The Gift

Blog post ini dibuat dalam rangka mengikuti Proyek Menulis Letters of Happiness: Share your happiness with The Bay Bali & Get discovered! 

This blog post is in The Big 25 Finalist of Letter of Happiness and the book will be launch soon! You can purchase the book at nulisbuku.com or twitter @nulisbuku

            “WHAT? So are you saying that I was wrong? I don’t even know that you need that paper. I mean, it’s just a scratch paper!”

            “Can’t you look first before you throw something away? Gosh, I’m so dead! It’s so hard to get Mr. Rob contact, and you… you just throw it away!”

            “Sorry, okay? I’m sorry! But it’s not all my fault. Why don’t you keep it if it’s important? You put it on the table. That’s why I think it was a trash.”

            “Even if it’s so, you still need to check it, Rose!”

            “Can’t you just ask your friend about Mr. Rob’s contact? It’s not the end of the world!”

            “Yeah, but you still need to change your behavior!”

            “Jack, it’s only a small problem. Gosh, whatever. You know what? You’ve changed. That’s it.” said Rose with a cold expression. Without saying anything further, she left Jack, her husband, with a lot of disappointment in his face. Blam! Rose shut the door. Nothing goes right for the past 7 months in their 19 years of marriages. Literally, nothing.

            “What are you guys doing here?” ask Rose. She seemed very surprise to find her two children in front of the door.

            “…We’re just passing by. Right?” said Lily, the oldest daughter, and then giving a very cynical look to his younger brother.

            “Yeah.” Billy directly nodded.

            “Hh…” Rose sighed. She put her hand on her forehead. “Guys, I know exactly what you’re doing, and I think you two don’t have to worry about what’s going on between us, okay?” she continued her sentence.

            “Mom, we just want make sure that your relationship with dad is fine!” said Lily.

            “Look, honey. We’re okay. It’s just… things don’t go well. Please, I just don’t want to talk about this right now.”

            “Billy, c’mon.” Lily urged Billy to leave.

-----

            “Lily, are you sure about this?”

            “Yeah, I’m really sure.”

            “Are they going to accept this…?” doubt Billy.

            “Of course! They have no excuse to say no. Even if they are, we really need to persuade them to accept our special gift. This is for OUR sake, Billy.”

            Lily put the entire surprise gift together in one heart shape envelope, and then sealed it. She crossed her fingers, and so does Billy. They just hope that everything will go as they predicted.

-----

            Today is a chill Thursday morning. Rose and Jack are having their breakfast silently. They talk, but only when necessary like help me by passing the salt, and so on. There’s no happy conversation like the old days. Suddenly, Lily and Billy show up.

            “SURPRISE! Happy 20^th Anniversary!” said Lily and Billy together with a very huge smile. Rose and Jack startled. They even forget that today is their 20^th Anniversary after all the things that going on.

            “Honey…” Rose was going to talk, but Lily stops her.

            “Mom, dad, before you give comments, we want to talk, and because today is your anniversary, we need you to say yes first.”

            “What is it?” ask Jack.

            “Just say yes first, please.” said Billy. Jack and Rose start to look at each other. They seem suspicious about what their children are about to do.

            “Okay, okay. I’ll tell both of you. So we want you to accept our special gift.” Lily handed over the heart shape envelope to Rose.

            “What is this Lily?”

            “Well… there are two tickets to Bali, hotel voucher, and our arrangements for both of you in Bali.”

            “Oh honey, that is so sweet of you two… Unfortunately, I think I can’t go. Right, Jack?” Rose takes a glimpse at Jack.

            “Yeah, I also have lots of work to do.” said Jack

            “Please mom, dad, accept it! We bought it with our 5 months saving and do some survey on the Internet for about 2 months!”

            “…Well, let’s go. It’s only for 2 days, isn’t it?” asked Jack. Lily and Billy smiled.

-----

AT BALI

            “Let’s just enjoy this day without any arguments, shall we?”

            “Okay.”

            On the morning, Jack and Rose drop their luggage in the hotel and go straight to The Bay Bali in Nusa Dua, following the schedule that Lily and Billy had made for them. Besides, their hotel location is not that far from the location.

            When Jack and Rose arrived at The Bay Bali, two of them were in a shock. The place is just amazingly beautiful, and the area is really huge! The Bay Bali has 6 main restaurants which are De Opera, Bebek Bengil, Benihana, Pirates Bay, Hong Xing, and Bumbu Nusantara. With a very beautiful beach in front of the restaurant, Jack and Rose can enjoy the beach view while eating their delicious food cooked by the all-star chef in The Bay Bali.

