Finally, for the first time, Diaz could see Claire up close. Observing the sleeping face of his junior high school friend whom he had not met for ten years. Not much had changed, the woman's facial features only looked more mature than the last time they met, but what he saw was still the Claire he knew, though when Claire opened her eyes, he don't know if the impression was still the same or not.
But that's not the case, the existence of Claire's uncle and aunt who are now sitting opposite Diaz is the main axis now. The atmosphere around him clearly couldn't be said to be friendly, especially after what happened before the three of them ended up gathering in that infirmary.
Diaz was still trying to avoid the question that seemed ready to be pointed at him in plain sight by busy observing Claire beside her bed. Before that baritone voice, he heard and couldn't help but draw his attention away from just focusing on Claire.
"So your name is—Diaz?"
Clumsy. Or somehow, Diaz was confused as to what kind of situation he was involved in. Elise had clearly said goodbye because Claire's uncle and aunt asked her to hurry back to the office before Diaz was finally herded there, leaving Diaz with an apologetic look for not being able to help him out of the situation she created. However, Diaz can understand, because from any perspective, what Uncle and Aunt want to hear must be the explanation, not Elise's explanation.
"Yes. I'm Diaz, Claire's middle school friend."
"Claire's future husband?" said the aunt.
"No—I... I think there is a misunderstanding here,” Diaz shook his head quickly, trying to clear up the misunderstanding that caught the eyes and ears of the two people in front of him.
"No? I thought I heard…” Claire's uncle glanced at his wife, trying to make sure that what he heard outside was not just him.
"That's what I have to straighten out here."
Diaz took a deep breath, racking his brain to explain the real situation without any further misunderstandings about himself. But it wasn't easy, telling the details of why Elise had been summoned to this place for all the reasons just now would only complicate the situation, especially in front of older people like Claire's uncle and aunt. Not to mention Diaz also has to consider how Claire's position would be if she told him that it all started with the woman's sudden marriage invitation, saying it was not the right choice, according to Diaz.
“I am an old friend of Claire's who recently make contact with. But we weren't involved in anything more than that, and the talk about getting married was just a sales pitch that Claire had talked to me about with no meaning." In the end, that was the only explanation Diaz could come up with, the best option for her and Claire's situation that still had to be clarified, of course with the person in question directly.
A disappointed sigh escaped from the aunt's mouth which clearly showed her hope in front of Diaz, and unfortunately for Diaz, who could immediately interpret the meaning of the disappointed sigh—because she already knew about the problems Claire was having with them—his anger seemed to be provoked again. Diaz could not sympathize with those two.
All Diaz was thinking about right now was how Claire would feel if she knew her uncle and aunt's views on her current condition. For sure Claire will be very disappointed, right? No, what Diaz had to make sure first was, did Claire already know that the uncle and aunt who were said to be responsible for this had inappropriate thoughts like the ones he heard earlier?
"Are we being too grandiose to expect the conversation about marriage to be more serious with Claire?"
"Pardon?" The words Diaz didn't expect to hear from her aunt's mouth couldn't make him say anything more than question words that reflexively came out without consideration.
“Claire already needs a companion. She needs someone else to watch over her, and we think getting married is a way for her to focus on her life to be more positive so that something like this doesn't happen again." Wise words, if Diaz hadn't heard their conversation before, maybe Diaz's view of the two people in front of him would have been better, but because he already knew their essence somehow the words that were made as subtle as possible didn't sound sincere. Because the reason they said it wasn't just that, it wasn't just for Claire's sake, but rather for their selfishness.
"From what we caught, Son Diaz doesn't have a companion yet, right?" asked the aunt's voice again, to which Diaz could only reply with a faint smile. "Then it wouldn't hurt if we asked Nak Diaz to consider it, right?"
Diaz's brow furrowed, "Considering...?"
"To marry Claire," snapped the uncle.
