I usually wrote in Indonesian and not English, because my English was not so good, and I tried to write most days. I wrote a poem in Indonesian about being happy and never feeling lonely. I don’t want to tell you exactly what I wrote because I am a bit shy, but I was very happy when I saw many people (well, seven) had posted comments saying they liked it.
I left messages of thanks for all the people who made comments on their blogs, but there was one person I couldn’t reply to like that because when I clicked on their user name ‘GarOrl’ I just got directed to an email address and not to a blog. That happens sometimes if a user has registered only as a member and hasn’t set up a blog.
I wrote an email to this person. I just wrote, ‘Dear GarOrl’, many thanks for your comment. It is nice to know you. SariGal80’ and then I went for lunch.
I had a date that evening to see Ari and his new ‘friend’. I say that she is a ‘friend’ because actually I was thinking she was Ari’s new girlfriend, or possible new girlfriend. He is a funny boy. I like him, but he is very shy sometimes. He said he wanted me to meet this girl and see if I thought she was good for him. How would I know if she was good for him? He had to decide for himself, right?
Yes, Ari is a funny boy: a mysterious boy.
So, I go to Dunkin’ in Citra Raya mall at 7pm as arranged and Ari is already there with his ‘friend’ when I arrive and when he sees me he stands up and introduces us.
‘Sari, this is Wanda, and Wanda, this is Sari,’ he says this so formally that I can’t help laughing. Wanda laughs too and immediately I think I am going to like her.
‘Ari,’ she says, still smiling, ‘We are not in your father’s office now. Just relax, aja.’
Ari, the funny boy, just blushes and sits down as Wanda and I go to the counter to order something to eat and drink. She smiles at me and tells me that Ari has told her lots about me and she is really happy to meet me. She says Ari is lucky to have a best friend like me and that she hopes to be my friend too.
She seems so nice to me. You know, most girls would be jealous if their boyfriend, or maybe-boyfriend, had a girl for their best friend, but Wanda isn’t. As we wait for our coffees she chats about her job as a trainee insurance clerk at an joint venture company in the city and how she met Ari through her friend’s sister’s friend’s brother (or something, I forget exactly) and she touches my arm a lot as she talks, but in a friendly way, and by the time we take our coffees and go back to join Mr. Funny Mysterious Boy, it seems we have known each other for years and not just a few minutes.
We sit and chat for a while, us two girls talking much more than Ari, and it all is very nice. We speak in a mixture of English and Indonesian because Wanda says she needs to improve her English for her job.
I tell Wanda about bugil and she pats my hand and says that you can never trust a bule completely because they are different from Indonesian men. I ask if she has ever had a bule boyfriend and she says that she hasn’t actually had a bule boyfriend, but she has met some through her job.
‘You know,’ she says, ‘Some are handsome and friendly, but they all want just one thing.’
‘Ya,’ I agree, ‘I know what you mean.’
‘What one thing is that?’ asks Ari, and we both laugh again at the poor innocent boy who just blushes again.
We finish our coffee and decide to go and watch a film in the cinema at the top of the mall, but just as we are arriving at the cinema I suddenly stop dead and I can’t breathe. It seems like my heart will jump up into my mouth which is open and closing like I am a crazy woman or a goldfish. I just can’t move and it feels like my blood has gone ice cold.
‘Hey, what’s wrong, sis?’ Ari is concerned.
‘Yes, whatever is the matter, Sari?’ asks Wanda, ‘You look like you have seen a hantu, ghost.’
‘It’s him,’ I say, pointing at a bule walking in front of us.
‘Him who? Bugil? Are you sure?’ says Wanda, immediately understanding what’s happening.
‘Yes, yes, of course I’m sure,’ I wail. ‘That’s him! Oh, no. What should I do?’
This time it is Ari who talks, ‘Do nothing, sis. We are going to the cinema, remember? Just ignore him.’
Wanda takes my arm and leads us into the cinema and up to the ticket counter. She holds me tightly and when I try to turn round to look if bugil is around, she sort of wraps her arm around me and makes it impossible for me to see behind myself properly.
She keeps a tight hold of me as we buy the tickets and then marches me off to the loo, leaving poor old Ari alone in the cinema foyer.
By the time we get into the ladies I have clamed down a bit and am feeling almost ok again. I know that Wanda has helped me and I know now that she is really a very nice girl.
‘Wow, thanks Wanda,’ I say, ‘Sorry about that, but bugil just made me so shocked there.’
Wanda smiles and says ‘Tak apa apa, it’s nothing. Come on, let’s get out there again or else Ari will think we’ve fallen in the toilet!’ I laugh then and
