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Kim Tuazon’s day had turned out to be better than what she had expected it to be. First, she had learned from her boss that she will be getting an increase in her salary for the awesome performance as a telemarketer for a herbal supplement company. She had emerged as the top performer for the last three months so her bosses decided to give her a raise. At 21, Kim had never felt this fulfilled in her life. She worked at a job she liked straight out of college, her mom and dad are as healthy as can be, and more importantly her heart has finally healed.

Maybe...

Today is going to be another big test. December 15th was their anniversary. She better not think about him. She can’t allow herself to be damaged again.

Kim pondered upon the state of her emotions. One can say that three years ago she was an emotional wreck. Her boyfriend then, Matthew, has been cheating behind her back. They had been high school sweethearts and the day that she discovered he had been sleeping around, she was truly devastated. Kim, like any normal teenager, pinned all her hopes and dreams on the relationship she had with Matthew. She had always thought that he was her one great love. Kim doesn’t know if at this stage, she will be able to love somebody else the way she had loved him. She had been in a couple relationships after him, but those ended rather quickly. The trauma of his unfaithfulness took an emotional toll on Kim. Her trust in men was at an all time low. Since then, she always had her guard up in terms of exploring intimacy with them. Though, she was the still the same hopeless romantic Kim from before, she has now vowed to take each step in a relationship, as carefully as she can. Kim may finally say that though she has recovered from him, he had scarred her for life.

Kim, however, is more resilient unlike any other 21-year-olds. Her optimism alone can bring luster back to a rusty coin. Though she had that emotional set back when she was younger, she did not allow that to stop her from making herself the better person that she can be. She had thought that the biggest revenge she can give Matt was that she became successful and happy. She focused her attention to her job. She did not allow herself to think about men. She had a life plan, and that didn’t include having a boyfriend in the next five years.

Kim was the kind of person who always have a plan. Going into something, she always has plan A, B, and C mapped out in her mind. If there was something she got from the break up with Matt, was that she always should have an action plan just in case things didn’t turn out the way one intended it. With Matt, she ended up with half of herself, broken and pathetic. Since then, she decided to take control of her life. Her world didn’t have to revolve around a guy. Nowadays, she always has a plan for herself, independently of men, of course. As a result of her traumatic relationship, Kim had become the consummate organizer.

“Mrs. Rodriguez, you shouldn’t allow him to hurt you like that. Men pass on all their emotional baggage to women, expecting us to carry it for them,” Kim said, twisting her fingers on the phone cord.

“What should I do Kim?” asked the caller on the other line.

“Very simple Mrs. Rodriguez, write these steps down.” Kim ordered, happy swivelling her chair around. “I call it, Operation Loretta Bobbit. First, you need to hire a good private investigator. No worries, I know of a good agency. I’ll text you their number later. Second, you need to snoop back at your home too. Be very thorough. Check shirt collars, smell his undergarments, check his wallet, the full monty! Lastly, investigate his secretary. Most of the time, secretaries are the main culprit.”

“Oh, Kimmy! You’re so good. I don’t know what I’ll do without you!” said Mrs. Rodriguez.

A shadow crept up from Kim’s behind.

“Ehem...ehem...”

Kim was immediately jolted by the familiar voice. It was her young boss, David.

“Mrs. Rodriguez, that is why you need this Acai and Ginger tea. It will calm your nerves down and it will also give you the antioxidants you need!” Kim fibbed, straightening her posture, trying to look more professional.

David Chua looked at her oddly.

“I’ll talk to you later, Mrs. Rodriguez. I’ll get your orders ready, okay?” Kim smiled back guiltily at her boss as she puts down the phone. “Is there anything you need from me, sir?”

Kim’s heart was racing. She didn’t know how long her boss was standing there and listening into their conversation. Kim had developed relationships with most of their target housewife clients that it became her pastime to give them advice outside of the products that they sell. IT has been her technique in drawing clients in, but nonetheless, she didn’t want to look like she was slacking off in front of her boss.

