No Other You

Meili De Hua

Author's Note:

When I said that seeing and reading comments kept me going, I meant it. Super happy talaga ako na KathDen fans are starting to come together because of my fic! Kahit kaunti pa lang tayo dito, let's make this fic our little haven, a'right? 

Let's be friends on Twitter, follow me @faulkernette. Dun tayo mag-chikkahan. And just because I'm in a good mood, mag-dodouble update ako today! Enjoy you guys!

Additional Characters:

David Licauco as Andrew Chiu 

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In attempt to forget everything that happened yesterday, I made sure to keep myself busy today. I had a wedding coming up, and I had to make sure that everything was perfect. It wasn't Jaimie Dominguez' work, if it wasn't perfect after all. 

My agenda for today was to make sure that the floral arrangements were all set, so I headed down to Meili De Hua, one of the most popular floral shops in Quezon City to get the flowers that I needed. 

"The bride is a huge fan of pink and white, kaya ate, go tayo sa pink tulips at sa white roses." I explained to the nodding store attendant. "Nakalagay na rin dito ang mga arrangements na gusto nila sa church at saka sa reception. All it needs is a nod from your owner." 

"Sige po, ma'am. Ipapakita ko lang to kay sir ha." The attendant replied, as she moved out of her station. 

As I waited for the papers to be returned, I decided to walk around the flower shop. 

Meili De Hua meant "beautiful flower" in Chinese, and it was pretty obvious that whoever owned this flower shop did have Chinese descent. Of course, you were greeted by the golden Chinese figurines as you entered, but to my surprise, the place was pre-dominantly white and it was the flowers on display that added color to the shop. 

Seems like the owner did want his flowers to shine on their own. 

As I continued walking around, what caught my eye was a boy wearing garden gloves and a soiled apron looking at what seemed to be my papers. He was your typical Chinito, you know, the ones that were tall and white, looked like they could afford to buy anything they wanted in life, which was why I was surprised that he seemed as if he was doing some dirty work. 

"Hi," I said, slowly approaching him. "Sorry if na-iistorbo kita sa ginagawa mo, but... are you the owner of this place?"

When his eyes met mine, he looked a bit stunned, causing a mere 3 second response delay. 

"Sorry," He replied, smiling a bit nervously. "It's not everyday that a beautiful girl walks into our store." He added. "I'm Andrew. Andrew Chiu, and yes, I am the owner of this place."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." I smiled back politely. 

"Ate," He called out to the store attendant, who attending to him quickly. "Palagay nalang muna 'to sa staff room." He added, as he untied his apron and took off his garden gloves. "Sabihin mo nalang din sa mga trabahante natin na gawing priority yung floral arrangement ni Miss Dominguez." 

"Sige po, sir." 

"Sorry about that." Andrew smiled back. "Anyway, there's a really good pastry shop right across our store at sakto, lunch time na rin naman, would it be alright if I invite you on a friendly lunch date?" 

I laughed in reply. 

"Friendly lunch date. Sounds good to me." 

As soon as we were seated at the pastry shop, Andrew was nice enough to keep the conversation going. He seemed to be such a conversationalist actually, and it felt nice to just meet someone who had such a refreshing personality. 

"So 'yun, yung mom kung talaga yung owner ng Meili kasi she's always had this fondness for flowers, pero when she passed away, she passed it on to me. Only child lang din naman ako eh, at saka yung dad ko, nagpaiwan dun sa China when I was still a kid. So basically, it's really just me who's running the business." Andrew explained. 

"What about you? What's your story?" He smiled. 

"Well, I'm a wedding planner. Been in the business for around 2-3 years na." I said. "Masaya ako sa ginagawa ko kasi ito naman talaga yung passion ko. Events management." 

"That's nice." Andrew nodded. "I think I've heard your name somewhere, kasi suki din ako sa mga weddings pero always the groomsman, never the groom." He laughed. 

"Ganun naman talaga, di ba?" I replied. "But it's alright, we'll have our time." 

"We?" Andrew smiled playfully. 

"I meant, ikaw as Andrew and ako as Jaimie." I laughed. "Hindi 'yung... basta. I just hope I made sense." 

"You did, don't worry." Andrew replied. 

"Anyway," I said as I slowly gathered my things. "Thank you talaga for the quick lunch. I have to get going na rin, kasi andami ko pang gagawin." I added. 

Andrew had this look of disappointment on his face, but he knew that he couldn't demand too much of my time, knowing that my job was a hectic one. Instead, he looked rather hopeful as we said our goodbyes. 

"Jaimie, I hope I'm not being a creep right now kasi kakakilala pa lang natin, but... can I see you again?" He asked. 

"I don't think it's a question of can, but will." I simply said. "And yes, you will. Magkasama sa trabaho, di ba? The flowers for the wedding?" I reminded him. "Again, thank you."

As I exited the pastry shop, I glanced at him one last time. He was still watching me as I left, but I didn't feel scared or crept out. Just happy that I was able to share a light moment with someone who made me forget about my heartache for the mean time. 

It was a nice experience. Sadly, short-lived, but it's okay. 

I'm going to be okay.