The night was getting late, and the clear and golden drinks in the woman’s glass were down to a quarter, but she still wasn’t drunk. Occasionally, she massaged her temples, not because of the drink but because of something else weighing on her mind. She sat alone at the bar with no one to talk to.
A bartender had been busy wiping down the bottles carefully and organizing the glassware in the drawers. Risa let the young man do his job, while she was preoccupied with her thoughts. Besides, she wasn’t in the mood to be disturbed.
Being a VIP at this exclusive bar gave Risa certain privileges. She could come here whenever she wanted, as long as she confirmed her reservation beforehand.
"If that book could write itself... that would be fun," she muttered, followed by a hollow laugh.
The pressure from the publisher and editor was making her head feel like it was about to burst. For months now, Risa had been unable to write; if she forced herself, her writing would come out more like a newspaper report—just like an analysis article from a journalist, too straightforward and full of facts. Empty! No heart.
Arisa Kirani then checked the time on her phone. "I think I need to get out and clear my mind."
“Hey, don’t go getting possessed here,” said Indra, who had just dismissed the bartender on duty. He undid one button of his shirt and rolled up his sleeves to his elbows.
“Ugh, Indra, you’re interrupting my daydream,” Risa replied with feigned annoyance, ending with a playful smile.
Indra shrugged indifferently. “What’s got you acting a little crazy tonight?” He was busy preparing a cocktail mix.
“You’re still the same annoying class president, huh?” Risa said, resting her chin on her hand as she watched Indra.
“Thanks, I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Indra chuckled, nodding slightly to acknowledge the jab. “So, why suddenly agree to appear on Aldo’s talk show? Getting tired of hiding behind a pen name? Starting to take an interest in Aldo’s world? Well, actually, you two are a bit alike—both seem to lack eyelids,” Indra teased.
“Skip. No comment, personal reasons,” Risa replied, not wanting to be compared to the Chinese guy. Risa was often mistaken as being of the same ethnicity as Aldo because of her seemingly lidless eyes and fair skin. In reality, she was of Dayak descent from Kalimantan, though she had grown up in Jakarta.
“Why are you bringing me into this?” Aldo said, taking a seat on the woman’s right. Aldo grinned widely and placed his wedding invitation on the table near Risa.
“Who’s the unlucky girl who’s agreed to marry you? Poor thing,” Risa said, eyeing the name on the gold-lettered invitation. Giska Prameswari? The name sounded familiar, but who was she?
“Giska! She was two years below us. The OSIS secretary who was the darling of all the boys in her class and even the upperclassmen,” Aldo said, with a dramatic tone.
“Aww, Aldo’s so faithful,” Risa teased.
“No way, this Chinese guy had tons of girlfriends,” Indra chimed in.
Indra poured the drink into the glass like a professional bartender, chuckling at the wide smile on Aldo’s face. Earlier, he had chatted with Aldo on the phone, and his buddy had mentioned needing to borrow money to cover some catering costs. Indra had invited him here to discuss the details.
Aldo agreed to talk about their loan arrangement. Indra happened to know that Risa had posted a picture of a drink that was clearly from this bar, so he figured he might as well bring them together again. Even though Risa and Aldo had already met formally at Aldo’s event, there was no harm in meeting in a more relaxed setting, without discussing work.
“She must be pregnant, right? I know what you’re thinking,” Risa said, glancing at Aldo, who was now accepting the blue cocktail that Indra had made.
Aldo couldn’t help but laugh at Risa’s comment, as many people had said the same thing about his fiancée. “You got it.”
“Typical player,” Risa muttered, then clinked the ice cubes in her glass.
Indra refilled his old high school friend’s empty glass with a new cocktail he had just made. “Here you go.”
“Thanks, Indra,” Risa replied, lifting her glass slightly in a gesture of gratitude.
“By the way, what was the reason you and Ardo broke up? You two seemed fine before. Don’t tell me it was because of religious differences. Christianity and Catholicism are still in the same ballpark, Sa. If you’d asked Ardo to convert to Catholicism, I think he would’ve agreed without much protest.” Indra raised an eyebrow as he looked at her.
“Ardo’s the type who only goes to church when he remembers,” Aldo said, glancing between Indra and Risa.
“He’s not that bad, actually. As goofy as Ardo is, he still has his own principles as a man. Although, when he’s with you guys, he’s completely unrecognizable and becomes super weird,” Risa replied.
“Now that’s a compliment. I should’ve recorded that,” Indra teased.
“Please, Indra,” Risa groaned.
“Why? Who knows, you two might get back together,” Indra said.
Neither Aldo nor Indra had ever known the real reason why the couple broke up when they seemed to be so in love. Risa never discussed it with anyone, and she was sure Ardo was the same. But their breakup wasn’t due to a third party or external interference; it was purely because of issues between Risa and Ardo themselves.
“Well, Ardo is an idealist. That’s why we were all shocked when you two broke up after being together for so long,” Aldo said, playing with the ice in his nearly empty glass.
“When you date, there’s bound to be a breakup at some point, Do. Just ask Indra. I’m sure he has a string of exes,” Risa said, glancing at Indra.
“True enough. I actually did break up with Giska for a bit,” Aldo said, adjusting his glasses.
After they split, Ardo was no longer the same person. He joked more awkwardly and wasn’t as natural as before. So it was understandable that Aldo was curious about the change in his friend’s behavior.
Arisa Kirani was a romance novelist who always made her main characters suffer until the end. She wrote under the pen name “Larasati” and had only come out as Arisa Kirani to the public in the past year. Aldo remembered clearly when Ardo was obsessed with Larasati’s novels, in which several main characters were nature lovers or hikers—without knowing that Ardo himself was likely the inspiration for the author, who turned out to be his high school sweetheart.
However, after discovering Larasati’s true identity, Ardo immediately discarded his favorite books and refused to read them again, perhaps realizing that some of Risa’s main characters were based on him. Love remained love, no matter how well it was hidden. But clearly, they had no future for a serious relationship.