《Hold On✔️》24
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Muhammad Ayden; the untold stories
Mata Bella terbuka perlahan. Tubuh dia terinjut bila matanya terlihat wajah Ayden di depan. Bila sedar itu suami dia barulah Bella tersenyum.
Dalam kegelapan malam, tangan Bella naik menyentuh pipi Ayden. Kelakar pula rasa bila fikir cara mereka bertemu. Dah tentu kisah awal perkenalan mereka tak patut diberitahu kepada anak.
Haih, Bella. Baru nikah semalam hari ni dah fikir hal anak ya. Gatal sungguh. Tapi tak apalah kan gatal dengan suami sendiri, Bella mendesis.
Hujung jari Bella menyentuh lembut dahi licin Ayden. Tak ada jerawat walau seketul sedangkan Ayden tak pakai apa - apa skincare.
Semalam dia tanya Ayden tak bawa apa - apa barang mandi macam skincare ke? Lelaki tu kata tak ada pun. Tapi muka licin dan mulus mengalahkan Bella! Apa mak Ayden makan masa mengandungkan dia ni?
Cuma yang buat Bella rasa sedih sekarang sebab tak dapat nak tengok sepasang mata cantik Ayden. Mata unik yang buat orang nak pandang lagi dan lagi.
Agak - agak anak mereka nanti akan dapat sepasang iris seperti Ayden atau tak ya?
"Ibu..."
Lamunan Bella terhenti. Terkejut apabila Ayden tiba - tiba merengek bagai anak kecil. Tubuh lelaki itu menggigil dengan kepala yang menggeleng lemah. "Ibu... Ayden nak ikut..."
Teringat kejadian dalam kereta tempoh hari. Sama seperti ini. Bella terus menggoncang kuat bahu Ayden. Tak mahu suami dia terus tenggelam dalam mimpi ngeri.
"Ayden ba-"
Mata Ayden terbuka besar. Nafas lelaki itu tercungap - cungap. "Bella..." dan air mata Ayden mengalir laju. Mimpi tadi sungguh menyedihkan diri dia.
Mimpi yang tak pernah gagal buat Ayden bangkit dalam keadaan sedih yang teramat. Bella yang melihat terus menyeka air mata Ayden. "Shh, it's okay. I'm here." Kata - kata pujukan diberi.
Ayden memeluk erat pinggang Bella. Kepalanya disembunyikan di dada isterinya. "Takut... aku takut..." Ayden merintih sayu.
Sekaligus buat Bella sebak melihat suaminya begitu. Rambut Ayden diramas lembut. "Saya dekat sini, Ayden. Saya ada, awak jangan takut."
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Sungguh, Bella nak tahu kenapa Ayden begini. Setiap kali tidur, suami dia akan menangis begini ke? Mimpi ngeri yang buat Ayden menangis tu hadir setiap malam?
Tapi dia tak mampu nak bertanya. Sikap Ayden yang terlalu berahsia bukan senang nak ubah. Semalam bila dia tanya tentang Husna pun, Ayden hanya kata yang Husna mak tiri dia.
Tak banyak yang Bella tahu tentang suami sendiri. Selain Ayden anak yatim piatu dan Husna merupakan mak tiri Ayden, Bella tak tahu apa - apa.
Dan dia tahu, bukan tu je yang buat suami dia menangis macam ni. Ayden sakit yang teramat sampai terpaksa sorokkan diri sendiri. Kesakitan Ayden adalah diri sendiri.
Tangisan Ayden semakin reda. Kepala diangkat. "Sorry. Aku menangis sampai kacau kau tidur."
Bella senyum. "Tak apa. Awak boleh menangis bila - bila masa dengan saya. Kita nak kongsi hidup kita kan?"
"Aku tahu kau nak tahu kenapa dan apa mimpi aku." Ayden bersuara perlahan. Tangannya naik mengelus pipi Bella.
"Tapi aku masih tak bersedia. Kau bagi aku masa boleh? Aku janji... aku akan bagitahu semua benda. Okay?" Dia tahu, isteri mana yang tak nak tahu perihal suami sendiri.
