Bang Ojek I Love You
Dusk Red
Dusk afternoon hanging sweet on the western horizon. The hustle and bustle of the city began to feel the beat as Ilana's legs set foot in front of the office building. Inevitably he had to take advantage of public transportation or online taxis to go home. The car is being serviced. Somehow Ilana did not directly order a taxi but preferred to walk for a while while looking at the food stalls and snacks lined up like a night market.
He stopped in front of a pet shop, thinking back to how the fate of the poor cat who was trapped on the rooftop barrier was. He forgot to check again, because the one present in his head was the sweet smile of the young man in the OB uniform.
His eyes caught the shadow of the back of someone standing in front of the cashier in the shop. A man in a black jacket held up a small cage, and bought a few packs of food paint. All his attention was on that figure.
The man in the black jacket turned around, and it turned out to be Rizal. The OB whose shadow had just been present in his mind.
Ilana waited for the young man to come out of the pet shop.
"Rizal?"
"Loh ... Ms. Ilana, it just so happens .. ", said Rizal while pointing the cage at him.
"What's this?"
"Cat .. who was trapped on the rooftop wall,"
The two beautiful eyes of Ilana sparkled listen to the explanation of the young man in front of her, "seriously?" Ilana reached out her hand to welcome the small cage. He crouched down and opened the door.
A fluffy white-haired animal meows and immediately lands itself on Ilana's lap.
Meowing full of spoiled, the cat seemed to know Ilana well.
"Funny right?" said Ilana while stroking the soft fur of the cat. Rizal replied with a nod with a smile.
"What name do you want, our child?" ilana's constant chirps made Rizal bulge almost choking on his own saliva.
"M—I mean .. feather child .. don't use us,"
'Duh Ilana .. Your mouth is well? Why blong gini the brakes!' meaning in the heart.
"Ohh .. Does that mean meow? Hmmm ... "
"Aren't you in a hurry?" Ilana asked suddenly.
"Not really, Mommy."
"Don't call Ma'am donk, if outside of gini hours call Lana aja.". "welcome Ilana friendly while reaching out. Rizal replies to Ilana while commenting on a warm smile.
"If so .. to celebrate the rescue of anabul we—"
"That's what I saved for you, because I don't really like cats. Allergic as the fur." Rizal.
"Oooo .. wow, what a shame. J—so why did you even buy a cage with cat food if you can't bring the cat home?"
"Can make Ma'am, uh .. I mean to you."
"Newly this time there's a nice guy like you, Zal ... " Ilana pinched Rizal's cheek, then put the cat back into the cage. He held up the cage and took it to a place.
"Where are you going, Lan?" Rizal followed Ilana's steps.
"Aren't you no longer in a hurry?"
"Emang yes," Rizal followed Ilana's light steps. I don't know if his heart feels warm when he is with a man who is clearly younger than him.
"If so, yuk ... I want to show you something!" Ilana answered steadily towards a place where the night was filled with city lights.
He went to a cafe that was higher than the surrounding area. A small cafe called Bukit Cahaya Bintang.
"Have you ever been here?" Ilana asked Rizal. He replied with a sling.
"Luckily,"
"What's that?" Rizal frowned.
"In a moment, if the sky is really dark, you will see something amazing .." explained Ilana while sipping her cappuccino.
Both of them momentarily fell silent while looking at the expanse of the City scenery that looked flickering. Rizal was busy with his thoughts as well as Ilana.
Silent.
Ten minutes passed without a word, until the sky was already completely dark and only left a few points of redness that were getting faded even longer.
Slowly, the darkness made the flickering light of the city lights look like an array of galaxies. Rizal's eyes widened in amazement to see something he thought could not be found in this busy and polluted metropolitan city.
"Where?"
"Drink the coffee, the cold hunt .." said Ilana.
"Anyway, thank you very much Zal. You've been helping me a lot lately ... "
"No, I'm just doing a human's duty to another human being,"
Ilana turned to look towards the young man. Youth who come from a simple family but have extraordinary principles that are not owned by many people. Especially in an era like this. When everything is measured by money.
"I would also like to say thank you ... "
"You already want to bother you and bring fruits to the hospital the other day—"
Uhukkk .. uhuukkk ...
Ilana chokes on her cappuccino when she hears what Rizal says.
"Are you okay?" Rizal swiftly took out a piece of tissue and thrust at Ilana.
"M—makasih .. " said Ilana while looking the other way because she did not want Rizal to notice her face that turned into a boiled crab.
'Die me! If he knows my fruit is boughtin! With Ilana!!!' he screamed in his heart while trying to put the face of the plate so as not to be discovered that his heart was currently being dug between shame and curiosity with Rizal's next reaction.
Cell phone ringing disperse everything ...
Rizal lifted her up, though,
"Hello ... "
"Not coming home, anyway,"
"Evape Ran?"
"Sir Rara is waiting for you from five o'clock!"
Rizal jumps out of his chair after hearing Randy say, "sorry, huh? I have to go home now, it's been waiting for .. "he said before leaving, his hands were busy putting the phone in his backpack. In a hurry he put on a jacket that was hung on the back of the chair.
Ilana did not have time to say 'yes', the young man was no longer visible. Only the shadow of his back slowly disappeared swallowed by the steps of the descending stairs.
'Definitely his girlfriend who waited, until so much panic .. ' Inner Ilana snorted bitterly.
He sipped his cappuccino again. There was a sense of annoyance that he did not understand. He can't explain. Why does he feel something he shouldn't feel for someone he just knew.
Meow .. meow ...
Little cat in the cage meowing, maybe he's starving. So Ilana decided to book a taxi online and went straight back to the boarding house. His body was tired, his mind was tired.
While waiting for a taxi he took the time to open an Instagram account that he had not touched for a long time. It just happened that afternoon he had just downloaded it back. However, he has not logged in yet.
Instagram's feed rotates shortly after it's logged in, waiting for an update. For a moment he did not see any strangeness, until his net hit a post containing condolences intended for an account with the username @janicecann93. For a moment he still did not respond to what happened.
Ilana then swiped her phone screen, she found several similar posts from her high school friends.
"Death takes the body.
God takes the soul.
my mind holds the memories.
my hearts keep the love.
my faith let us know we'll meet again.
Not a goodbye, but welcome to the new life my best friend @janicecann93. May God take your soul to the best place. Love you ... "
Like a thunderbolt the word series made Ilana almost throw her phone. He did not believe what he read. This is highly unlikely, Janice and herself just met two days ago. His high school friend looked healthy and well. Ilana's entire body felt trembling, there was fear breaking out when she remembered the conversation the other day.
He called a waiter and ordered a warm camomile tea. Which he said could be calming. While waiting for his order to come, he then remembered the WhatsApp group of high school alumni that he always set silent. So that no notifications came in even though thousands of messages flooded the group.
"Innalillahi wa Inna ili rojiun .. "murm Ilana lirih with a slightly raucous voice when she saw the group was filled with various condolences.
Her hand stopped sliding the screen as her eyes caught a message from one of the group members named Chika, one of Janice's closest people. They are still cousins.
"He was a friend, a brother, a brother to me. Janice Evandria means a lot to our family. His sudden departure made everything extremely hard hit. For friends who want to do the last respects, awaited his presence at the funeral home of Magdalena Safara, jln. The Bridgen Katamso no.5. The body will be interred on Sunday, February 6. At 10 o'clock in the morning."