Chapter 39 - Between The Grip And Fingers I

When we suddenly lose someone who was always present to fill the empty space between days, that's the second a feeling of emptiness hits.

'It's empty.'

The heart would always whisper like that. Gradually, the heart demanded more. No longer saying less, she urged another pathetic word.

'Something is missing.' Said a human organ (heart) that was often associated with feelings.

Even though the feeling itself had no place other than in our minds, it then stimulated the blood flow to the heartbeat and in tune with several hormones.

Aruna walked down the 2nd-floor of the Magic Letter outlet. The chatter of someone who used to choose to spend the late night in this place was gone.

The last who stayed, Tito and Laras, two younger juniors who gave rise to a sense of emptiness, were adjusting to the work rhythm of the Magic Letter.

After that, they said goodbye, leaving Aruna pensive alone.

Aruna scavenged some utensils lying on the floor. Usually, the tall man would throw other objects when the girl tried to clean it.

He did it just to annoy Aruna or play around her, because he threw it while still focusing on playing games on his favourite Lcd tv screen.

Now, the TV was almost untouched, and even the giraffe pillow was no longer used as a grumpy material.

The big pillow had been completely destroyed. Nobody else said "This is mine! If you dare to throw it out, step over Agus."

Damar's typical absurd statement always made people want to be angry while laughing.

"Ah, so lonely."

It was too quiet because Damar's presence brought a bunch of other young people all the time to this place whether it was just playing games or just to sleep.

Sometimes, they were also there to help without being asked. Even when there was an order for knick-knacks, bridal showers or something, they're the perfect delivery and display team with best friend's price. (low cost)

And when the composers began to disappear, they occasionally came, complaining, why did Damar suddenly become normal?

"Crazy, what did you do to Damar?" (why Damar suddenly changed direction).

The point was that Damar's friends also lost him. Not because they weren't sincere about the tall young man becoming popular, but rather that the path he was now taking wasn't that man's dream.

Aruna walked down the stairs. Before turning off the light, the key she was carrying made a jingling sound, touched by the bannister.

"Thank you for coming, wait a moment we will be here to serve you."

The distinctive sound of the Magic Mail outlet door sounded startling. Aruna had just turned off the 1st-floor lamp. Now, she had to fumble with the socket, so she knew who was coming.

But when Aruna managed to turn on, there was no one she could find. Suddenly, It gave her goosebumps.

"Kretek-kretek."

The sound created to scare off emerged from one of the display racks.

"Ah, who are you? Don't scare me."

Aruna could only threaten now. She knew it was a human doing, but she couldn't get rid of the fear in her heart.

What if it turned out to be a criminal?

Aruna walked over to the shelf.

"Hey, beautiful who are you looking for? ha-ha-ha."

The large male voice behind Aruna's ear was shocking, accompanied by two hands that tightly closed her eyes.

"Aaaaaa..." Aruna spontaneously shouted, hitting in all directions without control.

"Hi, calm down it's me... I...." The man hugged her hoping to get rid of Aruna's panic.

When Aruna's eyes slowly opened, she found herself in someone's arms.

"Damar?!?" The girl hugged him back.

"Why? You miss me so much that you hug me voluntarily?" Damar's chirp made Aruna push her body away from the young man.

The man smiled his typical mischievous smile.

"Why are you here this late night?" Aruna tried to respond casually.

"I wanna sleep here. I miss my second house." Damar replied, looking at the 2nd-floor.

"Why are you just coming home now? It's too late." The clock on the wall showed 10 o'clock.

Somehow, Aruna herself didn't know why she was stranded at night here. It might be the house atmosphere was getting tense, making her subconsciously come home later.

Her siblings were urging her father to end Aruna's engagement as Hendra's rumour closeness to the beautiful artist Tania spread.

The tension came to a head when Lesmana chose to trust his former boss' family. Anantha and Alia, Aruna's siblings, felt that their father's actions looked stupid.

"This is our best chance to free Aruna." The young man went crazy and almost attacked his own father.

"You don't understand, their environment is different, full of intrigue. We must not be rash until we get official confirmation from them." Lesmana tried to reduce his son and daughter's anger.

"Dad, you look like their slave to me." Alia cursed her own father.

Aruna's two siblings took turns knocking on her door every time as a tribute to father and mother. The youngest chose to shut herself in the room and left early in the morning.

"Um... Damar, the giraffe pillow has been thrown away." Aruna's words were soft, trying to reduce the tall young man's anger .

"What? You guys are really outrageous! I'm just taking a short break, but why did you guys throw away my favorite?"

"A break?!" Aruna looked reproachful.

"You disappeared without news, playing with people as you wish." Aruna's high voice couldn't cover her disappointment.

"Patience... Be patient neng." Damar stroked Aruna's hair who had called himself earlier.

(Neng is a Sundanese call for girls)

He shared the results of discussions with friends regarding his current position in the Magic Letter. The others might haven't had time to tell Aruna properly.

Apart from the piling up of Magic Letter orders, and the side effects of Damar's skyrocketed, they were also currently facing the Semester Examination on campus.

Damar wouldn't go anywhere. He was still part of the Magic Letter team. It was just that his activity was increasing and his popularity was starting to rise.

Lily positioned Damar's work as a premium product for the Magic Letter. Meanwhile, standard orders were Laras and Tito's duties.

Damar could do it anywhere and then sent it online. Of course, at a much different price.

"Look! I still have the key, so this place is still my headquarters." Damar exclaimed while swinging the outlet key.

"How can you sleep? There is no pillow tho. Do we need to buy one?"

Out of nowhere, a sense of joy came. Aruna felt she needed more time with this man.

"I'm sure there wasn't a pillow seller like mine at this late night. But let's just try it." Damar put on a beanie and a face covering.

Aruna's smile grew wider, realising that her best friend was now much different. He was special in many people' eyes.

"Don't laugh, I'm just too lazy being asked for photos."