Qalbies
Part 5's

If you really love me, let me land a kiss on your cheek.

***

Qalbie arranged her clothes neatly inside the suitcase. At four o'clock in the afternoon, he will leave for English Camp for two weeks.

Time passes so fast. It felt like just yesterday he was starting his final semester exam. And today, the girl has already started to take a holiday.

Qalbie went through the exam well. Even in the first days, she felt very tense and insecure.

Yep. Now is the time to refresh the brain after a week of struggling to answer the questions behind the exam table.

New environment add new atmosphere add new friends add new teachers same with new experience.

He imagined all that. It would be fun, he thought. That way, his longing for Rian will be ‘sikit’ sidetracked.

While he's out of town, Miftah fills out his final semester break by returning to his hometown.

Qalbie dragged his suitcase down from the car that had been provided by the management of English Camp. The number of participants joining was limited to twenty people. Ten men and ten women.

Qalbie looked around, there were many trees around the villa where he would be quarantined. In front of the villa were some workers who were working on building construction projects.

Not far from there, there is a sports building and minimarket. However, no one can leave the villa grounds without the permission of the instructors.

From the outside, the villa looks like a haunted old building so Qalbie feels uncomfortable and even wants to go home at that time. But on the other hand, Qalbie felt that it was a challenge.

He stepped foot steadily with the other participants. A few minutes later, his phone rang.

Turns out there's a message coming in from Miftah: Happy holiday sister, don't forget to smile. Passion!!! :) :) :).

Qalbie smiled reading it. As per the instructions of the female instructor, she walked into a room that resembled a ward. Inside were many mattresses neatly lined up on the floor. Each one has a pillow.

“Very simple, very clean, and very convenient.” Qalbie murmured.

The girl put her suitcase next to the bed. He chose the very tip because only the mattress was left. After putting her things neatly away, the girl walked out to take a look.

The air is very cold even though the place is not as green as his hometown.

Qalbie stood right in front of the exit located next to his room while the other participants strolled through the main door located in the section.

Qalbie closed his eyes, enjoying the cold wind. It felt like all the burdens of his mind were flying with the wind. Unknowingly, the girl spread her hand. Drifting in the atmosphere.

After enjoying the coolness of the place, Qalbie opened his eyes slowly.

He could only lower his head when he saw a twenty-four year old man smilingly looking at him. Her skin was tanned, and her smile was so sweet that there was a tooth on the right.

How shameful Qalbie was, his mind wondered: since when was the man there? Did the man see me spread my hand? What did the man think when he saw me spread my hand?

Such questions kept raining down on the girl's mind.

Not yet had the man say hello, the Maghrib Adhan has been heard.

Qalbie raised his head but the man was no longer there. The girl rushed to take ablution. When he was ready, he went to the Mosque next to the Villa, complete with his face.

When he arrived at the mosque, the iqamah was temporarily proclaimed. Apparently in the mosque there was only a man who looked at him earlier and other participants who were iqamah. Female laborers only Qalbie.

Sepi, where are the other participants?

The Imam turned his face to the left and said a greeting followed by his aunt.

The girl started dhikr, put her hands down, closed her eyes, then lowered her head.

He complained to Robbnya in heart.

Robbiii ..Give me your best, forgive me all my sins and my caliphate, give me strength in the face of the test of faith from You.

Robbiii .. I ask for Your protection from the whispers of Satan that lead men astray, and may my heart always be filled with the light of Your love.

Robbiii .. help me sail to the shores of Your mercy as I begin to fall in the ark of life. I am afraid, Robb, I am afraid of being abandoned by You.

Allow me to miss you....

Qalbie covered his face with both hands. Unable to hold back her tears.

Once the girl can control herself, she opens the Qur’an she carries, then reads inwardly. In addition to reading Arabic, he also read the translation.

When engrossed in reading the Qur’an, the electricity suddenly goes out. The girl uttered shodaqollahul-‘adziym while closing the Qur’an then hastighfar calmed herself.

Someone lighted a flashlight. Then approached.

It turned out that he was the man who had been looking at her.

“Assalamu ‘alaikum.” greet the man.

“Wa ‘alaikum greetings wa rohmatullaahi wa barokaatuh.” replied Qalbie.

“Include, my name is Rizqi. I'm an instructor here. Sister is definitely one of the princess participants who will join for the next two weeks.” The man guessed politely, apparently he was named Rizqi.

“Betul, Sister Rizki. My name is Qalbie.”

“Then, Dik Qalbie. Let's go back to villa.”

The girl followed Rizki from behind. He was taken until he got to the front of the room.

Qalbie smiled and thanked him, then went into a room that looked dim because the lamp was only a few candles.

