We are strong
Letta finally lay down on her bed, exhaling her tired breath. Finally, she could escape from Marco after holding herself in the restaurant for quite some time. Letta then gazed at the ceiling of her room. Although tonight she could deny the suspicions Marco had of her, Letta wasn’t sure if in the days to come she could continue to hide her pregnancy from Marco. He would surely grow suspicious and eventually find out that she was pregnant. Letta knew someone like Marco wouldn’t easily let her go.
On the other hand, Letta also thought about Abian, how he must be feeling, and how shattered he would be upon knowing Letta was carrying another man’s child. Tears welled up in her eyes. Letta couldn’t bear to see how disappointed Abian would be. He was a very kind man and cared deeply for her. He was always by her side when Letta went through life’s most difficult moments. The response she would give might be considered betrayal by Abian, even though Letta never intended it to be.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.
Not only that, if Letta were to admit her pregnancy to Marco, what would he do? He wouldn’t immediately propose to her and live happily ever after with their unborn child. That was just a fairy tale Letta had heard as a child. Furthermore, Letta knew well that the boss at her workplace already had a fiancee, although Letta had never met the fiancee. That woman would also likely end up in the same situation as Abian.
Letta then sat up as her bedroom door suddenly opened, revealing Miti staring at her with a frustrated expression, causing Letta to simply ignore her presence.
“You have to help me,” Miti said, now walking towards Letta, making Letta evade her by immediately getting up from her seat, starting to put away her work bag that she hadn’t had the chance to keep when she entered the room.
“Are you listening to me, or not?” Miti asked again, making Letta still not respond to her presence, until Miti got up from her seat and followed, trailing behind Letta, making Letta finally let out a long sigh and turn to face her cousin.
“What do you want?” Letta asked wearily, facing her cousin.
“I need money. You know, my credit card bill is overdue, and I don’t have the money to pay it,” Miti said, making Letta sigh wearily, observing her cousin’s behavior that seemed unlikely to change anytime soon. This wasn’t the first time this had happened. In fact, Letta couldn’t remember how many times Miti had made the same mistake.
“I don’t have any money,” Letta said, taking a clean towel from the wardrobe. She really had to cool her mind at the moment. Letta didn’t want her troubled state of mind to affect her unborn child. However, just as Letta was about to pull away from the bathroom door, Miti suddenly grabbed her shoulder, causing Letta to turn back.
“Wait, don’t lie. I know you have a lot of savings. You plan to leave this miserable house and live a luxurious life alone, don’t you, after what Mama has provided all this time?” Miti said, making Letta unsure of what she was thinking right now.
“I do have savings, but it’s not to fulfill all your shopping whims. It’s my savings for my future, so stop begging me like this,” Letta said, making Miti clench her fists. Of course, her words tarnished her dignity.
“Did you say begging? I’m not begging, I’m just asking for what you should provide to live in this house. You should have some self-awareness. You are not someone who can just casually stay here. Even though this house is not suitable for me, it’s still the house that has provided you shelter since you were young. So you should at least give a portion of your salary to me or to Mom,” Miti said, leaving Letta unsure of how to respond.
For so long, Miti had drained her savings just to fulfill the shopping desires of her aunt and her cousin. This time, Letta couldn’t stay silent to give back her savings because now it wasn’t just herself she was thinking about, but there was another life inside her womb that Letta had to think about for the future.
“Stop whining like a little child. Aren’t you already a model? I’m sure your income is much higher than that of a flight attendant like me, so you better leave my room. I’m tired,” Letta said. After that, she turned back to continue her steps, but of course, Miti couldn’t let Letta insult her like that, which ultimately led Miti to push Letta quite forcefully. As a result, Letta couldn’t balance her body, fell, and hit the corner of the table, grimacing as she held her stomach.
“I will tell Mom everything about this, and don’t think you can stay here anymore. Remember that!” she said, turning and leaving Letta, who was holding her stomach in pain, and slamming the door as she exited the room. Letta tried to hold onto the table and attempted to stand with faltering steps. Letta walked back to the side of the bed, lifting her shirt slightly, looking at her still flat stomach.
“This really hurts,” she murmured, continuing to caress her stomach. Letta hoped that nothing bad would happen to her and her unborn child.
“We are strong, we can get through this and endure it,” Letta murmured again, as if trying to communicate with her unborn child. Letta then tried to take a deep breath and exhale slowly, hoping the pain in her stomach would diminish a little. Letta couldn’t let anything bad happen to her or her unborn child. Whatever happened, Letta would protect them until the end.
Letta tried to lie down, hoping that if she fell asleep, the pain would disappear when she woke up. While praying in her heart, Letta asked for help from God to give her patience and strength to face her days, which would likely continue to change and remain unpredictable in the future. Not only because of Miti’s threatening words, but it seemed Letta had to prepare herself to face the man who seemed to be continually watching her.
Until finally, with all her thoughts and the pain she was enduring, Letta could feel her eyes getting heavier, until eventually they closed, leaving behind all the problems in her mind.