You're new, right? I don't think I've seen you before?"
"Yes, I just moved here," she replied with a smile.
"Oh, where did you move from?"
"I moved from Germany."
"Wow, Germany? Great! What faculty are you from?" asked Bella again looking enthusiastic...
"Criminal Law."
"Wow, that's great, isn't it, Nad?" she exclaimed excitedly.
I just smiled a little at her story which I thought was mediocre. How could I know a guy who moved from Germany while he knew me so well? Who exactly is Maxime? Why did he know so much about me?
Since we had already met him, we decided to go to the cafeteria together. On our way to the cafeteria, Maxime surprised me again by suddenly pulling my hand until I fell into his arms again.
"Watch out, there's a ball!" he shouted, immediately pulling my hand away, making me look at him.
I was so surprised because Maxime suddenly pulled my hand when a ball almost hit my head. Several people came over to pick up his ball that almost hit my head and they all apologized to me for being careless.
I was still rooted to the spot and still staring at Maxime's face that looked so close to mine.
"Hm . . . hmm . . . hmm."
Hearing Bella's voice, I immediately let go of Maxime's hand and made me move away from him a little.
"Are you okay?" asked Maxime.
"It's okay. I'm going to the cafeteria, I'm hungry," I said trying to divert and immediately rushed away.
While in the cafeteria, I met Bobby and also Niko who seemed to be waving his hand at me and Bella.
"Who is he?" Bobby whispered to Bianka which was heard by me when I saw Maxime behind me.
"New kid, Nadia's friend."
"Who is he, Nad?" asked Niko when he saw Maxime sitting next to Bobby.
"Him?" I said confused.
"I'm Maxime, a transfer from Germany and I'm a Law student. Nice to meet you guys," he cut in, introducing himself as if he realized we were all talking about him.
"I'm Bobby from the Faculty of Medicine."
"Niko, Medicine," Niko introduced himself.
"Which of you two is Nadia's husband?" said Maxime suddenly which made the atmosphere quiet and awkward.
"Me, why?" Niko asked back which made me suddenly nervous.
"Please take good care of Nadia," he said which made us all silent for a while.
"Already . . . already . . . let's eat," I said to break the ice.
In the middle of eating, Maxime surprised me again. He suddenly took my plate of fried rice so quickly that everyone around me was also surprised to see it.
"Hey, that's my food!" I shouted in annoyance.
"Don't eat that, this rice has shrimp. Aren't you allergic to shrimp? Why do you still eat shrimp?" he said which made me dumbfounded again. "Eat my fried rice, it doesn't have prawns," he said as he swapped the plates of fried rice between the two of us.
Niko and the others looked sarcastically at Maxime. It looked like there was going to be a world war three after we all ate today.
"Why are you guys looking at my face like that?" asked Maxime confused.
"Why do you know Nadia is allergic to shrimp, don't you just know each other?" asked Bella confused.
"Yes, you seem to know a lot about Nadia. I'm so confused myself," said Bobby while scratching his head which was not itchy.
All my friends immediately attacked Maxime with several questions. I myself was very curious waiting for an answer from him, why did he know so much about me? Was he a man in the past? But, who?
"I just met Nadia, but I know a lot about her. And about you?" she said, looking at Niko's face.
"You're Nadia's husband, you should know that your wife is allergic to shrimp. How can someone like you be Nadia's husband!" she said again which made the atmosphere unpleasant and made Niko's appetite disappear.
"Don't talk as if you know Nadia better than me. I know a lot about Nadia, I've known her since she was a child. So, you don't need to lecture me like that!"
Niko's eyes already looked so emotional. He seemed to have given Maxime a war signal with his facial expression that seemed to be holding back his anger. Niko also looked at Maxime boldly.
"If you really know Nadia more than me, why didn't you know that there were shrimps in the fried rice?"
Niko smiled wryly and made the atmosphere unpleasant. Bobby and Bella also seemed to have no appetite for their food anymore.
"Nad, let's go home," said Niko who immediately pulled my hand, making Maxime only look sarcastically at me and Niko.
Niko continued to pull my hand and led me to get into the car. His face looked very upset with the incident in the cafeteria just now.
"Nik, are you angry?" I asked, opening my voice.
"If you were me, would you have done the same thing?"
"What do you mean?"
Niko looked at me deeply. His eyes were very sharp, but they also seemed to hint at a sense of disappointment towards me. In fact, the expression on his face made it clear that he was very disappointed.
"Maxime is a stranger, you just met him, right? Or maybe, you knew him before?" she accused unreasonably.
"That's impossible, I just met him!"
"So, why does he know so much about you, as if he knows you better than I do? Who does he think he is? I'm the one who became his husband, not him!" she shouted in annoyance.
I was so shocked. Why did Niko have to yell at me like that? How angry was Niko with me? Just because a strange man knew more about my personality, was it appropriate for a husband to yell at his wife like that?
"Why do you have to seem like this? Do you even know what I'm like? I'm pretty sure you don't know that I'm allergic to shrimp?" I asked, getting carried away with my emotions.
"Why are you talking to me like that? I'm your husband. Obviously I know a lot about you!" he said, which made me upset to hear his answer.
As it turns out, I was wrong all along. Niko was not as gentle as I had imagined him to be. I stared at Niko with a fierce and resentful look. My tears were about to fall from my eyes, but I tried to hold them back and not look weak in front of him.
"Know a lot? There are some things you don't know about me, Niko. My parents don't necessarily know what my daily life is like, let alone you who is only a husband. And, do you know what's in my heart right now? You're not a God who knows everything about me."
"I . . . I don't know everything about you. But, I've spent almost half my life with you, Nad. And, now I'm your husband. So, I must know and even should know everything about you."
"So? Why do you have to be so angry with me? What did I do wrong?"
Niko was silent. He was at a loss for words and I don't know why I got so emotional over a stranger who had suddenly appeared in my life. Niko didn't reply to me at all, just drove the car at a very high speed.
On the way home, Niko and I didn't speak at all. And for the first time, we had a big fight like this after 1 year of marriage. It was true, our egos, differences of opinion and even the smallest things could trigger fights in our home life.
Arriving home, Niko just walked into the house without looking at me. I don't know if I did the right thing in this fight or not.
But what I said was true, that stranger knew more about me than my own husband. Maybe what Maxime said was a bit outrageous, it's just that I demanded too much of Niko.
Just because he's my husband, I demand that he should know a lot about my personality. I opened my childhood photo album again. There were so many pictures of me and Niko together. But I admit, as a child Niko was always beside me. He was always there when I needed someone and he always helped me if I got into trouble.
I think, my real guardian angel is not Maxime but it is Niko. Still clearly remembered in my mind, Niko once gave me his pre-math book when I forgot to bring it when we were in 4th grade. In the end, Niko was punished by the teacher for helping me.
Niko also gave me his shoes when my shoes were torn and he had to be willing to walk without shoes. Niko was also the one who helped me through the times when I was slandered by Lisa during my senior graduation 3 years ago. Always Niko . . . Niko . . . and Niko.
I don't understand why it's hard for me to fall in love with him. But, honestly from the bottom of my heart, I've felt what it's like to fall in love with him once. And, that love made me a little traumatized to feel the same way again.
I'm scared, scared of that feeling really coming back. And, I was also afraid that those feelings would make my relationship with Niko not work out. Because I was afraid that those feelings would hold me back and put a strain on my relationship with Niko.
"Because you'll never know and never want to know what's in my heart, Nik. I've felt it once enough, I don't want it to come back. Because with those feelings coming back, I'll never live in peace. And I'll forever be trapped in a long wait."