5. The Request

Finally, for the first time, Diaz could see Claire up close. Observing the sleeping face of his junior high school friend whom he had not met for ten years. Not much had changed, the woman's facial features only looked more mature than the last time they met, but what he saw was still the Claire he knew, though when Claire opened her eyes, he don't know if the impression was still the same or not.

But that's not the case, the existence of Claire's uncle and aunt who are now sitting opposite Diaz is the main axis now. The atmosphere around him clearly couldn't be said to be friendly, especially after what happened before the three of them ended up gathering in that infirmary.

Diaz was still trying to avoid the question that seemed ready to be pointed at him in plain sight by busy observing Claire beside her bed. Before that baritone voice, he heard and couldn't help but draw his attention away from just focusing on Claire.

"So your name is—Diaz?"

Clumsy. Or somehow, Diaz was confused as to what kind of situation he was involved in. Elise had clearly said goodbye because Claire's uncle and aunt asked her to hurry back to the office before Diaz was finally herded there, leaving Diaz with an apologetic look for not being able to help him out of the situation she created. However, Diaz can understand, because from any perspective, what Uncle and Aunt want to hear must be the explanation, not Elise's explanation.

"Yes. I'm Diaz, Claire's middle school friend."

"Claire's future husband?" said the aunt.

"No—I... I think there is a misunderstanding here,” Diaz shook his head quickly, trying to clear up the misunderstanding that caught the eyes and ears of the two people in front of him.

"No? I thought I heard…” Claire's uncle glanced at his wife, trying to make sure that what he heard outside was not just him.

"That's what I have to straighten out here."

Diaz took a deep breath, racking his brain to explain the real situation without any further misunderstandings about himself. But it wasn't easy, telling the details of why Elise had been summoned to this place for all the reasons just now would only complicate the situation, especially in front of older people like Claire's uncle and aunt. Not to mention Diaz also has to consider how Claire's position would be if she told him that it all started with the woman's sudden marriage invitation, saying it was not the right choice, according to Diaz.

“I am an old friend of Claire's who recently make contact with. But we weren't involved in anything more than that, and the talk about getting married was just a sales pitch that Claire had talked to me about with no meaning." In the end, that was the only explanation Diaz could come up with, the best option for her and Claire's situation that still had to be clarified, of course with the person in question directly.

A disappointed sigh escaped from the aunt's mouth which clearly showed her hope in front of Diaz, and unfortunately for Diaz, who could immediately interpret the meaning of the disappointed sigh—because she already knew about the problems Claire was having with them—his anger seemed to be provoked again. Diaz could not sympathize with those two.

All Diaz was thinking about right now was how Claire would feel if she knew her uncle and aunt's views on her current condition. For sure Claire will be very disappointed, right? No, what Diaz had to make sure first was, did Claire already know that the uncle and aunt who were said to be responsible for this had inappropriate thoughts like the ones he heard earlier?

"Are we being too grandiose to expect the conversation about marriage to be more serious with Claire?"

"Pardon?" The words Diaz didn't expect to hear from her aunt's mouth couldn't make him say anything more than question words that reflexively came out without consideration.

“Claire already needs a companion. She needs someone else to watch over her, and we think getting married is a way for her to focus on her life to be more positive so that something like this doesn't happen again." Wise words, if Diaz hadn't heard their conversation before, maybe Diaz's view of the two people in front of him would have been better, but because he already knew their essence somehow the words that were made as subtle as possible didn't sound sincere. Because the reason they said it wasn't just that, it wasn't just for Claire's sake, but rather for their selfishness.

"From what we caught, Son Diaz doesn't have a companion yet, right?" asked the aunt's voice again, to which Diaz could only reply with a faint smile. "Then it wouldn't hurt if we asked Nak Diaz to consider it, right?"

Diaz's brow furrowed, "Considering...?"

"To marry Claire," snapped the uncle.

If Diaz's interlocutor wasn't an older person like them, Diaz would have said sarcastically or at least said openly what was on his mind right now. Diaz said the same sentence to Claire via text, that marriage is not just a matter of being willing or not, but it is deeper than that. Unfortunately, Diaz can't express his thoughts that clearly, but he still knows how to respect elders, even though he thinks elders like them can treat with disrespect. Especially if it wasn't for their arbitrarily offering a man they didn't know to marry their precious niece—ah Diaz forgot, Claire probably wasn't that valuable to either of them.

"I think Claire has her thoughts about marriage. I'm not sure Claire can accept the idea of ​​you. We were indeed friends, but that was twelve years ago, and our communication even now is only recent. Claire is still a stranger to me, I'm sure Claire thinks so."

"What if she doesn’t? What if Claire could accept you, Diaz? That kid isn't the sociable type, especially now that she's approaching 30, Claire is getting more and more selective about communicating with other people, and the fact she's communicating with you could be—”

“Sorry to interrupt, but I don't feel comfortable talking about Claire's feelings while she is still lying unconscious near us. Shouldn't we have thought about Claire's condition first so she could be better now?"

Claire's uncle and aunt were finally silenced. For this matter Diaz can be strict, he just feels it is unethical to discuss matters of feelings while Claire herself is still asleep in her subconscious. Diaz couldn't accept the sudden situation he had to face, but he still had the common sense to be realistic about how he should behave in front of sick people, instead of talking about things outside of that.

There was a long silence after Diaz said that last sentence, followed by the decision of Claire's uncle and aunt to leave the room without saying a word. And just when Claire's uncle and aunt decided to leave, at that moment Claire slowly opened her eyes with a sigh that escaped her lips. His vacant eyes greeted Diaz for the first time.