Chapter 12: Met Eza's Uncle

"I'm resign from college next semester."

"Why?"

The final course exam in their first semester has ended, but Zia was surprised by the news that given by Eza. In fact, both of them are still in the motorbike park near the campus.

Eza did not immediately answer the question “why” that Zia hurriedly raised when he said he would quit college next semester. He sighed in a huff.

"My uncle was sick, and now no one manages his business in Kalimantan. He was a bachelor since he was young. He didn't has a child and wife so there is no one can help him to handle his business now. So, he asked me to make a handle there," he explained.

"Then ... how about your college?" Zia is still not willing to accept Eza's decision.

"Uncle offered me to take a online college program. Some campuses already apply distance learning with their students, so I can take evening classes online. My uncle also promised that his business would be passed on to me later because he didn't have any children."

Zia fell silent, she turned her eyes to another direction. Slowly, herbeyes stung and tears began to fill his lids.

"Zi ... is it okay if we to do long-distance-relationship?" Eza asked quietly.

"Well, can we talk in other place, Za? It's not good here, seen by others," she avoided immediately putting on her helmet.

"O-okay." Eza did not argue. He chose to obey what Zia said because it was true. They will discuss this matter at length and the parking lot is not the right place for two people who have the label "partner" negotiating with each other.

... -toxic- ...

The motor that Eza was steering stopped at the lake.

Yup, the same lake where Eza confessed his feelings to Zia just a moment ago, the place where the two had visited with a happy heart, was different from the current situation.

"So ... are you going to follow your uncle's advice?" Zia finally opened the conversation after they had been silent for a while. The two of them sat on the grass, while Zia's eyes stared straight at the calm lake water.

In fact, his heart was not calm.

"Yup, I will." Eza responded briefly, confused about composing words because he had explained the essence of the problem in the parking lot earlier. "So, Zi ... is it okay for us to do long-distance-relationship?" asked Eza again.

Zia didn't answer. Her feelings are high to tell no, but she can't "I am confused. In my heart, I'm not ready to do LDR, but on the other side I have no other choice. What should I do, Za?" she turned her gaze towards Eza, letting Eza see the fragility that was now evident in his eyes; teary. The tears were no longer able to be accommodated by her lids, she let the tears seep down her cheeks.

"Don't cry, Zi." Eza gently rubbed Zia's tears with his fingers, then brought Zia into his arms. "I'm sorry, Zi. I have no choice. But I'm really serious about you, please don't break up with me, don't let me go."

Zia could hear how fragile Eza was when Eza said this. The image when he was here a while ago and saw Eza's vulnerability when he asked him not to leave her then surfaced.

Feelings of guilt then eat away suddenly.

"I'm sorry, Za. I'm selfish, forgive Zia." Zia returned Eza's hug, apologizing repeatedly to the man.

"I am the one that should apology to you, Zi." The two of them hugged each other for a long time, then laughed.

"So ... it's okay if we are in LDR?" Eza asked that question the third time.

"It's okay. Eza also has to organize your future, and I doesn't want to be a cage that hinders Eza and makes Eza rebellious with his uncle Eza," she said with a soft smile.

Eza hugged Zia again. "Thanks for understanding me, Zi." Eza said sincerely.

The two of them laughed again, then enjoyed the moment when the sun returned to its bed this afternoon and sank at the end of the lake line. Enjoy a brief moment they can feel before the two of them are far apart.

"Tomorrow I'll bring you to meet my uncle okay?"

Zia nodded doubtfully. "Is it okay? Did he will like me?" she asked.

"It's okay. I think she will like you!"

"Okay!"

... -toxic- ...

Zia smiled and waved her hand as soon as she arrived in front of her house, staring at Eza's silhouette until her shadow disappeared from the turn of the complex road.

When Zia entered the house, she let out an exasperated sigh.

"What happened, Zi? Are you having problems?" Gwen, who was enjoying potato sticks while watching television, turned to the door, saw Zia who looked upset there.

Without waiting for a long time, Zia immediately walked towards Gwen, immediately crying in Gwen's arms.

