Blooming At It's Time
³⁵ Strawberry Cake

That morning Alora was working as usual, with a bright and carefree feeling like yesterday. Undeniably, his trip with Alden yesterday really imprinted the heart of Alora. They did not go to a romantic place, Alora did not even get a bouquet of flowers from Alden. But every sentence Alden said, still made him feel flying to this day. Presumably he felt astonished, how his feelings could change in this short amount of time.

"Genta..." Alora said faintly, because her mind was now drifting away to another man.

"Yes?" Genta, who was serious about the stock of opname, is now distracted by a cryptic call from Alora.

"Time passes quickly..." Alora sighed, her gaze still looking far out of nowhere. "It felt like it was just yesterday new year." Yes, last year Alora and Alden just officially became husband and wife, then now his feelings have changed in such a short time.

"Hm... Yeah anyway... Even though it's March."

"March yes... March?" Alora immediately checked the calendar on her phone. His eyes immediately widened when he realized today was March 22, which tomorrow is March 23, aka Alden Kama Adhigana's birthday. Alora immediately realized something, it was not without reason Alden took her to Lilian's tomb yesterday. Alden must have missed Lilian the most at times like this, meaning on her birthday. At least that was Alora's conclusion, after hearing the story about Alden's eleventh birthday, yesterday.

"Genta!"

"Yes, Al, why?" This time Genta shuddered, shocked to hear Alora who suddenly exclaimed.

"Can you help me tomorrow?"

"Why?"

"Ah, no! Now! I have to train now!"

"What training, Al? I must have helped."

"Please teach me to make cakes. I'm gonna make strawberry cake for tomorrow..." Alora showed her eyes that sparkled like a puppy, thus forcing Genta to nod.

Genta laughed, then gently patted Alora's head. "I guess what. Yeah, yeah." yeah."

"Yes!! Thanks!!!" Alora immediately jumped in excitement. His smile grew wider, his cheeks blushing just by thinking of tomorrow which would be very special.

At least for Alora.

Tomorrow, the first time in history, Alora ate faster, as she had to stop by to buy some of the ingredients that Genta had told her yesterday. Of course Alora does not want to use Genta's materials, because it will reduce Genta's sales stock. Though Genta himself does not matter, it's just that Alora feels bad. With Genta who was willing to teach and explain, it was very meaningful for Alora.

'Alden, what time will you be home?'

Once at the Genta bakery with all the necessary ingredients, the first thing Alora did was to send Alden a message to ask him when he would come home tonight. In less than five minutes, Alora's smile widened as Alden replied to a message from her.

'Hour 7.'

Alora's smile was too wide and too pleasant to be missed by everyone staring at her, including Genta. Well, it was only Genta who saw her at the moment, but Alora's smile was indeed that bright. To the extent that Genta smiled, then even wondered, what makes the woman so cheerful lately.

"Anything's good? Is her smile bright?" Genta smiled looking at Alora who was busy with her phone.

Alora chuckles, then saves her phone to a bag of pants. "I bought the ingredients you said yesterday."

"You want to teach me, you've made a lot of sense, Gen! I borrowed the same place."

Genta shook his head while laughing, feeling unable to resist Alora's will. Meanwhile, Alora is looking forward to the night with a smile that always blooms in every baking process. Cheeks that slightly emit a reddish hue, making Genta occasionally lost focus and even look at Alora's face. Luckily Alora is a person who is easy to learn, so she could have made cookies independently, referring to the demonstration Genta did yesterday. The process of making Strawberry Cake this time is quite time consuming, because Alora and Genta must take turns keeping the counter. But finally the clock came home, and Alora could not be happier than this.

"Well, is this a special day? Or is there a birthday?" After a long time of pondering, Genta finally revealed his question. Because anyone who saw Alora's attitude, must have felt that there was something very special.

"Hmmm..." Alora smiled, again and again. "It's nothing, it's just my friend's birthday." Then Alora gave her lips, feeling bad because she still could not say out loud that she had a husband named Alden Kama Adhigana.

Genta just nodded, even though he felt that the friend was more special than himself or anyone else.

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That afternoon, Alden was already preparing to go home when a name he was very familiar with appeared on his phone screen. Actually Alden was very reluctant to connect with that person, but like a tough fighter, that person was always looking for Alden. Yes, that person is Shellandine, the woman who until a few months ago was still Alden's priority. Maybe not anymore. But Alden hasn't revealed it in any way. A mistake he shouldn't have made.

"Hello?" Alden answered the phone half lazily. While the one who spoke at the end of the phone instead of Shella, even Hana, the manager who is very Alden known.

Alden heard Hana's words on the other end of the phone carefully, his face hardened, clucking in annoyance while frowning. The words that Hana said sounded crazy, Shella was locking herself in the room, without eating, all day long. It seemed Alden knew where this conversation would go, so he felt he had to finish things off with Shella. She was fed up enough with Shella's childish demeanor that Alden darted straight into Shella's apartment. That time too.

Meanwhile.

Alora is waiting for Alden to arrive.

The cake was prepared in the living room, with a simple decor, Alora smiled looking at a black tie with a white dot accent folded neatly in a box. Everything was ready, it was only a matter of time until Alora could surprise Alden. Alora waited, waited and waited. One. two. up to five hours, and now the time has shown at 12 p.m. Alora stared wistfully at the phone screen showing the twins on the sexy clock, 00.00. One more second, then all the preparations were in vain because the days had changed.

With an uncertain feeling, a smile that faded from her lips, Alora decided to call Alden again for the umpteenth time. The ringing tone sounded very long, until one day his phone was rejected. Alora immediately checked the message that had not been read by Alden. Yes, those messages turned into a legible sign, meaning Alden was already clutching his phone now. Not so many messages sent Alora, just asking Alden's position, whether he was okay, and whether there was a problem holding him back from coming home.

Alora began to look forward to anxiety, when Alden was seen typing something. His heart beat started to uncontrollably, and instantly slipped as Alden sent an unexpected photo. No, not Alden, there's someone else in control of the man's cell phone. A woman, Alora knew that, and she instantly dropped her phone into her lap. His soul instantly felt lost, his mind was empty, but his chest was so tight that it made his body unable to move. Just a little bit he moved, his body felt crushed, even without the cue his eyes began to feel hot. A thread of tears blocked her gaze, eager for Alora to shout, but she had no right.

With a single blink, her tears falling down flowed making a wet scratch on her cheek. Alora tightens her grip on the phone, angered by the fact that it does not side with her in the least. After feeling quite hurt, Alora began to grieve that she was so foolish as to have been tempted by Alden's sweet words. So foolish was Alora who thought that Alden too - at least - put a little taste to her. Stupidly Alora had hoped in humans who were definitely disappointed.

Alora closed her eyes for a moment, tried to calm herself down, then got up to pull out all the decorations she had put on. His face was irritated, shredding the decoration paper to shapelessness, he threw all the rest of the mess into the trash. Then Alora took the cake she made lovingly, took it to the kitchen, intending to drop it into the sink. Her chest rose and fell, holding back tears as the cake was already right above the sink. As if someone was holding back, his hand could not move in the slightest. So, with resignation Alora put the cake next to the sink, tears fell back down her cheeks. Alora rubbed her cheeks quickly, then rushed into the room, regardless of the mess she left behind.

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Alden

Sorry, it's me, Shella. Alden can't pick up the phone anymore. He fell asleep in my apartment. Alden's not coming home tonight.

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