Love Redux: Fated to the Handsome Doctor

Lara was surprised. There was no one in this large house. Seno had warned her not to look for anyone and briefly accompanied her into the house to put their things away. True to his word, he had to leave for an important meeting. She didn’t know what meeting it was.

“Where’s Bi Yani?” Lara asked, just before Seno stepped out of their house.

The sound of his shoe taps fell silent, indicating that the man was pondering something. She saw his face furrow, as if he was thinking of giving her an answer she awaited.

“Bi Yani is still on vacation. She’ll be back tomorrow,” he said, smiling at her.

Lara was slightly suspicious but had no reason to scold him. After all, according to him, Bi Yani might indeed be resting at her own residence. Tomorrow she would find out the truth.

***

The night gradually descended, darkness had taken over this residence. Seno hadn’t shown any sign of returning at this hour. Lara tried calling his husband’s cell phone several times, but all she got was a busy tone.

At that moment, anxiety began to creep into Lara’s heart. Seno should have returned from the meeting. Worry began to grip her mind. Lara decided to check around the house, even though Seno had warned her not to look for anyone here. Lara’s steps were heavy, as if burdened by an anxious weight with every footfall. She crossed the corridors of this large house, trying to find out what was really happening. The silent and dark atmosphere only heightened the tension in her heart.

“Why are there no servants?” she pondered silently. “Did Seno fire everyone?” She still didn’t understand.

7 p. m.

Lara started to feel hungry. But there was no one to cook for her. She continued on to the kitchen to look for instant noodles. Although supposedly pregnant women shouldn’t eat instant noodles, at least in emergencies like this, any food should be fine.

Lara could have ordered takeout from a restaurant, but for some reason, she hesitated. It seemed like instant noodles with soup would be delicious to eat in this cold weather. She continued her steps to the living room. There, something caught her attention. A letter lay on the wooden table in the middle of the room. Carefully, she picked up the letter and read it.

The letter was handwritten, familiar handwriting, Seno’s. Its contents pierced her heart.

“A dismissal letter?”

Lara read it carefully, spelling out every word. Yani Nurlaili. Bi Yani had been fired by him.

“Unbelievable!” Lara growled feeling deceived.

Anger and disappointment filled her heart as she realized that the letter contained Bi Yani’s dismissal. It was a decision that was so deep and she felt shocked and disappointed because she hadn’t been informed about it earlier. Her mind was in turmoil, trying to understand the reasons behind this decision.

Lara had warned Seno not to fire Bi Yani. Their disputes over domestic workers always ended with his unilateral decision. All the servants in this house were Seno’s personal choices, manipulated in such a way that he could have an affair anytime she wasn’t at the residence. She fired them all, feeling deceived.

Until finally, Lara met Bi Yani at a market not far from this house.

At that time, she was shopping, in her pregnancy, about three weeks old, feeling suddenly tired and lethargic, even though before she was fine.

Unintentionally, she fainted on the edge of an alley in the narrow streets of the market.

Shortly after fainting, she felt like she was floating between consciousness and unconsciousness. The noisy sounds of the market and the footsteps of people passing by around her seemed to fade away. Then, as if emerging from darkness, she felt a gentle touch on her body like the touch of her late mother, with a soft voice accompanying it.

After that, she didn’t remember much. She woke up in a hospital with an IV drip in her hand. When she regained consciousness, a nurse informed her that there was a middle-aged woman who helped her.

“Helped?” she repeated. “What happened to me?”

The nurse then told her that she had fainted on the edge of the market and a woman had helped her and brought her to the hospital at the right time. She could have had a miscarriage or complications if not immediately helped, given her very weak condition.

“Who was the woman?” she asked, trying to confirm.

“Her name is Bu Yani Nurlaili. She’s in the waiting room.”

Since then, she swore to employ Bi Yani, if that middle-aged woman didn’t have a job. Her house was empty, there were no servants. Almost the same situation as now.

