“ Who called her? Did she meet someone else that day?” Alex wondered in his heart.
Alex never cared about what Helena had done before, but now he's starting to care less about Helena. I don’t know if he’s starting to think about other people, or maybe he's starting to open his heart to Helena until he wonders if Helena’s seeing another man or not.
“Hello, yes, I just got home. No, I don’t think I can make it today. Nothing happened, I was just going shopping with my friends. We’re going to the shopping center to buy camping equipment. Yes, see you later .” Helena said in her soft voice and hung up.
“You look so happy, who is that?” asked Alex in his usual angle tone.
“Just someone I know...” Answer Helena, who doesn’t want to go any further.
Seeing Helena who seemed to not wish to discuss it further made Alex stop asking questions even though he still had a lot of questions. Then Helena glanced at Alex there was a bit of guilt emanating from both eyes. Alex is aware of that, but he chooses not to ask anything indeed though he is very curious.
To be honest, Helena felt guilty of herself and Alex. Maybe she shouldn’t have to feel that way. No matter what she feels is not wrong, she doesn’t have to feel like a criminal. But Helena keeps feeling guilty every time she sees Alex because she’s starting to like Jasper and wants to start a new love story with him. She doesn’t have to feel guilty of anything, but Helena just keeps feeling like she’s betrayed the love of clapping that she’s been feeling for years.
***
Meanwhile, Ruby, who had just finished chemotherapy, went to the hospital garden to see the fallen leaves. Wearing a white scarf patterned with cherry blossoms that warmed her, Ruby smiled as the brownish-maroon deciduous foliage flew to greet her as she walked.
Ruby sat on one bench and look at a maple tree standing in front of her. The sturdy tree with the brownish-red leaves seems to be an entertainer for Ruby. She looked at the tree while smiling thinly, as if the fallen tree and leaves were appealing to her.
Her dad, who was walking through the park happened to see Ruby decide to approach his beloved daughter. He sat down and with the affection of a Father he held Ruby’s hand and rubbed Ruby’s head. And with his warm smile, he looked at Ruby.
“Why are you sitting outside like this? The cold air is not good for you.” Said Ruby’s father.
“I just want to see the leaves fall, just for a second... I won’t be long” replied Ruby with a smile.
“Promise not to be long, just for a moment, and then just rest in your room.” Ruby’s dad said.
“ Ok father...” Ruby replied with her sweet smile.
Her dad smiled and hugged Ruby. The hug felt warm and felt something heartbreaking. It’s been a long time since Ruby felt such a warm embrace from her dad that they both get to spend time together like this. Her dad was busy working and caring for her patients, while Ruby was always busy with her chemotherapy schedule.
Ruby hugged her dad’s body tightly. Her dad’s thin body that continued to lose weight hugged her. The hug was so warm that it made Ruby feel so comfortable resting her head on her dad’s shoulder. Their eyes were sore and tears welling up their eyelids, but they both held back the sadness and tried to look tough.
“Daddy loves you, my beautiful daughter.” Ruby’s father says hoarseness holds back grief.
“I love you too, Dad.” Ruby said it was their farewell.
***
Meanwhile, Alex, Helena, Drake and also Natty have arrived at a shop selling camping equipment. Drake and Natty are seen enjoying choosing tents and other tools while Alex looks indifferent. The real Helena doesn’t care, but she’s trying to pick out the tools to carry.
“Helena!” someone called out to Helena.
The voice sounds familiar to Helena, and it makes Helena turn towards the source of the voice and is followed by three other people who are with Helena. Helena guesses that the person who called her was Jasper. Somehow Jasper’s standing near to the front of the store Helena went to.
Jasper smiled as he waved. Then Jasper ran up to Helena with a big smile, as if he were very happy. Both Drake, Alex and Natty can only glance at each other and whisper questioning who the man came and approached Helena. But none of the three of them knew Jasper. And that’s of course because Helena never introduced Jasper or talked about him, even to her best friend Natty.
“You’re here...” Jasper said, smiling while staring at Helena.
“Why are you here? Did you run here?” asked Helena with her eyes wide open, a little surprised by Jasper’s sudden arrival?
“Yes, when I found out you were coming here, I ran here to see you,” Jasper replied.
“ You don’t need to be like this, didn’t you want to practice? You should keep practicing and you don’t have to come here.” Helena replied.
“ You go to pick the tools for camping, then how can I let you go alone. I’ll even follow you camping if you let me.” Jasper said while putting on a face like a lover who did not want to separate from his lover.
By seeing how Jasper stared at Helena and how Helena stared at Jasper, that’s when Alex realized that Jasper was the one who called Helena earlier. Maybe Helena didn’t say it, and she seemed a little restrained and shy. But Alex can see that Helena is happy with Jasper’s arrival.
To be honest, even though Alex keeps acting like he doesn’t care what’s going on around him. But the truth has been that Alex keeps an eye on Helena. And Alex realizes that ever since Helena hung up, Helena has kept looking bored and not so interested. Maybe she didn’t want to go shopping.