Buku Public Speaking

On New Year’s Eve, a poolside party was held at the hospital. There, my fiancee Valerie Charlton’s medical prodigy junior colleague, Cyrus Zeigler, drew the wildcard in a party game. His task was to select a woman from the attendees and enact an explicit scene in front of everyone. He scanned the crowd, and his gaze landed on Valerie. “Valerie, you’re about to get married. I know I can’t have you. So let me have this one time. Okay?” Valerie’s eyes welled up, and she was about to nod. I scoffed and tossed the unsigned medical equipment purchase contract onto the table. “You’d better think carefully. Either he gets lost, or your family’s hospital shuts down for good. Your choice.” Cyrus glared at me angrily when he saw that Valerie was torn with indecision. “Is it that Mr. Everest can’t take a joke? He’s already controlling everything you do before the wedding. After you get married, he’ll probably keep you in a cage.” Valerie calmed down. Then, she turned to me and said scornfully, “You are a grown man. Have some grace. What era are we living in? Do you have to flaunt your masculinity all the time?” I watched calmly as they walked toward the pool. Then, I turned and made a phone call. “Since she doesn’t care about this marriage, she can watch the Charlton family crumble.”

Everyone has gathered around to play games together. The current game requires all players to transfer red wine to each other via our mouths. Before my fiance, Teodoro Lamperti, is able to transfer the wine to me, his female best friend, Cristina Ghedini, shoves me away before kissing him on the mouth right away. "What are you doing? Today is Serafina's big day, you know!" Teodoro might be complaining on the outside, yet he's patting Cristina gently on the back. The atmosphere in the villa becomes eerily silent. Everyone stares at me as I sit on the floor in a wretched manner. Cristina merely smiles nonchalantly. Then, she leans against Teodoro's shoulder. "Don't be so petty, Serafina. Teodor and I are as thick as thieves since we were kids. We're used to sharing everything together." Teodoro begins advising me as well. "It's just a game, Serafina. You've always been gracious, haven't you? Don't act like a sore loser." Everyone thinks that I'll explode into rage and flip the table of food over, like I had done in the past. But this time, I just draw to my feet and take off the engagement ring. Then, I slide it onto Cristina's finger. "This ring is yours now. Congratulations on your marriage. Remember to invite me to your wedding."

Eight years after I married that award-winning actor, he publicly declared he was dating the top starlet, Celine James. He even posted a picture of the two of them celebrating their adopted “baby’s” birthday. I did not call him to interrogate him as usual. Instead, he hurriedly explained, “It’s just a pet we adopted. As its ‘dad’, I have to be there for its birthday.” I said calmly, “Rather than adopting a furbaby, why don’t we get a divorce? Then you can have an actual baby with her.”

At our bachelor party, Harry Cole, my fiance and I played Truth or Dare with his friends. We spun the bottle, and it stopped in front of Joanna, a woman he had known since childhood. The dare was to do the deed with the person placed right next to you, and Harry had been sitting beside her the entire evening. Feeling uncomfortable, I quickly said, “Why don’t you just pick Truth instead of Dare?” Joanna, however, did not back down. She sent me a look full of contempt and replied, “Don’t be such a prude, Suzie. It’s not that big of a deal. If I don’t mind, why should you?” She then looked at Harry. “Do you mind, Harry?” Everyone around us started cheering them on. Someone said, “Suzie can’t have fun to save her own life. If Harry doesn’t want to, I will gladly do it. Pick me, Joanna!” I grabbed Harry’s hand and turned to leave, but he flung my hand off. “What about Joanna? She has no one to help her if I leave. We’re about to get married, Suzie. Can’t I have one last night of freedom?” After saying that, he pinned Joanna under him, and his friends just cheered even more. I stared at him and Joanna. At that moment, I no longer saw a future for us.

