MaiChard AU: Never The Strangers [Completed]

Kessler Boom

For pandita0314 because to be honest, na-writers block ako ng burberry light but somewhere in between our conversation, I suddenly imagined a scenario in my head so thank you. Eto na sya. I hope I did not disappoint. 😅

To writingmaichard, kinilig ako sa comments mo. 😘

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It's been 3 days since it happened. For RJ, it was nothing short of a blessing. It was half timing and half luck running into her in that mall's parking lot and now Maine was all he can think about. And he could have called her, he really could. For goodness sake, he already has her number. It's already been 72 hours and frankly about half that time, he spent thinking about her or thinking of a good reason to call her. And yes he could have just called her and ask her out but it's been so long since he dated anyone, he knew there was 101% chance he'd mess up and stutter and yes, mess up again. And as early as now, he had already recognized that a chance with Maine is a chance of a lifetime. She was not one of those ordinary girls that Sam and Je keep setting him up with. Their conversations in the coffee shop told him otherwise.

After everything RJ have gone through the past few years, Sam thought that Maine entering RJ's life is no coincidence. There must be a reason. After all, his last relationship was with Liv, his girlfriend since junior college. She broke up with him when she got a job for a modeling gig in New York two years ago. She wanted to take RJ with her but he didn't want to leave his family behind when his grandfather fell ill. Liv left the country alone shortly after and never called him again. So with Maine in the picture, Sam thought it was about time. He and Je had set him up with girls after his breakup but none of them made an impression on him. On the other hand, Maine definitely did and it was the only sign he needed to take action and so he called Valeen. He needed new posters for his restaurant's summer menu anyway.

Valeen was fixing the lighting around one of the tables in the restaurant for the setting of the photoshoot when Sam opened up the topic.

"Ahm, Valeen..."

"Yes, Sir?"

"Sam na lang. By any chance, kilala mo ba si..."

"Pareng Sam!" Je greeted as he walked into the restaurant, stopping Sam mid-question. Valeen went back to fixing the table for the shoot.

"Pareng Je. Asan si RJ?" as they high-fived each other, his brows furrowed pointing his chin towards Valeen's direction to which Sam mouthed "Basta."

"Nasa labas, nagpapark.", he answered a little too loudly.

"Sam, ano na ulit yung question mo sa---?" Valeen asked again then as if seeing a ghost, "Oh my holy flipping butterfly!" as she saw the man walking towards their direction.

"Pareng Sam, etong si Je, nagaayaya punta daw tayo ki---" RJ said as he approached them then stopped mid-sentence. "Shit."

"O, ok na? Baka gusto nyong tapusin mga sentences nyo?" said Je, frustrated as his eyes darted between Valeen and RJ who both looked cartoonish, surprise painted on their faces.

Sam cleared his throat and broke the tension in the room by introducing Valeen to the boys.

"Hi, I'm Valeen. Sorry kanina. Nagulat lang ako." As shook Je then RJ's hand.

"Bat ka nagulat, Valeen? Dahil ba may pumasok na gwapo? Eherm." Je said jokingly, winking, his thumb and index finger poised under his chin.

"In fairness, Je. Funny ka. Magkakasundo tayo." She teased earning a laugh from everyone else. Je just rubbed his nape, awkwardly joining in on their laughter.

"Burn, Pre. Burn." Sam interjected clapping Je's shoulder as he chuckled.

"Seriously though, bakit nagkagulatan tayo?" RJ asked feigning innocence, giddy by the possibility that Maine could have already checked his social media accounts because she's as curious about him as he was about her.

"Pareng RJ, ok kala ng ba? Bat ngumingisi ka dyan?" Sam asked noticing RJ suddenly beaming.

"Tigilan mo ko Sam."

"Okay. Fine. Fine." Sam finally admitted. So as you can see, Valeen here is doing a photoshoot for my resto's summer campaign. Summer menu and all that. But that's not the only reason why she's here."

"What else?" Valeen asked suspiciously.

"Ahm, Val, ganito kasi yun. Oo, close na tayo." Je said responding to Valeen's eyebrow raising at the mention of her nickname. "Well, yung isa pang reason is si Nicomaine." He said, effectively answering everyone's question. At this, RJ's face paled and Valeen's eyes popped in surprise.

"OMG! Teka laaaaang! How did you know about her? She asked then paused. "Ugh, fine. I know about RJ, I googled him for Maine. E ikaw Sam, Je. How did you know about Maine?"

"Social media." Sam and Je answered in unison.

"Ok, so that's settled. Now what? Friend ka ni Maine, magkakakilala na tayong tatlo nina Sam at Je. Ano na?"

"Papi, ano pa? E di i-set up na natin ang date nyo." Sam proposed.

"Tekaaaa sandale. Agad agad?" Val protested.

"Bakit hindi. Mukhang nagkapalagayan na naman ng loob yun dalawa e. Diba, Pareng RJ?" Je explained as he clapped RJ's shoulder. RJ's ears turned crimson in response.

"Kita mo naman, Val. Kilig trese anyos tong manok namin at the possibility of a date with Maine. So ano, tutulungan mo ba kami?"

"Hephephep!" Valeen wagging her index finger, "before that happens, I need to know if matino nga talaga tong tisoy nyo na to. Mag-usap tayo, RJ." Gesturing RJ to follow her.

**

It's 7pm and Maine just got home from work. She was resting on the couch waiting for her the microwave to heat her dinner, flipping through the channels on TV only stopping when HBO came on showing the film "IQ" with Meg Ryan and Tim Robbins. Meg Ryan's character was talking to Tim's about accidents:

"Was it Kessler boom or an accident? Because Kessler believes that accidental discoveries are not accidents at all. That people have moments of insight and intuition that they're prepared for by their experience to recognize them for what they are."

Maine suddenly felt herself smiling. She had already forgotten the rest of the movie as her thoughts went back to what happened last Sunday. That's exactly what this is. Kessler boom. Because for the life of her, she couldn't just dismiss meeting RJ as a coincidence, her mind refused to, not when three days later and she was still thinking about him and definitely not when she already felt safe with him the moment she got into his car.

A/N:

This update is quite sabaw because I was too happy from Meng's snapchat and tweet. Nevertheless, I hope it won't disappoint. Thank you for those who have read, voted for and commented on the story. I hope this chapter is at par with the previous ones. (Seryoso, kinakabahan talaga ako.) As always, let me know what you think by tweeting me @bankingonkismet or leaving comments down below. 😊