Stay with me, bitte

The Evans?

Evans is the youngest child in his family. He was born in 1980. He has a brother who is 6 years above him. He is originally from East Java. He has lived in Jakarta since 2005. He worked as an IT staff at a national telecommunications company for 15 years. In mid-2023, he moved to a leading-state owned bank.

Audrey, his wife, also works as marketing representative at a state-owned bank. She is 39 years old, a year older than Cassandra. She met Evan through social media almost ten years ago. They met twice, then Evan proposed her. Audrey comes from a family with high finacial status, so sometimes she can be quite arrogant. Her lifestyle is too extravagant, a stark contrast to Evan's careful approach to money.

From their marriage, Evan has a daughter, named Nicole. She is 9 years old, 2 years older than the youngest child of Dean. At home, Nicole is accompanied by a housekeeper, as her parents have to work most of the day.

They lived in an luxury cluster outside the city. They both drove to work. CCTV cameras were constantly running in the house to monitor their only one child. Mostly, they prefered buying fast food rather than cooking from scratch. Audrey always came home in the afternoon to pick Nicole up from school. Afterward, she returned to the office and continued her work. Most days, she arrived home later than Evan. Evan always said he felt very lonely because no one cared about himself.

On weekend, also they had separate activities. Due to their different faiths, they had to attend different churches. Audrey and Nicole went on Mondays, and Evan on Saturdays. Audrey also had to go to her office on Saturdays, and also lately arrived home. Communication among them is very minimal.

One day, Evan was angry to his wife. He had lost his motorcycle. When asked, Audrey simply answered, explaining that his motorcycle has been sold, and the money was already used to pay off her debt. Evan asked several times, but his wife never explained further what the debt was or what it was used for.

Evan was also bothered by several anonymous callers. They were debt collectors demanding payment of his wife's outstanding debts. He tried to gain intensive communication with his wife, to resolve the issue. Audrey rarely responded. She simply asked Evan to transfer her some money, to help her pay off the debt. Evan complied her request, he transfered them.

Several months later, he thought that all financial problems were resolved. But suddenly, he lost his deposit certificates. His wife had taken their savings. Evan confirmed this to his wife. There was no response from her. Audrey grabbed her suits and left the house. She also taking her daughter and the housekeeper with her. Evan tried to calling and texting her, but Audrey did not respond either. Audrey rented an apartement near Nicole's school.

It is already a week since her left. No more call and text from Evan. Audrey then called him. She demanded more money to pay off her debt. Evan was deeply sad by this. He hang up the phone, and never texted Audrey again to invite her returned home. Either checked for her conditions. Audrey returned home 3 days later after their last contact. She had no money left to pay the rent and buy foods.

Evan did not respond to her return. He was so cold. Communication was cut off. Evan reflected on his life. Audrey had left home 3 times. Every time she was confronted about the debt, she always avoided it. Evan never knew the exact amount of the debt she had to pay. He ever tried to divorced her, but his thoughts were still preoccupied with his daughter. He was tired of his wife's unchanging attitute. Too much money was missing, but he never knew what it was used for. Evan is worried, that Audrey's bad attitute will be imitated by Nicole.

He looked for another job. His goal was simple : leave her. He wanted to go abroad, wherever that might be. Then he found a company looking for a medical team to work in Germany. He applied. He had only one thought in his mind : if it was possible to go abroad, whatever the job will be, he would do it.

Audrey herself, never knew about Evan's detail plans to go abroad, as the communication had been cut off. Evan ever told her once, that he would leave her, if she can not change her attitute. But Audrey seemed ignore his warnings. Evan had also told her about finding another job that would provide her more money. He was focused on resolving the problems and keeping his family together.

However, Audrey was too selfish and arrogant. She wanted a divorce and sold everything. Audrey wanted to go to United States, but she wanted a divorce from Evan first. In her eyes, she wanted the houses and cars sold before she left. She wanted the money. Evan disagreed about these. In his mind, everything that belonged to him before marriage, was his and could not be shared. Audrey was angry when heared those explanation. According to her, Evan had to cover Nicole's living expenses and education costs. Evan refused to give the money now. He was afraid it would be lost too. He wanted to bring his daughter to his side. Audrey disagreed. The conflicts never subsided in this family. Eventually, both of them avoided each other.

Evan and Audrey had been sleeping in different room for almost a year. For the past 3 months, whenever Evan attended online classes, Audrey never knew. Perhaps she was already asleep in her room. Evan also never told his wife about the progress of his plan to Germany. He thought it would be better if he told a moment before he left. "I have to focus on this class first, get good grades, and then work there to earn more money to pay off the debt.", Evan said for himself.