#ILoveYou #YouLoveHer

#ArrangedMarriages

Michelle

"I don't think my parents love each other though," Nate suddenly remarked.

"Why would you say that?" I asked. "Don't they have a heart as big as yours?" I added.

He shrugged.

"They must've loved each other at some point, right?" I pointed out. "After all, why would they get married and how would you be here?"

"Kai xiao," he replied in Hokkien, which means technically stands for "introduced", but in a Filipino Chinese culture context, it means introduced via a matchmaker.

Usually it means, actually, usually it guarantees that both parties are (remember what I said about matching doors?) from a similar background. In a Filipino Chinese culture context once again, with all our racism and elitism and religious prejudices, both parties are racially Chinese, rich and some sort of Christian who isn't against certain traditions that are rooted in Buddhism and Taoism.

"I see," I replied. "Well, my grandfather has one of those child bride things."

"What?" he reacted quite loudly.

"Not in a perverted way," I explained. "Rural China and all, wherein parents who cannot afford to raise their children will... give?" I searched for a better word, "Have their daughters adopted by their future in laws, usually richer in laws."

"So your grandma...?" he asked cautiously.

"Oh, no," I answered quickly. "My grandfather joined the army and was deployed to Taiwan and, you know, war happened."

He nodded.

"He met my grandma in Taiwan and they fell in love and got married," I added.

"So what happened to his child bride?"

"Dunno," I replied with a shrug.

"Sounds archaic," he answered.

"It is," I agreed. "Aren't you glad we weren't born then? We get to freely fall in love and marry who we want to marry..."

"You mean we get to make our own mistakes with only ourselves to blame," he added something I  would have said.

#Tia

The more I think about it, the more I see a future with Nathaniel. He will make a great dad, even though I think he will spoil the kids.

He may not be the most spontaneous person, but I'm not either.

"Hey, do you want to grab lunch?" I heard the familiar line, but I glanced to see that Jake's friends are still there.

"No that's okay, you can go with your friends," I reply. I don't really feel like eating with a bunch of people I'm not closed to.

"I meant just the two of us," he clarified.

"I have a boyfriend," I answered automatically.

"So?" he asked with an eyebrow raised.

And I am suddenly embarrassed about my assumption.

"I'm gender fluid," he said.

"What does that mean?" I asked him.

"It means on some days we bat for the same team, and others we don't."

That reminds me of Michelle and all her claims about her sexuality.

"Oh."

"And besides just because you have a boyfriend, does that mean that you can't have other physically male friends?" he questioned.

I laughed, and reply, "No, of course not. I just want to put it out there. Just in case."

"Just in case, I fall in love with you?" he asked, while giving me his best smolder.

I rolled me eyes, and said, "Come on, let's grab lunch."

"So you and your boyfriend, how how long have you been together?" he asked as we made our way to the elevators.

I could give an answer down to a minute, but to avoid sounding like a bigger weirdo, I replied, "A couple of months."

He nodded.

"But we've been friends since college," I added.

"So are you two serious?" he asked.

"Of course," I replied. Serious, as in he is the only guy who ever had the guts to take my father's Bible Quiz. Serious, as in I want him to be the father of my future children, even if they would be lactose intolerant, as Michelle theorized.

"As in marriage serious?"

"I think we are heading in that direction," I replied. He hasn't asked though.

"Lucky you," he said.

"Why? Don't you have someone special?" I just realized that I know nothing about him either.

"I did. But then his parents wanted him to get serious about his future," he said. "That means they want grandchildren. And for obvious reasons, he can't have children with me. So we broke up. Rather, so he dumped me. Like a hot potato."

"Oh, I'm sorry-"

"Don't. That's the way it is. And his family are already lining up potential wives for him," he continued. "Do you know kai xiao?"

I nodded. Nathaniel had told me that that was how his parents met. As he described- nothing romantic.

"It's like speed dating for Chinese people. Oh and those pretending to be straight," he explained acidly.

Jake, like me, isn't Chinese either.

"Anyway, let's get Jollibee," he said ending the conversation.

Michelle

"Have you seen this?" I asked Nate, showing him my phone that's showing an online dating site exclusively for Filipino Chinese.

"That's racist," he commented. " Are you going to join?" he asked with an eyebrow raised.

"God, no," I replied. "Do you know how embarrassing it would be?"

"Why would it be embarrassing?"

"It just is."

"Why? Do you think that online dating is just for creepers and losers?"

Yes?

"What's embarrassing about putting yourself out there?" he asked again.

"I don't know," I replied honestly.