EX = Friend ?

EX = FRIEND ?

Can we treat our ex as a friend? Just as a friend?

Pasti bisa! Kalo gue sih pasti bisa lah! Memories can still linger on, but we are going on
with our own lives, jadi pasti bisa! Gue sih bisa!

(John - designer)

Tergantung gimana caranya mereka putus. Klow putusnya ga baek-baek, gimana mo be
friends, ngomongan aja ga kaleee.....

(Yan – technical support)

Ga bisa! Dan mendingan ga...

(Cica – marketing executive)

Klo dah pada pasangan, mungkin bisa kali yac....tapi kalo masih pada jomblo bedua,
pasti balik pacaran lagi deh!

(Lisa – model)

Is it the feeling that still lingers or what is it? What makes it rather difficult for us to be just friends with our ex?

I just met Steve today, with his new girlfriend. Ingin rasanya aku menghampiri wanita tersebut dan mencongkel matanya keluar. "Cool down...cool down..." I kept saying that to myself. Somehow it works, because I can sit down elegantly (hopefully it will look elegant, instead of looking like a dead woman sitting). Steve didn't have guts to look me in the eye.

The day after tomorrow...

Dunia ini memang sangat sempit. I ran into Steve again at a grocery store. Kali ini tidak ada lagi manusia berjenis kelamin wanita yang bergelayutan di lengannya. Aku tersenyum sedikit kepadanya.

"Sendirian?" Pertama kalinya aku mendengar suaranya setelah 2 minggu yang lalu.

"Nope. I'm with Mona and Ivy." Geez, I miss him so much. And he looks even cuter than before.

Ia tersenyum pelan. "Mmm...si Winston baru buka studio baru di Pondok Labu. Ada party kecil-kecilan di sana. He invited us to come, as his special guests." Winston adalah salah seorang teman kami berdua. One of our best friends, who loves music so much and once told me that he had a crush on me. But it was before I dated Steve.

"Maybe you want to go? Sabtu ini. I can pick you up at 6." And there, he said it just like everything is fine and ok. Did he expect me to forget everything and be normal? Did he expect me to be his friend? What happens to his new girlfriend?

Aku bingung harus menjawab apa. Sebelah hatiku ingin sekali menghabiskan waktuku dan tawaku bersama dia lagi. Sebelahnya lagi ingin menampar dia di tempat umum ini for things that he has done to me. Sulit menentukan keputusan apa-apa, aku hanya diam, tidak menjawab apa-apa. Ia menarik tanganku dan kami berjalan bersama keluar dari grocery store tersebut.

"I want to show you something." Kami berjalan menuju mobilnya.

Di dalam mobil ia memutarkan kaset rekaman ia bermain gitar bersama Matez, one the best bassist in Indonesia. Selesai lagu tersebut, tiba-tiba ia memegang tanganku dan menatapku lekat-lekat. "I miss you."

Seluruh badanku langsung melemah. "I miss you, too." And it slipped out of my lips just like that.

Steve tersenyum. "Let's just go to Winston's party."

Aku terdiam sebentar. What is so important about this party, anyway?

"If you don't wanna come, I can always ask Linda to...."

Reflek aku langsung menamparnya. I don't need no reason to do that. It has stood there, right in front of my nose, waiting for me to do that. And I have spent a useless 15 minutes to listen to his craps! Aku berjalan pergi, meninggalkan Steve yang bingung. I felt so stupid. I was hoping that everything can still be normal and we can be friends, very close friends. I was still hoping that I can still spend some warm and comforting time with him.

Mungkin apa yang dilakukan oleh Steve tidak salah. He still wants to be friends with me. Hanya saja, dia tidak memikirkan betapa dalam luka yang telah ditorehkan olehnya di hatiku. And it needs an incredibly long period of time to heal. Maybe someday I will be able to look him in the eye and tell him , right in front of his nose : "Let's be friends. Just friends." But for now...I will just sit back and forget about this "Trying to be friends" stuffs. Because, in fact, it was not an obligation. It was just an option to choose.