Around half past eight, Sarah woke up, but didn't immediately get out of bed. From her current lying position, she could still reach her BlackBerry and press any of the buttons—so she could see the notifications on the screen. It was blank. Never mind SMS, there weren't even any missed calls. The girl was a little hopeful when she saw the sign above her BlackBerry Messenger. Who knows, she thought. But a moment later, she was disappointed because it turned out the notification was for a broadcast of information about the dangers of consuming fruit sold on the roadside—most likely a hoax.
Sarah growled. She threw the BlackBerry roughly onto the bed, with the screen facing down. Even so, when she actually got out of bed, the girl...
That made her abandon the idea of leaving the tiny white object there. Despite her frustration, she pocketed her BB and left the room.
Dragging her body, still reluctant to leave the bed, Sarah slowly descended the stairs. She placed her right foot on the last step and was about to turn toward the kitchen when... when... she encountered a sight she shouldn't have seen.
This time, Jandro had already made her feel awkward twice. Plus, now she felt something inside her trembling, and she didn't like it. Yes, yes, heartbreak makes her more susceptible to a guy's charms—but, puh-leez... Jandro?
No matter how hard she tried to deny it, Jandro, doing push-ups, was definitely the hottest sight she had seen that morning. His legs and arms were working hard together to support the boy's weight. Jandro's already well-defined arm muscles became even more noticeable as he bounced up and down on the floor. The movement made her heart beat louder than the drum beat in the music—because it reminded her of... uhm, you know.
Her face flushed. Ah—amazingly delicious!
Sarah tried to move forward, but her feet felt like they were nailed to the floor. Her entire body felt paralyzed—except for her eyes. Even those could only blink—
She blinked, hoping she could forget everything she'd seen. But how could she?
Like an X-ray, every second of the scene left a vivid memory that couldn't be easily erased. The part of his back uncovered by the man's tank top moved so gracefully. And now, like a movie playing in her mind, she could imagine that masculine body moving sensually on top of someone. Trapping his partner between the floor and his broad chest. Making back-and-forth movements with him until she could barely breathe—
—just like she was now.
"Damn," she hissed, blushing with embarrassment and partly with lust. Her legs felt as weak as jelly, so she had to step back and hold onto the wall behind her. Sarah didn't understand what had possessed her to think so much about Jandro. In fact, even now, Jandro was still considered off-limits to her. Meaning, not to be desired. Meaning, not to be included in her wild fantasies.
That's how it should be...
Before she could stop herself from lingering on Jandro, her eyes widened in shock when her gaze met the boy's.
SHIT! HE'S LOOKING OVER HERE!
Sarah intended to disappear behind the wall near the stairs, but in her haste, she tripped over a step and hit her head. The pain was unbearable—and now, she felt dizzy too. The girl grimaced, holding her forehead, which seemed to be starting to swell.
Damn you, Anye's now—sexy brother—whoa!
The girl was shocked when she realized a pair of strong hands had slipped under her armpits. With a single tug, they pulled her up. Sarah blinked, realizing her hands were now on Jandro's shoulders, which felt damp from the intense push-ups. They felt solid under her palms. His distinctive scent wafted up and greeted her senses.
"Are you okay?"
Sarah quickly freed herself from Jandro's embrace. However, her eyes glanced at the broad chest that had been rubbing against hers. Her face flushed, and she suddenly lacked the courage to even meet his confused gaze.
"Is just a bump considered 'fine'?" Sarah rubbed her forehead, trying to ignore the boy's influence on her. Now she felt hot from head to toe. A kind of hotness that was both good and bad, depending on which way she looked at it.
Crazy," he said, in a joking tone. "Can I give you wasp oil?"
Sarah shook her head quickly. "I hate the smell of rubbing oil - it smells like grandma's, ick!"
Jandro laughed. "Then, how will it heal if you don't give it oil?"
The girl shrugged, acting indifferent. "I'm already big. Something like this can heal on its own."
The guy didn't seem to have any intention of persuading her. He just smiled and waited for Sarah's reaction—which was just silence! And when he glanced at Jandro again for the umpteenth time, his face felt even warmer.
