The bell above the door of Orange Café gave a faint jingle, slicing through the silence that had bound Arlan Dewangga for hours. He slipped into the darkest corner, where the dim pendant light could reach no farther than the tips of his shoes. In front of him, a cup of espresso cooled, its pitch-black surface reflecting the trembling glow of the lamp in time with his uneven breathing.
Arlan's phone lit up, displaying a notification that felt like a drawn blade pressed to his throat. “I know the real reason you left five years ago. Don’t let Maya find out, or you’ll lose her forever.” Arlan’s fingers shook violently as he swiped the screen, trying to trace the sender, but all he found was emptiness.
The number wasn’t registered, as though it had been sent by a ghost from the past risen to collect on a promise in Astina City. Arlan gripped his phone until his knuckles turned white against his pale skin. His breathing came fast and heavy, in rhythm with the fog beginning to creep through the café’s open doorway.
Arlan’s memories were thrown back to Swara Park a few hours earlier. He could still feel Maya’s flushed face, the tears pooled in her lashes, and the force of her hand as she snatched back his silver camera keychain. It all felt so real, so painful, as though five years apart had been nothing more than an illusion.
“You look like you just saw a walking corpse, Lan.”
The deep voice tore Arlan from his reverie.
He turned and found Danu Perkasa standing beside his table. His friend was bundled in a faded, heavily patched denim jacket, a guitar case hanging heavily from his shoulder. Without waiting for an invitation, Danu pulled out a chair and dropped into it with a long, weary sigh.
Arlan quickly flipped his phone facedown on the table, hiding the threatening message in the shadows. “Just sleep-deprived, Dan. The fog in Astina seems thicker tonight.”
Danu snorted. His sharp eyes dissected Arlan’s expression. He grabbed Arlan’s cold espresso, took a small sip, then grimaced as the bitter taste of the coffee grounds assaulted his senses. “It’s not the fog that’s thick. It’s the weight in your head.”
“I saw you at Swara Park earlier. I saw you meet Maya. And I saw Satria.”
Arlan froze.
He knew there was no point lying to Danu. His friend had intuition as sharp as a surgical blade. Arlan lowered his head, his finger tracing a fine crack in the wooden surface of the Orange Café table.
“She still hates me, Dan,” Arlan whispered. His hoarse voice was nearly drowned out by the roar of the espresso machine behind the counter.
“Every time she looks at me, I feel that hatred like fire. But earlier... she dropped the keychain. The one I gave her five years ago. She still kept it.”
Danu leaned back, his face turning rigid. The traces of humor that usually adorned his expression evaporated. “Lan, listen to me. Don’t turn that keychain into an anchor for your hopes. You have no idea what Maya had to go through after you left without a single word on your engagement day.”
Arlan looked up, his eyes glistening. “I had a reason, Dan. I had no choice.”
“A reason you never told her!” Danu cut in, his voice low but emphatic. “To Maya, you’re the man who destroyed her world in a single night. And now, after she spent five years painstakingly piecing her shattered life back together, you come back. Is that fair to her?”
Arlan fell silent. Danu’s words struck him in the pit of his stomach, leaving behind a tangible ache. He realized that his presence in Astina City might be the last thing Maya wanted.
“Satria Adiguna,” Danu continued, putting heavy emphasis on the name. “You need to know who he is. He’s not just the ambitious urban planner you saw at the park earlier. He’s the man who supported Maya when she nearly lost her mind waiting for you. He gave her the stability you never could.”
Jealousy burned in Arlan’s chest, but he held it back with the last of his reason. “He’s her fiancé. I know.”
“Not just her fiancé.” Danu leaned forward, his voice shrinking into a sharp whisper. “They’re getting married in three months. All of Astina City already knows. Satria is the hero here, and Maya is his queen. If you try to sneak back into her life, you won’t just hurt Maya—you’ll be challenging Satria. And believe me, he’s not the kind of man who lets someone steal what’s his without a fight.”
Arlan clenched his fists beneath the table. “I’m not trying to steal her, Dan. I just want her to know the truth. Why I left.”
“What for?” Danu challenged. “To make her feel guilty for forgetting you? To destroy the wedding that’s right around the corner? If you really love her, let her stay on her path. She’s safe with Satria.”
“Safe doesn’t mean happy!” Arlan raised his voice, making the other customers at Orange Café turn to look at him, disturbed. He quickly lowered it again, though the intensity in his eyes didn’t fade. “You saw her expression earlier, Dan. That wasn’t the look of a completely happy woman. There’s a wound that hasn’t closed. I can feel it.”
Danu roughly rubbed his face. “You’re always like this. Always convinced you know what’s in other people’s hearts through your camera lens. But life isn’t a documentary, Lan. You can’t just freeze a moment and expect everything to stay the same when you come back.”
Silence settled over them again. Outside, the wind roared, striking the windowpanes with a piercing whistle. Arlan reached into his pocket, his fingers searching for the silver keychain, only to realize it was back in Maya’s hands.
“There’s one more thing,” Danu said, breaking the pause. “Satria is extremely possessive about the Swara Park revitalization project. If you keep working there as the documentary photographer, you’ll keep running into him. And he’ll find a way to get rid of you as quickly as possible.”
Arlan smiled bitterly. “He already tried earlier. He looked at me like I was vermin contaminating his beautiful park.”
“Then stay away, Lan. Finish your contract, take the photos, and get out of Astina. Don’t dig yourself an even deeper hole,” Danu urged, his voice pleading.
Arlan said nothing. His thoughts drifted back to the threatening message. Someone out there knew something crucial—something that could destroy his reputation, or become the key to winning Maya back. But the risk was too great.
“Why are you defending Satria so much?” Arlan asked, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.
Danu stiffened, then turned his face toward the window. “I’m not defending Satria. I’m defending Maya. I saw her break, Lan. I was the one who sat with her while she cried in this café for months after you left. I don’t want to see her break again. And you... you’re what caused it.”
The words struck Arlan like a hard slap. He hadn’t expected Danu to care that deeply. The guilt he had kept buried for so long erupted, filling his chest with suffocating pain.
“I know I was wrong, Dan. I know it better than anyone,” Arlan whispered, his voice trembling. “That’s why I came back. Not to destroy anything, but to fix it.”
“Some things in this world can’t be fixed, Lan. They can only be replaced. And for Maya, Satria is that replacement,” Danu concluded. He stood and slung his guitar case over his shoulder. “Think carefully. Don’t let your ego kill the last of the love you claim to have.”
Danu walked away without looking back. The doorbell jingled again, leaving Arlan in deepening silence. He stared out the window at Astina’s dimly lit streets. Suddenly, his phone vibrated on the table.
It wasn’t a message, but an incoming call. The name on the screen made Arlan’s heart seem to stop beating: “Maya Kirana.”
With trembling hands, Arlan swiped the green button. He pressed the phone to his ear, but all he heard was ragged breathing and muffled sobs.
“Maya?” Arlan called softly.
“Arlan...” Maya’s voice broke, heavy with deep desperation. “Please help me... Satria... he...”
The sentence cut off. A commotion erupted on the other end, followed by the faint but cold shout of a man—Satria. Then the call went dead.
Arlan leaped up, knocking his espresso cup to the floor, where it shattered into pieces. Panic climbed to the crown of his head. Without thinking, he snatched up his camera and jacket, then ran into Astina’s night fog, ignoring all of Danu’s warnings. Something terrible was happening, and he wouldn’t let Maya face it alone ever again.