Explosion on Hawkins Road

The atmosphere on Hawkins Road this morning was tense. Puffs of black smoke soaring high that it almost covered part of the road. Resulting in road users’ visibility is increasingly limited. Conditions were getting hotter and made everyone people in the horse-drawn carriage began to panic. They feared that there would be explosion from the half-destroyed archive building.

One by one, they chose to get off the horse-drawn carriage, which could no longer move forward. In a situation like this, walking is the most appropriate choice. Nivea jumped off the carriage followed by Seri and a coachman. Before that, Nivea had to force the coachman to follow her, leaving behind the chariot that had no idea when it would start moving again.

Nivea and the two people who came with her walked quickly through the between other horse-drawn carriages that, it seemed, had also begun to be abandoned by their owners. But the girl in the blue dress stopped walking when she heard the sound of a passenger struggling to open the carriage door from the inside. Meanwhile, the coachman was struggling to control his horse, which was about to run amok.

Seeing this made Nivea get closer to the carriage and with Nivea’s hand easily opened the locked lever. Even though the lever lock had been broken before, making the carriage door often lock itself. Nivea walked away after she rescued the passenger. And the passenger hadn’t had a chance to thank her yet. The man only saw the backs of Nivea and Seri who were still following her.

“You? Nivea?“ he muttered to himself when he had managed to get out of the the carriage.

“Sorry sir, I still have to tame this horse. You’d better leave now!”

“What? Fine, run away if you can’t control the horse!”

Matias Vander Lawrence left the carriage and the coachman, he decided to return home, abandoning his intention of going to see Rodrigues.

Upon arriving home, he went straight to his room. Still unable to comprehend what Nivea had done. With just a flick of the hand on the lever that was impossible to open with bare hands, the girl was able to open it in no time.

The man who was now sitting on his sofa while supporting his head with both his hands, he brought back memories of many years ago. When he first saw Nivea who was reading a book in their school library. Since that day, he often visited the library, hoping that his cute little sister would be there.

***

After walking for several hundred meters, Nivea finally arrived at her shop. Seri quickly brewed a cup of tea for the lady. So that the girl could feel more comfortable after the long walk.

“Here’s your tea, miss.“ Seri placed a cup of chamomile tea in front of Nivea who was seated at one of the customer seats.

“Hmm. Thank you Seri.”

“I’m going to the kitchen, miss. You can call me if you need anything.”

“Hmm.“ while nodding Nivea only replied briefly.

Nivea sipped her tea while it was warm, savoring it little by little. While looking at the road that spread out behind the translucent glass.

The morning sun warmed her heart. Now Nivea is ready to continue her day, even though it seems that the crowds out there are not as usual. Only a few people have been seen going back and forth in front of her shop.

“I don’t think it will be crowded today, so we shouldn’t make too much bread. Because of the explosion on Hawkins Street this morning, perhaps most people chose not to go out.”

“Alright miss!“ replied Seri accompanied by the nods of the other two workers.

Then they went to work on their respective tasks.

“Where did you buy these berries, David?”

“Ah, that. I bought them at Mr. Robert’s shop, Miss. As usual.”

“Hmm. I guess the quality of his berries is getting better now. I thought you bought it elsewhere.”

“I wouldn’t have bought elsewhere without your consent, miss.”

“Hahaha. You’re so smart David! Seri, could you please get me some water with that black container?“ she continued.

“Yes miss.”

Two hours later Nivea was done with her bread for the day. The others seemed to be quite preoccupied with other tasks. Operations the shop opened just a few minutes ago. Behind the ordering counter, Seri has been serving at least three customers since earlier. Nivea moved from her kitchen, approaching Seri’s presence to join her in serving the customers.

“They seem to like my bread, Seri?”

“Of course, miss. I think so. That girl sitting there with the two of them, I’ve seen her come here a few times.”

“Really? Do you know what would make them come back here?”

“Of course, it’s because your bread is so delicious and soft. Not only Miss, I think it’s also because the service we provide is very good to them.”

“Is all that true, Seri? It’s not often that I feel afraid of not being able to hide the look on my face that is sometimes sad or upset.”

“Ah, no miss! You have done your best so far. I think you have nothing to worry about. They won’t come back if service is not good.”

Before we knew it, the afternoon was over, with the sun still felt quite stinging on the skin. Nivea approached her coachman who was sitting drinking his lemonade in the corner of the shop’s kitchen. The tall man got up from his chair when he saw Nivea coming towards him.

“Mr. Willy, could you now return to Hawkins Street? It won’t be long now I have to go home. Please take a look at your carriage first.”

The man bowed slightly before Nivea, “Yes miss. I understand.”

“Thank you, Mr. Willy. You don’t need to run over there. There’s no need to rush, walk carefully. I will wait until you return.”

“Yes, miss. I’m leaving now.“ once again the coachman bowed in sign of respect for his interlocutor. He hurried away to do what Nivea had just told him to do.

After the coachman left, Nivea returned to the booking table. She was still eager to serve the upcoming customers. She was humming softly, not away from Seri, who was tidying up the lemonade bottles on the cupboard attached to the wall.

“Are you in a good mood, miss?”

“Hmm. I don’t think so.”

“You’re humming as if you’re in a good mood.”

“No Seri, you’re overreacting if you think so. I’m just avoiding boredom.”

“Are you bored here, miss?”

“Ah, no! Of course I never get bored here. I mean, today is not as busy as usual. My prediction was right, they must still be reluctant out of the house because of the incident this morning.”

A few minutes later, Mr. Willy had returned to the shop on his riding his horse-drawn carriage. Nivea had also finished serving the three customers who had come in. She immediately closed the shop operations after seeing the appearance of her coachman out there. Then invited Seri to hurry home with her.