"Do you Aria Carter Stephenson take Dave Micheal Mendez to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love and cherish in times of good health and bad health, rich and poor till death do you part?" My fingers tightened on my gown as I turned to the side, searching through the crowd. I locked eyes with my brother who had a blank expression. "Aria?" The priest called my attention. Taking a deep breath, I turned back to look at Dave. "No, I don't." Aria Stephenson is a small-town girl who got an opportunity to work as a fashion designer in a big clothing company with the hope of making a name for herself in the fashion industry. Dave Mendez is a who was forced to take over his father's company which happens to be the same company Aria got employed in. Instead of trying to impress his father, Dave got distracted by a certain hazel-eyed girl. They ended up falling in love like every other love story but what happens when a buried secret comes out and breaks them apart? Credits to Katherine, IG- @moonlightwriter100 for the book cover.
View More"Key, lo jadi datang, kan?" tanya Ayu via telepon saat Keysha sudah berada di taksi online bersama Gita.
"Iya, ini lagi otw. Bentar lagi nyampe, kok," jawab Keysha dengan santai seraya bola mata mengedarkan ke luar jendela."Oke, aku tunggu lo. Aku baru nyampe juga, nih. Hati -hati, ya. Bye."Keysha terpaksa menggunakan jasa taksi tersebut, lantaran Ikbal yang tadi pagi janji akan mengantarnya sedang dalam perjalanan pulang tetapi macet. Sang suami pun menyuruhnya berangkat tanpa menunggunya sampai di rumah."Ya, nanti kalo pulang, aku yang jemput. Soalnya acara juga pasti selesainya malam banget, aku nggak tega lihat kamu dan Gita pulang sendirian."Itu jawaban Ikbal tadi sore, yang masih fokus dengan jalan di depannya.Selang beberapa menit, tiba di acara reunian, Keysha memegang tangan Gita sembari berjalan bersisian. Wajah gadis kecil berusia tiga tahun itu tampak riang dan antusias karena diajak jalan-jalan."Bun, ada balon."Gita menunjuk balon warna-warni yang terpajang di pintu masuk."Iya, bagus, ya. Gita suka warna apa?"Keysha suka menanyakan hal apapun kepada anak gadisnya guna agar berharap dapat melatih cara belajar komunikasi dan menjawab pertanyaan jika ditanya."Suka bilu, melah, kuning, ijo."Gita menyebutkan semua warna yang dilihatnya dengan gaya cadel."Semuanya dong berarti?"Keysha dengan posisi sedikit berjongkok, tidak bisa menahan ketawa setelah mendengarkan suara khas tersebut. Bocah kepang dua itu mengangguk mengiyakan sambil mengikuti gaya bundanya ketawa."Key, lo udah datang?"Suara Ayu yang sangat familiar terdengar di telinga Keysha. Dia menoleh ke sumber suara dan membenarkan posisinya menjadi berdiri lalu terkesima melihat sosok Ayu yang berubah dari segi penampilan. Tubuh lebih berisi dan wajah lebih glowing dengan dandanan yang tidak terlalu menor."Hai, Yu. Apa kabar?"Refleks mereka berpelukan dengan erat menunpahkan kerinduan. Sudah lama sekali mereka tidak bertemu sejak Keysha menikah enam tahun silam. Rasa rindu itu biasanya hanya dicurahkan via ponsel saja.Iya, Keysha memang menutupi diri untuk tidak berhubungan dengan siapapun setelah menikah. Bukan karena suaminya melarang tetapi memang Keysha sendiri yang merasa minder karena dirinya lulusan sarjana dan tidak bekerja, malah mengurus rumah tangga. Sementara sebagian temannya lebih memilih karir, seperti Ayu. Terdengar kabar terakhir, Ayu menjabat menjadi menejer keuangan di salah satu perusahaan di ibukota ini."Aku baik, Key, lo gimana?"Mereka pun melepas pelukan. Keysha mengangkat kedua bahunya."Ya, begini yang lo lihat."Ada senyuman bahagia terpampang di wajah tatkala Keysha dapat bertemu kembali dengan sahabat lamanya."Eh, sorry ya, waktu itu aku nggak bisa datang ke pernikahan lo, Gita lagi sakit, aku nggak mungkin meninggalkannya," sambung Keysha dengan raut sesal terbaca di wajahnya. Ia tak bisa menyimpan perasaannya."Iya, udah tahu, udah kesekian kali lo minta maaf, sampe bosen aku mendengarkannya."Ayu mencolek hidung bangirnya lalu mengulas senyuman."Ini Gita, anak lo?"Ayu memalingkan wajah ke arah bawah dan melihat sosok anak kecil yang imut.Keysha mengangguk."Gita, ayo salam sama Tante Ayu.""Hai, Tante Ayu, apa kabar?"Gita pun menurut perintah bundanya lalu mencium punggung telapak tangan Ayu. Ah, anak itu pintar sekali. Keysha sudah mengajarkan banyak hal tentang sopan santun dan ramah tamah.Ayu mengambil posisi