Chapter 25
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“Are you busy?” she asked, looking out the window.
“I can’t be busy if you ask to meet me, Hera,” replied the man behind the phone.
Hera smiled faintly. “Then… let’s meet tonight!” asked Hera, who of course would not get rejected from Haidar, the person she called.
“Where should we meet?” asked Haidar then.
“I’ll send the address.”
“Okay. I hope we meet later to discuss my offer the other day.” Haidar was really impatient apparently.
Hera, who originally had a smile on her face, turned sad. But it only lasted a few seconds, she smiled again as if the person on the phone could see her.
“We really have to talk about it.”
“Okay. I’ll be waiting for you, Hera,” said Haidar before hanging up the call.
Hera took a deep breath. Turned to look at Juan who was fast asleep on the bed.
“You didn’t clean yourself?”
And just as Hera thought of the man she had spent a whole day with, he had appeared with a towel over his head and brown pajamas out of the bathroom. The figure of a man who made Hera waver and confused. Jayden Xavier.
“I will. Please take care of Juan for a while,” Hera asked with a faint smile and then went to the bathroom after seeing Jayden nod.
It only took a few minutes, Hera had finished cleaning herself. As she came out of the bathroom she saw Jayden lying in his arms hugging Juan on the bed. Her heart warmed again when she saw the father and son scene. All day long Jayden kept doing things that made Hera seem to forget what was going on between them. And unfortunately Hera enjoyed it.
Hera took a deep breath before changing into her clothes, applying a light make-up on her face, taking her car keys and bag, and then returning to Juan and Jayden. The lady didn’t say anything then left from there.
On the way her cell phone vibrates.
‘I have arrived’
Contents of the message from Haidar. Hera didn’t reply to the message because she would soon arrive.
The atmosphere of the place was still very lively when Hera arrived there. She turned her head to look for Haidar’s whereabouts. It turned out that the man was playing darts in the right corner of the cafe.
“Haidar!” Hera’s call wasn’t too loud but the man could still hear it because Hera wasn’t too far away either.
“Are you here yet?” Haidar replied. Hera just smiled faintly at the man. “Give me a minute to finish it,” said Haidar again.
“Okay,” Hera replied, widening her smile as she watched Haidar play.
It turned out that the man with the black mane wasn’t very good at darts. When Haidar’s throw misses or doesn’t even reach the point of laughter they both will explode there. Don’t know how long it took, until both of them felt tired then they sat at the bar table and ordered drinks.
They only ordered sodas because both of them would be driving later.
“Sorry, I think I played too long. You know it’s been a long time I haven’t come to this place,” said Haidar feeling bad.
“You come here often?” asked Hera.
“It used to be … but not anymore,” said Haidar. “You? Do you come here often?”
“Twice with today,” Hera replied.
Haider nodded slowly. Silence greeted them as they were suddenly lost in their own thoughts. Not only Haidar who has his own story with this place but Hera too. A story that made Hera smile wryly.
“So what’s your answer?” Haidar returned who broke the silence between the two of them.
Hera glanced briefly at Haidar then looked down at her glass again.
“I can’t accept your offer, Haidar. I’m sorry.” The sudden answer made Haidar stare at Hera in disbelief.
“Why?” asked Haidar.
“I can’t let Juan have two lecherous parents,” Hera replied making Haidar flinch. Either because of Hera’s words or because of the innocent look in the woman’s eyes.
“It’s enough that Jayden had a relationship with another woman when he was still my husband. And I don’t want to be like Jayden. I can’t see my son being insulted by people because of what his parents did,” said Hera at length.
The woman with shoulder-length hair chuckled sadly. “I still hope that Jayden and I can get back on their feet again.”
Hera really felt very sad right now. But for the sake of the child, what he might think is impossible he will still do.
“Are you going to be okay with all the betrayals?” asked Haidar in a deep voice.
Hera shook her head. Hiding the tears that were wiped violently before looking at Haidar.
“No. I’ve never been fine since I saw him making love to that woman,” Hera replied, sucking her own lips as an outlet for pain. “But what can I do? If I continue to stand my ground, then my son will suffer later,” Hera continued, unable to hold back the pile of tears in her eyes.
He don’t know where Haidar came from carrying Hera in his arms. Surprisingly Hera did not refuse and instead buried her face in Haidar’s chest.
It’s really unexpected. Men as manly as Haidar has a very soft body scent. vanilla. The scent that made Hera so calm in his warm embrace.
“I respect your decision, Hera,” Haidar whispered. “But if you need me don’t hesitate to ask. Got it!” he said again.
“Aren’t you angry?”
“I’m just disappointed that you can’t be mine anytime soon.”
“You mean?” asked Hera letting go of the hug. Even though the atmosphere was sad but the man still teased him.
“I was just joking,” said Haidar, pinching Hera’s nose, making the woman wince in pain. Haidar always had his own way of entertaining Hera. The thing that made Hera like the man even though sometimes what he said was blunt.
It was already ten o’clock at night. The two of them had left the cafe bar and headed for the parking lot.
“See you later!” Hera said goodbye first to leave the place. She didn’t intend to go that long though. But the feeling of being comfortable with Haidar made Hera lose track of time.
When she got home, Hera did her best not to make a sound when closing the door. She was like a teenager who was so afraid of being scolded by her parents for going out too late. But Hera’s efforts were in vain because when she turned around, a tall and sturdy figure was already standing there, folding her arms across her chest.
“Where have you been?” Jayden asked with a sharp look in his eyes.
“Meeting someone,” Hera replied.
“Until this late? Don’t you realize what you’re doing, Hera?! You’re a wife as well as a mother!” Jayden’s voice boomed over there making Hera look at him confused.
“You care?”
“Of course I care. I’m your husband, Hera Altezza!”
To be continued….Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.