She fired all the servants, and Seno no longer had the right to interfere in household affairs. Unfortunately, she was caught off guard. Bi Yani, in the end, had to experience a similar incident when she was not around.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Empty. T

hat word filled every corner of her house, seeping into the walls that seemed to also cry out in silence. She swore to employ Bi Yani after the incident at the market, but that desire was halted by the reality that she herself was in a similar situation now.

Lara seemed to have no control over her own life. Everything was arranged by Seno, without bothering to talk about it. She felt empty. The man couldn’t even be contacted to clarify everything. So, how should she endure in a household with minimal communication like this?

Knock… Knock…

A knock interrupted her reverie. By now, Lara had reached the kitchen and was preparing to cook the instant noodles she had been craving. However, the knocking sound made her startle.

“Who is it?” Lara wondered as the knocking continued incessantly from outside. Was it Seno? It couldn’t be. Seno should be able to enter on his own without having to knock on the door. She walked slowly to the front door, trying to control her emotions swaying between emptiness and uncertainty.

With hesitation, Lara opened the door. How surprised she was to see a young woman standing in front of her with a friendly smile on her face.

“Excuse me, Ma’am. I’m Melati. I’m the new maid here,” she said kindly. Her face was round, her age might be around the late teens, her skin was fair, her height might be only around 150 cm.

“A new maid?” she looked at her in confusion, wondering who this young woman was and what her purpose was for coming to her house. Melati seemed modest with the maid uniform she wore, but she still doubted her identity and the strange introduction. Why didn’t Seno tell her?

“Melati, is it?” she said with questions in her eyes.

“Yes, Ma’am. Mr. Seno just hired me this morning. I’m sorry I arrived at night like this.”

Lara was still trying to digest all of this. How could Seno hire another maid without her knowledge? Who was this girl really? Although her heart was still filled with disappointment and emptiness due to the situation with Seno, seeing Melati’s enthusiasm, she felt a little touched and had no intention of driving her away.

“All right. Come in.” she invited her in to start her work. Her business with Seno could wait. She couldn’t let a young girl like her wander around in the dark night like this.

“Excuse me, Ma’am.”

Melati began to prepare for work. She washed her hands first and then took cleaning tools to tidy up the room. She postponed cooking instant noodles because Melati was already here.

Melati seemed skillful in carrying out her tasks. She cleaned every corner of the room meticulously, arranged things neatly, and seemed to bring back the lost cheerfulness as time passed. While Melati worked, she sat in the living room, digesting all the events that had happened.

In the midst of the quiet night, Melati was still busy working, this time in the kitchen, cooking dinner for her: warm vegetable soup with fried chicken that whetted her appetite. She ate eagerly, and so did she, after she finished her cooking.

After a while, Melati approached with a bright smile on her face. “It’s done, Ma’am. Is there anything else I can help with?”

She smiled, then shook her head. “Thank you, Melati. You’ve been helpful enough. You can rest now.”

Melati nodded politely and left the room to rest for a while. She went back to contemplating, trapped in swirling thoughts. Why did Seno do all this without telling her? Was there something he was hiding?

The sound of Melati’s soft footsteps broke her reverie. She returned, carrying a glass of warm water and offering it to her. “This might make Bu Lara feel better,” she said gently.

She accepted the glass of warm water while smiling at her. Melati was attentive and her demeanor was so sweet. Maybe she wanted to have a daughter like her. Truly adorable.

The time showed 10 p. m. Seno hadn’t returned or even notified her of his whereabouts. Where could that man be?

Disappointment and worry enveloped her heart once again.

Lara picked up her phone and tried calling Seno again. But as before, the call went unanswered. Frustration began to creep in, and unanswered questions filled her mind. She stood up, caressing her growing belly. The feeling of anxiety began to haunt her, imagining the worst that could happen to Seno. She missed him, she was also angry with him. She wanted-at least-to talk to him about this. She felt lonely.

In the midst of her thoughts and waiting, suddenly the screen of her phone, which was initially dark, lit up. A message notification appeared, which she couldn’t read clearly.

“A reunion?”

She received an invitation to a faculty reunion through an alumni’s Facebook group that she rarely opened and paid attention to.