jongkok untuk mensejajarkan tubuh dengan Gita. Matanya menatap lekat gadis yang wajahnya mirip dengan Keysha."Baik, Sayang. Ih, lucu banget, sih, kamu. Tante jadi gemes, deh. Cubit, boleh?"Gita menggelengkan dengan wajah masam. Meski bukan bocah yang cengeng, Gita tak mau disakiti dengan cubitan."Cium, boleh?"Ayu bertanya iseng dan Gita mengangguk sembari senyum. Beberapa saat, Ayu pun mendaratkan kecupan di pipi kanan dan kiri sambil menekan kata 'muach'."Lo sendirian? Suami lo nggak ikut?" Ayu menyapu sekeliling, mencari keberadaan Ikbal."Tadi aku naik taksi online, Mas Ikbal dalam perjalanan dari Bandung, katanya di tol macet buanget. Daripada aku telat, aku disuruh naik taksi, ntar pulang baru dijemput.""Kok nggak bilang, sih, tahu gitu aku jemput kamu tadi.""Aku nggak mau ngerepotin Kevin dan lo." Keysha menolak halus dengan alasan."Nggak ngerepotin sama sekali. Kalo Kevin tahu, dia bakal mau jemput lo juga.""Pengantin baru, nggak enak diganggu."Nada Keysha menggoda membuat rona wajah Ayu memerah."Pengantin baru apaan, kita udah nikah setaon kale."Lengan Keysha dicubit manja."Udah, ah, yuk, masuk. Teman lain pasti sudah pada datang."Sejak Keysha menikah apalagi sekarang sudah punya Gita yang kini berusia tiga tahun, waktu dan tenaganya dikuras untuk mengurus suami, anak dan rumah tangga yang sudah dibangun selama 6 tahun. Untuk acara bertemu dan bercengkrama secara langsung dengan teman lama, nyaris sudah tidak pernah dilakukan lagi.Jujur, Keysha enggan ikut acara reuni se-angkatan Fakultas Ekonomi zaman kuliahnya dulu. Lantaran dibujuk Ayu, sahabat lama yang sudah ingin bertemu dengannya, ia pun mengiyakan. Namun, dari kemarin mereka selalu berhubungan meski sebatas video call atau via chat saja.***Suasana acara reuni memang sengaja didesain dengan tema outdoor, yang dihiaskan balon dan aneka pernak-pernik khas pesta sehingga membuat kondisi menjadi sedikit meriah. Tampak di sana beberapa meja berlapiskan kain putih sebagai tempat makanan prasmanan yang lezat, tentunya.Para tamu yang sudah hadir rata-rata teman se-angkatan. Namun, ada sebagian yang tak dikenal walaupun mereka se-angkatan karena beda jurusan. Ada yang hadir dengan pasangan dan buah hatinya. Ada pula yang hadir sendiri, bahkan ada yang hadir berkelompok dengan teman gengnya saat mereka kuliah dulu. Semua tampak bahagia, dapat dilihat dari raut wajah mereka yang menebarkan tawaan dan senyuman.Saat Keysha mengambil makanan di meja prasmanan, tak sengaja sorot mata tertuju ke salah satu kelompok orang yang tak asing baginya. Berkali-kali dia memicingkan mata untuk mempertajam penglihatan ke salah satu orang dari kelompok itu untuk memastikan apa yang dilihat adalah orang yang sesuai dugaannya. Berulang kali, berusaha memfokuskan pandangan, dan ...."Kenapa ada dia?" Keysha berucap pelan tanpa sadar.Dia? Siapa?I took her view and entered the room. The view that my eyes chanced upon, a woman sitting at the brink of the bed and burying her face in her hands, had revved up my heartbeat; she lifted her head and looked at me. There was surprise as well as confusion in Aria's gaze."Dave…what are you doing here?" she asked, tremulous her voice.I stepped closer to her, and my heart went out to her. "Aria, please, don't do that. We have to talk. You had to know how much I love you, and we have got to do this together. Please don't make this mistake. Don't decide without you talking to me," she said.She stared into mine, her own already welling with water. "I don't know if I can do this, Dave. I'm scared… so scared."."I know you are," I said, my voice cracking as the emotions spun their way inside of me. "But I'm scared too, Aria, scared to death of letting go of you and our child. We can face this together. I love you and will be with you no matter what. Please just allow us a chance."She tremb
DAVE'S POVThe reports lay on the desk as my eyes looked at them without really seeing. It was two weeks ago—the night that had unleashed all my emotions with Aria. She hadn't been returning my calls or texts, and every time I tried to find her, the doors closed in front of me.It was as if that had been such a welcome distraction from the growing pit of dread deep in my stomach—one which it was easy to leave my focus on. Therefore, I just thought that probably Aria needed some space and time to think, and I gave it to her. But the days were beginning to slip into weeks; the chasm between us began to feel impossible to cross.I was just about to get into the other useless read-through of the reports when the shaking of my door broke with a knock. Before I could get a chance to answer, Nixon walked in, a sad look across his face."Dave, we have got to talk," he said, shutting the door.I rose to my feet; missed a beat in my heart. Nixon never did drama so whatever his news was, it had
