Traffic: Please, Don't Fall In Love With Me

Having the misfortune of living in one of the busiest capital city in this world, is to have traffic in daily basis. Jakarta is a mess and it never ends. The controversy whether or not it is a beautiful mess lies under the statement of the city we love to hate. It dances in accordance with overpopulated and over-polluted truths. The recent raise of gas price helps nothing to reduce the tangled threads of happy hour traffic. However, it is not always get so ugly. Most of the overly blessed inhabitants in this city are blinded by the bright red of auto-mobile's brake ahead of them, they are unable to see the chance of fortunes are blinking before their eyes. Everyone should take advantage of the traffic as much it gotten from them. Imagine how many conversations, or love, could grow in the midst of middle-class workers impatience and car's horn.

That is why invited you to this party for two — to drive me from the southern part of Jakarta, all the way to the East on a Friday night when the traffic is the worst. I told you I have not been to the East for more than a year but honestly, I don't really want to see the newly-built seventh stories mall with flashy lights and massive park on the outside, like the one in New York City; I just I want to spend the long, annoying and frustrating hours in the car with you. Where we could listen to your dad's old cassette because radio is too mainstream. And in between old love songs, we would stumble upon a conversation about our exes; your clingy ex-girlfriend, and I was once in love with your best friend.

In this dreadful hours of traffic, I could learn things about you. I learned that you have a very short temper especially when there is a car trying to get ahead of your speed. And you dislike the fact that I take pictures of this city as if I was a tourist. But I know it is just because I reminded you of your ex girlfriend whom happens to be a free-lance photographer. And honestly, you kind of reminded me of your best friend, too.

I know you are getting tired, but I am going to keep talking. Not just because it is nice talking to you but also for the sake of your distraction. You are going be too busy listening to me, or thinking how annoying I am, hence you will forget we are doomed with the utmost crowded lane in this city.

Then you forget to take the last U-turn, so we have to take longer route. But I am glad that you missed it, because it bought me another half an hour to forty minutes to spend with you. You can miss the next turn again, you know. I don't mind.

We are one traffic light away from the East. Between the empty seconds the red light turns green, there was a thirteen year old boy walked towards us, selling a handful of roses.

'Are you not going to get me one?' I teased you lightly but you only chuckled in the sound of deep sarcasm.

You waved your hand to the boy as a polite gesture of refusal. The light is still counting down the last twenty seconds before it let us go. I thought the boy would immediately move along, but before he left he drew an I, a heart and U by the window next to you. I leaned closer to the driver's seat to take a closer look, 'Did he just draw "I love you" sign?'

'Yes.' you answered briefly. This time, you sounded bitter, almost in the sense you would not like anything romantic happen before us. Nonetheless, I still find the boy almost like a street-version of cupid without wings and I spent a good eight seconds laughing about it before hit you on the arm. 'I'm going to write this in my book!' I said half-shouted. Then you responded very short and clear, 'But don't write anything about me there.'

It passes so quickly and to my ears it sounded like, 'Please, don't fall in love with me.' It takes a while to process, given I am used to be the one who sets up the wall — the distance and the warning of don't fall in love with me, and make sure nobody cross or jump off it. This time, feels different to be on the other side of the wall. Therefore, I just realised, in this very party for two, I also get to know the reason why we cannot stay longer than the traffic. Because I can easily fall for you in any second now but if you ask me not to, I think I can do that too.