2. Love Elegiac

She saw her mother walking toward the door, where Gina held her.

"Back home already? Why so late? Overtime, huh?" Her mother bombarded her with questions, worried that Celine was coming home late due to meeting Leo after work.

"Um... yes, Mom. Just a little overtime, chasing the targets," she lied.

"Seems like Celine just cried, Mom," Gina added, observing her sister.

Celine shook her head vigorously and quickly replied, "No, Mom. It's just that I opened the helmet visor, and a bit of dust got in my eyes."

Gina and her mother exchanged glances without suspicion. Celine was too introverted to be open about her problems, even to her mother. She left her naughty sister, who was still nodding knowingly. There was a slight sense of guilt in her heart for lying. But what can she say? She didn't want her mother to know the actual situation.

She hurriedly went to her room. It was the safest place to pour out all the heaviness in her chest. She threw herself onto the bed with a Bugs Bunny-themed bed cover. Yes, she was a fan of the Bugs Bunny cartoon character. Her entire room was all about Bugs Bunny, from the hanging door decorations, dolls, stickers on the makeup mirror and wardrobe to various wall accessories.

There was no specific reason. Celine just liked the grey color dominating the cartoon character. She felt that grey suited her calm, shy personality and aversion to being the center of attention. As she lay face down, she cried again. No, she wasn't crying over losing Leo. She was crying over the misfortune in her fate—whatever great sin she had committed to fall in love repeatedly, and each time ended in misery.

When she decided to accept Leo's confession of love, she thought he could be a replacement for her ex. She felt that Leo seemed excellent and faithful. Turns out, he was just like the others. He is good in front but duplicitous behind her back. Celine continued to sob in silence, covering her face with a pillow so that her sobs wouldn't be heard outside the room.

Flashes of memories of the early encounters and the journey of her love story with Leo seemed to surface in her mind. Making the broken pieces of her heart feel even more painful as if being sprinkled with salt. She felt a throbbing pain in her chest, like a piece of flesh stabbed with a dagger.

At that time, she was attending a wedding event of one of her colleagues. After work, she came with a few friends, wearing a jacket to disguise the still-worn work uniform. They jostled with other guests under a large tent adorned with ivory-colored tassels with golden edges that looked elegantly set up in the yard and half the street in front of the bride's house. Rows of tables and chairs were arranged in circles, covered with matching-colored cloths.

The sound of wedding tunes playing during the wedding event mixed with the noise of the guests, who seemed lively after sunset. Celine approached the wedding stage and found her friend sitting with her mate. Truly beautiful and handsome, a perfect combination with the beautiful gown and the groom's stylish suit.

"Ouch!" Suddenly, a man's voice groaned behind her.

Celine accidentally stepped on someone's foot behind her when she suddenly moved backward because someone blocked her path as they stood up from their chair. She immediately turned around, apologizing repeatedly without looking at the unfortunate man's face.

As the man's groans were unheard, she had to tilt her head and saw the man in front, who seemed quite handsome, with thick eyebrows and slightly curly hair, trying to suppress his laughter by covering his mouth with his hand.

Instantly, Celine became annoyed, feeling as if she was being laughed at, wondering what could be so funny to the man.

"Does it hurt? Well, then, no need to apologize!" she said curtly, turning back to join her friends seated in the row of invitation chairs near the wedding stage. She ignored the man in a maroon short-sleeved shirt and gray jeans, who continued to stare at her after the minor incident.

After dining and taking photos with the newlyweds session, Celine's group bid farewells. The six returned to the motorcycle parking area and said their goodbyes, heading home to their respective houses.

Two days later, there was a message on Celine's messaging app from an unknown number.

'Hey, foot-stepper!'

Spontaneously, Celine's eyebrows furrowed as she read the strange message. "Who is this?" she mumbled with a questioning tone while typing on the screen keyboard.

'Oh, you forgot already? You stepped on my foot until it swelled at Kate's wedding yesterday.

Celine immediately remembered the handsome man with the annoying expression who had laughed at her that day. She quickly typed a reply,

'Oh, it's you! How did you get my number?'

'Remember now? Take responsibility! My foot is swollen.'

'Oh, come on, it can't be swollen! My feet are tiny, and I wear sneakers without heels; how could it cause swelling?'

'Oh well, you're the one who stepped on me, and now you're getting angry at me?'

'Fine, I'm sorry, sorry. Who are you? Did Kate give you my number?'

That was the beginning of communication between Celine and Leo. It turned out that Leo was Kate's neighbor helping at the house as a form of neighborly solidarity. He claimed to have convinced Kate to give Celine's number by showing a photo on his phone. Luckily, Celine had a photo taken with the newlyweds on the wedding stage, so Leo had the chance to take a picture with his phone.

The two communicated more intensively because Celine liked Leo's humorous style. After they seemed increasingly interested in each other, Leo dared to ask Celine to be his girlfriend. Six months had passed since they started their relationship, which had always seemed beautiful and delicate in Celine's eyes.

Leo ran his motorcycle repair shop near his home. Because of that, his working hours were flexible, making it easy for him to go to Celine's workplace during lunchtime to invite his girlfriend to eat together. Or suddenly come to pick her up after work, even though he knew Celine had her motorcycle. He always said he missed her.

Ah, it seemed that everything was just a fleeting illusion. Their happiness and togetherness meant nothing to Leo at all. He quickly said he was reminiscing momentarily with his ex and hoped Celine could understand because that woman was his first love!

"Damn!" She hit the innocent pillow she had been hugging.

"All guys in the world are the same, scum!" She grumbled in frustration. She continued to hit the innocent pillow to release some of her anger after being tired of crying.

"Celine! Come here to dinner, dear!"

Suddenly, her mother's voice called from the dining room. Celine instinctively looked at the wall clock and found it was already late evening. Oh my! She had been crying for too long without realizing the time.

"Celine had dinner outside earlier. You can leave it, Mom!" she replied, sounding as normal as possible.

Her appetite was gone entirely. There was no hunger, even though she hadn't eaten anything since noon. What she felt now was only heartache. The pain felt like being stabbed by sharp objects, growing deeper and leaving prolonged agony.

Celine quickly got up from the bed and then went to the dressing table to check how puffy her face was. After feeling it didn't look too bad, she went to the bathroom next to the kitchen.

"Have you eaten for real, sis?" Gina asked as Celine passed by the dining table.

"Y-yes," with her face slightly hidden behind the towel she was carrying, Celine answered softly.

"If that's the case, all the meal is mine, okay?" Gina's eyes sparkled with joy.

"Fine!" Celine replied casually.

"Yeayy!" Gina cheered while transferring her sister's portion onto her plate. Fortunately, her parents were busy commenting on her sister's antics, so Celine escaped their attention.

***