Redemption

chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

SELENA'S P.O.V

Selepas Holland left for work, saya masuk dapur untuk mencuci the coffee mug...

Saya bersemuka dengan Holland's jiran di dapur sebelah... his mom... tsk tsk...

"Selena, sweetie..." dia menegur saya...

"yes, aunty?" saya menyahut dengan senyuman ikhlas...

"later you come over and we'll cook together okay?" his mom bilang...

Terasa riang gembira hati saya... wait... should I feel like I'm being loved by a mother or a grandmother? saya terbingung sesaat...

"okay, aunty..." anggap as a mother sajalah, Sel... feels like I'm insulting her to consider her as a grandmother pula although Holland can be a dad to me... tsk tsk lagi...

Tapi macam hot daddy bah Holland ni... I can imagine I have kids running around calling him daddy... and the mommy pun calling him daddy... saya terkekeh geli, then I slapped my face a little too hard...

Paaap!

"ouch..." saya meringis sendiri...

"are you ok, sweetie?" hairan Holland's mom tengok saya...

"oh... heh..." saya cover malu... "got nyamuk bah gigit my pipi tadi, aunty..."

Alasan! pandai sudah kau menipu oh, perempuan...

So before noon saya dan Holland's mom and 2 of their maids started preparing lunch... punya banyak jenis masakan disediakan... saya mampu potong bawang-bawang saja... itupun sampai mata dan hidung saya berair-air... saya bertahan saja untuk tidak menangis kerana kepedasan mata saya terasa...

During lunch, cuma Holland's parents, Chester, an old uncle yang nama dia Uncle Jackson dan saya saja di meja makan...

Saya hairan nampak most of the food kena packed into cute containers dan dibawa keluar dari rumah...

"it's for Kimmy's orphanage..." Holland's mom explained with a kind smile...

Wah... Kimmy ada orphanage? like rumah kebajikan kanak-kanak? rumah anak yatim?

"we try to cook for the kids at the orphanage at least twice or three times a week..." his dad added... "how about you, Selena? do you like kids?"

Huh? ini part saya rasa saya terpengaruh dengan fikiran saya tadi pagi yang terimagine hot daddy dan kanak-kanak riang berlarian di kawasan rumah...

Baru saya mau jawab 'I'm only 17... I don't plan to have kids too soon...' dengan muka saya yang memerah, Holland's dad sambung kata-kata dia...

"maybe you can join Kimmy one of these days at the orphanage... Kimmy loves kids and charitable works..."

Oh, cepat-cepat saya reached for the glass of water in front of me untuk cover malu saya... rupanya saya salah sangka... geez, malunya saya...

With my voice barely a whisper, I croaked out...
"I'd love to, uncle..."

***

Petang tu sebelum Holland's parents left for a party, his mom sempat bagi saya recipe untuk masak creamy salted egg chicken...

"if you feel it's hard, you can always cook curry with potatoes..." dia bilang...

Itu membuat saya tersenyum dengan penuh keyakinan... kari cuma perlu serbuk kari kan? tidak susah pun... I felt victorious...

"I trust you can cook very delicious kari by your smile..." Holland's mom bilang sambil mengusap pipi saya...

Saya mengangguk tanda setuju saja... maka tidak pernah pun saya masak kari... masak Maggie kari pernah lah... but I know I can do this!