MAHMUD, I Love U
Lontong Warung

📞 "Hello, is this true with Griya Cantika?"

The voice of the woman across the street was heard over the phone. That afternoon Lina was holding a special mobile phone belonging to Griyalah who picked it up. Griya Cantika listed the phone number of the house and also a special mobile number for clients who want to use his services on leaflets, billboards, and also boards that hang on the front gate.

📞 "Yes, right. Can anyone help?" Lina answered kindly.

📞 "Hello, Ma'am. Meet me Risa. The plan I want to look at decor examples or photos for prewedding, can you?"

📞 "Oh certainly can, Ma'am. Ms. Risa can come directly to our Griya. Later, Risa can see examples of her photos from our album collection."

📞 "Oh okay then, Ma'am. I'll stop by tomorrow."

📞 "Good, mbak Risa. We're waiting for her to come."

Phone's on the lid.

Rendra approached Lina who had finished calling and sat alone.

"Eat, yuk!" bring Rendra.

Lina's stunned. The man she was expecting to take her out to eat?

"Where?" Lina answered casually while her heart was pounding softly.

"Front man, yuk! I want to eat soto."

"Traktir??" Lina seduces.

"Clear dong. Come on!"

The two walked towards the soto stall across the Griya Cantika street.

Getting there, Rendra orders the soto she wanted from yesterday, and Lina orders a super spicy ketoprak.

The stall is called WL (Warung Lontong), because it is there to provide a variety of foods with basic ingredients lontong with all kinds of side dishes. There is soto, ketoprak, lontong with satay, meat empal, heart sambal, and many other appetizing dishes.

Not yet the order was completed, Lina's phone rang. Mayra called.

📞 "Yes, May?" Lina picked up the phone from her friend.

📞 "Where are you? Here there is only Rudi and Anto," protested Mayra who lost Lina at her lunch hour.

Lina was silent for a moment. He is confused to have to tell Mayra or not that she is now in Lontong Warung, with Rendra. This was the rare chance he could eat alone with the man in front of him. But if he had to lie, what would he say? And of course, if he lied, he would be ashamed of Rendra who clearly heard the conversation.

📞 "I'm at WL nih." Lina finally decided to be honest.

📞 "Oh okay. I'm there, yeah."

Phone's on the lid.

From inside Warung Lontong, Rendra saw Mayra was about to cross. He knew the woman he was expecting would be there. Rendra lowered his head and ate his newly arrived order soto.

Arriving at Warung, Mayra was surprised because there was Rendra there. But he was acting ordinary because there was Lina. His friend did not know about the relationship between the two friends.

"Well, you're eating, yeah."

Mayra sat down beside Lina. He immediately ordered lontong with a meat empal. Mayra's order came shortly. The three of them ate well. Throughout the meal, Rendra was silent as usual.

***

It was five in the afternoon, all the Griya employees had gone home, except for Rendra and Mayra. Mayra is almost always the last person to leave Griya. While Rendra came home late that afternoon because he had to prepare the equipment for the photo shoot tomorrow. Tomorrow morning he and the crew had a prewedding photo shoot on the beach because they wanted to capture the silhouette behind the sunrise at the request of the client.

"What's wrong with you?" Mayra's voice surprised Rendra who was busy cleaning the camera lens.

"What's up, what?" The man replied as he continued his work after glancing at Mayra for a bit.

"So when you were at WL, you were quiet."

"Oh, it's okay."

"Are you angry that I threw the rose away?"

Hearing the words of the woman sitting in the chair 2 meters from where she was standing, Rendra stopped her work.

"Roses? Haha, it's not just me who has a crush on you?"

Rendra shook her head while smiling cynically. He did not expect there was another man who was more determined to like the woman he was expecting. Until bringing all the roses?

"You mean?" This time Mayra who scrunched her forehead was confused to hear Rendra's words.

"Yes, I'm really mad at you. But whatever the rose is, it's not me."

"What do you mean? You're the one who likes whatsApp and sends roses home?"

Rendra looked at the woman in front of him and shook her head for sure, "no."

Hearing Rendra's reply, the woman whose short hair was tied in half immediately opened the phone and searched for a message with the contact's name 'Bocah'. He showed his phone to Rendra.

"See. Read it!! It's from you, right?"

Rendra stared at the screen at a glance. It says the name 'Bokah'. Rendra finally took the phone from her pants pocket, and looked for Mayra's contacts inside.

Be met.

Rendra immediately pressed the phone button on her phone screen and called Mayra's number.

Mayra's phone is ringing. On the screen of his phone appeared 12 digits of numbers that he did not know.

"See?? I'm not the 'BOCAH' you mean." Rendra explained by putting pressure on the word 'bocah'. There was a sense of disappointment seen from the look in his eyes.

Mayra silence.

"Lied!! You could've used another number to send all these messages, right?"

"No, May. Although I'm a KID, but I'm not as funny as you can imagine."

Rendra was disappointed. He was about to leave the room leaving Mayra. But the woman's hand caught the end of her shirt quickly.

"Wait!! If this isn't you, then who?" Mayra was really confused right now.

Rendra took Mayra's hand off her shirt.

"Obviously it wasn't me. Take good care of yourself, May. Anyone who does not know you, must think you are a young girl who is raging. So please, be careful with your advantages. Take care of your husband!"

Deg.

Mayra was amazed by Rendra's words. He agreed, the man in front of him was indeed not 'spoken' like the nickname he gave him.

"You .. know???" Mayra asked doubtfully.

"Yes, at first I liked you. You're kind, funny, pretty. Who is not interested? But after knowing the truth, what can I do?"

Mayra silence.

"I'm disappointed that you weren't so honest that day. You said you didn't have a boyfriend? Haha, turns out...."

"Indeed!! I'm being honest, right? You asked the boyfriend. And I don't have a boyfriend...."

"Yes. But you have a husband, so you mean?"

Rendra looked into the eyes of the woman in front of him. Rendra actually already really likes the woman. But the reality is beyond her expectations. Mayra, a young, beautiful and energetic woman, was married and had a toddler.

Mayra silence. He let go of Rendra's hand. The two face off.

Rendra looked at the bowed Mayra. He was sure, the woman in front of him was also interested in him even if only a little. If Mayra were alone, it might be ....

"Why did you name that number 'Bokah'?"

Rendra. Although the number was not his, the woman he was expecting thought it was him. The sign, the name 'Bokah' was indeed on him. And definitely not without reason Mayra kept the number with the name 'Bokah'.

Mayra did not answer. He's still quietly looking down.

"If that's really me, how could you consider me just a kid?"

...

"Yes, my age is below yours. But you don't know me yet, do you?"

...

"Originally you know May. Every man has his own side. Including those who are a century old. So you cannot arbitrarily judge a person whose age is below you as b-o-c-a-h!!"

Rendra's words made Mayra look at him. Their eyes clashed.

Outside, the sound of a car engine was heard. Rendra looked out the window. He saw a stranger in his eyes get out of the car. He immediately left Mayra and came out of Griya. In front of Griya, he passed by the man. The man lowered his head in greeting, and Rendra replied.

The man in the babypink shirt entered Griya without permission. Mayra was still standing in her place.

"Yank? Are you Ok?" Azka rubbed the water that soaked his wife's cheeks. Mayra immediately hugged her husband's body tightly.