Kim was having the time of her life exploring France and making new friends. She enjoyed touring the whole of Paris during her first week along with her host brother and a couple of his friends. One of those friends is Jean-Pierre who was quite vocal about his crush on Kim. He never left her side the whole time despite knowing that friendship is all she can offer and that she has a boyfriend. He was present in almost every picture so far, in the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Place de la Concorde, Le Louvre, Musée d’Orsay and even took her on a shopping spree along Champs-Élysées. “He’s a nice enough guy, pretty harmless and besides I really do need a tourist guide”, Kim reasoned as she was starting to feel guilty. She was going through her holiday pictures and noticed that Jean-Pierre was almost always right next to her. She was worried about how Gerald would take this. She had managed to keep him up to date with all her tourist adventures and had not failed to mention Jean-Pierre, Yvés and her host brother Michel.

Kim: Babe I wish you could see all these places! Super enjoy talaga ako dito so far! Favourite ko yung little cruise namin along River Seine. The bridges were so beautiful and ang ganda ng Notre Dame Cathedral at night, all lit up. Tapos they had people playing the violin on the boat, it was so romantic talaga. Sobrang na miss talaga kita while I was watching lovers walking hand in hand along the river.

Gerald: Wow, sounds great babe. Baka naman maghanap ka ng lover dyan na makasama mo for a romantic stroll ha!

Kim: Baby, ikaw lang ang gusto kong maka-holding hands in the city of love, ok?

Gerald: Ang romantic kasi ng paligid! Mas lalo akong kinabahan dito, I really want to follow you there. Kaso lang ang mahal ng airfare at may exams kami coming up.

Kim: Promise, you have nothing to worry about. You trust me naman diba?

Gerald: I know, you’re a good girl. How’s your host brother? What does he look like?

Kim: He’s great, real nice and naku, rawrrr!

Gerald: What?!! Talagang gwapo? Better looking than me? Type mo? You checked him out no?

Kim: Relax babe. Hehe… I was just messing with you. He’s okay naman, pretty cute pero hindi ko sya type. Firstly because of course mas way cuter ka. Secondly, may girlfriend na sya who’s also real nice. Third, well, hello! Brother ko kaya sya no! !

Gerald: At least that’s one less guy I have to worry about.

Kim: Well, there is one na talagang upfront nya sinabi na crush nya ako. Cute naman sya pero of course as I have repeatedly said, ikaw lang talaga ang gusto ko baby. I love you so much and no one else can make my heart beat this way.

Gerald: Just stay away from him babe baka manyakis yan at ano pang gawin sa’yo. Naku susugurin ko talaga sya dyan! What’s this guy’s name?

Kim: Jean-Pierre. I’ve already told him about you and he backed off na. We’ve become good friends na nga eh. He’s actually really nice and a great tour guide.

Gerald: Naku I don’t like the sound of this.

Kim: Baby I promise, the minute I notice na he’s starting to go over the line, I’ll tell him off straight away. He’s nothing but a friend to me. Besides, would I be telling you about him if you can’t trust me?

Gerald: I know baby. I love you so much, please always remember that.

Kim: Of course babe. I love you too. Sorry babe I gotta go, my credit is about to finish. Mwah!

After a week in Paris, they headed off to her host family’s place which was in the south of France. Her host family was great. They were absolutely cool and she got along well with them. She went to school with his host brother Michel and she loved all the attention that she was getting being the exchange student and all. Gerald was right, there were a lot of hot looking guys, super friendly and quite a few of them wouldn’t stop flirting with her. Of course she had no interest on any of them other than friendship. They all tend to do and say the funniest things and she always found herself laughing out loud. Her infectious laughter made quite an impact especially on the guys who thought she was just adorable. She loved learning so much about the culture and the language. Of course, she was missing Gerald badly and wished that she could share this experience with him. She was not able to call Gerald everyday as promised. The time difference made it difficult and she also had to concentrate on the lessons. She did try to get a hold of him every other day. Her day didn’t seem to be complete no matter how much fun it had been, without hearing his voice. She had to make an extra effort to study since there was still so much about the language that she had yet to learn. She had to maintain her high grades in order to continue being in the running for valedictorian. Michel also took her to parties and gatherings quite often, even during weeknights. She couldn’t refuse. Those gatherings had always been so much fun.

She loved her life in France and she wanted to make the most of it. She had a dad for the first time in her life and the coolest brother. A few of her friends tried to hit on her whenever they had these parties or whenever they were out clubbing but none of them succeeded. Pierre and this other guy from her class, Cédric, were two of the guys that were always around vying for her attention. Kim didn’t mind having them around; they were fun to hang out with and they never violated her trust.

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Kim couldn’t stop her tears while she was packing her luggage and talking to Gerald the night before she had to leave Toulouse.

Kim: Of course I’m excited to be heading home and finally be with you again baby. It’s just that it’s hard not to get sad. I’ve made a few good friends here and super close pa namin ng host family ko. Diba nakakamiss din talaga?