“Ms. Tuazon, I just came here to congratulate you for your performance review. It was excellent as usual.”

Shucks! IT was another close call for Kim. She made a mental note to stop from being too chatty with their needy housewife clients.

“Thank you, sir,” she replied.

“Keep up the good job, okay? As a reward, why don’t you take the Monday afternoon off?”

“Really?” Kim said, almost jumping out of her seat.

“Yup, take the afternoon off,” David confirmed. “Enjoy, you deserve it!”

Kim’s spirit rose to enormous proportions as she watched her boss leave. She never was this happy in her life in a long time. She was truly feeling really successful and rewarded. And it had to happen today, of all days! She needed to celebrate. She wanted to reward herself of all the hurt she has gone through these last few years. This is the culmination of all the struggles she had been through. She had reached a milestone. She could finally bring herself to say, “Eat your heart out, Matt Evans!”
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xoxoxoxoxox
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Kim found herself walking aimlessly by the mall that afternoon. She had been such a hard worker these last few days, a trip down the mall seemed foreign to her. Had she been so out of touch lately? Despite the glittery decor that flutter along the mall’s skylight, Kim wasn’t really feeling so Christmasy. Today should have been her and Matt’s 6th anniversary and though she had been feeling elated lately, there is just something about the holidays and being alone that makes her feel a tad duller. Yes, she had her parents, her younger sister and her cat to keep her company, but romantically she is as alone and solitary as a snail in a shell.

She looked through the window displays. Large, colourful pictures of couples giving gifts to one another made her feel even worse. Moments that she and Matt shared three Christmases ago slowly entered her mind. She immediately shuddered with those insidious thoughts. Kim had to physically extricate those reflections from her needy consciousness now. She has got to stop. It was becoming pitiful and pathetic. Kim ultimately felt disgusted with herself for being so easily affected by mere thoughts of him. That is why she hated the holidays --- Christmas, worse than others. Valentine’s day too.

Kim was looking for an escape before she could easily break down and cry again. She still felt raw and vulnerable. She really thought she was over him, but maybe not just yet.

Almost like an answered prayer, a run-down movie poster caught her eye. It was an old movie that she wanted to see. Little did Kim know that she had strayed into the movie theatre part of mall and they had old Christmas movies playing all throughout the holidays. Kim hastily purchased a movie ticket and sought refuge in the cinema.

The movie she decided to see was an old Christmas classic --- circa 1990. It was the John Hughes classic, Home Alone. She remembered seeing it when she was younger. There’s something about its plot being so far off from romance as possible, made it totally appealing for her today. She walked in with the movie just starting. Surprisingly, there were a lot of people watching it. She managed to get a seat at the back row. Her eyes lit up instantly as Kevin McAllister and his antics illuminated the screen. With those few precious minutes of suspended animation, she had learned to forget.

A couple of rows down, a father and son are having a full circle moment of their own. Gerald looked down on his son. Thomas is still fidgeting on his seat, his hands buried halfway through his popcorn bucket. Normally, by this time, he would have been disinterested or worse, he would’ve fallen asleep. Thomas is four now, he can usually go through a whole movie now without his attention span going array, as long as it is an animated movie. He didn’t have high hopes with this one, but since it is the only G-rated movie they could find in this mall, plus the fact that it was something he had enjoyed as a kid, he decided to take him there. Gerald was just happy that Thomas seemed to be pleased by it.

“Did you like it, Tommy?” Gerald asked. Tommy’s eyes were still on the big screen despite the end credits are now rolling in.

“Uhuh! Could we rent it at Blockbuster Videos later? I want to watch it again.” Thomas beamed at him.

Gerald knew that this will be the start of the Home Alone video marathon. If Thomas liked a movie he would watch it over and over again...perhaps until he grows tired of it or perhaps until he had basically memorized every line or dialogue of the movie. He is such an amazing, talented kid. At three, he committed to memory most of the Barney songs and dances on his DVD’s.

