1. Shameless Activity

Lila opened her apartment door. She was quiet, but her apartment didn’t seem so quiet. An ear-spitting moan welcomed her. The sound came from her bedroom.

She knew her boyfriend was in her apartment because he texted her so when she was on her way to collect blood sample for her own research. His text made her decided to go back and put the blood sample collecting on hold.

With wide smile and exciting heart Lila got off of the bus then took the route home bus. She couldn’t wait to see her boyfriend since they hadn’t seen each other for five months because of his overseas work assignment.

The disturbing sound got louder. Frowning, she took a light step towards her bedroom. Is he watching a porn?

The bedroom door was ajar and the air was tense. Clothes were thrown on the floor. Her frown deepened when she saw a bra and a panty that weren’t belong to her, lying innocently on the floor near her bed. Those certainly not hers, she didn’t like laces bra.

Scanning the room carefully, making sure the thing that she was afraid of didn’t happen. Alas, the dreadful thing happened. Her boyfriend wasn’t watching a porn, instead he was doing the porn.

In Lila’s bedroom, with another woman, his naked body moving up and down in a constant pace above the woman’s body. Too absorbed with their shameless activity, they didn’t know that they had one audience, watching them with eyes wide open.

Few seconds after processing the scene before her eyes, many emotions clouded in Lila’s eyes. Shocked, then anger filled her, and she ultimately felt betrayed.

In Lila’s hurry attempt to leave, her arm moved anxiously when she grabbed her bag hitting the vase on the coffee table. It crashed onto the floor explosively, disturbing the sacred moment.

The two sweaty people on the bed stopped moving. They were shocked seeing Lila stood by the door with her back facing them.

“Lila—” They choked in unison. Then tried to covering their naked body.

Lila’s heart sank deeper, she recognized the woman’s voice. No other than her own cousin, Carla.

“Lila, this isn’t what you think—” Her boyfriend began but Lila stayed still didn’t have intention to turn around facing them nor want to hear anything.

How dumb do you think I am? This is exactly what it looks like!

“Lila wait…” Tony tried to chase her, but realized he had nothing on him. Putting on his jeans, he quickly ran out to find her.

Lila had already out in the corridor, she walked faster towards the elevator then pushed the button on the wall, her panic state blinded her of the surrounding, including her shirtless boyfriend who managed to chase her with his hand stretched out to her.

“AHHHH!” Lila screamed as if the hand that touched hers was a sticky, smelly, and disgusting dirt.

A little bit surprise, Tony dropped his hand immediately. “Hear me out, please…”

Lila gave Tony the same disgust expression as before. If he got offended with the way she looked at him, she didn’t care. Because that was exactly her feeling towards him right now.

“No!” Lila held up her palm. “I’m really not in the condition to talk right now.”

Luckily, the elevator came with a soft ding, Lila stepped inside it without hesitation, only the glimpse of Tony’s bare chest with his haunted expression came into her sight through the small crack between the elevator’s closing doors.

Tony couldn’t do anything but to watch her go.

In the elevator closed door, Lila couldn’t keep her cool anymore. Tears started to stream down her face. Somewhere inside her chest felt hurt like hell.

How could her boyfriend do that to her? Thought Lila. He always stressed it to her that he would not touch her sexually before married and that he would bear patience.

Of course, he was patient towards Lila because he touched another woman to fulfil his sexual desire, thought Lila angrily.

On the other hand, her cousin was a beautiful super model, compared to Lila’s messy appearance, her cousin was a winner. With her celebrity status, she could get any man she wanted through her famous connection. Why she messed with Lila’s boyfriend who was just an ordinary working man? Reasoned Lila to herself.

Lila’s phone buzzed in her jeans pocket when she was outside the apartment building, it was her colleague in the lab, but she didn’t have any energy left, so she ignored it.

Her phone buzzed again. This time, she didn’t bother to look at who the caller was as she shoved it deep inside her bag.

Whatever that awaited her in the lab, or how bad her boss would lash at her, she didn’t care for now. She would cross that bridge when she got there.

She hailed a taxi and get in as soon as it pulled over. She wanted to see her father. To get to him, Lila had to go a little outside the city. Didn’t matter if the taxy meter would cost her a lot, she needed to be with her father.

Feeling a single tear rolled down, she wiped it, then told the driver. “Go to the Underhill Cemetery.”

Whenever life brought Lila down, she always came to visit her father’s tomb. He was everything to her until he couldn’t be. He had a car accident and passed away after few days in hospital. The doctors said he lost a lot amount of blood and couldn’t save him because he had a rare blood type.

Lila was fifteen then, and since her father was an orphan, she had no idea how else to get blood for him as her blood wasn’t the same type. While her mother was gone when she was five. Her mother was an oceanographer, she had gone diving to collect moss samples but never reached the surface ever again.

Then, in the age of fifteen, she became an orphan. Had to live with her aunt, her mother’s sister, who moved in with her husband and daughter to the house where Lila and her father used to live.

Thus, Lila hugged her father’s tomb tightly as if she was hugging her living father. The tears that she held since she left her apartment, now streamed like a waterfall.

Almost fifteen minutes she sat with hugging position. She ran out of tear, also her back and arms started to feel sore. Changing position, she leaned against the tomb, hugging her bag close to her chest.

The hand that rested on the bag surface sensed her phone buzzing furiously inside. With the same hand she pulled out the phone, then took a look at who was calling.

It was her boss. And she didn’t want to answer.

The buzz stopped. Seconds later it began to buzz again, and Lila repeated the same action until it went off.

Her phone buzzed once after some longer moments. A text from The Goose came, she named her boss that for the sake of fun. Because his name was Gustav and he had long neck like a goose.

Alright, at least she could read it and found out what he wanted.

‘Look, I just want you to send me your report conclusion. It’s very sloppy of you, playing hooky in critical time like today. Be more diligent!’

What critical time? Diligent? Lila wanted to yell at her boss’ goosy face. I’m brilliant! I finished most of your report, and concluding all your so-called research.

The hurt in her heart turned into annoyance.  She closed her eyes, trying to suppress her anger. Then she replied. ‘I’m sending it.’

To vent her anger, Lila went to the contact list on her phone. Then edited The Goose to Smarty pants Goose. Completing it with a slam, her phone against her bag.

After her laptop was on and connected to the internet from her phone, she started to punch the keyboard. Sending the report, then reread the report conclusion, not the other way around.

This isn’t right. Lila punched the keyboard again. Too absorb in her work, totally forgetting her heartbroken. After some moments, her eyes felt sore of staring at the laptop.

When Lila looked up, her eyes locked with a man. They stared into each other eyes for more than few seconds, then the man frowned.

Upon realizing his frown, Lila immediately broke the eye contact. Why does Mr. Mysterious Man look at me that way?