Gerald: I know baby. Sorry sobrang excited lang talaga ako to see you again kaya I overlooked the fact that you’re a little depressed tonight. Sorry talaga babe ha. Mas lalo tuloy kitang na-miss thinking about how much I want to hug you, to comfort you. Nakaka-inis naman oh! My baby is in tears and I can’t even do anything to make you feel better. Ni hindi kita mahawakan!

Kim: Baby, hearing your voice is more than enough to cheer me up. I just can’t believe that three months went by so quick. It seems like I just got here last week and next thing I know tapos na pala ang three months. I hate goodbyes talaga.

Gerald: Para sa akin three months seemed more like three years! I’m turning into a mental case ka-iisip and ka-mimiss sayo, I’m not kidding. Mel even nicknamed me Mr. Menopause kasi palagi daw mainit ang ulo ko. I so need my Kimmy fix.

Kim: Ay ganun, may withdrawal symptoms ka pala talaga.

Gerald: Yes Ms Kim Chui addict ako, addicted to you, kaya umuwi ka na.

Kim: Naku okay lang naman siguro sayo kahit dito na lang ako. From what I heard ang dami mo natanggap na indecent proposals dyan while I’m away. You’re probably enjoying all the attention.

Gerald: Naku that’s the one thing na talagang nagpapainit ng ulo ko. Girls na walang morals! Kahit na alam nilang may girlfriend na ang guy hindi pa rin nila tinitigilan. Pasalamat sila I’m a gentleman kundi talagang napahiya na sila sa insulto ko. Buti nga don sa isang desperada, na karma, sa kasunod-sunod sa akin natapakan ang poo-poo ng kalabaw!

Kim: Haha! Sos, akala mo naman, sino kang gwapo! I heard about that pero rumour daw na you pushed Paula into that poo kaya galit na galit daw sayo. He!He!

Gerald: Hindi ah, I would never give her the satisfaction na mahawakan sya. Baka mag-ilusyon pa yon agad at kung ano anong ipang-chismis at sasabihing she’s reading between the lines! Teka, can we please not talk about such trashy topics? Baby naman, at 2am hina-high blood mo ako.

Kim: Chill babe! Tama nga si Mel I really have to get back home na. Daig mo pa ang may PMS eh. Don’t worry babe, when I get back, I’ll -slap those hoes all the way to Afghanistan for you.

Gerald: I’d rather just kiss and cuddle you in front of them baby. Mas matinding slap in the face yon and at the same time I get to score with my baby! He! He!

Kim: Okay babe, I’ll just kiss your PMS all better.

Gerald: See, I told you I can’t make it without you babe. Since I’ve known you, you’re the only one who can make my day happy and complete.

Kim: I’ll be spending one more week in Paris then I’ll finally be in your arms baby!

Gerald: I can’t wait babe! This will be the longest one week of my life. Hindi na ako makakatulog nito.

Kim: Sleep ka naman babe para may energy when I get there! Hint, hint! Hehe!

Gerald: Oh, I like the sound of that! Trust me baby, I can assure you there’ll be plenty of energy when you get here.

Kim: Dang! I shouldn’t have said that! I think I just got myself in a bit of trouble.

Gerald: Oohh, you are in a whole lot of trouble missy! Three months worth lot of trouble! You promised you were gonna make it worth the wait remember?

Kim: Damn!

Kim flew to Paris with her host bother Michel, his girlfriend Elodie and to her surprise, Jean-Pierre also tagged along. Jean-Pierre had been a great friend and she had really enjoyed his company until the last week. He started acting a little weird, getting a little too close for comfort and saying things like how much he adored her, which sounded so much more on the romantic side being spoken in French. She just felt that on the last week his whole demeanour had changed, making her feel a little awkward that he was coming along to Paris.

She had a great time exploring more of Paris, and felt a little relieved that Pierre got the idea that she didn’t like him getting too close. He would still occasionally place his arms around her waist or hug her from behind, mostly when they were taking pictures which made her jump a few times. However, he generally behaved throughout their trip. Although it made her extremely sad to say goodbye to her close friends and host brother, she was restless with excitement during her whole flight back to Philippines. Halfway through her flight, she started feeling homesick and couldn't think of anyone else but Gerald.

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Gerald was in high spirits as he was putting the groceries away. One more day and Kim will finally be home. He was planning a little surprise dinner for Kim at their secret place. He was whistling a happy tune as he headed for the shower. He sat down on his bed with only a towel on, grinning while staring at Kim’s picture on his bedside table. He was about to talk to her image when suddenly he felt someone hugging him from behind. He was so startled that at first he couldn’t get himself to move. “What the?!! Did one of those desperate girls followed me home and got in my room?” He panicked. He turned around and just about to push the girl off him but he screamed of excitement when he saw who the girl was. Then he just stared at her, so overwhelmed and speechless.