Like a Stalker

Three days later and for three consecutive days, Matias also tried to meet the girl he liked at the bakery. But, always at the in the end he went home disappointed. In fact, he had made up his mind to become closer friends with Nivea. And if it went well smoothly, then he would express the intentions that he had been harboring.

On the second day Matias visited the shop, he began to feel something strange. He began not to believe Seri's words. Plus Seri and Clara had not been compact in answering questions from him. Matias began to suspect, it looks like Nivea is deliberately avoiding him.

So if that's true, where did he go wrong that Nivea didn't want to meet him? The man was genuinely curious, so he still intended to come on the third day at a different time. He planned to come there in the morning.

Matias hid behind the wall of the building opposite Nivea's bakery. From a considerable distance his eyes were still able to catch Nivea's presence there. He waited until Nivea actually entered into her shop for a long time.

Unfortunately, a customer noticed Matias' presence in the distance and told Nivea.

"Miss, there seems to be someone stalking your shop from behind that wall." as she turned around, the woman directed Nivea's gaze in the direction she was referring to.

"Ah, since when did you see it, ma'am?"

"Since I just arrived here, but I don't think that person has been gone for long there."

Nivea paused, puffing out her cheeks, still looking in that direction over there.

"I think you and the workers here should always be on your guard, miss. It could that man could be a spy for the robbers."

And Nivea widened her eyes at that. "Ah, of course, ma'am. We'll always be on the lookout for suspicious people around us. Thank you for reminding me."

The woman, who seemed to come from the middle class, departed from there after concluding her conversation with Nivea.

"Seri!"

"Yes, Miss." the girl who always wore her hair in a ponytail approached her lady quickly.

"We'll leave around three in the afternoon and head straight back home. So now, do whatever you can to ease Clara and David's work!"

"Yes, miss. I understand."

Suddenly Nivea felt annoyed, she was not free. Her heart became uneasy calm, because the man seemed to keep trying to get to her. Is what Seri had been saying all this time was the truth? That her senior at the third college liked her. Nivea thought, she should immediately stop that. She had to prevent Matias from visiting the bakery shop again.

"Actually, where are we going?" asked Seri curiously. Now both of them were already in their carriage about to reach somewhere.

"Just follow Seri! Please don't ask any questions." that flat sentence was enough to silence Seri's mouth.

A few minutes later, their carriage finally stopped in front of the gate of a residence that looked unfamiliar to Seri and Nivea herself. Luckily the coachman, Mr. Willy knew exactly where the place that was the destination of his lady's destination this time.

For a moment, he told the guard at the gate there. But the volume of the voices of the two men who were talking was not captured by Seri's ears, making her even more curious.

In the next few minutes, the question in Seri's mind was finally answered. When a well-built man escorted them inside. It was heard that the man had mentioned the name of a resident of the residence, before walking away from them.

With graceful steps Nivea entered the Lawrence family living room, as her hands lifted the front of her toscan green dress slightly. Seri, who was trailing behind her, tried to balance her steps.

Martha, meanwhile, had been standing in front of one of the guest chairs since a few minutes ago, when she received the news from a guard at her residence that Nivea had come to see her.

"Good afternoon Miss Martha."

"Ah, good afternoon Miss Nivea. Please have a seat." Martha said while bowed slightly and then seated herself on the chair behind her.

Nivea nodded and sat down immediately, with Seri standing behind Nivea's chair.

"Thank you. Hmm. Did I interrupt your afternoon?"

"No, Miss Nivea. Not at all." Martha replied with a smile.

Then their conversation was interrupted for a moment when the Lawrence family's maid served two cups of hot tea along with biscuits at the round table in their midst.

"What can I do for you that you bothered to come here, miss?"

"Hmm... How do I say this? I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend you, but please tell your brother...." Nivea hung her sentence, making Martha give a curious expression.

"Yes? What should I tell him?"

"I'm sorry if you're offended, but I... don't like your brother."

Martha's eyes rounded at that sentence, "Is Matias causing trouble?"

"Ah, no, no. But, he's always hanging around in front of my bakery. And it makes me... ah no, not only me but, some of my customers feel uncomfortable."

Martha gave a faint smile and said, "Alright Miss Nivea, I'll tell him when he arrives. Sorry if I had to make you uncomfortable."

"Ah, hahaha. Yes, your brother looks like a stalker if he keeps near my shop." with Nivea's characteristic laughter covering up her uncomfortable discussing this matter with Martha.

The sentence was returned with a nod and a smile by Martha who then invited Nivea to drink her cup of tea. Both of them sipped their tea almost simultaneously.

"Thank you, Miss Martha, for your hospitality. I'd better get going now."

Nivea stood up and bowed slightly to Martha who had already who had also risen from her seat, returning her guest's greetings.

"Well Miss Nivea, be careful on the road."

Nivea was forced to say all the things that were quite offensive to Martha, even if perhaps the man would judge her to be too big-headed, when his sister later told him the next time, told him about Nivea's visit to their home this afternoon. Nivea also didn't care if she was overconfident enough to have that Matias liked her.

All that she did was to prevent Matias from getting too far away from like her. Because what she still remembered, Matias's face was no different with the face of the man in the worn-out painting that his grandfather showed her in her dream the last time. If all of that wasn't a joke, then Matias was the reincarnation of the man who was so loved by the royal servant girl, hundreds of years ago.

How horrible, when imagining what fate awaited ahead if Matias became infatuated with her. Could it be that he would die silly, tormented by his love? As grandfather said, the curse is reversible.

Nivea was only busy preventing Matias from liking her more. She didn't realize that by accepting Matias's feelings for her, then he would would not die silly with unrequited love.

"You stupid Nivea! Doesn't everyone die eventually? Why are you so worried about Matias? I'm not! I just don't want to be the cause of someone's death." Nivea said to herself in front of the mirror of her dressing table.

The sound of the rain outside tonight suddenly touched the very core of her heart.