Woman in the Painting (The End): “I'm not sure I can last a week.”
WE used to meet at a 24-hour cafe. The place was chosen because it was close to my apartment and not far from where he lived. We used to sit there chatting until the day changed without having to worry about being warned by the waiter. If there was a good movie, we would just walk to Taman Ismail Marzuki.
Oh yeah, I remember now. The movie screening there was what made us tense for the first time when he introduced some of his artist friends to me. Her style of hugging and kissing his male artist friends, I thought was inappropriate because I didn't know them yet. "You don't deserve to do it behind me, let alone in front of me."
That night we went through arguments with suppressed emotions so as not to disturb the audience around us. For the first time I went through a good movie in a bad mood. When we parted, she said; "Educate me with patience. There are many differences between us, but don't let us resolve those differences with arguments."
I felt he was very mature when she said that and felt he was very childish when he got angry because I responded to her message late in the midst of her busy work. After that night, we watched a few movies there and he started to behave herself. If I had time, I took hers to a classier place so that there would be less chance of meeting people who knew him and me.
She was already sitting there when I arrived with the painting in a black cloth cover so that no one could steal the lyrics of the painting. Sitting near the glass wall, her eyes looked out, towards the empty swimming pool.
There was nothing there except the dim light of the lights. She had swum there before, and I sat looking at her from the sofa he was now using. At that time, she asked me to go swimming. I refused because I couldn't swim and he didn't believe me. We fought about it because he thought I was hiding our relationship by refusing her invitation to swim.
"I don't want anyone who sees us to be a problem because Uncle is my future husband. I don't want our relationship to be limited by human eyes, except God's eyes. Nothing violates the religion that we have practiced so far."
Her last sentence was true. We never had too much physical contact. Even holding her hand and kissing her cheek was done by mutual agreement. I was also right when I said I couldn't swim. She didn't believe me because she had heard the story of my rescue from the Tsunami wave when it hit Banda Aceh City in 2004.
In fact, I never said I survived because I could swim because in reality many marines died even though their swimming ability was one "click" below a fish. There is no guarantee of survival from a Tsunami even if that person is Michael Phelps with 22 Olympic medals. When buildings are leveled to the ground, only a miracle can save us, and that's what I experienced.
SHE smiled to welcome my arrival. So that I could kiss his cheek freely, I put the painting on the glass wall. Her scent lingered on the tip of my nose. I was so familiar with that scent that it was like I could see it.
We spent a few minutes ordering food before she invited me to ask questions. I could ask about anything, but he could not answer rather than lie.
"If you want to answer it yourself with various assumptions and that makes you tortured, that's your own responsibility."
“How have you been?”
“It has nothing to do with the painting.”
“No, it doesn’t. I just wanted to know how you’re doing after a week of hibernating,” I replied.
“I feel fresher, more prepared. You see, the painting is indeed part of the past. The painter…”
I smiled as I touched the back of his left hand with my right hand, instantly making him fall silent. “Let’s eat first, okay?”
She agreed. “After that, will you ask me questions?”
I smiled again and shook my head again. “After that, maybe we’ll go to the beach if you want.”
“In the middle of the night like this?”
“If you want…”
She nodded vigorously with a wide smile. “Will you ask me while you’re walking on the beach?”
Another shake of the head, another smile. I had decided not to ask about the painting while walking, eating, or anything else. I just wanted to take her for a walk to show her my steps that always swing forward, as life continues to roll with or without her by my side. The painting will never belong to anyone else because she will not sell it. But as a painting, anyone can enjoy it.[]
