The next morning, Kim got up early. She ate breakfast which Yaya Pokwang happily prepared for her. She didn’t want to eat with that Anderson boy at the table.

     By the time the rest of the family was just about to finish breakfast; she was on her way out.

     “Kimmy!” her dad called out. “Where are you going?”

     “To my villa,” she said, poking her head into the dining room.

     “Perfect!” Mr. Chiu exclaimed. “Take Gerald with you.”

     “What? But papa, why?” she asked, not believing that her own father is making her do this.

     “Well, I think Gerald should be able to see our properties. I was going to take him to the villas later today anyway. Just show him yours for now. How long were you planning to stay there?” William asked his daughter.

     “But dad. There’s only one room with only one bed. Where is he supposed to sleep?”

     “Well, then share. I trust Gerald. You two have my blessing. And besides, it would be great if Gerald got my only daughter pregnant. Better him than someone else,” he said with a smile.

     Kim said nothing and headed outside. Gerald was unsure of what to do, so he looked at William for help.

     “Go ahead, iho. Don’t mind Kim. Like I said, you have my blessing.”

     With that, Gerald got to the front door to see a black stretch limo waiting for him. He opened the door and sat next to Kim. The car ride to the airport was quiet, and so was the plane ride to one of the Chius’ private islands where Kim’s villa was located.

     Clothes had been brought to them by helicopter since Mr. Chiu didn’t know how long the two will be staying at his daughter’s villa.

     “Here’s the room, that’s the closet, and there’s the bed,” Kim narrated when they got into the room. She had taken Gerald on a tour of her villa where they will be staying. The walk in closet could fit the both of them easily with a lot of room for movement. The round bed was big enough to fit 5 people and had a black and red comforter. And the bathroom was down the hall with tile walls and a wooden floor.

     While Gerald spent his time getting to know her villa, Kim spent the afternoon on the beach. She had her waterproof iPod that she had her people make for her and her black two piece bathing suit on.

     She spent some time swimming, but mostly, she sat under a tree—her tree. She loved sitting by that tree whenever she was at her villa. The spot was large, nice and shady throughout the day and it had a perfect view of the sunset.

     Hours passed when Gerald decided to go down to the beach as well. When he got there, he saw that Kim had fallen asleep under a coconut tree. Since it was getting cold and the sky was turning gold, he went back to the villa and got a blanket.

     After he fixed her into a more comfortable position, he covered her up with a blanket. He saw that she was indeed beautiful. She had perfect, porcelain skin. Her cheeks were rosy and her almond shaped eyes where gorgeous.

     Kim woke up with a heavy feeling. She opened her eyes to see the same face she’s been trying to avoid. “You do realize that it’s rude to stare, right?”

     “I’m sorry,” he said.

     “All is forgiven.”

     Kim sat up and suddenly felt cold. She noticed that a blanket sat on her lap. ‘I don’t remember taking a blanket,’ Kim thought. Then she looked at Gerald. “Thanks,” she said.

     “You’re welcome,” Gerald replied genuinely.

     She also noticed that her iPod was on the sandy floor by her hand, turned off and wrapped up with the earphones.

     “You turned off my iPod?”

     “Yeah,” he said. “I hope you don’t mind. I didn’t want it to lose that much battery.”

     “You know,” Kim started. “Other than me, you’re the first one to have controlled that iPod. Not even the people that made it had turned it on.”

     “I’m sorry,” Gerald said. “I didn’t mean to—“

     “It’s okay,” Kim said with a laugh. ‘This guy is so quick to apologize,’ she thought.

     “You have a beautiful laugh and a gorgeous smile,” Gerald couldn’t help but to say it. “You should do that more often.”

     And she did. She gave him the most heartwarming smile she had ever shown. She kept that smile on her face—until she realized what she was doing. The smile on her face was replaced by her usual frown as she looked away from his deep, brown eyes, and reached for her iPod.

     “You have a fabulous selection of songs, by the way.”

     She looked back at him. “You went through my songs?”

     “Couldn’t help it,” he said with a shrug. “Sorry.”

     Kim looked at her iPod and back at Gerald. “You like my songs?” she asked.

