After the meeting ended, I went back to my desk and immediately opened WhatsApp.

“Bro, you free tonight? Pak gede?”

“After hour?”

“Yup.”

“Okay, see you at the station.”

I locked my phone and got back to work, finishing whatever was left for today.

We met up at the station. It was not too crowded. I had decided to leave the office earlier to avoid the rush hour.

We headed out and walked to the store next to the east exit. We ordered two nasi campur spesial and sat at a table in the second row, backs against the wall. The ceiling fan overhead moved the warm air around. The evening crowd was starting to fill the surrounding tables.

While waiting for the food, I told him about my day. It was a shitty day at work. About the project that kept changing scope. About the client who couldn’t make decisions. About how tired I was of all of it. He listened, nodding occasionally while observing the other patrons who are mostly workers like us, still in their office clothes.

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When the food arrived, I automatically stopped yapping and immediately dig the food. The rice, the meat, the sambal, everything was perfectly seasoned. It was exactly what I needed. For a while, we ate in silence.

When we finished our plates, I sat back and looked around the small shop. The plastic stools, the worn tables, the aunt shouting orders to the kitchen. Everything felt simple here.

“This is actually nice, you know.” I took a sip of my iced tea. “Now I understand why you come to this place whenever you’re stressed about something.”

He just smiled.

“I told you!” He gestured around with his fork. “It’s not fancy, but the food’s good. That kind of soul food you need when you had a shitty day.”

I nodded. Good food with a good friend. Sometimes that’s all you need to get through a rough day.

A young woman walked along the park by riverside, clutching a brown cardboard box in both hands. Her steps were heavy but steady, as she found a spot beneath a tree on the grass. She set the box down, the contents rattling slightly: a collection of stationery and personal items hastily cleared from her office desk. With a sigh, she pulled out a pale blue bottle of soju that she had picked up from a store on her way to the riverside.

“That bastard manager! He’s the one who harassed me, but why the hell am I the one who got fired?!”

Her voice trembled with frustration as she twisted the cap off the bottle, bringing it to her lips. Four quick gulps, and she felt the burn slide down her throat. It wasn’t enough to quell the storm inside her, though. Her anger boiled over again.

“Is everyone at the office really that stupid? Just a bunch of shameless perverts!”

She spat the words out with rage, then took another swig from the bottle, drinking the soju straight. The warmth spread through her chest, dulling the sharp edges of her rage, but only slightly.

“Stupid, perverted manager…”

**splash**

“…”

The woman froze mid-thought. The loud splash, unexpected and out of place, drew her attention. She slowly turned her head, trying to pinpoint its origin. The splash had come from beneath the bridge, around 200 meters from where she sat. For a moment, she just sat there, staring at the rippling water, her mind struggling to process what had just happened. Meanwhile, the people in the park began to gather around the source of the sound.

After five long minutes of silence, she screwed the cap back onto the bottle.

“To be honest… this is fine, actually” she muttered to herself.

“Well, at least I’m still alive, right?”

She stood up, brushing the dirt and grass from her pants. Picking up the cardboard box once more, she began her walk back home, leaving behind the big crowd that had gathered by the river’s edge.

“What a tiring day today!”
I exclaimed as I closed the car door and started the engine.

“The last meeting nearly killed me for real”
I muttered to myself. After five minutes of cooling down and resting, I began to drive away from the office parking lot.

It was only seven thirty, as I checked the time on my watch. Oddly enough, the traffic wasn’t that bad tonight. I pressed the gas pedal as the traffic light turned green. My car moved slowly through downtown, passing the well-lit tall office buildings that this city proudly boasted.

…

…

…

..

.

I gently hit the brakes as the traffic light turned red. I saw there were two motorcycles in front me. I noticed a convenience store with a bright blue signage on the corner of the street. I also noticed the food place that sell roasted chickens across the street.

Wait, I recognized this intersection. Two more traffic lights, and I would arrive home. I checked my watch: seven fifty-eight. Almost thirty minutes had passed.

“Huh!”
“I didn’t have a thought for a while there.”
“That was nice.”

Today they decided to go to the city park not far from their home. They brought a picnic blanket, some beers, and sandwiches which they had prepared beforehand. The park was filled with cherry blossom trees in full bloom, creating a mesmerizing view.

They arrived at the park, spread the blanket under a cherry blossom tree, and sat together beneath the gentle pink blossoms. They opened their beers and their sandwiches. The sun was shining brightly, and a gentle breeze made the atmosphere even more pleasant.

They talked about many things, smiling, laughing, and enjoying their beers and sandwiches. Right now, under the beautiful blossoms, he felt peaceful and happy.

The man took a sip of his beer.

“This is nice”
“I never would have imagined that we could experience cherry blossoms on a Wednesday afternoon like this.”

The girl chuckled. “Have you forgotten that you was just fired yesterday?”

Shaking his head, he gazed at the cherry blossoms falling around them.

“I know, I know. But, don’t you think this is beautiful?”

Pria itu berjalan pelan mendekati rak minuman kaleng. Ia mengambil dua kaleng bir berwana hijau dengan gambar bintang berwarna merah. “dua kaleng sepertinya cukup” gumam pria itu.

…

“totalnya jadi lima puluh ribu, mas” kata perempuan di balik bilik kasir seraya memasukkan dua kaleng bir ke dalam kantung plastik berukuran sedang.

Hari ini bukan hari yang baik bagi pria itu. Siang ini ia dimarahi habis-habisan oleh bosnya di kantor karena pekerjaannya belum selesai.

Pria itu mulai berjalan gontai menjauhi minimarket. “padahal jelas-jelas deadlinenya masih minggu depan!” serunya sambil mengepalkan tangannya erat-erat.

Tepat di bawah lampu jalan pria itu berhenti, mengambil satu buah kaleng bir berwarna hijau dengan gambar bintang berwarna merah, dan mulai membukanya dengan gerakan perlahan. Setelah lima kali tegukan tanpa jeda, ia berhenti minum. Sambil menatap lampu jalan yang berada tepat di atas kepalanya, ia bergumam

“well I know today sucks but this is nice”

Setelah berjalan sejauh lima kilometer tanpa henti dari statisun daerah menuju ke pusat kota, pria itu berhenti tepat di depan toko kelontong kecil pinggir jalan. Cukup lama ia menatap toko itu dengan wajah seperti sedang berpikir. Setelah sekitar tiga menit ia berdiri menatap toko, akhirnya ia memutuskan untuk mampir ke toko kelontong kecil pinggir jalan itu. Ia mengambil satu buah es krim rasa vanilla yang dilapisi dengan coklat lalu mengeluarkan uang lima ribu rupiah untuk membayar.

Ia keluar toko kelontong kecil pinggir jalan itu dan mulai melanjutkan berjalan dengan langkah perlahan. Sambil melumat es krim yang ia pegang dengan tangan kanannya, pria itu bergumam

“my life is a mess but this is nice”

Pria itu mengarahkan sepeda motornya ke toko buah-buahan yang sudah tertutup rapat yang berjarak sepuluh meter di depannya.

…

Ia melepaskan helm, meletakkannya di spion sebelah kanan kemudian membuka jok motor bebeknya. Diambilnya sebuah korek gas dan rokok kretek yang bungkusnya berwarna hitam dengan aksen garis merah.

Dalam kondisi basah kuyup, pria itu menyulut sebatang rokok. Ia memalingkan wajah ke jalanan dihadapannya yang sedang diguyur hujan dengan tatapan kosong. Sembari menghisap rokoknya dalam-dalam, ia bergumam

“my life is a hot mess, but this is nice”