Returning to Chicago was very much like stepping into the storm all over again. The city was the same—booming and ruthless; only I was different now. The sojourn at Pittsburgh had poured in a new perspective and a brief sabbatical from the storm that life was getting transformed into. Onwards, as I pushed open the doors and jumped into the office of the magazine, all my lugging from the past came back and sat on my shoulders again.I virtually wore the broadest smile ever as I greeted colleagues around, with their eyes to my back, and whispers trailing down the hall. News about Jax did travel fast, and however much I wanted to act like I did not hear the murmurs, they were impossible to ignore."'Did you see him? Jax is still in prison…Isn't she the one who used to go out with him?"Yeah, apparently she's trying to steer clear of any more drama. Who can blame her?"The two prattled on, voices droning in my ears as I looked down, burying myself in my work. I had the art of evasion of
Xavier had spent most of the next fortnight within the confines of the house with his baby daughter, little Aurora; mankind could attribute getting associated with the atmosphere of normality amidst these crazed minds in and around people. They made one feel slightly better, anyways. The bright spot in my life was Aurora, Xavier's baby. Her laughter and innocence diverted my mind from that hurricane inside my guts.And Xavier, he never stopped showing up. Either waiting to hold me with all of my words, many, or sitting wordless with me when my words failed. He had wars of his own, his own aches: waiting for Savannah to return, raising Aurora on his own. But it never crossed him from how he was acted at that it was of much miracle to be noble, he quared each new day with that kind of fortitude. I saw and wished I could find it in myself.And suddenly it was one of those evenings where one sat in the porch with the sunset overhead, and this very question was coming alive inside me since
ARIA'S POVAnd there was the sun, first off, up close, shining warmly but in an absolutely singular, discreet design, wringing and bright out through the blinds and all over my bed. For one moment all was also right in my world; this was just some stupid nightmare. For a brief second, there was a sense that everything in the world was also just fine; it was all just some ridiculous nightmare. But as the fog of sleep thinned, I could see the face of reality coming creaking down upon me.There was the weight of a body beside me and the familiar scent of Dave's cologne in the air. Dread consumed me as my head turned to his, slowly, heart in the throat, lying beside me, still asleep. His face really looked peaceful, quite unlike the trouble that I knew was dwelling underneath.Panic surged through me at the full force of what I had done. As soon as I lay in Dave's bed, in full nudity and all the sheets, it all came back, the way that I kissed him. I had let myself fall into the biggest t
DAVE'S POVDarkness had passed as I finally drove the old Civic through the winding city streets, my brain swirling with thoughts that snaked into a cocktail of feelings, triumph and unease. The news of Jax spread like a wildfire through the grapevine, and much as I loathed to admit, somewhere deep inside me, the thought of his downfall came with a bit of joy. That definitely had to be said: he had it coming. Not half of me, though—there was another that couldn't see past Aria's face in my head when she discovered all that she had been told. What would she do? Didn't she see this as a way to get rid of him and finally turn back to me? Or would she retreat into herself as she had retreated before, only this time even more broken?It was with all that running through my head that I pulled up outside Aria's apartment. I parked the car, opened the door, and let the cool night air do little to settle the restlessness in my chest. I came to her front door and knocked, waiting for her to an
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