Inside the tree house is quite spacious, about three by four meters. It is almost two meters high and there is a balcony that juts out onto the shore of the lake. Reyhan invited Salsa to enjoy the view from there. Salsa was amazed by what she saw now. This sight was completely unheard of before. He was so grateful to be in this place now.
"You like?" asked Reyhan who had been looking at Salsa all the time. He was so happy to see Salsa could smile like she is now.
Salsa nodded. "Thank you, Rey," he said as he looked into Reyhan's eyes for a moment then moved again to look at the lake. The birds chirped sweetly around the tree house. The wind was blowing hard enough to make Salsa's hair messy.
"No need to thank me. I'm actually happy that you can finally be happy again," Reyhan answered sincerely.
"Eh?" Salsa was a little surprised to hear Reyhan's words just now. Happy again? However, Salsa ignored her strange thoughts and looked back ahead.
“This was my favorite place when I was little.” Reyhan started to talk. The salsa beside him was ready to listen.
“I am not very close to my mother and father, I feel very lonely every day. Fortunately, every time I have a long holiday, my grandfather always invites me to play here. Grandfather used to live in that villa,” Reyhan pointed at the much bigger wooden building on the other side. The building looked unkempt and there were cobwebs in every corner.
"Was this place crowded before?" asked Salsa curiously. He could guess that there was no way in the forest there was such a large and luxurious-looking building.
"Yes, very crowded. Even my cousins and I were also surprised, how come they know this remote location. But Grandpa said, those people could tell because his close relatives told him by word of mouth. At first the people didn't believe that there was a place like this in the forest, but after they saw it for themselves, they were reluctant to go home," Reyhan explained at length.
"So your grandfather built a villa for lodging for those people?" guess the salsa.
Salsa guess was right on target. Reyhan nodded and smiled again. "Yep, very true. How are you so smart?" he asked, starting to tease Salsa.
Again, Salsa could only pout and hit Reyhan's shoulder, it had become his new habit, namely hitting people's shoulders when he was upset.
Reyhan turned around and went downstairs. Surprised, Salsa finally asked where he was going.
"I forgot to take my bag. It's still on the motorbike. Wait a minute, okay?"
Sally slapped her forehead lightly. Oh my gosh, Salsa just remembered something, a person as handsome and smart as Reyhan still has a weakness, namely forgetfulness. After a few minutes, Reyhan finally climbed back up and opened his backpack. Earlier when he was riding a motorbike, Reyhan deliberately put the fairly large backpack in front with the intention that if Salsa wanted to hold his waist later, he would not be disturbed by the existence of the backpack.
Reyhan showed the contents to Salsa.
"Wow, you did all of this on purpose, didn't you?"
Reyhan just smiled at Salsa's reaction. He started to get busy taking out several packets of instant brewed noodles and some toppings. He also brought a small thermos of hot water.
"Instead of being dumbfounded, come on, help me, Miss," Reyhan quipped.
Salsa finally lowered her head and sat on the wooden floor of the treehouse. He unwrapped the brewed noodles and poured all the seasonings, while Reyhan was cutting three ready-to-eat sausages and meatballs into smaller pieces to make it easier to eat. Not to forget, they also brew instant coffee and add mozzarella cheese on top of their noodles.
"Wow, this is really unexpected. Immediate camping!” exclaimed Salsa with joy.
"Eit, but there's still one more surprise," said Reyhan, pulling his eyebrows down, trying to make Salsa curious.
"There is more?! You are crazy?!"
"How crazy are you?" Reyhan asked not accepting that all his efforts were considered crazy by the woman.
"Yeah, crazy. You're just taking me to a place as good as this is crazy, haha." Salsa ignored Reyhan's frowning face in disappointment.
"So you're not curious about the next surprise?" Reyhan asked again. This time he was blowing the noodles in his hand so it wouldn't get too hot.
"Um, I'm curious. But I want to eat first. Hungry," replied Salsa lightly.
The two of them ended up finishing their meal by chatting about many more things. Before they knew it, the sun was starting to fall to the west, indicating that it was getting late.
"Hey, it's getting late. Let's go home!" invite Salsa while cleaning up the leftovers. There is still a trash can that Reyhan put in a few days ago.
"Okay, Princess."
“Then what about your grandfather's villa, Rey? Does anyone still live there?” asked Salsa. The two of them were already under the tree house and were heading towards the motorbike parked by the lake.
“Since grandpa and grandma died and we are all busy, this place is rarely visited. Either by an outsider or my family. So well, as you can see, this place is derelict. There is also no one to take care of the villa. At least I come here once in a while when I'm tired. That's just to relieve stress so I don't really go crazy like you said earlier."
Salsa felt a little guilty. Even though it was just a joke. But maybe the joke was too late.
"I'm sorry."
Reyhan looked confused. "Sorry, why?"
"Because I've told you that you're crazy," said Salsa.
Reyhan suddenly burst out laughing at Salsa's answer until tears welled up in the corners of his eyes.
"You're so cute, aren't you? I'm not offended at all. Come on, let's go up, it'll be late at night."
Salsa and Reyhan went back through the streets which this time felt even more sinister. There are no lights on either side of the road. They only had the lights on Reyhan's old motorbike. Salsa, who was afraid, closed her eyes. This time he did not hesitate to hug Reyhan. Forced! He thought. Otherwise, she will not want to hug a man who is not her husband.
The astonishing journey ended at a bus stop. Salsa refused to be escorted to her house. She was still afraid that the incident at that time would happen again and make her unable to see the man again. Salsa asked Reyhan to drop her off at the bus stop and she would continue the bus ride home.
"Thank you, yes, for today. I'm really happy," said Salsa sincerely to Reyhan. Reyhan could only smile back and nodded slowly.
"There's one more surprise, remember?" Reyhan asked. Salsa nodded enthusiastically. He couldn't wait any longer. Actually, along the way, he kept thinking what would be the next surprise that Reyhan would give him.
Reyhan opened his backpack again and took out a book.
"Here," he said, handing it to Salsa. "Hope you like it."
Salsa is really unbelievable. How could Reyhan know the novel he had been wanting? A translated novel by Mark Twain.
Salsa was stunned for a moment and spontaneously she hugged the man in front of her so happily, making both of them surprised and felt awkward.
"Sorry and thank you very much," said Salsa. So embarrassed, after saying that sentence, Salsa immediately ran into the bus which happened to have arrived a few seconds ago.
Reyhan could only stand still. Her heart seemed to be about to burst and her cheeks flushed red.