If Diaz's interlocutor wasn't an older person like them, Diaz would have said sarcastically or at least said openly what was on his mind right now. Diaz said the same sentence to Claire via text, that marriage is not just a matter of being willing or not, but it is deeper than that. Unfortunately, Diaz can't express his thoughts that clearly, but he still knows how to respect elders, even though he thinks elders like them can treat with disrespect. Especially if it wasn't for their arbitrarily offering a man they didn't know to marry their precious niece—ah Diaz forgot, Claire probably wasn't that valuable to either of them.
"I think Claire has her thoughts about marriage. I'm not sure Claire can accept the idea of you. We were indeed friends, but that was twelve years ago, and our communication even now is only recent. Claire is still a stranger to me, I'm sure Claire thinks so."
"What if she doesn’t? What if Claire could accept you, Diaz? That kid isn't the sociable type, especially now that she's approaching 30, Claire is getting more and more selective about communicating with other people, and the fact she's communicating with you could be—”
“Sorry to interrupt, but I don't feel comfortable talking about Claire's feelings while she is still lying unconscious near us. Shouldn't we have thought about Claire's condition first so she could be better now?"
Claire's uncle and aunt were finally silenced. For this matter Diaz can be strict, he just feels it is unethical to discuss matters of feelings while Claire herself is still asleep in her subconscious. Diaz couldn't accept the sudden situation he had to face, but he still had the common sense to be realistic about how he should behave in front of sick people, instead of talking about things outside of that.
There was a long silence after Diaz said that last sentence, followed by the decision of Claire's uncle and aunt to leave the room without saying a word. And just when Claire's uncle and aunt decided to leave, at that moment Claire slowly opened her eyes with a sigh that escaped her lips. His vacant eyes greeted Diaz for the first time.
"Are you awake?" were the first words that came out of Diaz's mouth as soon as he saw Claire blinking slowly, opening her eyes and trying to adjust the light entering her retinas.He moved the chair that he was sitting on to get closer to the bed Claire was in. Diaz didn't feel the need to overreact, seeing as Claire seemed to be fine in her consciousness, even if something felt Claire and made her body uncomfortable, Diaz would of course rush to call the doctor or nurse on duty."I'm okay," Claire muttered hoarsely, trying to energize every little movement she made. Her body was unbelievably limp, her throat was dry and her eyelids felt heavy until all the movements she was trying to make seemed to slow down. The presence of someone she hadn't seen in a long time didn't necessarily surprise Claire, even though she had just woken up from her subconscious, Claire's brain was used to quickly digesting the situation after what she had experienced before lying in this bed. And Claire coul
The place was quiet, only a few people were sitting in one or two chairs scattered in every corner of the room. Diaz was there, one of them, with a cup of coffee he had just bought five minutes ago at one of the drink counters. Diaz spends his afternoons in the hospital canteen with his cell phone to his ear. "Sorry, Ed, I left suddenly. But earlier I called HR for a half-day permit." "I heard from Sonia earlier, that your family has been admitted to the hospital. How are things?" Unbeknownst to Edwin—the person who is currently on the phone with him—Diaz grimaced at the statement as well as the question. The reason is that he did use the excuse of "relatives being hospitalized" to apply for permission to the HRD office, but hearing it from Edwin made him feel like someone who was being caught lying. That excuse sounded stupid now, even though Diaz wasn't lying about himself having to rush to the hospital, but describing Claire as an important family or relative was ridiculous. Jus
Elise closes the door slowly. She even held her breath to make sure that her movements didn't make any disturbing noises. Her lips pressed tightly together, holding her back against the door for a few seconds before deciding to leave without looking back. In her heart with a regretful look on her face, Elise mumbled the word sorry many times. Sorry to the two people who are now isolating themselves and decided to have a one-on-one conversation."Sorry, Mr. Diaz, for making you confused today. And sorry, Ms. Claire, for involving people without Ms. Claire's knowledge and permission..." Elise's lips mumbled as she recited the sentence along with her steps away from the now forbidden room, for her.***Inside, the two high school acquaintances exchanged glances. Neither one relented, nor felt intimidated even though the gazes they gave each other were too sharp for two people who were in an unplanned reunion. For some women who receive Diaz's gaze at this time, perhaps that kind of look
