Whatever, never mind...
After returning from Melati Hospital and witnessing a happy story turn into a tragedy all at once, I don't even know how I feel right now. Virra went straight home too, and we didn't speak to each other during the ride because you were shocked by what happened earlier too.
I headed to the bathroom and soaked in the bathtub. As usual, the house I lived in belonged to my mother and had no occupants besides me. All my siblings had started families of their own, leaving me as the only one still single. My mother had passed away long ago, while my father was sick and being cared for by Sis Fina, the eldest of the five of us, at her home in Kepulauan Riau.
The emptiness was still there, and mixed feelings surrounded my heart. The cold water soaking my body made me feel a little fresher and soothed the heat in my eyes after all the crying. Not long afterward, I got dressed, stepped out, and lay down on my neatly made bed. “Oh Allah, I don’t understand so many things happening in my life. But please, of all the questions in my mind, answer the question in my heart in Your way.”
My thoughts were so noisy, dwelling on Aufar and Marina’s fate, even though everything that happened in this life had been arranged by Allah as well as possible. I remembered an online lecture by Ustadzah Halimah Alaydrus that I’d played on YouTube. Her name had become familiar lately, and she’d gone viral because she never showed her face on social media. But my heart felt calmer whenever I listened to her lectures, as if I were being advised by a mother.
Everything had already been arranged, but why had they gotten married if they didn’t even have time to be together? Maybe they’d meet again in heaven after Aufar passed away too.
My thoughts had been tormenting me for hours, putting me in a bad mood and making me not want to do anything until sleepiness finally came over me. That was when I fell asleep.
“Knock... knock... Assalamualaikum, excuse me. Nayla, are you okay?? Nay...”
The sound of someone knocking on the front door woke me up. I saw that it was already 6:10 p.m. WIB on my phone.
“Yeah, Grandpa, I’m home.” My neighbor, Grandpa, had called out to me because I hadn’t turned on the porch light yet.
“Oh, alhamdulillah, I’m glad you’re okay. Grandpa thought you were sick or had gone out. How come the light isn’t on and the window’s still open?”
“Yeah, Grandpa, Nayla fell asleep earlier. Hehe.”
“Never mind, Grandpa’s heading home now. I was just making sure Nayla was home.”
“Yeah, Grandpa. Thanks for always checking on the house.”
I turned on the porch light and closed the window. Then I ran to the bathroom to perform ablution and pray Maghrib. After I finished praying, I made sure to pray for them too. Not long afterward, my phone rang with an incoming call. I had no idea who was calling. The number was unfamiliar.
“Hello, good evening. Is this Miss Nayla?” a woman’s voice asked.
“Yes, that’s right. Who am I speaking with?”
“My name is Sarah, ma’am. I wanted to ask about ordering a wedding dress for my wedding.”
“Oh, sure, Miss Sarah. When would you like to come to my boutique?”
“Would tonight be okay?”
“I’m sorry, Miss Sarah. You’re welcome to come to the boutique tonight, but I’m afraid I can’t get there right now because I still have something important to take care of. I’m really sorry. My team is at the boutique, though, so you can look around and choose what kind of wedding gown you’d like first.”
“Oh, I see. I’d also like to make a special request. Could we meet tomorrow, ma’am?”
“Of course. Just come straight to the boutique tomorrow, okay? I’ll be there from opening to closing because I also have a project that needs to be finished.”
“Okay, ma’am. See you.”
“See you tomorrow, ma’am.”