Tuesday Night
Hana meletakkan dua map di atas meja makan.
Dari luar…
tidak ada yang berubah.
Namun kini masing-masing map membawa satu lembar tambahan.
Response to Question #1
Satu pertanyaan.
Satu jawaban.
⸻
Malam itu…
Hana lebih dulu mengirim jawaban Jakub kepada Darla.
Hana
Assalamu’alaikum, Darla 😊
He has sent his answer. No rush—read it whenever you’re ready.
Beberapa menit kemudian…
balasan datang.
Darla
Wa’alaikumussalam, Kak.
Thank you. I’ll read it tonight.
Hana mengirim sebuah PDF sederhana.
Tanpa desain.
Tanpa hiasan.
Hanya satu halaman.
⸻
Response to Question #1
Darla menarik napas pelan.
Lalu mulai membaca.
⸻
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.
Thank you for asking this question.
Before answering it, I’d like to thank you for the way you asked it.
You didn’t ask about my past.
You asked about my daughter.
I noticed the difference.
Darla berhenti membaca.
Lama.
Ia sama sekali tidak menyangka pembuka jawabannya akan seperti itu.
⸻
Ia melanjutkan.
If Allah blesses me with another marriage one day,
I will never expect my wife to become another mother for Monika.
She already has one.
And I believe that place belongs to no one else.
⸻
What I hope for is much simpler.
I hope they feel safe around each other.
I hope kindness grows naturally.
Not because I ask them to.
But because both of them genuinely want to.
⸻
Relationships cannot be assigned.
They have to be built.
Slowly.
Patiently.
Honestly.
⸻
Darla membaca tanpa berkedip.
Kalimat-kalimat itu…
terdengar seperti sesuatu yang sudah lama dipikirkan.
Bukan jawaban yang baru dibuat semalam.