One of his hands touched the surface of the mattress, forcing a movement that was still relatively weak because his body consciousness was functioning less than fifty percent. Almost a minute without finding the object he was looking for by fingering, Diaz finally forced his eyes to open slightly, peeking through the sleepiness that was still attacking. The increasingly deafening sound of the alarm made Diaz move faster to find his cell phone, almost falling off the bed when he reached for the cell phone which turned out to be on the side of the nightstand. He pressed the button to deactivate the alarm, exhaling tiredly just from trying to find the phone in the early hours of the morning.Diaz glanced at the clock on the wall which just showed 6 am. There was still plenty of time for him to get ready for the office, and although he could have chosen to sleep again to fulfill his sleepy desire, Diaz still tried to keep his eyes awake. Rising from the sleeping position, the man pondered
The two people were frozen in place with each other. Just yesterday they had stressed to each other that they should never see each other again, not get involved with each other, and not meddle in personal matters more than they should. But now the two of them are reunited, without planning, without being taken into account by the two of them."Claire?" the sound of breaking broke the silence between both of them. Claire turned her gaze to the person who called out to her, smiling faintly trying to control herself from her surprise.Ryan invited Claire to sit in the space provided, while Diaz followed the figure of the woman who no longer exchanged glances with him at every step the woman took. Out of the corner of his eye, Diaz found Elise who was also surprised to see him in the same place. The girl followed behind Claire and took a seat beside her boss still with grimacing eyes staring at Diaz. Unexpected encounter, isn't it?The meeting started with the formal introduction of the
As soon as she got in, Claire laid her head against the car seat and found a secure spot for her to let go of whatever she had been holding back for a very long time. Emotion? Awkward? Flustered? Afraid? Worried? For roughly the last two hours, Claire had to struggle with her mind since everything was so dreadfully messed up in her head. Grateful that Claire made it through it today despite having struggled mightily to survive for the past two years since accepting the role she currently holds. Of course, there are days and times when Claire fails and loses, not just once or twice, but tens or even more than hundreds of times. Because of all the bad thoughts that she could not overcome at those times, Claire had to end up imprisoned in the hospital like yesterday. Specific time. Elise, who is seated in front of the steering wheel, has a worried expression on her face, indicating that she is aware of what her boss has been through. She must constantly be aware of her surroundings due t
Diaz gulped down saliva again. Breathe in deeply and slowly let it out. Because he didn't know where to gaze for the remainder of the time, his head was occupied staring down or sideways out the window.Claire was in front of him, and Cheryl was on the other side, occasionally catching her eye on him even though she didn't seem to care. Despite not constantly watching it, Diaz was able to comprehend his ex-actions. Diaz knows Cheryl much better than her present lover, who just happens to be his employer, thanks to the five years spent together in a relationship that was on the verge of leading to the altar.They are currently seated at a huge table in a family restaurant with seven other people. The atmosphere at their table seemed fine in the eyes of the sighted layperson. Everything appeared to be going as usual, especially with Edwin and Liana making the most noise out of all of them. Elise would occasionally join in when Liana forced her into the discussion. Due to their shared j
A Sunday would be silent after the hundredth shout. Who's to blame? It's even expected that uninvited guests will show up. Claire did her best to pretend to be deaf, to keep her emotions in check so they wouldn't explode, or even to be strong enough to rudely eject her guest in the event of a severe occurrence. Even while her actions did not suggest that they had the right to accept that, Claire was, sadly, nevertheless able to maintain control and realize that she was dealing with elderly people, who were deserving of respect."You have no idea who or what you are, Clare!"Claire closed her eyes at the incoming loud noise that felt like it would burst her eardrums, which made her mood worse even after the arrival of these uninvited guests.All right, take a breath in and a breath out. It was accurate to say that since Claire's parents passed away, her uncle and aunt had been looking after her. But it should be noted that the incident happened when Claire was in her teens, just before