It’s been two decades since my entire family was together in one place, as the last time we were all together, my father had a heart attack while we were in Bandung.
The reality started to kick in when most of my parent’s savings were used for the hospital administration, ambulance, funeral, and many others that I could not have understood back then. We were not well-off, so we had nothing left when my father left us.
We sold off most of our belongings, including our cars and houses, as we could no longer afford them. As a result, we moved back to my grandparents’ house in Bandung. Then, one day, my mother brought me to Jakarta for a Frisian Flag commercials audition, and I got selected.
Life always works in an unexpected way, isn’t it?
Now that my grandparents have passed away, our family has only one other, so sometimes, when I didn’t have anything to do, I’d visit Ibu, or sometimes Atisha would stay too on weekends. She moved out around two years ago as she didn’t want to spend most of her time stuck on the road, and I’ve been living by myself since 2018.
I looked at my phone, which was on the passenger seat — it had been ringing for quite some time since both Gemma and I made it to the gossip account on the same day — mine with Yohannes, and Gemma with Kaoru — the model featured on his music video that was supposed to be dropped around the time he was at the world tour. Luckily, the baseless rumors didn’t have any impact, as they were overshadowed by the buzz around Gemma’s concert tickets, which were sold out within an hour.
I have met Kaoru and know her personally — she was the guest star at one of my Netflix series in 2021. So, regardless of what the gossip accounts might say, there was no truth to the rumors about Gemma’s relationship with Kaoru.
I know Gemma wouldn’t do that — not in a million years.
However, it was not the case with my mother — she was pretty furious, even when she was well aware of how the entertainment industry works and that such rumors are often spread without knowing the truth. The probability of the rumors being true was low, yet my mother’s emotions still got the best of her. But maybe it’s because Gemma and I have never been involved in such things all this time.
But it was different this time.
So here I am, pulled up to the driveway at my mother’s house and turned off my car engine soon after I parked it. I stepped out of the car and was immediately greeted by Pak Toni’s smile — the gardener who had been with us since this house was built.
“Ibu ada di taman belakang, Mbak.” I nodded and thanked Pak Toni before going to the backyard.
I carried several bags filled with various items I had purchased during my trip to Osaka, and I placed the bags on the small table on the porch. Then, my attention was drawn to my mother, who was busy cutting the footstalk and carefully trimming it at the far end of the garden.
Wearing my outdoor sandals, I felt the sun’s warmth on my skin while walking towards my mother.
“Aku bawa oleh-oleh dari Jepang.” I said as I got closer to her.
My mother turned around and saw me, “Gemma nggak ikut?” she asked, her tone laced with disappointment, completely ignoring what I just said.
“Masih ada schedule di Jepang.” My mother sighed deeply, her eyes dropping to the ground as if the sight of me alone had ruined her entire day.
She slowly removed her gardening gloves, placed them on the table next to the small pool, and turned to face me again. “Kapan pulang?”
“Next week,” I said. “Kenapa?”
“Ada yang mau Ibu tanya.”
“Mereka nggak ngapain-ngapain, bu. Yohannes juga cuma mau nunggu mobilku dateng. Orang-orang cuma salah paham sama apa yang mereka lihat. Aku pernah cerita kan, Kaoru jadi model di MV Gemma.” I explained the rumors she had probably heard a couple of days ago.
My mother is not someone who’s active on the internet, but when it comes to the two of us — Gemma and I, she has constantly been checking it at least once an hour. Gemma has always been like a son to hers, anyhow. So, her concern was understandable, and I couldn’t blame my mother for it. She was still a mother who sometimes would be overly concerned about everything, especially if it was about us.
“Gemma sudah lama nggak kesini.” She started, leaving a bit of silence as we walked back to the house.
“Ibu khawatir kalau kalian ada masalah.”
Confused by her statement, I asked for clarification. “Maksudnya?” I was taken aback by her sudden worry that I might have broken up with him. The question seemed to come out of nowhere, and I couldn’t understand why she would think that. Because if we had broken up, I would have told her.
“Akhir-akhir ini, Ibu lihat kamu lebih suka sendiri. Semua orang bilang kalau sekarang kamu lebih jaga jarak dari sebelumnya.” She said, continuing to list more reasons why I seem to be acting differently around Gemma and others around me.
“Ibu pikir, ini waktunya kamu istirahat dan lebih fokus ke hubungan kamu sama Gemma.”