Damn you, lust! The girl cursed herself inwardly.
If it weren't so suspicious, she would have wanted to quickly run up the stairs and hide in her room all day. Come out when she was no longer embarrassed. B-but... look at how reality put her in an awkward situation. If her face was still hot and red like a monkey's butt—a reaction to 'watching' Jandro do push-ups (while imagining things), how could she possibly act NORMAL in front of Anye's little sister?
Hear that, Sarah? Her Sassy Gay Friend-like inner voice screamed. Anye's little sister. Off limits, you stupid bitch!
The girl quickly looked away, looking somewhere else—anywhere else. not towards Jandro—and tried to activate his common sense which had been paralyzed for the past few minutes. And, puh-leez, could he do it?
Stop acting all shy because of Jandro? That's really unhealthy, you know. Plus, it promises big trouble if you persist with this inappropriate behavior. The most significant example: what would Anye say if she found out her best friend was acting like Slutty McSluttenstein in front of her little sister?
There. That's enough of a reason, right? Sarah silently nodded in agreement. So, repeat after me: don't fall in lust with your best friend's little brother. Don't fall in lust with—wait, wait! That... what?
"Omelette?" Sarah asked in disbelief. "Mrs. Karsih made it?"
"Nope. She just prepared some toast and jam." Jandro paused for a moment, yawning. "I made it with ingredients I had in the fridge."
To satisfy her curiosity, the girl walked across the room. She pulled out a metal stool and moved it closer to the kitchen island. After sitting down and feeling comfortable on the stool, her hand reached for the fork that happened to be placed beside the plate. Both the omelet and the sausage, which were both "occupying" the plate, were emitting a thin steam and the distinctive aroma of freshly cooked food. Her stomach immediately reacted as she took a deep breath of the delicious aroma.
"Did you make one for me too?" Sarah asked, her fork still raised in her hand.
"If you stop annoying me, I'll make one for you," Jandro said, slowly inching closer to the girl.
The person being teased snorted. "It depends on how good your omelet is. Can I have a taste?" She simply said, "Excuse me." Before Jandro could say "please" or anything, Sarah had already stuck her fork into the omelet. She wiggled her fork, making a large enough piece to satisfy her curiosity and hunger. A moment later, the piece of omelet was in her mouth, and—
HMMMH!
The stylist at her regular salon would have said, "Great, Grandma!" Meanwhile, Sarah—she was just offering praise in her heart—said, "Culinary Orgasm!" "Oh, my. This omelet is truly delicious! The texture is soft and evenly cooked, evident by its perfect yellow color. It's a shame there's no fried rice, Sarah thought. Otherwise, I'd probably have finished my omelet, hehe.
"Where did you learn to make this?" the girl asked, still chewing on the remaining omelet in her mouth. Part of her still didn't want to swallow the food and forget the delicious sensation forever.
"My girlfriend taught me," Jandro replied, somehow feeling compelled to brag about the fact that Nuna taught him to cook omelets like this. Do other people in Java and Bali do the same thing when talking to...
First love, slash, someone who rejected him? The guy could only guess.
And, what made Jandro feel even worse, Sarah didn't even seem to care. She even asked, "Can I have some more?"
"Instead of you eating away at my breakfast, I'd rather make you another one."
"Awww, thank you! You're the best!"
Jandro put the frying pan on the gas stove, then prepared the eggs and omelet ingredients—sausage, cheese, onions, and other ingredients—that were still left in the fridge. While whisking the eggs in a small bowl, the guy asked, "By the way, haven't you told me why you came all the way to Ubud?"
"Well, weren't you the one who accused me yesterday of coming here to hunt for men?"
"It's okay to be a little suspicious!" Still whisking the eggs in the bowl, the guy suddenly remembered something. "Do you want your omelet a little spicy or something?"
"If possible, just use pepper for spiciness. Thanks."
The guy added pepper, more than the usual omelet recipe. A moment later, Jandro added a pinch of salt to the almost perfectly beaten eggs.