     “Of course!” Gerald said, scooting closer to her. Normally Kim would’ve moved away, but the subject of music—especially her kind—kept her planted.

     ‘Huh,’ Gerald thought. ‘Why didn’t I figure it out sooner? Likes to talk about music,’ he took note.

     “A lot of people hate my kind of music. You know: 'Eyes Set to Kill,' 'My Chemical Romance—,'”

     “A Skylit Drive,” Gerald added.

     “You know ‘A Skylit Drive?’” she asked him, with a surprised smile on her face.

     “Of course! Their songs are great. I really, really, really like 'Eva the Carrier.' That song is just—wow." he said.

     “Totally!” Kim said. "You know what, Anderson?"

     "What?" he asked.

     "You're okay," she said with a smile.

     “Wow,” he said in awe. “I should’ve asked you to smile a long time ago.”

     Kim then bit her lip, looked down and blushed.

     “You look even better blushing,” Gerald said, turning his head in her line of vision.

     Kim didn’t know what was happening. This has never happened to her before in her young life. No one has ever made her smile that much, or bite her lip, or blush like that—only Gerald. She’s known this guy for less than a day and hated him for 4 years before.  What was going on? Why did she suddenly feel at ease with him?

     Gerald felt it, too. She was definitely affected by him. He knew that he had something to do with the blush on her cheeks and the smile on her lips.

     Kim uncoiled the earphones from around her iPod and turned it on. She selected a song, pulled both earphones apart and offered one to Gerald. “You wanna listen in?” she asked.

     “Sure,” Gerald said, taking the earphone.

     They sat next to each other, enjoying one of the only things that can’t be deprived from them.

     They went back up to the villa after watching the sunset. They cleaned up and changed into their pajamas and got in the bed. Gerald had fixed a thin blanket on the floor, a pillow, and a thicker blanket over his body.

     “Hey, it’s okay. You can sleep up here if you want,” Kim said, peeking down to look at him.

     “Are you sure?” Gerald asked. “I’m okay here. Really.”

     “Yeah, but then I’d feel guilty leaving you down there while I sleep in a nice, soft, warm bed.”

     “No, really, I’m fine.”

     “Okay….” Kim said with a sigh.

     Midnight came and Kim lay wide awake on her bed, listening to Gerald’s soft snores from the floor. She just couldn’t sleep knowing he’s going to have to wake up in pain in a few hours. Finally, she gave in to the thought of dragging him up on the bed with her. She quietly crawled down from the comfort of her bed to the floor and slowly removed the blanket from his body. It was only then that she realized that he was wearing boxers and an undershirt and nothing more. Kim heaved a silent sigh. Gently, she tugged on him arms and pulled him up to a sitting position against the bed. Then she pulled his torso up on the bed, leaving his legs on the floor. ‘Man, this guy’s a heavy sleeper,’ Kim thought as she pulled his legs up sideways onto the bed. She then covered him with the comforter. “There,” she whispered to herself. She finally fell asleep in the wee hours of the morning.

     Gerald woke up to see a beautiful face in front of his. He looked around and found that he was lying on the bed next to her, the pillows forming a barricade in between the two of them. ‘Huh,’ he thought. ‘She moved me up here? She must’ve worked hard.’

     As Kim opened her eyes, she saw the same boyish grin that invaded her thoughts and dreams the night before.

     “How was your sleep?” he asked her after a moment’s silence.

     “Pretty well after I knew that you were comfortable,” she said to him. “I couldn’t sleep well last night knowing that you were sleeping on the cold, hard floor.”

     “You moved me?” he asked, feigning innocence, pointing at himself.

     “Well, who did you think moved you?” Kim asked.

     “Good point.”

     “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

     “I didn’t know you were that desperate to get me in your bed, Kim,” he said putting both hands behind his head.

     Kim stared at him, wide eyed. “Excuse me?”

     “Relax,” Gerald said caressing her soft cheek with his right hand. “I’m just playing.”

     “Ugh,” Kim groaned, getting out of bed. Gerald then noticed that she was only wearing a black tank top and short shorts.

     “Whoa,” he muttered under his breath.

     “I heard that!” Kim said in a singsong from the bathroom.

     “You were supposed to!” Gerald sang back and got out of bed as well.