--- is something that is inevitably predetermined; destiny.
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"What if you met the man of your dreams on your way to meeting your future husband?"
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Kim really thought she was dreaming. She tried to pinch herself, but she felt more awake now than she has ever been. Her mind and soul is screaming from the clarity of her emotions. Her heart is like an intense, finely tuned radio, clear and distinct, radiating for only one person.

And that person is a man she barely knew...

As Kim lay her head on his shoulder, he had his arms around her. Kim never felt much safer or contented in her young life. They just sat there, idling their little time away. He was ruffling her hair and she felt calm and relax. They were silent, deeply thinking, sharing a single blanket....

To Gerald, it was the most intimate thing he has ever done with a woman before. For some undefined reason, he let down his guard with this girl...a girl he barely knew.

“This feels so right...” He said, kissing her on the head.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this” she purred as she inhaled his sweet, clean scent. “But, I think you’re the one thing missing in my life, you’re everything I never knew I ever wanted.”

“I can’t even begin to comprehend what happened to us tonight...”
“I am profoundly awed by the fact that I am here with you...” She said in reckless abandon.

“I, too, never knew I would ever believe in love at first sight, until tonight...” he said as they were looking together at their interlocking hands. “So this is how it feels...when everything falls into place.”

“Would it be too early to say that I think I’m falling for you?” she dared ask.

“Nothing is too early anymore considering our history. I think we owe it to ourselves to make up for lost time.” Gerald said. Inside, he was thinking he was crazy. But the pit of his stomach, is urging him to jump and take the plunge, he bravely said, “I love you...”

And with that, they slept in each other’s arms....
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Reality came pouring in as the cabin lights flooded the entire plane with the much needed sanity. It was time for the flight attendants to serve the final meal for the day.

Kim woke up feeling a little dazed. Realizing that she had been sleeping on the chest of a man she just met, plus the piercing gazes of the people around them, Kim felt the consequence of her momentary lapse of judgment.

She instantly stood up and headed straight to the washroom for the much needed cold water on the face.

Gerald woke up alone and cold. He was very much afraid that it was all just a dream and now Kim was nowhere to be seen. He panicked. He stood up and rushed to check the washrooms.

He even went up to one flight attendant, “Miss, did you see the girl sitting beside me? She has long hair, has this chinky eyes... she’s really pretty...”

“You mean her?” the flight attendant replied, pointing to the direction of the girl coming down the aisle.

There she was, more radiant than ever. He was smiling widely as he sees her walking down the aisle. At the back of his mind, he was picturing his own wedding, her in a long, white gown....

She smiled timidly at him as they slid back to their seat.

“I thought you were gone...” he said earnestly.

“I can’t step out of a plane, can I?” she said sharply.

“No you can’t, I won’t let you...” This was his weak attempt to make her smile. “What’s wrong?”

“ I woke up...” she said decisively.

Gerald felt his spirits drop. This was the very thing he was afraid of.

“What about last night?” he said, almost pleading, “What about all that has happened?”

“I wasn’t thinking right. I was tired and I was confused...”

“You were fairly lucid as far as I could remember ,” he corrected her.

She didn’t answer back. Her eyes were transfixed to the headrest of the chair in front of her.

“What about us? You thought I was your soul mate for crying out loud!” Gerald said in exasperation.

“Please don’t shout... ” A rebellious tear fell from her eye. “If you really think we are soul mates, and we are
destined to be together, then why are we here, fighting with each other?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t have all the answers.”

“It was wrong.” She said. “ It never should have happened. I should have known better...”

Every word that escaped her slashed through his ailing heart. He knew he was fighting a losing battle.

“How could something so wrong feel so totally right?” His last attempt to make sense to what has happened.

“The reason I can’t do this....the reason I can’t be with you is because, the moment I step out of this plane, I am to marry another man...”

She handed him the final blow. With that she ran and locked herself in the washroom, crying.

Gerald didn’t even answer back. He was shocked. He felt hurt from her latest pronouncement, but more importantly he felt stupid to have believed every word she said before. It was as if ice-cold water has been poured over him. He slumped back into his chair and was content at looking out of the window. Maybe sanity can be obtained from looking at the clouds. He can’t begin to explain what has happened to him the night before and what had happened just now. As fast as she came into his life, it was even faster the way she has gone....

He shook his head in complete disgust. “They must have a name for this kind of syndrome,” he introspected.

The rest of the trip was the longest three hours of their young lives. Kim and Gerald sat there like they were strangers. It was as if they were cursed to never speak of the incident ever again.

The captain finally announced that they were landing. A few minutes later, their plane touchdowned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

She slowly picked up her things as the other passengers begin to exit.

She stood up and looked back at him in regret, “You’re just too late...”

He refused to look at her. His heart was filled with disdain. Pride consumed his entire being with hurt. On the corner of his eye, he watched her as she slowly moved out of the plane and out of his life. It was over, he lost the girl of his dreams forever.

