Aleyah held her wrist. She stared out the window and daydreamed for a long time. Smith's call had not succeeded in breaking her thoughts, Aleyah remained fixated on thinking about the man. Until the sound of her father's coughing was heard several times, then Aleyah woke up from her long daydream.
Aleyah rushed to her father, leading him back to bed to rest. Smith's health had been deteriorating lately, but he always said it was okay to Aleyah and Lucy. He even registered himself in a nursing home without his daughters' consent. Smith seemed very depressed since his wife's death and he tried very hard to hide it from his daughters.
Aleyah pulled the blanket up to the old man's chest. Smith stroked his eldest daughter's face, looking at her longingly, "You look so much like your mother," he said.
Aleyah was touched, she smiled, "Mom is prettier than me, Papa, I only look half like her." After that Smith closed his eyes to rest and Aleyah left the room stealthily.
Aleyah had planned to leave this city since last week. The reason she still lives in this house is because her father is still sick. Smith has a personal nurse who visits him every day but Aleyah is not at ease leaving her father alone.
Stubborn, that's Aleyah. She postponed her work as a model so that the money in her wallet was getting thinner. Then an hour ago, a call came saying they needed a tour guide. She had been fired from that job but the boss where she used to work begged her to help him.
Aleyah agreed to the request, besides she needed money. When she looked at the clock, she immediately jumped up from the chair. The meeting time was only 10 minutes left and she was not ready. Long jeans and a white t-shirt that fit her body were her choices. She didn't wear a jacket, the weather outside was hot enough to boil water.
When she arrived at the place they had agreed, she looked left and right to find a man with a blue hat. Aleyah found him, the man looked at her without the slightest smile or happy expression as a greeting.
"Do my eyes deceive me?" she muttered then fixing her glasses. Aleyah narrowed her eyes then ran a little to approach the man. "I know you. It turns out we met again, I didn't expect you to be the one who asked to be accompanied around the city."
The man in the blue hat adjusted his hat so he could see the face of the woman who claimed to have met him. "We... have we met before?" he asked in surprise.
"Um, at the airport, you twisted my hand like this." Aleyah told her story while twisting her hand back. "Starting to remember something?"
"Oooh... the woman who barged into my taxi, I remember now."
Aleyah smiled bitterly, "I apologize for causing a scene at that time. I also left without paying the taxi, sorry."
"It's okay, you lost your mother that day, it must have been a really bad day for you so don't think about it anymore."
Aleyah frowned, "How did you know I lost my mother that day?" she asked suspiciously. The man was flustered, he smiled awkwardly while staring at Aleyah's beautiful brown eyes. Aleyah became more suspicious and the man moved his face closer, "You grabbed my shirt and shouted, 'my mother is dying damn it, let me get in this taxi, you selfish bastard'. You said that to my face."
Aleyah's face immediately turned bright red. The man smiled in satisfaction and stood up straight again. Aleyah cleared her throat awkwardly then extended her hand, "I-I'm Aleyah, you are?" she asked without looking up.
The man shook her hand. He thought about introducing himself as Michael but then he remembered that the identity had been marked by the police. The man stared at Aleyah's forehead which was covered by her thick bangs. The woman in front of him did not dare to look at his face, he was sure her face was still red and she must be very embarrassed. "Ash, call me Ash."
Aleyah let go of his hand as if the man's hand was boiling hot. She scratched her neck that wasn't itchy then turned to the right. "Nice to meet you Ash, now we have to get on the bus." She said hurriedly without looking at the man's eyes.
Ash followed Aleyah's steps casually. When they arrived at the bus, Aleyah explained the history of Balung city fluently. There was no shortage of smiles on her face, her tone of voice was also very pleasant, but she didn't dare look Ash in the eye who was sitting beside her.
Ash let Aleyah act strangely like that to him. He didn't mind being avoided like that, in fact he thought Aleyah looked very funny. All he did was act like a foreign tourist on vacation. Right now, the two of them were tourists and tour guides who accidentally met again after meeting at the airport. That was the reality Ash chose. That was all Aleyah needed to know about Ash, just that much.
"Temples," Ash said when they arrived at a large, multi-storey building that looked magnificent and ancient. Aleyah clapped her hands loudly, "Right! Do you know about this temple?"
Ash knew this place, they were in a place of ancient kingdom heritage, which has now become a tourist spot. But Ash shook his head, he just wanted to keep Aleyah talking. The woman also seemed happy when given the opportunity to explain. Then what Ash did was keep asking and listening to Aleyah's answers carefully.
Her patient ran out till the point, "Enough!" she shouted quite loudly.
People focused their attention on them. Aleyah regretted her actions a little but she couldn't stand it anymore. Ash asked too many questions, she didn't mind if it was related to tourist attractions but all the questions that came out of Ash's mouth were only about her. Her full name, what her job is, date of birth, place of residence, who her best friends are, all her personal things were asked by this stranger.
"You work very hard, Aleyah. So this tour guide thing is just a side job?"
"Yes, you are my last tourist, so stop asking about unimportant things." She said then to walk again. Ash did not agree, for him Aleyah was the most important thing right now. He was not interested in old buildings, city history or ancient legends, he had to find out whether Aleyah was a spy or not.
He had to find out how this woman could know his position every time he acted. The woman always managed to follow him, he was sure that it was not a coincidence. He was also sure that whoever was behind Aleyah must have high power or equal to him. If not, there was no way Aleyah could have followed him all this time.
That was Ash's purpose in meeting Aleyah, as the tour guide today.
"Want me to take a picture?" Aleyah asked while extending her hand to Ash who kept staring at his phone. Ash did not answer, look at or listen to her question, it made Aleyah a little annoyed. Ash had been like that since an hour ago, glued to his phone.
Aleyah was silent for quite a while, then Ash realized that he was being watched. Aleyah forced a smile, "You didn't listen to what I said all this time, did you?" she asked.
"Sorry, I am listening, there was a message from a coworker." Ash apologizes immediately. "I can't ignore you, Aleyah, and purposely let your mouth dry because of talking too much. I was just.." Ash hesitated at the end of his sentence because Aleyah's face became more annoyed. ".. replying to a message."
Aleyah sighed then checked her watch. Ash found a summer-style cafe, he asked Aleyah to go there and the woman immediately agreed to his offer.
They climbed the stairs, opened the door then stood in front of the cashier who doubled as the ordering place. "What do you want to order?" Ash asked the woman who was staring at a menu stuck on the wall for a long time. Aleyah was still muttering and thinking for quite a while. "Take your time, or.. Do you want to order two drinks?"
Aleyah's eyes shone when she heard that but quickly faded when she remembered about her wallet. Ash nudged the woman's shoulder with a slight chuckle, "Order what you want, it's on me." he said then reached into his pants pocket.
"Thank you," Aleyah said excitedly. She tiptoed at the cashier's desk to look for the cafe worker. "Hello? We want to order." she called repeatedly.
Not long after a waiter appeared from the cafe entrance. The man immediately returned to the cashier's desk to serve his customers. "Welcome, sorry for the inconvenience." he said.
"I would like to order a latte and a lemon cheesecake, what about you Ash?" she asked again to the tall man standing behind her.
"No way, you're Aleyah right?" asked the cafe employee. The man's words made Ash frown, a very unfriendly piercing stare.