There Was You (Completed)

41 - Begin the Begin

A/N: Brace yourself, this will be by far the longest update (straps on seat belt) . Ready for take off.

A little bit of flashback, because it was not as simple as that "Hi, Maine", "Richard.":

Richard almost, almost, cancelled out at the last minute.

When he said that tried to shy away from getting news about her, he was not lying.

Everything happened so fast after the initial meeting with the husband-and-wife VC team of Dwight and Heather, and his very supportive employer. One day he was just a draftsman with a lot of ideas on how to make things better, the next day, he's working on the prototype. The rest is history.

Putting up a start-up business and pleasing the investors is no joke. A free day is like manna from heaven. He had to polish the concept, do research, hire the team, help with the design, marketing. You name it, he had to do it.

A/N: Ah, gano'n pala yon. Tapos?

This helped him to put Maine out of his mind, at least most of the time. When his head hit the pillow, he's so tired that he'll be asleep in no time. What other free time he has, he spends talking to mamang and Ryzza and Tope'

He has mastered the science of avoiding her as a topic of discussion with them.

But they also mastered the art of dropping information about Maine by accident. That's where he attributes whatever he knows about her; that she went to the States, the why is unknown. That he knew she resigned and pursued Interior Design and put up her own business, the name he didn't bother to find out.

Which reminds him that Ryzza mentioned seeing Meng visiting the house in Zambales and driving the yellow car. When he teased her about it, she reiterated that the woman she saw tending to the kitten was Meng.

The "HoMMe Design and Decor" flashed in his mind. One simple search and there it is, her lovely face leaping out of the site, Meng with the perfect smile. She's listed as the consultant and proprietress. Her portfolio revealed that they implemented her design in the school.

The possibility of Maine being in the event is getting higher by the minute, that he had second, and third thoughts in attending. Is he ready to face her? Is he ready to put closure in this chapter of his life?

His word of honor won out in the end.

A/N: Ang dami mo namang sinabi, aattend ka rin pala.

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The Night of the Event.

Alarm bells started ringing when upon arriving at the school, Richard was ushered to the service elevator and directly to the Activity area instead of going to the main hall on the 2/F where the celebration is. He tried to expect the unexpected and braced himself.

He was not prepared for the sight that greeted him when he stepped out of the elevator.

Richard can only see her profile as she talks to Ms. Ruby. Gone was the girl who dressed for comfort and more to drive the attention away from her. In her place now stands a very confident woman. Yes, her looks had always been classic but her beauty now is magnified tenfold. The color of the dress that hugged her figure flatters her.

Apart from the initial surprise of seeing Maine after almost two years, what surprised him more is the detached interest he's now studying her.

During his first three months in Singapore, he had thought countless of times on how their next meeting would be, when he imagined that he'll throw her accusations to her face, how he'll make more money and show her what she threw away.