Not long after, the electricity came back on.

It's dinner time now.

The girl took the dinner ration in the next room. Very homely. There are two tablespoons of vegetable bean sprouts and two small pieces of fried tempeh along with half a spoon of sambal.

This made many princess participants complain, there were even some who seemed reluctant to eat it.

They brought their own food into the room because there were no chairs in the dining room. Meanwhile, Qalbie is invited to eat together by Dini, one of the princess participants.

After she finished eating dinner, the girl immediately prepared to perform the Isha prayer. He went to the mosque when the Adzan reverberated. This time, however, there was already someone accompanying you.

After completing his obligations, Qalbie and early return to the villa and prepare to follow the first program.

Alarm sounds a sign that the program is about to start. Qalbie and Dini came to the hall on the second floor. The instructors had already stayed there waiting for the participants to gather.

There are a lot of late participants.

When everything was gathered, Rizqi immediately distributed the ID Card to all participants.

Qalbie saw his ID card, it said breath. The girl wondered, what's with the word breath? Out of curiosity, he saw Dini's property, and there were written measles.

Rizqi held the megaphone, then began the conversation. “Assalamu ‘alaikum and good evening everyone!”

“Wa ‘alaikum salaam warohmatullaah .. good eveniiying!” answer them simultaneously.

"How are you??" rizqi

This time the answer is diverse, some answer I’m fine, some also answer I’m Okay. And I don't know what else. The answers are simultaneous but different so their articulation becomes unclear.

“OK! First I will introduce myself. My name is Rizki, one of the instructors who will be with you for about two weeks.

“Here are some instructors who will be with you. Hopefully during that time we can get along well and can work well together anyway.”

Rizqi paused for a moment and walked over to Qalbie, she asked for the girl's ID Card and then carried her forward, “Alright, he said, the ID Card you hold right now will continue to be with you while in this place. If anyone loses, then it will automatically be repatriated, there is no tolerance. So I hope you can take care of him and let no one lose.

“On the ID Card that I hold this written word breath, meaning during being here the name of the owner of this ID Card changed to Ms. Breaths. If someone calls not by that name, it will be subject to punishment, which is memorizing irregular verbs as many as twenty within one day.

“For the next week, you can still use Indonesian with notes in one sentence there should be an English word, etc, otherwise it will be subject to punishment by memorizing the vocabulary of twenty in one day.

“Next week, no one can use Indonesian even if only one word. If there is, it will be subject to punishment in the form of fines of five thousand per word. There is no tolerance for all rules. Is there a question?” Rizqi returned Qalbie's ID Card.

All the participants seemed listless to hear the rules, but they had no choice but to follow them.

A participating son raised his hand. “What if we don't know the vocabulary we want to say in English?”

“You can ask. For example, the Excuse me Mr. Rizqi, how to say ‘duit’ in English? You can simply replace the word ‘duit’ with the vocabulary you want to know.

“If for example you want to ask while no instructor is with you and your friends also do not know the answer, then you can use sign language so that your interlocutors understand. There are no words other than English. Remember ... no tolerance!” Rizqi emphasized her last sentence.

After the man explained the rules, it was time for the founder or owner of the course institution to deliver a greeting. After that, the instructors began to introduce themselves and then followed by participants.

After Rizqi shared the question list, participants were welcome to return to their respective rooms.

Especially tonight, they ended the activity at 22:00 Wita and the participants were given the task to find the meaning of the word listed on their respective ID Cards, and must memorize the names of other participants.

Starting tomorrow, the program will start at 07.00 Wita and will end at 23.00 Wita. Every 12:00 until 14:00 Wita there is time for Dzuhur prayer, lunch and rest.

Likewise every 17:45 until 19:45:00 Wita there is a time of Maghrib prayer, dinner and Isha prayer. And every 15:15 until 13:45 Wita participants can leave the hall to perform Ashar prayers.

***

Qalbie joined the other participants. The first day, many arrived late to the hall. Eventually, many of them were subjected to punishment.

An instructor opened the morning program excitedly, he also announced that there would be another participant who would join and would probably arrive around twelve this afternoon.

The morning program was very fun for Qalbie, the instructor was relaxed in bringing the material and sometimes also interspersed with jokes.

After the material was briefly presented, they were asked to write down everything they heard and deliver it in front of other participants.

Qalbie stepped shyly because his English skills were still very lacking. But because of the friendliness of the instructor, over time he began to relax and be confident.

The first program was completed on time according to what Mr. Rizqi last night.

Qalbie immediately rushed to the princess room to relax for a moment before performing the Dzuhur prayer.