Kepala Bella mengangguk. Kalau Ayden kata begitu, dia dah cukup bersyukur dah. "Tak apa. Saya faham."
Tubuh Bella dipeluk erat oleh Ayden. Dahi isterinya dikucup sebelum mata dipejam. "Aku sayang kau."
Malam itu, Bella tidur dengan senyuman kerana buat pertama kali dengar perkataan itu dari mulut Ayden. Seronok.
Lepas solat Subuh berjemaah, Ayden bantai tidur balik sementara Bella terus turun ke dapur. Dah jadi isteri orang tak boleh nak malas - malas.
Sebab tak ada banyak barang dapur sangat, Bella hanya masak maggie goreng untuk mereka berdua. Itu pun tak tahulah Ayden makan ataupun tak.
Selesai memasak, Ayden masih belum turun juga. Bella yang malas nak naik ke atas dan mengejut buat keputusan untuk mengemas rumah.
Bilik tetamu di tingkat bawah yang jadi stor tu rasanya dia nak tukar jadi bilik elok sikit. Dalam banglo dia, hanya bilik dia sahaja yang elok berkemas dan ada perabot.
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Bella pun tak sampai setahun duduk situ. Sejak bekerja dekat hotel barulah dia tidur dekat rumah ni. Kalau tidak dia sibuk ke sana - sini melancong.
Masuk ke dalam bilik tetamu yang dah serupa stor tu, Bella menutup hidung dengan jari. Bapak berhabuk! Ini mahu kena panggil ustaz datang ni. Dah macam rumah hantu dah bilik ni.
Kotak - kotak yang bersepah di lantai dipandang dengan mata yang membesar. Baik dia kemas sebelum Ayden tahu yang isteri dia ni penyepah.
Kotak - kotak disusun secara bertingkat. Rasanya semua ni buku masa zaman belajar dulu. Nak buang rasa sayang. Nak simpan rasa semak pula. Masalah sungguh!
Akhirnya, kotak terakhir. Bella angkat kotak tu untuk letak di atas tiga kotak yang dah disusun hampir menyamai ketinggian dia.
"Susah siak. Menyesal tak suruh cleaner kemaskan bilik berhantu ni." Rungut Bella sambil menjingkit kaki.
Dan ya, pap—
Hilang keseimbangan, kotak yang berisi buku tu jatuh atas badan Bella. Sekaligus buat tubuh dia terjatuh. "Huwaaaa!"
Bella dah bersimpuh atas lantai. Sakit badan rasa lepas kena hempap dengan kotak. Sial punya kotak. "Tak guna punya kotak kau buat aku jatuh! Kau tahu tak aku siapa?! Aku isteri Ayden yang gangster tu tau?!"
"Bella?"
Suami Bella, si Ayden yang gangster berdiri statik depan pintu bilik tersebut. Merata cari isteri dia, dalam bilik stor rupanya. "Kau buat apa ni?"
Bila tengok muka Ayden, mood merenyam Bella terus sampai. Bibirnya disebikkan. "Ayden... hiks hiks. Sakitnya! Kotak tu jatuh atas saya— sampai saya jatuh— huwaa sakit!"
Ayden mengerut dahi. Kaki melangkah ke arah isteri yang hanya pura - pura menangis tu. "Sakit dekat mana?"
Bibir Bella mengukir senyuman. Seronoknya, rasa macam dalam drama bila tengok Ayden melutut depan dia ni. "Dekat sini." Jari menuding ke arah bibirnya.
"Gatal!" Jari Ayden menjentik dahi Bella. Dah agak perempuan ni hanya nak berdrama. "Kau tak sakit kan? Bangun cepat." Ayden berdiri tegak dengan tangan yang dimasukkan ke dalam poket.
Bella mencebik. Dia bangun sambil tangan mengusap dahi yang dijentik Ayden. "Apa ni? Hari pertama dah sakiti isteri. Nak saya buat report polis ke?"
