Heartbeat by Iem_Aivlis

What should I do? I must quickly think of a proper reason to justify my current actions to the residents of this house.

"Hey, what are you doing at other people's homes?" Aunt Jane's voice surprised me and made me feel relieved because it turned out it wasn't the owner of the house who was reprimanding me.

I turned my body and now Aunt Jane was standing in front of me. Why didn't I hear Aunt Jane's footsteps?

"Aunt Jane, you surprised me." I said while rubbing my chest to calm my heartbeat.

"It's better for me to surprise you than for the homeowner to reprimand you for being so bold as to peek into his house." Aunt Jane scolded me while putting her hands on her waist.

"I actually didn't intend to peek into this house. Earlier I heard a sound from this direction and when I looked there was a black object hanging behind the glass window." I explained to Aunt Jane while pointing towards the window of this house.

It's strange, why is this glass window now tightly closed with white curtains? Even though when I approached this window, I didn't see any cloth around it.

"You're always meddling in other people's business. Even if it is true as you say, of course it is because this house is already occupied. Maybe the host is arranging his furniture, so the sounds you hear might be from his things." Aunt Jane took my hand and walked towards my house while talking.

I forgot that the house is occupied now. What Aunt Jane said was true. Maybe the occupant of the house heard me talking to Aunt Jane and he immediately covered the window. I don't know whether the occupant of the house is a man or a woman. Because I've never seen anyone come out of that house. I wanted to ask Aunt Jane, but I decided against it. Because I don't want to be labeled as someone who likes to interfere in other people's business like before. After arriving in front of my house, I immediately said goodbye to Aunt Jane.

"Yes, maybe you're right. Then I'll go to work first. Please keep an eye on Bie once in a while, Aunt Jane." I said as I walked out of my yard and waved to Aunt Jane.

Aunt Jane smiled and nodded while returning my wave. Actually, I'm still curious about what happened earlier. I felt sure that there was something hanging behind that window. Is it just my hallucination? But why was the window suddenly tightly closed with curtains that I didn't see at all? Ah, maybe what Aunt Jane said is true.

Aku masih bingung dengan kejadian tadi. Jelas-jelas benda hitam itu berada pada dasar jendela. It could be that the homeowner was trying to put up the curtains, which is why he dropped a black object on the window.It could be that the owner of the house was trying to put up the curtains, so maybe he dropped something so maybe what I saw was the shadow of that person.

 ***

I closed the locker where I kept my personal belongings. And without changing my uniform, I walked out of this small room. I didn't change my clothes because I was already wearing this uniform from home. I intend to wash this uniform after work. And now my working hours are over so now it's time for me to go home.

" See you tomorrow, Eva" I said goodbye to one of my colleagues.

"See you tomorrow too. Take care, Em." Eva replied to my words while tidying up the clothes returned by the customer.

I always go home earlier than Eva and Mary. When I asked them to go home with me, Eva always refused on the grounds that she was waiting for the staff on the other shift to come. Even though at that time Katty was already in the boutique.

Meanwhile, Mary responded to my invitation with, "Come on, get out of here quickly, Mrs. Emily, there's someone waiting at home." Since then I have kept my distance from Mary. I just want to work in peace here, not to make enemies. Therefore, every time Mary made fun of me, I just turned a deaf ear, even though behind her back I would occasionally curse her if her words were too excessive. I started to enter the elevator which was already open. Then press the button to the ground floor of this mall. There were three people already in the elevator. There was a woman and two men.

Maybe two of them are a couple. As the elevator doors opened I started to step out.

"Mom." Call someone then hug my waist.

"Hey, Baby. Why don't you wait for Mom at home." I asked the little girl who still had her arms around my waist.

"Bie said you would take her out. That's why I brought her here." Katty explained to me.

Bie started to raise her head to look at me with a big smile. I started to frown, when did I say I would ask her out? Is it possible to forget something? 

"Okay, you two have fun. Bye." Katty waved her hand as she walked towards the elevator.

"Did mom promise to take you out somewhere, Baby?" I asked my daughter as she started to let go of my hug.

"Wait a minute, Mom." Bie was seen looking around the mall as if she was looking for someone.

"Have you guys been waiting long?" A baritone voice asked from my right.

"Uncle, Christ!" Bie shouted.

"Let's go now." Christ said of course only to my daughter.

It turned out that it was Christ who invited my daughter to leave the house. And my daughter took me with them because of my previous request.

"Let's go!" Bie shouted happily.

I haven't seen him this happy in a long time. Bie always shows his mature attitude towards me. But in front of this man, Bie showed the behavior of a little girl her age. Have I not been a good mother all this time?

"Wait for me, I'm coming too." I interrupted them.

"How can you come with us in a uniform like that? How about you go home first to change your clothes." Christ refused me.

It seems like he still holds a grudge over what I did to him the other day. Or did he mean to tell me to go home, so he could go with Bie without me. Before he actually retaliates by throwing a drink at me, I have to find a solution.

"Okay, Bie, you promised Mom. Wait here, Mom will be back soon." And after my daughter nodded in response, I walked towards a shop in this mall.

I'd rather leave them here for a while than have to go home, it will take a lot of time. I entered a clothing store.

"Welcome. Please take a look at the dress, miss." The shop assistant greeted me.

"Excuse me, could you show me where the casual clothes are?" I asked another shop assistant.

The girl was only on duty near the entrance. It seems like the girl with me now is a waitress who serves customers.

"Please follow me, miss." She said smiling as she walked into the shop.

It turned out that he took me to a section that provided casual style dresses. Without bothering to choose a style, my choice fell on fairly cheap clothes. After paying, I asked the shop owner for permission to wear the clothes directly in the changing room. I thanked the shop owner. I walked out of the shop carrying my bag and a paper bag containing my work uniform. I saw my daughter and the man still standing where they were.

Today he is not wearing a t-shirt but he is wearing a maroon shirt. For some reason, all the clothes he wears always fit him perfectly. The man looks like a model. Once again I was amazed by he posture. Is his job as a fitness trainer?

"Sorry, for keeping you guys waiting." I said when I was facing them.

Bie responded to my words by holding my hand. While this man just stared at me without blinking. Is there something wrong with my clothes? I started to examine the dress I was wearing. This dress still looks modest. The length is still below my thigh, more precisely a little above my knee. The cut of this dress is also still within reasonable limits, going low to below the neck and not even showing my collarbones. Because the shape of the top of this dress resembles a shirt that has several buttons and a collar like a shirt in general, only this dress does not have sleeves. Oh, is it because I chose the wrong color. It just so happens that this dress hangs at the very front. He wouldn't think that I purposely wore a red dress to tease him, right? Damn, why didn't I think of that before. Basically, the red color will look very striking on my white skin. For that reason, sometimes I stay away from the color red. I don't want to be the center of attention when I'm walking around with Bie. And stupidly, why did I have to choose a sleeveless dress?

"Why do you look at me like that? Is there something wrong with my dress? I know I'm beautiful and it's not my fault so stop looking at me like I did something wrong." I said that sentence carelessly so that he would stop staring at me.

Any woman who is stared at intensely will definitely feel nervous, right? And it worked! After I said that sentence he stopped staring at me. But the most annoying thing was the sentence he threw at me from his lips.

*Continued*