Shortly after, Dini ran into the room. The girl jumped on Qalbie's bed. “The new Participant has arrived. Let's get out!” bring Dini while pulling the girl's hand.

“Better we rest, Din. Soon Dzuhur. After all ... we will definitely see it during the second program. Okay?”

“Ya, already ... I am also a bit tired, sih.” Dini said while laying down.

Finally the second program began after they prayed Dzuhur and had lunch.

Qalbie and Dini sat in front. This time the program was hosted by Mr. Rizqi who had just walked into the hall with someone whose face was very familiar in Qalbie's eyes.

Robbiii ... Why does Rian have to be here?

Qalbie sighed softly. Dashed was his hope to distract him from Rian.

The girl lowered her head as the skinny man introduced himself in front of the entire participants.

Rian chose a seat near Qalbie. Makes the girl so misbehaved throughout the program. Especially when they become partners in conversation events.

“Hello, Ms. Breath.” say hello to Rian.

“Mmm .. hello, Mr.  ...  Fetus.”

At first Qalbie found it difficult to adjust, but over time he finally began to get used to it and his awkwardness slowly reduced.

They talk fluently and occasionally throw smiles at each other.

From that day on, Rian often stole a glance towards Qalbie. But not infrequently Qalbie saw him teasing other participants until the girl was sometimes jealous.

After the program is over, Mr. Rizqi asked Qalbie to help her, writing down the vocabulary for participants on the white board while the other participants had already disbanded. Only Dini stayed behind to accompany them due to Mr. Rizqi so as not to arise slander between them.

Many princess participants were glancing with envious gazes.

“How lucky the framed girl was.” said a daughter participant who had since noticed them from afar.

“Framed girl? You mean?” ask one of his friends.

“You didn't see, huh? The girl was framed by her hijab! He is very compatible with Mr. Rizqis. I'm so envious, how lucky he is to be around Mr. Rizki is very smart, polite and alim.” bright the girl is long.

“Iya, yes. But not necessarily Mr. Rizqi likes him.”

“Looks Mr. Rizqi likes it, just look at how Mr. Rizqi when facing or talking to the girl.”

“Indeed how Mr. expression. Rizqi?” ask one of the wife structure who seems to have been behind them. Hearing the question, they immediately apologized and entered the room.

The following days, as the participants grew more and more familiar. Qalbie also more and more often steal a look at Rian, and vice versa.

His love is deepening. Every time he saw the man, his sense of longing grew. Like drinking sea water, instead of disappearing, his thirst even increased.

At dusk, Qalbie decides to tell Rian that she is the girl who once expressed love. However, the girl felt that she had to be honest.

The girl tried hard to vent. And after thinking over and over again, he finally sent a short message to Rian.

  I'm Qalbie. I was a junior who had argued with my brother in the forum before the campus art stage. I'm sorry for putting such feelings on my sister.

***

It doesn't feel like two weeks have passed.

It's time to get back to seeing the world after two weeks in quarantine.

Qalbie's day felt very quiet when she set foot back in the boarding room. Plus, Miftah has not come from the village.

The night of farewell yesterday was felt blue by the small cries of the instructors and participants.

Qalbie himself felt very lost because during quarantine they were all fairly familiar. Only one person has recently made Qalbie even more awkward to meet.

Yep. Since Qalbie sent a short message regarding his honest confession, they never greeted each other. The girl was embarrassed by her confession while Rian himself felt prestige if he had to say hello first.

Sometimes Qalbie stole a glance at Rian, but never once did he dare to say hello or talk to the man. Except in the program.

They had just separated in front of the campus, but again the girl was already feeling very longed. It seemed that he did not want to stop looking at Rian, the thin, black-brown figure that always glowed in Qalbie's eyes.

The feeling of longing is like a well in which there are springs of water. Over the day, it increases. His love never lessened. But the girl was already feeling better because she was already able to control her feelings.

Qalbie lay down on the bed after the Dzuhur prayer, then read some verses in the holy book of the Qur’an. Shortly after, his phone rang.

Qalbie's face instantly turned bright after reading the message.

Unbelievingly. Finally he read the message over and over again to convince himself that the message was true and he did not misread it.

I'll make you the only woman in my life from tonight. But there is one condition that you must fulfill in order for me to know how much love you have towards me.

If you really love me, let me land a kiss on your cheek. I'll be waiting for you in front of campus at 8pm, you should come and come with me.

This is the first chance and it could be the last chance.

The message Qalbie read. From Rian, the man who has managed to embrace his love.

Qalbie smiled after reading the message. There was happiness in his heart. But the girl was still worried.

Should I go?

I love her, Robb. Really![]