Gwen stopped eating, then put the plate filled with potato sticks back on the table and immediately patted Zia's back, who was heaving from crying.

"Calm down Zi, calm down. What is wrong? Why are you crying like this? "

“Eza, Gwen—hiks. Eza will stop studying and move to Kalimantan, we're going to LDR. Gwen, me, sob. I'm not ready yet …" Zia explained while sobbing.

Gwen continued to stroke the woman's back patiently, didn't immediately reply to Zia's words and let her continue talking until her feelings were relieved.

That night, Zia spends time crying in Gwen's arms, confiding all her worries on one of Zia's most trusted friends to share stories abd what she felt now.

... -toxic- ...

“Morning, Zia! Why are your eyes swollen, honey?" Eza, who had just greeted Zia in front of her yard then turned into a panic as soon as he saw Zia's eyes were swollen from crying.

Zia smiled at Eza and shook her head again.

"Morning, Za. Ah, it's okay. This morning, when I woke up, there was dust coming in, so I rubbed it, but it swelled up," she explained covering the night he spent crying in the TV room with Gwen.

Eza looked nodded as if he believed Zia's story. "You should have told me so that I bought the eye drops right here," he said worriedly.

"Don't bother, it's just this normal pain," he refused, waving his hand in the air. "We'll be, right, visit your uncle?" Zia tried to change the topic.

"Yeeeep!" Eza patted his forehead. "Come on!"

“Stop when you see the fruit shop first, okay? It's not good if you don't bring something to your uncle."

... -toxic- ...

"Morning, Uncle." Eza greeted an old man who was lying with various tools attached to his body.

The old man there smiled when he saw his nephew arrived in her room and behind his nephew there's a woman that he didn't know before.

"Bring a woman this early in the morning, introduce her to your uncle first," he teased Eza, made Eza laugh at that.

"Okaay ..." Eza pulled Zia's hand slowly. "Introducing my girlfriend, her name is Zia. Is she beautiful, uncle?"

Zia lowered her head, saluting the man. "Morning, Uncle. I am Zia, Eza's girlfriend. Here is a little fruit for you," she said, handing hee a fruit parcel.

"O-ho, thank you, sweet." Bayu—Eza's uncle's name, received the parcel with a smile, then put it on the nightstand. "What do you want to drink, Zi?"

"Anything, no problem for me," Zia answered.

Bayu then glanced at Eza. "Eza you should more sensitive, please buy your girlfriend a drink," he admonished.

"Huh?" Eza was surprised to hear his uncle's words.

"No-no problem, Uncle. I still not thirsty," Zia grinned.

"Zia's boyfriend, man ... let's buy a drink," said Bayu without hearing Zia's words, making Eza then look at Zia for a while before turning around.

"I'll go first," he said.

Zia nodded slightly. "Be careful."

Then, Eza walked out of the room, leaving the two people remaining in the room.

"Sit down, Zi. Don't be awkward and stay here." Bayu smiled at Zia, pointing at a chair not far from his hospital cart.

Zia smiled awkwardly. "Yes, Uncle." Zia landed her butt on the chair. "I cut the fruit, ok?" Zia asked permission from Bayu.

When Bayu nodded, Zia grabbed the fruit and knife on the nightstand, then started peeling the skin of the apple fruit one by one before cutting it into pieces.

"How long you have been close to Eza?" Bayu began to ask.

"Just been traveling for two months, Om," said Zia.

"Are you serious with Eza?"

The question made Zia pause, absorbed the question before responding so as not to get the wrong answer. He took a breath for a moment, then exhaled slowly, trying to reduce the awkwardness that seemed to be suffering because Bayu kept watching him.

"I'm serious with him, Uncle."

"Good then. I want to tell you about Eza."

Bayu no longer looks at Zia, now his eyes are staring at the white ceiling and begin to wander. Meanwhile, Zia sat down and turned her head, waiting for Bayu's answer, which seemed like a long story to fill this morning.

"He was ...."

-To be Continue-