[quick author's note: In honour of today, 20 April 2020, being the first day where I study at my new school of choice, I publish this chapter! Also in honour of... (drum rolls please...) POWER HITTING THE 10K MILESTONE ON THE SAME DAY!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS FOR YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT!💖💖😭😭]

IT ALL HAPPENED in the blink of an eye. Nobody, save for a gifted tarot reader or fortune teller, could have predicted it. It was something no one saw coming.

Perhaps it was never even meant to happen.

But in this life, it seemed to be destined that we would meet. The first meeting, though unanticipated, was more than welcome. It served as a chance to solidify my status as Joaquim's long-term girlfriend, and even help me move up the social ladder.

The same cannot be said for the second.

No, nothing can ever describe the second meeting without me revealing the true extent of the spite and hatred that I try so hard to conceal from my beloved ones, for fear that it will scare them away. Such ability to be so hateful of someone is reprehensible indeed.

It even has me witless too.

Why did we meet again? Was it because we were fated to, or was I just that unlucky?

Whatever it was, it was definitely a fortuitous meeting.

___

Sunday, 17 May 2020

It was just like the beginning of any other normal day.

As soon as the Sun was up, the birds were chirping noisily away, the world outside of my cosy loft started to arise again. Construction workers continued on with their work, taking a quick, needed drink every now and then due to the scorching heat; civil workers began to leave the house and head for the bus in a hurry to be at their respective workplace in the nick of time. Babies worldwide started bawling as if the world was about to end in mere seconds, and weary parents wake up, startled, and run towards their babies to soothe them and hopefully fall asleep again.

In the Pan household, fragrant smells of food being grilled wafted throughout the two floors of the loft, and the man who loved his girlfriend and wanted nothing but joy for her was hurrying to serve her breakfast in bed.

The said girlfriend was awake by then, thanks to a lively song played by her alarm clock, which differed daily, for she could not stand morning breath and eating food before she washed up thoroughly.

The enamoured couple that is so captivated by their partners could never have expected that they would meet people who would change the very course of their lives that day.

Perhaps if he didn't insist on taking a stroll to the nearby park; perhaps if she didn't falter in her lack of enthusiasm and be swayed by his charms, he would have left for work and she would return to dreamland again.

Perhaps if they knew that one of the people they would later meet would steer them to a 'right', typical path where society accepted and most everybody would be fine with it; perhaps if they knew that the other would steer one of the partners away from their current path of life and lead them astray, the walk to the park would never have taken place, and life would remain the same.

But who might be led astray?

It doesn't matter for now. All that matters was how they reacted to this, and the aftermath of the two fortuitous meetings.

There really is no forewarning for these types of things.

It just happens.

___

"I can't believe that you managed to persuade me to leave my bed this early in the morning. Who goes to the park at 8.30am?" I whine, and stretch my hands lazily and feign a scowl to Joaquim.

"Apparently, many people," he replied, and gestured to the elderly couples doing tai chi and kids running around, laughing derangedly as evidence to support his claim.

"And yet, nobody of our age group is here."

"I don't know, you sure fit the age group of the kids here, Iri. You even share the same type of loony laugh!"

I pause in my steps and glare at him. "Did you just call me a loon?"He grins and caresses my cheek, his brown eyes twinkling with mischief. "No, I just called you young and spirited."

I sputter in astonishment at how suave he is and choke on my saliva, cursing him with my eyes. Any other man would have begged me for mercy, but Joaq just embraced me fiercely and patted my back.

I swear, it's frightening how he knows me so well after almost four months of dating. He's getting me soft for him really easily, I swear. In spite of myself, I smile and melt in his arms, relishing the assurance and affection he never fails to bring me.

"Laila, is that our- is that-? Oh, Laila, it is Joaquim! Our Joaquim. JOAQUIM!" A middle-aged couple starts sauntering towards us, and we break apart hastily. Nobody wants to witness PDA in the morning... we're probably going to be berated by an middle-aged couple. Wonderful, Irina.

"Joaquim!" Instead of the earful I was expecting, the man's wife tearfully hugs my boyfriend and looks at him with affection in her eyes. Affection that I did not expect, and it was more of a familial love too.

Could she be his-?

"My son, who is this young lady? And why were you two hugging in the middle of the pathway? Have you no manners?"

My son? "Is Joaquim your son, ma'am?"

