Wandering Heart Chapter 2

It's not yet a week, but I decided to appease my few-but-eager readers with an early update.  Thank you very much for  reading the 1st chapter and supported me through your comments. I'm so grateful for the personal comments over BBM or Facebook Message. However, it does help me more if you directly review the story by leaving your comment here. Even if you say I'm suck at writing the romance thing, I'm OK with that. I won't cry, I promise... Probably I'll just sob silently in my classroom.

Chapter 2 : With or Without You 

 (Bono/1987, Performed by U2)

Shaft of sunlight made its way through the half closed curtain to torture my sleepy eyes. It was 7pm on Saturday morning but to my poor eyes it shone as bright as the noon day. It quickly continued its journey to my brain and jolted me up from my slumber. My head ached as if a child wanting an ice-cream just screamed right at my ears. Fighting up the sudden urge to scream back at an imaginary kid, I slowly get up and made my bed. 

As I gain consciousness, I heard metal clangs that obviously came from the kitchen. Melinda must be there, cooking breakfast was a chore she cherished. She had talent and also willingness to explore and experiment with the recipes, a fact that I cherished everyday since the first morning I woke up in this building. She left me with cleaning up the shared bathroom on my chores list. Not that I was apt at scrubbing ceramic tiles, but she hated the feeling of ceramic cleanser on her skin and I preferred cleaning up the toilet once a week than cooking every day. So, I was very pleased with this arrangement and would forever be grateful for having her sharing the apartment.

The air outside my petite room was filled with the savory scent of chicken fried rice. Melinda stood in front of the stove, humming one of Celine Dion’s song while using an aluminum ladle to shovel the brownish rice. She caught sight of me as I pulled one of four chairs in our designated dining room and greeted me with a sing-song good morning. Her high-pitched voice seemed to amplify the spoiled kid's scream and sent a pinch to the soft tissue in my ears. Despite the pain, I managed to conjure energy which only enough to reply with a far less enthusiast good morning. 

Melinda and I met at our college dorm, though we were of different rooms. The first time I spoke to her was one morning when I accused her stealing my Harry Potter and The Sorcerer Stone novel. I came again later that day to apologize when I found the novel lying on my bed, having been ‘borrowed’ by my room-mate. Never one to hold a grudge, she quickly befriend me as a fellow reader. Our friendship became stronger each time a new volume of the series published. 

When we found out that our workplace was in the same neighborhood, we decided to share an apartment. We could only afford a small apartment, but still we were grateful for the new-found ability to avoid the infamous Jakarta traffic jam. However, anybody visited our apartment should be well-informed to prevent claustrophobia panic attack. 

However, we did enjoy little ‘Melaudrey Manor’, as Mel amalgamated our name and ‘baptized’ the apartment in our first day. We unleashed our inner artist and decorate it to attain the glory the name implied ever since. In our first week, we tirelessly painted the wall half down by hands so that it resembled honey-colored bricks. We made the living room/dining room an open air balcony, so I drew golden railings on top of the bricks and Mel painted the rest of the wall and ceiling with blue sky and white clouds. I drew faraway hills and green forest behind the TV.

Mel and I shared near-religious adoration to Harry Potter septalogy. So, when it's time to decorate our sanctuary, we shamelessly let our inner geek took charge. Melinda’s 2,5 x 3 meters bedroom was made a green house. We drew various plants, from the quirky combination Calla Lilies, Gerrbera Daisies, Lilacs ‘planted’ on top of her bed, to magical plants like Monkswood, Belladona, even Dirigible Plum. My room was made the library which contains an old ‘first copy’ of Dante’s Divine Comedy, Bronte Sister’s novels to course companion books that were used by students of Hogwarts. We only hoped J. K. Rowling would never step a foot in our rooms, otherwise she would definitely sue us over copyright infringement. 

The apartment’s owner was near to having a heart attack when he saw what our artistic talent did to his apartment. We had to pay him some more money to repaint the wall if we decided to leave the apartment. All the more reason to enjoy while it last, said Melinda at his dismay. 

“So, what happened last night?” She put down two plates of fried rice while I got us some plain water and the cutlery needed.

 “Arrgh, not you too!”

“I can’t help it. You know, Henry told me he’s going to propose when he picked you up last night. He showed me the square-cut diamond. It was huge! Lady, you’re one lucky girl. He was excited and I was also so excited for you. But being a good friend I am, I kept my mouth shut until this morning. So, you have to reward my self-control and spill me the beans! Oh no… Show me the ring first!”

 I showed her my empty fingers dramatically.