Hujung bibir Ayden terjungkit. Dia kecilkan mata. "Buatlah. Polis pun malas nak layan kaki drama macam kau ni."
Kaki Ayden melangkah keluar dari bilik itu. Senyuman terukir sebaik keluar. Teringat pula muka comel Bella masa mengadu sakit tadi. Lucu.
Agaknya hari - hari seterusnya Ayden akan rasa terhibur ke setiap pagi macam ni?
"Ayden!!"
Hampir tercabut jantung Ayden dengar jeritan si isteri. Hujung mata melirik ke arah Bella yang dah terlompat dekat dapur. "Apa lagi kau ni?"
Dia ni buat keputusan yang salah ke untuk kahwin dengan Bella?
Hm.
Bella yang di dapur meramas rambut sendiri. Mata terbuntang memandang Ayden yang mendekat. "Macam mana ni? Saya ter- ter... huwaaaa!"
Ya Tuhan, selamatkan Ayden dari sebarang dosa mencarut dekat bini di pagi hari. "Kau buat apa pulak?"
"Saya terbuang senduk kegemaran saya!"
Ayden tak dapat tahan bibir dia dari tersenyum lucu. Kepala menggeleng perlahan. "Tak apa. Nanti aku belanja senduk baru. Hadiah kahwin."
Tangan Bella ditarik ke meja makan. Bella yang mendengar tersenyun teruja. "Hadiah kahwin? Kalau saya nak benda lain boleh? Tak nak senduk sebab-"
Cup!
Mata Bella membesar.
Ayden tersenyum sinis. "Nak lagi? Baik kau diam dan makan." Geram sungguh dengan mulut murai minah ni. Tak dapat bayang kena hadap seumur hidup.
"Nak... lagi boleh?"
"Tak ada!"
"Alaaa nak!" Muka Ayden ditarik Bella.
"Eeeey, pervert punya perempuan!"
Pagi itu, ketawa mereka bergema dalam banglo mewah Bella.
Jadi sebab sama - sama ceria.
Jadi keistimewaan yang melengkapkan kekurangan pasangan.
Bella yang sibuk nak dicium lagi, dan Ayden yang menolak muka isterinya jauh.
Pemenangnya—
kekuranganmu
adalah kelebihan
yang melengkapkan aku
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What life would you live after you wake up in a foreign room and world? After Lisa fell asleep in her classroom, she suddenly found herself in a different body and a different world. Easy-going as she is and experienced with some otherworldly drama, she quickly adjusts. Her aspiration has been for a long to just live a peaceful and passive life observing others. Yet, with a princess visiting her every other day after she saved her, the passive day seem so far away. Faced with the turmoil surrounding the princess, Lisa has to come to terms with her own insecurities and past, or she'll risk what she loves.Of course, in between she won't forget to learn some long-desired magic! This is in the end a story about a girl leaving the stagnation of her own world, her own life and going into a world moving on its own without her intervention, and she'll have to deal with the consequences, should she stay still. Love and Life can be fleeting, after all.
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Ever since Aster’s mother died, home no longer feels like home. Now, she’s little more than a prisoner behind gilded bars; her father growing more distant by the day, her best friend missing and possibly left for dead. So when a letter from the royal family arrives, inviting her to stay in the palace, Aster agrees. She’s only been to the palace once, a memory she’s replayed countless times in her head, during her first fateful encounter with her fiancé. But when she comes face to face with Florian once more, he’s cold and apathetic; a far cry from the boy she used to dream of. As Aster struggles to come to terms with Florian’s new demeanour, life in the palace reveals more than it’s rose covered façade. The maze within its gardens hides thorns that cut deep, and the spirits who call it home want nothing more than to see her go. With all the odds against her, winning over her begrudging fiancé and the rest of the peanut gallery seems next to impossible. But with the help of her unflappable maid Fina, a brutally blunt swindler, and the apprentice of the palace’s magical deviant, maybe Aster might just have a shot at her happily ever after. Updates every FridayCover art credits - @mnt_kaedi on Instagram
8 184Blood & Sugar
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