this world want to be famous.
Once I was a teenager, I want to be famous. My purpose was… to be famous. I want my dad to recognize me, but he never did. Now, when I'm vacuumed from the spotlight, he contacted me in various ways. Sending Kirana to me and threatened her, sending me a letter, and told his lawyer to reach me. What next?
What his plan was to bring me home with all of his remaining resource? He never came to my graduations. Even he was not there when it's Christmas or New Year. "You… still there?"
I hummed. I don't know her name, but she knows my name. Julia Harianto a.k.a That Author to her. "You can ask my name, Julia. I know you wanted to asking it, right?" Does she just read my mind?
I closed my eyes, try to calm down. "Yeah, what's your name and your age?" I dare myself to ask.
"My name is…" our conversation dismissed as a bald haired man enter the study room with Tosca uniform, wearing gloves and mask. Seems he doesn't want his identity exposed. "Ms. Jenkins, your mother was looking for you," she seems not pleased how he treats her. Again, I don't get her name. She standing and walking to him.
"We will meet again, Julia. It's nice to meet you!" She said.
He called her, Ms. Jenkins. How I can call her if I don't know her name? This life is sometimes unfair and sour at the same time. I can wait to tell Kirana about this day. What about Irene? Right, I still have unfinished business with her.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I dried my hair with a towel, and open the door. "Oh, shit!" The brown-haired woman sitting on the side of my bed.
"Am I… makes you jolted?" She turn her head to the right as the lightning lighted up her face. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down.
"Fuck. You can make me heart attack." I rubbed my chest and take a breath. Shit. She frightens the shit out of me. She gets inside to my bedroom. "Do you want to sleep here? If you…"
"I just want to have a quick chat before you take a rest. Is that okay?" I thought you want to sleep with me.
"O-okay." I sit next to her and took a deep breath. "What do you want to talk about?" She was wringing her hands. "If you…"
"I don't want to get married to him!" I raised my eyebrow. "Can you bring me to anywhere but this town? I don't want to stay here anymore, Julia. I… don't want to marry him either."
Fuck. It will become a long hell night.
TBC