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Kim didn’t know how she ever got the strength to make it out of the airport. As she made her way out of the passenger’s gate, she saw her mom and dad waving at her. She tried to smile but tears came falling out of her eyes faster than she could wipe them off. She ran to them as fast as she could. She let everything out when she reached her mom’s warm embrace.

“Kimmy, what’s wrong?” her mom wondered.

“Nothing mom,” she lied. “It’s maybe because I just missed you terribly.”

Kim’s mom, Alice, hugged her daughter even tighter.

“I’m afraid we have more bad news to tell you, iha, ” said Alice. “I’ve been meaning to tell you this all along, but you really seem excited.”

“Is this the hitch you were talking about?” Kim said, composing herself, wiping away the tears from her eyes. “ Well, what is it?”

After what she has gone through that day, Kim thought nothing could be more devastating than what she has just experienced. She was wrong.

“The wedding will not push through as planned...”

“Perfect,” Kim said wryly. “just perfect...”

More tears fell from Kim eyes. She just realized she had lost the man of her dreams for this stupid marriage. And how does fate reward her? With more irony than she could ever handle.

Alice could not grasp the gravity of her daughter’s reactions. Alice just hugged her daughter as if her life mattered on it. Kim’s dad joined in as well. Kim felt all emotions were finally drained out of her.

All of a sudden, she felt a cold finger tap her shoulder.

“Miss, I think you dropped this.”

The warm voice sounded familiar. Kim excitedly looked back to see who it was. Her heart flipped when she saw his kind, gentle face...

It was Gerald and he was handing out her old family picture to her.

She timidly smiled at him as she took the snapshot from him. She hastily handed it over to her mom. All the while, he was smiling at her. The kind of smile that spells love, contentment, passion all stirred up together. It was as if all the pain that they had went through a few hours ago had totally been banished from their memory.

“RJ, what are you doing here?” Alice said. “I thought your mom and dad said you went AWOL?”

Both Kim and Gerald looked surprised.

“Mom, you know him?” Kim asked. “Wait, you’re RJ?”

“Gerald Randolph Anderson, JR.” He exclaimed. “R.J. for short.”

“Wait, mom, how did you know it was him?” A puzzled Kim asked.

“Of course I know him, I still remember him from the first time we met him,” her mom retorted. “His face didn’t change too much from back then...”

“We met him?!!!” Kim exclaimed in disbelief.

“So, you must be Tito William and Tita Alice?!!!” Gerald butted in excitedly.

The couple simply nodded. Gerald gave each of them a quick hug. After that, he went back to Kim and authoritatively placed his arms around her.

“Wait mom, you said we met him, I don’t remember meeting him...or them.” Kim asked in rapid succession.

“Of course we did,” her dad William said. “I don’t know if you guys still remember, both of you were still young back then, but we met very briefly that summer at Boracay. I think it was way back in 2000.”

Kim and Gerald looked at each other knowingly.

“In fact, if I remember correctly,” added Alice. “You, Gerald, was the one who took this picture...”

Alice waved the old picture in front of them.

Kim and Gerald both stood there, smiling at each other, admiring fate’s intricate artwork from the glow of each other’s eyes.

They were very much content in holding each other’s hand, looking at each other’s eyes like the way they were meant to be. It seems to them, the most natural thing in the world --- to be where they are, to be breathing and existing together.

“Now, do you believe in destiny?” He asked, pinching her nose. She responded with a nod. He gave her a peck on the forehead. Kim slightly aware of her parents’ presence, staved off their public display of affection by playfully pinching him on his side. They both laughed.

Meanwhile, Kim’s mom and dad were looking at them as if something was amiss.

“You guys didn’t really know each other until now, did you?” Kim’s dad wondered.

“I met her just now...”Gerald’s eyes were still transfixed on Kim. “... but I felt I knew her all my life.”

Gerald slowly lowered his head to meet hers...and with that, they sealed their union...or should I say, in their case...reunion...with a kiss...

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END of story ONE.
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CHEMISTRY – a preview
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Meanwhile, another Kim made her way into the crowded airport. Kimberly Tan, 17, had been waiting for ages for her sister to arrive. It was almost eight in the morning, and she is now officially late for school. They have this big science experiment and she will surely receive another earful from her very annoying classmate.

She was shivering just thinking of his geeky, arrogant face. She never felt much contempt for another human being as she does with him. They were both freshmen and Kim thinks he is crazy as hell. His name is Gerald Lewis.

Kim squeezed her way into the big crowd of well-wishers. From there, she saw the young couple kissing at the gate, she was thinking, “God, what has our world become?”

Suddenly, out of the airport, came out a vision in bright green. She had a neon blue scarf on and a pink hat to match. It was no other than her cookie sister, Christine...
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Dear readers,
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Please watch out for the succeeding chapters. There are seven stories altogether. Each story is different but will somehow have a link with each other. I am currently having so much fun writing this, I can’t help putting the stories out as soon as I finish a chapter. I really hope you have nice time reading this as well. Thank you for your encouraging comments. Tira! Tira!
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- Author -