Till Death Do Us Part

Chapter 4 - Separation

"I will only take this job for two years," Andrea said that night, squeezing my hands softly.

I nodded. I didn't bother convincing my husband that I couldn't go with him to London. Maybe he thought one day I would change my mind and follow him, just as I would change my mind about having children.

After five years together, he still hadn't realized that I rarely change my mind.

I drove him to the airport that night and took off with a smile. Andrea would stay in a hotel for a month until he found a suitable home to live in. The company paid for everything.

Come to think of it, my husband was indeed an extraordinary person. During these five years, his career had been progressing very rapidly, far beyond other Indonesians I know who were not from a wealthy background or had a strong backup.

I have read on the internet that he was currently the best security expert in Asia Pacific. My father actually wanted Andrea to be his successor in running many of his companies, because my older brother preferred to devote himself as a doctor and, I told you, writing was my calling. We were not interested in business. But Andrea did not like nepotism and refused my father's offer gently.

I was almost back at home when my phone rang, and Andrea's voice was heard on the other end.

"I miss you already," he sighed softly, "I will be boarding soon. I'll call you when I land at Heathrow."

I just brought my laptop and several clothes then left for Indonesia. I couldn't stand living in our apartment on Beach Road where all the memories were scattered about. I also could not go home to my parents and deliver the bad news about our separation. Finally, I decided to go to Sumba where my brother opened a clinic with his best friends.

My eldest brother, Johann decided to become a doctor when my second brother, Wolfgang, died of meningitis when he was 14 years old. We were all devastated when the doctor brought word that the sudden headache that Wolf was experiencing caused by the meningitis virus in his brain, and he died after being in a coma for days. His death was unexpected and devastating to all of us.

My father and mother became more protective of the two of us, but also became more lenient towards us. As children of a conglomerate family, our lives had been decided from birth.

Johann, Wolf, and I were arranged to be married to the children of my father's friends, fellow conglomerates, for business purposes, and our way of life had been set from the beginning: where we would go to school and when we will take over which company.

Wolf's death opened the path of freedom for us because mother and father realized that they did not want to lose either Johann or me because we felt forced to follow the path they set for us.

Johann was given the freedom to study medicine, date the girl he loved. While I could focus on becoming an aspiring writer and later marrying Andrea who came from a humble background.

Ah, thinking of Andrea made me sad. For years, he was in love with a girl whose family thought he was unworthy of her. While my family ... we accepted him unconditionally.

"Hey, why are you coming here all of a sudden, Win?" Johann asked when he picked me up at the airport. "Are you here to find inspiration to write?"

I just nodded. I didn't say much during the trip from the airport to his clinic. Johann opened this clinic 4 years ago after traveling to Sumba and fell in love with the Lakey Peak area. The villagers around the coast were very poor. Also, infant and toddler's mortality rate in the area was so high that it touched his heart.

With the help of our father's money and the support of his friends from university, he set up the clinic and spent half his time there. Another half he was in Jakarta to manage Medicine For The Poor foundation, where he helped channel young doctors who wanted to volunteer for several months in remote areas, which had little to zero access to healthcare.