Lady Rose, His Lover
A hotshot or a thug

“What does that mean?” daniel asked without putting a squeak on his eyebrows.

“Mama just told me, about Papa I never saw!” The little boy looked straight into the ocean.

Never seen it? So that little boy, never saw his father?

Daniel felt very sorry for this. He also remembered his words earlier, about, the parents of the little one. Really, just now, he had not known this sad reality.

However, Daniel remained silent and cooperative, to faithfully listen. The man, already curious, with the content of the story, about the father of the little boy.

“From childhood, Mama always said Papa was working abroad and it was hard to come back. But, I want Papa to come home, even for a little while, to see me. I want to see how handsome and handsome my Papa is, as Mama often tells me.”

“Then?”

“I want to be like my friends, have Papa and Mama. You can go for a walk together, eat together, take photos together, even though I still have an uncle, who is like my own papa. But, that's, right, still different, he's not my papa.” The little boy nodded in lethargy.

Haaah…. The little boy seemed to be breathing so heavily. Clamping his lips until they become very tight.

“Mama said, if it really is, I've lost my papa since I was still in Mama's stomach.”

“How can it?” Daniel turned his head suddenly. Very curious, it turns out, he could find a story that was so naughty.

So even the girl had never met her father!

“That time, Mama and Papa had an accident. Papa's car exploded. In order to save Mama, Papa has to fall into the sea on the edge of a ravine. Though Papa does not know, if Mama is pregnant with me.”

“So, your papa is dead?” asked Ben enthusiastically.

“But!” Berly shook his head very weakly, lowering his head.

“So?” So confused, Daniel had to tilt his head.

“Mama said, at that time Papa's body was not found. So, Mama thinks Papa just disappeared.”

“Until now?”

“Hm... hm...!” plain Berly nods.

“I'm not sure! But apparently, your mom loves your dad very much. But... it's been years like this, it seems unlikely that your father will return.”

Berly auto moody hearing this. The more he lowered his head.

“Ekh! I mean. Why didn't your mama look for papa just for you. Like, the uncle you told me about, for example?!” Daniel was wrong. Feeling guilty for his words just now. He was sure, the girl, must have felt even more sad to hear that.

“Ahh! Great idea!” berly exclaimed quickly, raising his head back. He looked directly at Daniel.

“But, I didn't know Mama would approve it or not.” Berly's face turned lethargic again. “I know my uncle really likes Mama, but it seems, Mama doesn't like my uncle.”

“I often see Mama crying alone in the room. Hugging Papa's hat. I thought, Mama must be missing Papa, just like me.”

“But.. after knowing the story like this, I know, surely Mama feels very lost Papa every night.”

“So, how? You want your uncle to be your father or you still want to wait for your father to come back, like Mama?” Daniel also nodded. Hearing the girl's story, made her heart fret.

Sreekk~!

“I don't know! Obviously, I want Papa!” exclaim the little boy while dropping his feet into the sand. A pair of tiny feet, straight on the smooth sand of the beach. Both of his hands also fell on the side of his body.

Daniel was silent. He could not break the mixed feelings that the little boy was feeling. It feels, he wants to help, enthusiastically want to provide a solution of his problem.

But he didn't have enough experience about it either. In fact, he himself, is forgetting the memory, and does not know, who he really is.

Clearly, in this kind of sad state and situation, someone, not even just a child. Must've needed a hug.

Berly then nodded, though, his face still pouting.

“Come, here!”

The girl propped her hands up to the sand, so that her body became slightly raised. Then, he would shift his body, towards Daniel.

For a moment, he stopped his movements. Then, nailed to his current position. Berly narrowed his eyes while looking suspiciously at Daniel. “You.... not the kidnapper, right?”

And the man also laughed. He had to raise his head, to let go of his laughter. His shoulders rose and fell repeatedly, rhythmically with the sounding ripples.

He had gotten so empathetic towards the little boy's story. But is he even suspected? Oh, really! That's so ridiculous.

“Actually, Mama doesn't allow me to talk carelessly with strangers. Mama said, there are a lot of bad guys out there.”

“And if you are a bad person who wants to kidnap me, I will make sure, your handsome face will be destroyed by the hands of Mama.”

Daniel was laughing. The louder, the crispier the sound of his laughter. “Indeed, your mama was a hotshot... or a thug?” When he asked, Daniel did not stop his laughter.

“Hm.., maybe, both.” Replying with a thoughtful face, Berly sat himself on Daniel's lap. He added, receiving a hug from the man's warm hands. “Sometimes I see Mama like a hotshot, sometimes like a thug.”

Daniel let his laughter go. Catching the body of the little boy, dispelling the sea breeze that blew fiercely. So as not to make him sick and catch a cold.

And, unravel the sadness that is currently being felt by the little boy. Perhaps also, this hug, can represent, the embrace of the father who still disappeared.

Which in fact, the sweet and beautiful child who was in his lap at this time, was his own daughter. And for Berly, the warm embrace of a father he misses so much. Actually, right now, he's getting. After all this time.

“Have you ever seen your mama hit someone?” ask Daniel in curiosity.

“Often!”

“Se-ring?” Daniel just heard there is a woman who is so cruel and likes to play hands. Because, the woman he knew, Della, was a gentle woman and not rude at all.

Perhaps, Daniel just never knew the horrible side of Della, which so many feared. Because the woman, wearing an innocent mask, was before her.

“But, Mama doesn't recklessly hit people.” Hearing this, Daniel grew curious. So, what did that woman do?

“Mama will beat those who do evil. Especially those who like to annoy women. I think, his name is quite famous in the area where we live.”

Ben finished with ber’oh ria, then he asked. “Indeed, what's your mama's name?”

At this moment, everything seemed to be moving slowly, even with the wind blowing and the waves rolling to the edge. As if, all of them, the landscape was waiting, the coming of this moment.

Those seconds, in which Daniel, would listen to such a meaningful name.

“Mama?”

“Yes, mom! Sounds like he's a super hero, yeah, in your area. I was curious, wanting to know what his name was!”

“My.. Rose Callary. Her name is beautiful like a rose. Like Mama's pretty face and..”.

The little boy, continuing his story, about the mother. Meanwhile, he did not realize, if at this time, the man who was embracing him, was furrowing his eyebrows, closing his eyes, and all the face that shriveled.

Because suddenly, Daniel felt, his head throbbing violently. After Berly said that name.

Like, the name, it's been stimulating, something inside Daniel so powerfully.

Seriate…