            Jack and Rose take a walk around the beach, because they’re not feeling hungry. They want to enjoy the cozy atmosphere around The Bay Bali. There are some tourists hanging around the beach, also some children building a sand tower near the beach.

            

         “Well, I never heard about The Bay Bali before.” Jack tries to start a conversation after they’re walking in silent for 8 minutes.

            “Well, no doubt, because we haven’t been to Bali in the last 15 years.”

            “A very beautiful place to visit, right?”

            “Yep. Lily and Billy really have a taste.”

            “You know, the beach reminds me about something.”

            “Ah, you also think about that? Our first met?” said Rose.

            “Yeah, that. It’s been 21 years, isn’t it?”

            “A very long time. I still remember clearly about our first met, though. Hahaha. If I thought about that, it’s really funny, actually.” Rose giggled.

            “Hahahaha, you want to throw a lump of sand to your friend, and it turns out you throw it to a stranger, me.”

            “What a fate, isn’t it?” Rose smiled. Jack gives a warm smile back to Rose, and he pick a lump of sand. With a very fast hand, he throws it to Rose.

            “Jack! I’ll get dirty, hahaha!” Rose laughed. Rose also makes a lump of sand then throw it to Jack. They’re running around the beach like a two happy child. They’re playing on the seashore like newlyweds. The iceberg between them starts to melt.

            “Aw!” Rose fell of to the sand.

            “Rose! You okay?” Jack grabs her back, helped her to stand up.

            “Get ya!” said Rose and throw a very big lump on Jack’s face.

            “Hahahahahaha! Look at your face!!” Rose try escape.

            “Wait for my revenge!” Jack chase Rose and grab her into his arms. They laughed happily and just don’t care about their surroundings who jealously looking at them. It feels like The Bay Bali, even the world is theirs right now.

-----

            “Excuse me, Mr. Jack and Mrs. Rose?” asked one of the employees of The Bay Bali. Jack and Rose are sitting near the seashore, admiring the view.

            “Yes?”

            “You have a reservation on the De Opera at 5. Your children, Lily and Billy asked us to tell you that.”

            “Oh really? Okay, thanks.”

            Jack and Rose go to the De Opera to have their early dinner. When Jack and Rose reached De Opera, they’re very touched because Lily and Billy not only made a reservation for them, but also a very beautiful decoration for them. Lily and Billy really executed their plan nicely. Rose almost burst into tears. She’s really touched with her children.

            Finished admiring the – not going to end – surprises, Jack and Rose take a seat. The waiter starts to serve the entree. After that, the waiter opens the wine bottle for Jack and Rose. It’s almost 5.30 in the evening, and the sunset begins.

            “Look!” Jack said to Rose. The sky is so beautiful with the orange color caused by the sunset. It’s really a perfect day. While enjoying the food, Jack and Rose start to talk lots of things. They start to realize that the past 7 months are not their best months. If they think back, actually there are lots of sweet memorable things they’ve shared together.

            “Rose, I’ve been thinking.”

            “Yeah?” said Rose while grabbing the wine glass.

            “You know, well… our relationship is not going so well lately.”

            “Mm-hm.”

            “Don’t you think that it’s only because we’re stubborn?”

            “I know… I start to think that actually it’s not your fault, it’s not my fault, but it’s our fault. We act like a child.”

            “Yeah… honestly Rose, I do care about you. I feel sorry about everything.”

            “I felt the same way... I’m sorry, Jack. I guess… it’s time to start a new page?” Rose rises up her wine glass.

            “To a new page.” said Jack. After they said cheers, they drink the wine. Jack hold Rose’s hand and smile.

            “HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!” suddenly, out of nowhere The Bay Bali crew come out and toss out a firecracker. Once again, Jack and Rose really surprised. Then, one of the crew gives a tablet to Jack and Rose.

            “Hey dad, hey mom!” it’s Lily and Billy, greeting them from their house.

            “Hey you guys!” Rose replied.

            “Are you two holding hands? OH MY GOD!!” Lily and Billy suddenly jumping around the house.

            “Thank you guys, for everything. You two are God’s gift to us. We promised that we wouldn’t do silly things again. We’re really embarrassed and feel like a child.” confessed Jack.

            “It’s okay dad. Well then, we won’t interrupt you. Enjoy your day!!” Lily and Billy giggles and suddenly they turn off the connections. Jack and Rose look at each other and smiled. Problems make them become closer than before. From now, they’ll start a new fresh page. They’re really blessed to have each other, and also their two best children.

Happiness is when you can understand and love someone imperfect, perfectly.