Shake, shake, shake... His movements were expert—at least on the level of a pancake seller.
"To be clear, I'm not here on vacation," Sarah finally admitted.
"So?"
"The deadline for the first draft of my script is in two weeks, and I haven't written anything since—" The girl was tempted to vent about Rifat and his cheating disco stick. But... better not, she thought. Besides, why would Jandro need to know all that much detail? Not like he cares..., right? "Yeah, it's just like that."
"So, you came here for a change of pace?"
"You could say that." Short, concise, and firm. Sarah was proud of herself for keeping her true emotional state a secret from the man in front of her. "What about you? For an orgy?"
When Jandro looked back at her with a sullen expression, the girl realized she had just hit the jackpot by making him angry again. Which was fun to watch. Which was kind of cute to see his handsome face flush with annoyance.
Wait... handsome?
"Knowing you'd pick a fight with me again, I wouldn't have cooked—"
The boy's words stopped when he suddenly heard a very familiar refrain.
You'd better quit playing games with my heart... [quit playing games with my heart]/with my heart... [before you tear us apart]/my heart... [quit playing games with my heart]/I should've Oh my gosh, isn't this... an old Backstreet Boys song? Jandro raised an eyebrow. Is there anyone still familiar with BSB, who—let's say—are considered oldies in this era of Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga?
The guy glanced at Sarah, who pulled her BlackBerry from her pocket. The voices of Brian and his friends became louder in the stereo. Apparently, I *sigh* and this guy, he added, suddenly feeling very old.
Sarah's previously relaxed face turned 180 degrees when Rifat's name appeared on her BlackBerry screen. Jandro also sensed the sudden change in aura, so he stared at the girl and waited. Waiting for her to explain why she was suddenly so tense and looking like she was about to cry.
"Wait." Sarah got off the stool and answered the call from a distance away from the kitchen area. "Hello?"
Jandro continued his work, neatly slicing sausages, button mushrooms, and onions, though his focus was divided. He even deliberately leaned toward Sarah so he could secretly listen in on her phone conversation.
"All my stuff is in the lobby," said the voice on the other end. It wasn't a question, just a statement, delivered in as calm a tone as possible. "What do you mean, Sar, take all my stuff out of our apartment?"
Sarah was tempted to laugh hysterically at Rifat's words, but she held back, not wanting him to take her anger seriously. "Us?" the girl asked back, her voice sarcastically thick. "In case you have amnesia, it's MY apartment. I pay for it with MY money. Even the daily maintenance comes from MY wallet. How come you're suddenly so agitated about claiming it's yours too?"
"Okay, fine. YOUR apartment." Rifat's voice trailed off, suddenly feeling defeated. "But still, you didn't say anything about kicking me out. At least, tell me something like when I was in Manado..."
"Is that so?" Sarah played dumb. "I didn't know we had rules like that. Because, as far as I know, you didn't say anything about it when you were having sex with our yoga instructor..."
Jandro almost made a sound because he was so shocked by Sarah's statement just now. No. Don't. Just keep eavesdropping, the guy thought. His hands had now completely stopped chopping onions on the cutting board.
"Why are you quiet?" asked the girl with overflowing emotion
overflow.
"I-I'm being honest with you, not to put you in a corner like this. I don't want any secrets between us—"
"Fine. I thank you very much for that. BUT..." Sarah deliberately trailed off, "my gratitude for your confession is nothing compared to the fact that you cheated on me behind my back. Nope, let me rephrase that: YOU SLEPT WITH ALYA!"
Sarah's face flushed with emotion. And at that moment, with a heavy heart, she had to confirm Anye's words. She had been blinded by love for too long to see the oh-so-obvious, blatantly obvious things right in front of her. That guy was such a salesman; he was so smooth with his words that Sarah could ignore the fact that Rifat was clearly betraying her. And for fuck's sake, a yoga instructor? Couldn't he be more obvious?!
"Please, Sar, all of that was really... completely unplanned—"
The girl snorted. "You had to walk her home, that was 'unplanned.' You accidentally saw her undressing, that was also 'unplanned.' But what you did was come home from clubbing together, stop by her house, get naked with her, and then park your cock in her Jay-Joy. CRAZY GRANS KNOW THAT WASN'T AN ACCIDENT!"