“No!” She exclaimed as she took a seat and spooned her share of fried rice.

I nodded as I gulped. "Anyway, Excited huh? Henry and excited should not be put in the same sentence, Mel.”

“Well, he was excited in his own way. Not really jumping up and down, like we would, but it’s still excitation. At least he told me his plan. If he’s not excited, he won’t do that, right? For someone who thought herself as a good judge of character, you seem so oblivious when it comes to him.”

“I’m not oblivious. It’s Henry. He’s driven by his ambition. So, what he did was a calculated action. He must have seen how close we are, and he was telling you his plan to make you his ally. Tell me what you did after he told you that, besides keeping your mouth shut?”

“Oh yeah, I helped you dress and chose the olive satin cocktail dress for you over your previously chosen hideous white frock and jeans that I would wear for scrubbing the floor. I convinced you it’s appropriate, considering Henry’s smart suit. I convinced you further by complimenting how it matches your skin tone. Goodness! I even helped with your  hair! Did he really calculate my actions?”

“Believe me, he will be a successful politician in his thirties. Foreseeing and controlling people’s reaction is an ability that he must have to succeed. And you’re not a difficult person to read anyway, Mel.”

“And I’m proud of that. I shivered at the thought of your conversations in your dates. It must be far from sweet-nothings. Both of you must have planned how to conquer the world.”

I laughed at her statement. Although the topic Mel suggested was never on the table, Henry and I have others, very diverse topics to converse about. Romantic he may not, but Henry had the ability keep our conversation going. Not many male could do that, and that made me stay with him for two long years. He was not boring, and he probably would never be. 

Once upon a time, we clicked that way. If we were in a different era, he must be a powerful roman senator who had a beautiful submissive patrician wife, and I probably was a courtesan who he often met to exchange intelligent banter.

He was also the only man who did not laugh when Mel excitedly informed him the Harry Potter theme of our apartment. Heaven forbid, he never read the series, but he was even curious and probed us about the idea. Well, right before he mentioned the blasphemous statement, that Harry Potter books were for children. Mel  looked shocked and hurt, while I almost hexed him to oblivion had I ever owned a wand. I refused to talk to him for almost a month, but then caved in when he brought me to watch Deathly Hollows part 1, despite his busy schedule. 

Yes, he was still as romantic as an oak tree in the winter, but he was sweet in his own sneering, manipulative, and haughty way. It was impossible to not be fond of his character flaws after 2 years. Somehow it had been a convenience, a strange comfort even, to spend some time in his presence.  

 “Audrey, I’m sorry.” Melinda hugged me and brought me back to reality. I felt my cheeks wet. At first I thought I was Melinda’s tears, but then I realized that those are mine.

“I loved him once upon a time, Mel. Two years is not a short period of time. But, I just can’t marry him, it would be the death of us.” It was short compared to for life. We had different dreams and for us to achieve those, our path must part. I knew this for a long time, but I was too greedy to let go.

“I know sweetie. I know. I’m sorry. You don’t have to defend yourself to me. I understand.” She cooed as if I was her student in first day of school, being separated from my mom for the first time. In the comfort of her arm and shoulder, I continued crying, though I was confused of the reason. It seemed as if the rage that overtook me last night seeped out and left me with grief. No matter how good I rationalized it, separation was never easy.

We hugged each other for almost 15 minutes before finally my sobs faded. She put her palms on my shoulders and looked right into my red swollen eyes, “Well, if aspirin works for headache, you know what might work on heartache?”

“No.” I wiped my excess tears.

“Chocolate ice cream, caramel pop corn and Spongebob Squarepants marathon. What do you think?”

‘I think it will work successfully.” I laughed as she ran back to the kitchen and prepared the things she mentioned. 

I couldn’t help but to smile at her. My dear friend Melinda did view the world in her funny logic. Had she been a doctor, she probably would be the female version of Patch Adams, assigning his cancer patients to watch Mr. Bean instead of taking a handful of chemotherapy pills. Forever the optimistic, it’s as if she brought the sun everywhere she went. At times like this, even without the understanding of the circumstances, she always ready to lend her hand to pull me from the sinking sand. I stood up on my feet and followed her to help in the kitchen. I too, shall exert all my strength not to let myself sink deeper.

Thank you for reading this far. Hopefully J. K. Rowling won't sue my bottom for mentioning her masterpiece here. I can't help it, I'm such a pathetic fan. These two chapters and the next one were more 'get to know the characters' than get down to business. Since this story is written in 1st person point of view, I'd prefer the reader to understand Audrey's character and even empathize with her, so that in the long run, the story is more enjoyable.