"Is he? Sometimes I wonder that too myself. Any filial son would phone his parents every three hours after moving out since he was 19, don't you agree? I'm not asking for much too- instead of an hourly call, I ask him to call three-hourly. It really is not much. He has no life either way, so it shouldn't be bothersome to him."

Embarrassed, Joaquim sighs and looks down on the ground. "God save me," he mutters petulantly.

"See? I told you. I just want to check in on my son, see if he's still the same boy I remember, but apparently he's Christian now." Joaq's mother fixes her stern gaze on him and queries, "Son, aren't you an atheist? Since when did you believe in God?"

Until now, I had been certain that I was the sole reigning, unbeaten Queen of Brutal Honesty and Sarcasm, but even I am unsure if she's joking or actually being serious. I only know that she's joking when Joaq daringly rolls his eyes and comments, "Mother, your humour is as dry as sandpaper. Is this a result of age? Though I must say, you age like fine wine." Joaq backtracks when his mother raises her arm and he dodges her blows swiftly.

"What brings you here, ma'am and sir?" I have never been so uncertain before in my life. This- meeting the parents- happened too soon. It's something that the two of us have never even talked about, let alone saw it coming.

And this is my first time meeting the parents. To make things worse, I genuinely like Joaq. One wrong move or word, and our relationship may end as soon as it began.

How am I going to get out of this?

"We? Oh, just for a stroll in the park. We enjoy the peacefulness of it all." Joaq's father answers, and his small grin falls when he catches his wife shaking her head.

"We don't enjoy it. He does. He wakes up in the wee hours of the morning and cajoles me to join him for a walk. 'It'll be good for your health,' he says. 'Breathing in fresh air is better than holing up in the house,' he says. And what does he do when we return home? He orders PizzaHut and his choice of drink is Coca Cola." Chagrined, Joaq's mother is visibly rankled by her husband's peculiar habit. 

It takes all the self-discipline that I have in me to suppress the urge to laugh and nod. It's the same thing Joaq did to me today too. Like father, like son indeed.

"Mother, aren't you tired? You should head home or rest somewhere," Joaq holds his mother's hand and begins to support her and bring her to a nearby bench, but she swats his hand away. 

"Why am I getting the feeling that you are chasing me away? I want to know this girl better, and if I'm right, she's your girlfriend."

Joaq gasps in amazement and opens his mouth, but I beat it to him. "Ma'am, how did you know-?"

"My dear girl, parents know their kids better than they think we do. It's obvious from the way you look at him, and how there's this glow to him that I've never seen before. It's obvious from even that small action of Joaquim tilting his head to you whenever I speak to you. It's obvious from the worry in his eyes when you realised who we are. Now, let's get a cuppa tea."

___

The first meeting of the day was a pleasant one, and it went as well as what most partners can get from meeting their boyfriend's parents. Joaq is definitely a carbon copy of his father in terms of manners and a relaxed personality; I've never met someone else who is so at peace with himself and conducts himself in a genteel manner. I'm certain that Joaq inherited his saintly patience from his father while he got his perceptiveness and creativity from his mother.

Mrs Korl is second to none in terms of her appearance and personality. She is unique in the sense that she's so blunt, and never fails to call people off when she finds that they are behaving in a pretentious manner in an attempt to show their 'best' self. That was me in the beginning. 

I was brewing her vanilla tea, pouring it for her and even refilling it, and these are things I would not usually do. I was trying to impress her by behaving in a ladylike, poised manner, but Mrs Korl wasn't having it. 

Even though this was our first time meeting, she saw right through my superficial facade and told me to be myself. 

"I want to see for myself why my son is dating you. I want to see what's so special about you, if there's more to you than your pretty looks." Mrs Korl had stated, and I decided that it was time I took off the mask and be my true self.

Be the blunt and sarcastic Irina Pan. 

To do that, I actually dined privately with her, and believe it or not, all went well. I shared things with her that I didn't know I could with a stranger, and she applauded me for taking up college again and that there was nothing wrong with college dropouts. "My brother dropped out of OU before. Can you believe it? To drop out of OU is a disgrace to any family in the world. And that's what he did. My brother was judged so heavily by our family that he moved to Italy, and now, he is a curator for a museum there. Anyone can attain success as long as you believe in yourself and persevere."

I'm pretty sure I have the Korl family's seal of approval.