"Soooo..." The guy whined because, apparently, there was nothing he could do now. He was well aware that Sarah was really angry.
"If there's anything else in those boxes that I forgot to pack, just tell me. I'll send it to you with a courier. Bye!"
"SAR-"
Click.
It took a long time to realize she wasn't alone in the room. Sarah looked around for Jandro, who had been paying attention—and definitely heard—all the harsh words that had flowed freely from his lips. The boy was leaning his weight on his arms, which were now folded and leaning against the kitchen island. It was unknown when he had stopped preparing the omelet ingredients.
With a burning sense of shame, Sarah slowly walked toward the kitchen island and the boy. Even at this close, she still hadn't heard a word from Jandro. Instead of relief, she felt even more embarrassed. Her stomach was churning. And as if that wasn't bad enough, now she felt nauseous—feeling like she was going to throw up. Especially when she realized Jandro was still staring at her.
And, oh, look at the look on his face now. Sarah bit her lower lip, silently praying that the earth would swallow her alive. At least she wouldn't have to deal with Jandro's disgusted reaction. The girl swallowed hard. This was the most awkward and embarrassing moment she had ever experienced in her life.
Sarah waited for the boy to say something. Ugh, his mouth was still tightly shut. And, to make matters worse, the boy went back to working on his omelette. Silently, can you believe it?! The girl wet her suddenly dry lips. What should I do? she thought. J-just sit there on the stool—acting as if nothing had happened?
A sizzling sound was heard, followed by the distinctive aroma of fried eggs, as Jandro poured the beaten eggs into the frying pan. Earlier, the boy had heated a spoonful of butter, and the aroma, ugh, was making me hungry. Using a spatula, he spread the omelette evenly, making sure it covered the bottom of the pan. Every now and then, the boy flipped the omelette, and again the sizzling sound of the butter melting completely into oil could be heard.
Jandro sprinkled grated cheese over the half-cooked eggs, followed by mushrooms, onions, sausage, and... eh, there's pineapple too? I just realized, Sarah thought.
The guy placed the omelet on a plate and sprinkled it with more grated cheese. "Specially for you," he said with a smile. Sarah, on the other hand, couldn't smile in a tense situation like this. Especially now. The two minutes since she finished cursing Rifat officially-an-ex on the phone felt like hundreds of years, didn't they?
Sarah now began to work up the courage to look Jandro directly in the eye. "Thanks," she said, her voice suddenly hoarse with nervousness. After clearing her throat a few times, she continued, "Actually, I didn't mean for you to hear... err, about earlier. I should have just called in my room, or—"
"That's okay," the boy interrupted quickly. "Eat the omelet."
Sarah nodded obediently. But the omelet, which had tasted so delicious just a moment ago, now tasted bland. Despite this, she chose to keep her complaint to herself and continued with her second bite.
It was still quiet. The only sound in the kitchen was the grandfather clock in the other room, chiming eight times. That's when, out of the blue, the boy suddenly said, "Can I assume that's another reason you're here in Ubud?"
Sarah lifted her head and nodded. "Bad breakup," Sarah said bitterly. "There goes my two-year relationship..."
The guy ruffled his own hair, then took a deep breath. "She cheated on me with the yoga instructor, you say?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Uh-huh."
The guy turned around for a moment to put all his cooking utensils in the sink. "What a jerk!" he said, still facing away from her. "It's better to break up. You deserve better."
Sarah chuckled. It was a cliché, but it felt as cool as ice water, successfully cooling her heart, which had apparently been burning since earlier.
"Thanks." Sarah grinned, trying to escape the tension that had been heavy in the air. "Ah, I wish you were a girl, Jan. You'd be hugging me by now and listening to me vent while giving me a pedicure together..."
Jandro chuckled along. "I can probably still provide the hugging part. But the pedicure part, no need for that!"
"Hehehehe..."