“Sure, son. Did you know that Daddy first saw that movie when he was your age?” Gerald said, fondly referring himself on the third person, a habit.

“Really, when you were four too?” Tommy answered, holding up four sticky fingers.

“Yep!” Gerald confirmed, brushing off the crumbs from Thomas’ shirt.

“Daddy, could we buy the DVD of Kevin instead of renting... I like him...he’s cool!”

“Sure, do you want to watch it again tomorrow for movie night?” Gerald asked.

Tommy nodded.

HE and Tommy have their spend-alone times every night. Monday is story night. Tuesday is movie night. Wednesday is dine-out night. Thursday is dress-up/playacting night. Friday is music night. Saturday is play night and Sunday is wildcard night. They do whatever they want on Sundays or to be more specific, they do whatever Tommy wants. Every day, the little boy can’t wait for his dad to come home. He really looks forward to what activity that particular evening. It made Gerald happy to know that Thomas is happy. Even if it means to cut himself off from the social scene most men of his age still rampantly go through. It was his conscious decision to let his world revolve around his son. No one else. It was his self-preservation. He knows that his son will never hurt him the way she did. Even with her death, the pain she left him is unbearable. She was cruel that way.

Gerald brushed off the lingering thoughts as he brought his attention back to his son. Most of the people are still crowding the aisles, heading towards the exit. He was starting to feel more than sufficiently inebriated. He didn’t know if he could still wing it.

“Thomas, daddy has to pee. That means we have to go now.” Gerald said.

Thomas readily jumped off his seat.

“Stay close, okay? Daddy don’t want to lose you in this dark cinema, okay?” asked Gerald.

“Yes, daddy...” Thomas answered.

“Hold my hand, okay?” Gerald asked.

“Nope!” he said, shaking his head vigorously. IT was his way of showing his independence. He didn’t want people to hold his hand now. Not even his dad.

Gerald sighed and simply said, “Tommy, it’s dark in here. If you don’t want me to hold my hand, you can hold on to my jacket, but promise me not to let go, okay?”

Thomas nodded. They slowly moved towards the aisles. As the crowds gingerly made their way out, Gerald would look back to see if the little was still holding on. To Gerald’s dismay, when he reached a couple of meters past the exit door, there was no more Tommy holding on to him. He immediately turned around rushed back inside. He shouted his name to an almost empty theater, but to no avail. His heart fell to the floor. He inspected all the empty seats, hoping it was one of Tommy’s hide and seek pranks.

“Tommmmyyyyy!!!” Gerald shouted. He was at the end of his wits. “Thomas! Come out now, or else daddy will be very angry!”

Gerald was hoping a little boy would bob his head out from one of the chairs, but nobody did. HE is now on panic mode. As good as a boy he was, Thomas tend to stray a lot. This had not been the first time that it happened to him. But unlike the earlier incident in the hospital, his instincts tell him that this was not going to be an easy find this time.

He picked up his phone. He dialled the emergency number, “Sir, I’d like to report a missing child. I believe he might have been kidnapped...”

As the investigator on the other line went through his standard questions, Gerald dropped to the floor like all his energy had been seeped out of his system. He can’t believe his miserable luck. He just lost the most important person in his life right now.
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Meanwhile, seeing a girl cry profusely out of the movie theatre seemed to have caught Thomas’ attention. He was thinking as deeply as his young mind would allow him to think. Why is this lady crying on a movie which is not even sad or touching? His young imagination stirred. He followed her like he was in a trance. Unconsciously, he did let go of his dad’s jacket.

After a few meters, Thomas realized his mistake. He looked back at the sea of people rushing out of the movie house. He didn’t see his dad at all. He turned back to look at the crying lady. She hurriedly entered one of the boutiques on the far corner.

Thomas decided to run after her. Maybe she can help him find his dad.
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