Blooming At It's Time
¹⁸ Regrets

Today Alora seems to be thinking a lot. Since the trip, he has become more talkative than usual. Today, Alora and Alden have to check the location of the building that will be the venue for their wedding. Alden knew something was weighing on the woman's mind. At first Alden did not want to ask, but his curiosity was no longer able to hold.

"Why? You seem to have a lot of thoughts." Said Alden, while they were trying food samples for a big event next year.

"Hm? Oh, it's okay." Reply Alora, while stirring her food. Alora looks tasteless, but usually she can at least play with food.

"Which one did you choose? Set A or Set B?" Alden asked again. Although curious, Alden tried not to force Alora to tell a story. Alden will only give time until Alora is ready to tell him the problem.

"Hm... Both are okay..."

"You didn't even try one bit..."

Alora looked at Alden at a glance, feeling caught red-handed. Then Alora looked down, unwilling to look at Alden who was also staring at her.

"You tired? We'll go home, okay?"

"Alden..."

"Hm?"

"You said, the older we get, the more religious, right?"

Alden thought for a moment, considering whether he had indeed said such a thing. Then he nodded, after recalling and saying, "Yes. Wh why? You want to repent?"

Alora did not laugh at Alden's joke. He sighed weakly instead, unable to bear the need to hold all of his head alone.

"Why do you think the gambler repented? Is it because you want to die?"

Alden did not immediately respond to Alora. He realized, what is meant by a gambling man by Alora is his own father. So, Alden chose to be careful in responding to this sensitive discussion. He certainly did not want Alora to feel burdened with her sentence.

"Maybe because he regretted his actions..."

Alora let out a long sigh, then looked up as she looked at Alden sitting before her. He can't wait any longer. Inevitably, indeed Alora had to face this problem. So, whether true or not, his decision was already unanimous. Alora wants to solve her entire past.

"Can we stop by somewhere?"

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Alden accepted Alora's request on condition that she accompany her to meet her father. Alden doesn't want things like last week to happen again. They were waiting in the waiting room of a church dormitory. As promised, Alden accompanied Alora right beside him.

They waited for quite a while, until a middle-aged man approached. The man was Alora's father, only this time it looked quite different. If previously he looked like a stalker, this time the man looked neat with a short-sleeved shirt and trousers. Her smile had already widened but Alora was not looking at her at all. Feeling bad, Alden wakes up alone and greets Alora's father, who introduces himself as Soni Bestari.

"Dad didn't think you'd come here. Thank you, son."

Alora did not answer. The woman just looked down at her two hands that were united on her lap. Alora did not see the figure of her father, just hearing his voice alone had made her heart beat faster. Alora closed her eyes, trying to catch her breath that was slowly getting shorter. He tried as much as possible, so that the events of last week did not happen again.

Realizing that, Alden clasped Alora's hand, hoping to calm her down. But who would have thought it worked. Alora felt the warmth of Alden's hands running all over her body. Instantly he felt calmer than before, then slowly opened his two eyes. Alora looked at Alden's hand holding his hand. Then, Alora clasped him back with one hand.

"Don't feel burdened, I'm just sending snacks."

Alora looked down again, then took a deep breath and ignored him. Alora took off her hand on Alden, then reached into the bag and took out some things from there. There were three boxes that Alora took out onto the table. First there is the Apple watch, second there is the Rolex watch, and third there is the Swarovski diamond necklace. Alora then pushed the three boxes closer to Soni.

Alden who saw it, was quite surprised by the things that Alora took out. Alden knew that this past week, Soni had not wandered around Alora's modest rented house, but had only sent some food. So Alden did not expect, Soni sent those expensive items. Where did Soni get that kind of money?

"We don't need those things. Take it again, or return it to the loan shark, whatever. What's clear, please stop sending anything to our house." This time Alora managed to stare at Soni continuously, until her sentence was finished.

"Dad don't owe me anymore, Al. Dad really stopped. I bought this for you. So please keep them."

Alora laughed cynically, feeling amused to hear Soni speak seriously. Alora even thinks Soni is drunk. "Stopped? Who's gonna believe it? You said it's been since Mother was still around."

"Al-"

"You stop, you won't be able to take away your sins from the past!" Alora cut Soni's sentence, exclaiming with an elevated tone of voice. Then, Alora felt her chest start to tighten. He no longer wanted to look at Soni sitting before him.

"Dad's sorry, Al."

"Curtain! Where have you been these dozen years? Where have you been after ruining your children's lives?!" With her breathing getting shorter, Alora hit the table feeling her emotions were mounting. His chest felt tight, his heart pounding even more. With her remaining consciousness, Alora tried to make her breathing more stable.

Realizing that, Alden patted Alora's back gently. He whispered softly to Alora, "Calm down, Al."

"I... Never wished you were alive. If you're sorry, why didn't you die?"

Alden was quite surprised by Alora's words. The woman said with a breath that was more stable than before. Alden could not interpret the look in Alora's eyes looking straight at Soni. Alden had no idea how much of a wound Soni had inflicted on Alora, until she hated her own father so much.

"You should be ashamed to appear in good health." Alora said her last sentence, before leaving Alden who looked confused.

"I..." Alden got up from his seat, but was still confused between having to go along with Alora or greeting Soni.

"I'm..."

Hearing Soni say something, Alden finally decided to shut up for a moment, waiting for Soni to finish her sentence.

"I'm a bad father. Naturally Alora was that angry. Please understand, yes... She's actually a good woman."

Alden saw Soni's smile so sincerely. From the look in his eyes, Alden could see that Soni was truly sorry. There was even a hint of water drenching his eyes, making Alden cross out the option to just walk away following Alora. Alden was still standing there, waiting for Soni who looked like she still wanted to talk.

"And please take care of Alora, my son. He needs a place to lean."

Soni looked straight at Alden, asking with all her heart. Of course the feeling reached Alden, so the man nodded with a smile. Then Alden bowed, greeted Soni, then followed Alora who had gone to the car park first.

Soni stared at the departure of Alora and Alden, with a troubled heart. He knew that sooner or later, this would happen. Where he felt very happy when Alora visited him, then fell back to the bottom of the ravine when he realized he had incised a lot of injuries to his eldest son. But what you want to say, his past has passed very badly. Regret doesn't mean anything. In every second of his regret, Soni can only pray for the happiness, health, and well-being of his children.

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