The guy walked around the island and sat down on the stool next to Sarah. The girl smiled at her breakfast companion. And for a moment, all that could be heard was the clink of spoons and forks on plates. Sarah really wanted to start the conversation with, well, something light? Or, even a total no-brainer—some celebrity gossip (everyone loves gossip... right?). However, as he watched Jandro's movements out of the corner of his eye, for some reason, that desire simply evaporated.
So he chose to continue eating and stuff his mouth with the heavenly delicious omelet.
"By the way, I just broke up with you too," Jandro said in a low voice, almost a whisper. The guy didn't openly glance at Sarah next to him, but now his fork and spoon had completely stopped cutting the omelet and sausage on his plate.
Suddenly, that statement piqued her curiosity. "Really? Story!"
"It won't be as dramatic as the conversation you had with that person on the phone earlier, huh-"
Sarah pouted. He elbowed the boy gently. "Ah, no need to be sarcastic..."
Jandro smiled weakly.
"Who?"
"You don't know."
"Anye know you?"
Jandro shook his head.
"Tch, you really like secrets..."
The guy didn't even try to argue with anything, he was so true. He is not the type of person who is comfortable entrusting the secrets of his personal life to just anyone. Only a few people are trusted by Jandro, those are his closest family or right-hand men in the office. But this doesn't apply to Anye at all.
Especially for his older brother, Jandro, he just doesn't want to talk about it. The thing is, even though you were told to swear not to reveal your secret to anyone, in the end,
broadcast too. Yeah, even though Anye later apologized—her reasons weren't far from these three—'slipped it out,' 'forgot it was a secret,' or 'thought the person she was talking to was trustworthy.'
As for Sarah... well, one thing was for sure, this girl wasn't family—but, he added to himself, she wasn't a stranger either, was she?
Turning to Sarah, he saw her staring at him with a furrowed brow and tapping her nails on the wooden island. She was really curious.
"But promise me first," Jandro warned, pointing his finger at her, "if this ever gets to Anye's ears, I'll blacklist you forever from the list of people I trust."
"Gawd! Why is it so hard to make a promise?" The girl scowled. After a moment of silence—perhaps to think—Sarah finally nodded. "Kay, deal. I won't tell your sister, swear on my new bag."
This girl hasn't been shopping for months, so she's wasting time getting a new bag! Plus, there is NO WAY she's not gonna tell this to Anye. But, well, if a promise with a little bokis can make this innocent Jandro tell a story, then that's fine. The girl will give what the guy wants-so-called guarantee.
"Good." Without any suspicion, Jandro then began to tell his story, his gaze fixed squarely on Sarah. The girl listened without comment, though she nodded occasionally. Something inside Jandro felt relieved. Somehow, he really needed to tell someone about this.
After everything was completely out of his mouth, Jandro felt worried for a moment. More precisely, worried about Sarah's next comment. Would she label him a coward for running off to Ubud? Or, would she think he was stupid for wanting to be Nuna's lover?
But all those suspicions were shattered when Sarah opened her mouth. "Love sucks—that's fo' sho'!" she said, shoveling a piece of omelet into his mouth.
"Amen for that."
"And I'm not going to judge you or anything. I'm just saying, forget about that girl. She's not worth even a single tear." Even though he didn't completely agree with Sarah's statement, the guy nodded in agreement. "And, GAWD-DAMNED! Is this coincidence crazy?! Not only did we both plan to go AWOL and run away to Bali—the reason was the same, heartbreak. Stupid!"
Jandro laughed. "I don't know how this coincidence could happen..."
When their laughter finally subsided, the girl said in a slightly serious tone, "But are you okay with your feelings now?"
Because running away is too mainstream.
The guy shrugged. "I don't know. I'd like to.
"Same here." The girl extended her hand. "How about it, promise me that while we're in Bali, we won't be sad because of heartbreak?"
The guy took the smooth hand with a firm shake. "Okay. But—" the guy cleared his throat,
"—uh, by the way... does this mean I'm entitled to a hug and a mani-pedi from you?"
"In your wet dreams, little brother!"
"Hehehehehehe...."