A Sweet Escape

Coincidence

"Apa tujuan awak sampai ke sini?" Tanya Zafriel. Kopi starbucks dihirupnya perlahan-lahan, matanya yang galak merenung tajam ke arah gadis muda yang sedang duduk bertentangan dengannya. Arianna kelihatan gelisah, jiwanya resah. Alasan apa lagi yang kau nak guna ni Ari?

"Awak tahu kan, sebab apa. Tak payahlah buat-buat tak tahu pulak." Jawabnya. Arianna mengalihkan pandangannya, dia tahu dia yang bersalah dalam hal ini. But she did what she had to do, she was in a desperate need of escaping.

"Fikiran awak tu tak matang, awak tahu tak? Kenapa awak ni penakut sangat Ari? Kan lebih baik kalau awak berterus-terang je dengan saya, tak adalah mama dan papa saya malu disebabkan awak!" Balas Zafriel. Arianna tersentak, ada benarnya kata-kata Zafriel. Kalau bukan kerana dia, keluarga Zafriel takkan malu. Macam mana kau nak explain pada mama dan papa Zafriel? Memang sahlah diaorang takkan terima kau balik.

"Saya minta maaf, betul cakap awak." Arianna tertunduk malu, Zafriel had every right to be mad at her.

"Bila awak nak balik ni?" Zafriel bersuara lagi, kali ini lebih lantang. Dia bukanlah Zafriel yang Arianna kenal dahulu, dia bukanlah seorang yang panas baran sepertinya.

"I just got here. Bagilah saya masa untuk tenangkan diri, I need to be alone." Balas Arianna, lemah-lembut.

"You've been missing for a week now, a week! Awak tahu tak family awak risau? Siapalah sangat yang boleh jagakan awak dekat New York ni?" Tengking Zafriel, kuat. He was mad and he had every right to be so. Benar, dia bukanlah tak kisah pada keluarga sendiri, tapi dia perlukan masa bersendirian.

"I know what I'm doing alright! Saya boleh jaga diri sendiri, nanti bila saya dah okay saya baliklah! Awak ingat senang ke saya balik, family saya sekarang ni dah bencikan saya! Apa gunanya saya balik Malaysia kalau keluarga saya sendiri tak pedulikan keputusan saya? They decide everything for me, everything!" Beberapa titis air mata jatuh jua, menggambarkan perasaan yang dimilikinya pada waktu itu.

"Arianna, listen to me-" belum sempat Zafriel menyambung kata-katanya, Arianna sudah berlalu pergi ke luar restoran. Arianna was nowhere in sight, Zafriel tiada pilihan lain selain daripada mencarinya.

**********Arianna****************

Aku berjalan ke luar, meninggalkan Zafriel seorang diri, tercari-carikan kelibatku. Dah puas kau sakitkan hati aku? Kau takkan faham Zafriel, sebab kau bukan aku. Kau takkan mampu rasa apa yang aku rasa, the pain I felt was undefined. Aku melabuhkan punggungku di atas sebuah bangku, menangis seorang diri. Avenue Park memang sentiasa kosong, di situlah tempat aku menangis dan ketawa sewaktu kecil.

"Er...excuse me?" Aku menoleh ke belakang, ya. Aku pernah jumpa lelaki ini, entah di mana. He looked familiar to me, mungkin kami pernah bertemu.

"I'm sorry miss, is something bothering you?" Lelaki itu melabuhkan punggungnya di bangku yang sama, agak jauh dariku.

"Um..Nothing, I was just thinking." Jawabku, ringkas dan padat. Aku mengesat air mata yang asyik mengalir, pandangan mataku dihalakan pada lelaki itu.

"Have we met before? You look...so familiar to me, do you live here?" Aku agak terkejut dengan soalannya, jawapannya, ya. We've met before.

"Yes, I live in that apartment over there, room 626."

"Oh yeah I helped you with your bags, do you remember now?" Baru aku ingat, dialah yang membantu aku pada hari pertama aku di sini, how could I be so careless?

"I remember you, I never heard from you since then, or so I thought. I'm sorry sir I don't get your name."

"My name is Zafran Firash, you?"

"I'm Arianna, It's nice to meet you.

"By the way, why are you crying? Is there anything you would like to tell me? Or..."

"No, I..Like I said, I was just thinking. That's all."

"Thinking about what? There must've been something in your mind that was trying to get out. Come on Arianna, just spill it out. I'm a good listener, I can assure you."

"It's personal, okay."

"Like I said Ari, I'm a good listener. Nothing personal. Just...just let me be a shoulder for you to cry on, for once."

"Alright, so this is how it goes."

"It's...about my family. Oh...How I wish I was never existed." Keluhku.

"Hm, typical. It's alright, go on."

"Well, my father owns a company. You know when the company turned out to be a sinking ship, the other company offers help, with only one condition."

"What kind of condition?"

"Marriage."

"Sounds like a love story to me?"

"Yes, it does. But in my case it's different, I was never in love with this guy. We were supposed to get married a week ago, but the wedding was canceled due to my absence."

"Your absence? Wow that was...so brave of you to stand out for yourself. You did the right thing, I know you did."

"There were millions of choices that I had to choose between, but of course, running away was the most reasonable idea I have ever came out with. I left my fiance, and my family behind, not minding the fact that they were still mad at me for what had happened."

"Consequences, you have to think about the consequences."

"I know, what I did was wrong. I couldn't think straight, I was in a desperate need of escaping, trying to find a peace of mind. I was wrong, I should've faced my fiance and told him exactly how I felt for him, not hurting him like this. Then I realized that, running away makes me a coward. I've never felt so vulnerable."

"So what happened to your family? Are they still mad at you?"

"They still are, they might have hated me for what I've done to them."

"It's never too late to say sorry, Ari."

"Arianna!" Suara Zafriel tiba-tiba menerjah masuk ke mindaku, oh crap. He found me.