Franki finally made it to the Philippines. Upon thorough consideration, she finally decided to give in to her mom's suggestion. It was not an easy decision especially travelling alone to a place she had never been to before. She was so anxious, but very excited at the same time. Anxious for she don't know what will happen, but excited for what this new journey has to bring. She's already at the airport in Manila waiting for her cousin to pick her up.
"Punky!!!", she heard her name being called and when she turned, she saw Kiara running towards her. Punky's her pet name when they were little.
She opened her arms and hugged Kiara tight. They were jumping like a kid due to excitement.
"I missed you!", Kiara said giggling.
She was so touched by Kiara's warm welcome. "Aw! I missed you too, Kiakia!!!", she responded sincerely. They haven't seen each other for quite a long time.
She's still the same warm and kind Kiara she had known. They have always been close ever since they were little. They were the best of friends until Kiara's family decided to migrate to Japan.
"You have a lot of explaining to do!", Kiara said referring as to why she suddenly decided to visit Philippines. She haven't told her the whole story behind it yet although Kiara knows it's about David. It was her mom who initially spoke to her cousin that she'll come over.
"I know, I know! Well, we have forever to catch up now.", she said smiling.
Kiara grabbed one of her suitcases. "C'mon! Gino's in the car waiting.", referring to his boyfriend for 3 years. They started to walk together heading to a black Toyota Innova just a few steps away from them.
"Ah, look at you! Welcome to the Philippines!", Gino said and gave her a quick hug. He went out of the car to help them with her luggage. It was not the first time she met Gino. He already travelled with Kiara to New Zealand once and her family also hosted them.
"How was the flight?", Gino asked as he was putting her suitcases inside the car compartment.
"It was tiring! Probably the longest travel of my life! I can't even believe I made it here alive.", she answered jokingly.
Gino laughed. "Nah, don't worry! You'll love it here! We'll show you around and it'll be worth it!"
"Aw! That's so sweet! Thank you both so much!", she said deeply touched by how accommodating the two were. First day and she's already feeling all the love. She really hope she did the right thing.
Franki had been wanting to visit the Philippines ever since, but she never had the chance to do it. She was born and raised in New Zealand to a Kiwi father and a Filipina mother. Although she had never been here, she remembered her mom telling her and her siblings great stories about the Philippines, the culture, and how their life was in the province when they were younger. How you can just go to anyone's house during fiestas and eat especially on where they lived where people know almost everyone. Or, like how neighbors would normally exchange food during lunch. Other fascinating stories such as that which grew her desire to visit the country one day. Her mom also said that Christmas in the Philippines is the best and she's somehow looking forward to experience it all.
Maybe they were right, everything happens for a reason. Her heart being broken leads her home, and it was meant to happen.
"So, are there any particular places that you wanna visit while you're here?", Kiara asked. They're already on the road going to Kiara's place.
"Hmm.. to be honest Kia, I don't have any plans at all when I decided to come here. It's more of like, I just want to be away and let life flow as to wherever direction it will lead me.", she answered.
"Well, I think we got you covered then. We'll make sure you'll enjoy your stay. Right, love?", Kiara said turning to Gino.
"We'll sure do! It's our turn to tour you around this time."
"You guys are so kind. Thank you so much for accommodating me, really. I might start to cry.", she pretended to be wiping her eyes.
The two laughed. "Oh, stop it! Of course you're my cousin. We're almost siblings!", Kiara exclaimed.
"It's what you called gratitude, Franki! It's our way of saying thank you to Tita Arlene and you guys for accommodating us the last time we were in NZ. We had an amazing stay because of you. So we'll make sure you'll enjoy your stay here too.", Gino said with all sincerity.
"Aw, okay now I'm crying!", she was teary-eyed. "Suhlamat tuhlugah! Sobra!", she replied trying her Tagalog skills.
"Naks, nagtatagalog na si Franki!", Gino said teasingly.
"Konti pa lang! I really want to learn. It's very funny that I'm half Filipino but I never know the language. I'd love to learn and be able to communicate better while I'm here."
"That's very nice! You want to take tagalog lessons? We have a friend that can help you learn faster.", Gino suggested.
"Really? That would be great!", she can't contain her excitement.
"But before that, you gotta deal with balut first. That's what we prepared for dinner! It's how we officially welcome foreigners here.", Kiara said teasing her.
"Oh no, no, Kia! We are not doing that! Not today!", she replied in a panic.
The two continued teasing her and the car got filled with so much laughter. Her heart was so happy, she haven't laughed like that in a long time. She remembered to send out a message to Sophie and her mom that she had arrived safely. She promised to keep in touch and to always update them. Sophie's really sad when she left, but they said they'll try to come over since none of them, her siblings, have visited the Philippines yet. Franki couldn't wait.
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Beautiful Disaster
Romance"I love you so much!", Diana said in a husky voice. Franki's heart was beating faster. Uh oh! What have she gotten into. Diana was hugging her so tight that she could not move. She was trying to get out, but Diana won't let her go. Suddenly, she not...