Hasna, ialah seorang istri yang hidup serba kekurangan bersama sang suami. Memiliki suami yang tempramental membuat Hasna yang saat itu sedang hamil menjadi sering merasa frustasi hingga ia mengalami pecah ketuban sebelum waktu kelahiran dan menyebabnya bayi perempuan yang dikandungnya meninggal ketika dilahirkan. Sejak saat itu dunia Hasna seketika berubah menjadi begitu suram, hingga setelah beberapa tahun berlalu, akhirnya Hasna bisa kembali tersenyum saat ia kembali melahirkan seorang bayi perempuan yang begitu cantik yang ia beri nama Melati. Hasna begitu bahagia memiliki Melati, pernah kehilangan anak perempuan pertamanya, membuat Hasna menjadi begitu over protektif pada Melati, ia juga begitu memanjakan Melati dan meskipun mereka hidup dalam keadaan serba kekurangan, sebisa mungkin Hasna berusaha untuk selalu memenuhi kebutuhan Melati. Hal itu pun membuat Rio, adik lelaki Melati menjadi iri hati karena perlakuan berbeda yang diberikan ibunya. Karena itu pula Melati pun tumbuh menjadi gadis remaja yang manja dan pemberontak. Bagaimana kelanjutannya????

Suara lenguhan dan desahan itu terus didengarkan tanpa henti. “Dengan siapa lagi kali ini Ibu bermain, sih?” pertanyaan ini selalu saja berulang kali diajukan Grace pada dirinya sendiri. Menjadi anak seorang pramuria merupakan tantangan hidup yang luar biasa. Tidak ada yang bisa memilih akan dilahirkan oleh Ibu seperti apa, Ayah seperti apa dan lingkungan yang seperti apa. Hari-hari Grace selalu banyak diwarnai dengan kemarahan dan kesedihan saja, hanya dua warna tersebut yang selalu hadir pada harinya. Sampai suatu hari petir menyambarnya tanpa aba-aba, membuat Grace mematung. Ibu kandungnya berhasil menjualnya pada laki-laki tua yang kaya dan sudah diakui kekayaannya oleh banyak orang di sana.

Setelah suamiku meninggal, aku kembali tinggal bersama ibu. Tanpa sengaja, aku malah mendapati bahwa dia punya seorang pacar baru. Pacar ibuku mengalami cedera mata karena percikan las listrik. Dia memintaku untuk meneteskan susu ke matanya. Melihat tetesan susu, badanku mulai gemetaran karena merasakan suhu tubuh pria itu. Akhirnya, aku baru sadar bahwa setiap kali berada di hadapannya, payudaraku tak terkontrol dan selalu meneteskan susu.

Setelah kematian suaminya, Alisha hanya hidup berdua dengan putra kecilnya, Leon. Kehilangan itu meninggalkan luka yang dalam sekaligus kenangan yang sulit dilupakan. Sebuah kecelakaan tunggal merenggut segalanya dan mengubah hidup mereka. Tak ingin melihat menantunya berjuang seorang diri, mertuanya mengajak Alisha dan Leon untuk tinggal bersama. Saat mencoba menjalani hari-hari di rumah peninggalan suaminya, Alisha justru dihadapkan pada kepingan memorinya yang baru tersusun dari adik mendiang suaminya, Sebastian. “Kamu salah kalau mengira aku cuma sekadar pengganti Reygan. Ada banyak hal yang tidak kamu tahu, Alisha.”

Garin lelah dengan segala kerumitan masalah dalam hidupnya. Menulikan telinga dari para mulut-mulut berbisa yang sering menjuluki ibunya sebagai. 'si wanita ratu hutang'. "Ya, ibuku si ratu hutang."

Dinara sangat kesal karena Ulya kakak iparnya menjadikan sang ibu sebagai pembantu. Ulya yang menjadi tulang punggung pun merasa diatas angin karena di dukung oleh suaminya. Damar tak bisa berbuat apa-apa karena dia pun bergantung pada sang istri setelah di PHK. Denga tekad bulat, Dinara akhirnya mengajukan cuti kuliah dan bekerja. Dengan begitu dia bisa kembali merebut sang ibu dan membuat Ulya tersingkirkan. Siapa angkuh Ulya membuat Damar akhir menceraikan istrinya itu.