22. Uninvited Guest

Danish was silent and paused for a moment with the activity of tying his shoelaces. His eyes glanced at Daniel who did not pay attention to Danish's cynical expression because of Daniel's words that touched his heart.

Danish got up from her seat. "I'll go first." He said in a cold tone.

"Ya."

After Danish had come out of his own apartment, Daniel didn't immediately come out after Danish, he decided to walk towards the kitchen and take a packet of instant noodles in the top drawer near his head and start boiling it himself like a typical boarding house child.

****

Emilly was walking with the tray she was carrying. She pushed open the door to the living room on the second floor of her house with her feet. When the door opened, her friends were seen joking with Bobby, her brother.

While running, Cindy screamed loudly. "Emillyyyy!" she whined. Emilly chuckled when Cindy almost hit the tray in her hand. If he didn't immediately avoid Cindy's collision, maybe their drinks would have fallen to the floor. "Bobby is so nosy," she said from behind Emilly's back.

Bobby walked slowly towards Emilly and Cindy with a lizard between his thumb and forefinger while shaking it slowly.

"She said she was brave with any kind of animal."

"Bobby! that's disgusting!"

Emilly rolled her eyes lazily then walked back and put her tray on the table and sat on the fur rug with her two friends. then Manda and Rachel immediately took the glass containing the juice they ordered earlier and gulped it down.

Cindy approached her three friends with stamped feet. "You are evil!" she said annoyed.

"If I'm bad, I'll be at the police station."

Cindy frowned. "So we're all good people, right? I've never been to the police station either." She muttered to herself.

Manda raised her hand. "You really don't fit in the mail police station. It's better for--" she hung up her sentence as she looked at her three best friends in turn. "Shychiatric hospital!"

Bobby also answered. "Wow! Impressive,"

Immediately the family room became crowded because of the chatter of her friends and brother.

Her voice was so loud that it reached Amelia's ears, who was reading a magazine in the living room. Amelia shook her head with a smile and drank the hot tea on the table.

Aunt Diah came from the living room, then stopped beside the sofa Amelia was sitting on.

"There is a friend, Ms. Kiya, ma'am, in front."

"Just tell the guest to come in and just call Emilly upstairs." Amelia said as she turned the pages of the magazine she was reading.

"I told him to come in but he didn't want to, he said just wait in front."

Amelia stood up and stowed her magazine under the table. "Auntie, just call Emilly, I'll accompany Emilly's friend."

Aunt Diah straightened up spontaneously and then raised her right hand in respect. "Ready, ma'am!" she said firmly, then Amelia chuckled before finally walking away from Aunt Diah who had also started climbing the stairs to the second floor.

On the third knock, the door to the family room opened and a figure of Bobby appeared, but when Aunt Diah wanted to speak, Bobby had already left the housekeeper, leaving the door wide open and showing Emilly and her friends playing with their laptop screen.

Cindy, who noticed Bi Diah's presence in the doorway, finally nudged Emilly's arm making the owner of the arm wince. "There is Aunt Diah!"

Emilly glanced at the corner of her eye and immediately stood up, walking over to Bi Diah who was still silent in her place. "What is it?" she asked.

"Ehh—" Aunt Diah blinked. "There's a friend of yours in front to meet Ms."

Emilly rolled her eyes lazily. "Just call me Kiya. Do I look old?"

"Hehehe... yes, Miss Emilly,"

"It's up to you auntie,"

Emilly smiled politely, then walked down one at a time. Arriving at the stairs of the last child, Emilly slightly ran towards the main door which was wide open, without hesitation Emilly came out and found Amelia who was talking to a tall and white man with her back to him.

Amelia squeaked in surprise when her eyes caught the figure of her youngest child who was standing in front of her, behind the man's back. She gulped then immediately left Emilly with the man without saying anything else.

"Who are you?"

The man turned around hesitantly, until his body was now facing Emilly, after a long time he was finally able to look at the girl's brown eyes again at close range.

Emilly was silent with both hands covering her mouth, she shook her head as she stepped back. Oxygen was running low, someone she had forgotten all along and all the memories that had been buried so deep came into view again, tearing down the fortress she had built all this time alone. Emilly turned around, ran towards the door and went inside, her hand deftly pulled the doorknob and was about to close it, but a big hand held the doorknob from the outside so it wouldn't close tightly.

"I need to talk to you, Em," said the man, still pushing hard on the big door in front of him. He just found out that Emilly's strength can be twice his. "Please, just a moment." He continued pleading.

"No! We're done, Danish!" Emilly screamed from the inside with a hoarse voice because holding back her tears would fall due to the tightness that was too pressing in her chest. "Enough, Danish! We're done."

On the middle steps are Rachel, Cindy, Manda and Bobby who are watching two people who used to be making out, now one of them is even more avoiding.

"Who is he?" asked Manda.

Bobby reflexively looked at Manda sharply, then walked down the stairs, but when his foot stepped on the last step, Rachel grabbed his hand tightly.

"Let them sort things out on their own first."

"But-"

BRAK!!