Love, Anonymous (COMPLETED)

Chapter Sixteen - Serendipity

It's a cool weekend readers, thank you for still following this story, which is now ranked #12! This is my first full length fiction and you are all awesome for appreciating my work. This Chapter makes reference to the Prologue of this story so in case you've already forgotten what transpired then, you can backread to fully understand this chapter.

Hope you'll like this update, I promise you the next one will be meatier, just hang in there! Meanwhile, find out what transpired between Maine and Kris Aquino during their meeting. I am having a blast reading your comments, just keep them coming, ok?

Enjoy the weekend my dears, happy reading :)  

It took three weeks before Maine's meeting with Kris Aquino pushed through. She wanted Alden to come with her but she understood his reasoning of not wanting to meddle. He knew that he could influence her greatly if a decision was needed, and as she discovered, a tough decision had to be made. She still wished he came with her though, not wanting to take responsibility for this tough situation she needed to decide on.

Although Alden expected a call from her to update him on what transpired during the meeting, she just texted him to say she was tired and would tell him about the meeting when they see each other three days from then. She needed time to think things over and make a decision that would be good for all of them.

Currently, Kris was on hiatus from ABS-CBN, she had no show airing and no movies in the offing. When she met with Maine, she was very cordial and spoke highly of Maine's dubsmash work, even if most were parodies of her movies. She claimed she wanted to work with Maine.

"I have several projects in mind, Maine. I wanted to get fresh talents to handle segments of my show. Since you're also a flight attendant, I thought it would be great if I offered you the travel segment.  You can pick the music for the destinations, dubsmash it, ganon. Para hindi boring. You can also interview people. We'll start with places you've already been to, that way it's easier for you to talk about these places. I know that you also write so maybe later on you can write your own material.How does that sound?"

"Ms. Kris, I don't know if I'm up for the challenge. I mean, dream ko to work in showbiz and all that, but I don't know if I have the necessary skills set for it."

"You're so humble naman. Everything can be learned, my dear. Diba Darla?" She laughs , her trademark throaty laughter echoing around her office. "I saw your videos kaya. You ha, you made fun of me pero cute naman so I let it pass. So don't tell me you don't have the skills set. I have good instincts about people kaya, and guess what? I like you na. Hahahaha."

Maine laughed at the memory. Kris was funny but she was intelligent. Maine felt she would like working with Kris and she would learn a lot from the experience. But....

She had to consider Alden's feelings in case she decides to work with Kris. If plans push through, the job with Kris would entail leaving her current job and working with Alden's rival station. True, it would open a lot of opportunities for her, but she had feelings for Alden, and she didn't want to let this opportunity drive a wedge between them.

What would ABS-CBN's stand be on her having Alden as a boyfriend? She's so close to making a commitment with him. What if ABS constrains her from having a relationship with Alden? Sure, she was still young, there would be time for a relationship later. But what would Alden wait for her?

-----

"Maine, tignan mo nga itong box na 'to."

She and Coleen were in the storage room of their house, clearing out stuff they no longer used, to make room for some old appliances that will be replaced by new ones. Maine checked the box that Coleen pushed towards her, which was sealed with packing tape. Upon opening the box, she saw that it contained her notes, lectures and reference materials when she was still in college. There were several scrapbooks too, reminding her how much she liked scrapbooking as a hobby.

She pulled a monobloc chair and scanned through the scrapbooks, which evoked fond memories of her high school and college days, back when life was a lot less complicated and more fun. She cringed at her old photos, the clothes she used to wear, and the cheesy quotes she used to accompany the photos.

Suddenly, a photo caught her eye. It was a blurry photo of her and a guy who looked vaguely familiar. They were at an event, the guy had his hand on her shoulder and they were both smiling at the camera. She checked the other photos and saw a clear solo photo of hers, which showed the event was at the Candy Fair.

"Ano yang tinitignan mo, huy. Marami pa tayong gagawin," Coleen said, taking a peek at her scrapbook.

"O, dati mo pa pala kilala si Richard? Magkasama kayo sa pic o edited yan?"

"Ha? Si Richard ba to? Iba yung buhok eh."

"Ala kang kwenta, Menggay. Hindi mo mamukhaan?" Coleen leafed through the other pages of the scrapbook and found a clearer photo, a solo of Alden. "O ayan, malinaw ha, di na maikakaila. Si Alden yan eh."

"Grabe Coleen, crush mo eh no? Nakilala mo agad."

"Gaga, anong klaseng girlfriend ka hindi mo kilala boyfriend mo."

"Hindi ko pa siya sinasagot!"

"Uy huwag ka nga Meng ha. Kung maglandian kayo sa phone, kala mo hindi ko naririnig? Hindi mo pa sinasagot pero jowa levels na galawan niyo."

She looked at the photo closely, unable to believe that five years ago, she already met Alden. She tried to recall what transpired when they met, how she got to have her photo taken with him. Then she remembered something he said. It puzzled her then, but it amazed her how prophetic those words sound now.

"Thanks, see you soon."