| Fan Fiction |
by kglove
“There’s not even an option. I will have to see her. Our offices are across from each other. I just have to avoid seeing her until the very last possible second.” Gerald mumbled to himself. He finally got out of the car and started walking towards the building entrance. He kept looking around while waiting for the elevator doors to open, praying that he wouldn’t see the face that has been recurring in his dreams for the past week.
Glad that he was able to make it to the training department without a sight of Kim, he walked quickly to his office after greeting the people who saw him come in. As soon as he reached his office, he quickly closed the door which he would normally leave open. “If this is what she wants, I’ll give it to her.” Gerald thought.
***
Ever since she woke up this morning, Kim felt butterflies in her stomach. For some reason, not even the taste of her favorite pancake for breakfast eased her anxiety. She knows that Gerald is going back to work today. Not quite knowing what to expect, she quickly tread the hallway leading to where the trainer’s offices were. Kim stopped at the entrance of her office. She stole a brief glance at Gerald’s office and noticed that the door was closed. “He’s not here yet?” she muttered before stepping inside her office, although he noticed that the light was turned on inside. She shrugged and checked her emails. There were several emails, including some from Gerald. Although his emails were mostly just acknowledging the department memos, it brought a smile in her face albeit it was more of an unconscious gesture. Now she was sure that he is already in the office if he was able to reply. Kim stole another quick glance at Gerald’s office but the door was still closed. Taking a deep breath, she stood up and walked to the training room of her class.
The whole morning went by but Kim and Gerald managed to avoid crossing paths. Having heard Gerald talking from her office to one of the trainers about having lunch at the pantry, she decided to eat in her office. She was thankful that Jane is now handling her own class, though she’s still under Kim’s supervision. Alone was what she wanted to be at the moment.
***
(One year ago)
“Dude, what happened to you? You look like shit!” David said when Gerald arrived. It was one of their regular boys day out and they were going to play basketball.
“I just had a rough night.”
“Woah! Kim wore you out huh.” Xian ribbed.
“No, jerk. It’s not what you think it is.” Gerald said.
“Come on, man. We’re all adults here.”
“David, I told you that is not it.” Gerald sat on one of the benches and dropped his face in his hands. “Kim insisted on painting our new apartment last night. I told her we could do it later today but she wouldn’t listen to me. We painted all night until she could no longer stand on her own due to exhaustion.”
“Ah, the complications of living together. You better get used to it, dude.” Carlo tapped his shoulders. “Long way to go, Ge.”
Gerald grabbed the ball from David and started shooting around. “I never expected her to be domineering like that. The night before that, she totally re-arranged my closet. Now, I'm having a hard time locating my clothes.”
“Didn’t you and Kim stay in each other’s apartment before you officially moved in together? You should be used to it by now.” Xian asked.
“Yes, we did. But this is different. Back then, we would still go home to our respective homes after spending the night together. So I still have my - privacy, for lack of a better word.”
“Gerald, you know how people say you can’t really know your partner until you live together. I bet you Kim is bitching to the girls how unorganized you are or how loud you snore.” Carlo warned. “Get used to it. After all, you signed up for this.”
“Are you having second thoughts about Kim?” David inquired.
“No! Of course not. I love her so much.”
Xian snorted. “Well then suck it up, dude. I know it must be a pain in the ass but trust me when I say it’s all worth it.”
“I know that. I guess I just wasn’t used to someone taking control of my life, so to speak. But then again, as you guys pointed out, I signed up for this. I was whining for nothing, wasn’t I?”
“YES!” David, Xian and Carlo chorused. They looked at each other and laughed heartily.
“Let’s play!”
***
“Oh my gosh, I feel so tired!” Jane slumped into the chair in Kim’s office.
Kim couldn’t help but laugh as she saw her intern’s face. “First day on your own and you’re already complaining?”
“Well, I have to get used to being on my own. You spoiled me while I was co-facilitator in your class.”
“You’ll get used to it, Jane. For someone smart like you, you worry too much, do you realize that?”
“I can’t help it. I want to be even half of how good you are.”
Kim smiled. “You will be. For all we know you might even be better than me. So relax, just enjoy.”
“Thanks.” Jane stood up. “Why are you still here anyways? I thought you only have training class until 4 pm.”
“Yeah, I was just finishing up some paperworks when you came in.”
“Alright. I’m going to leave you to it. Break is almost over for me. See you.” Jane waved at her.
After she was done with all the training reports that she had to do for the day, Kim turned off her PC and grabbed her bag. She decided to drop by the ladies room before going home. On her way out of the ladies room, she saw Gerald walking towards the men’s with his head down as he was texting. Realizing it was too late for her to go back inside and there was no other way for her to hide, she took a deep breath to compose herself. When Gerald looked up, he stopped on his tracks when he saw Kim.
“Uh…” Gerald hesitated whether he should say something or just continue walking.
“Hi.” Kim greeted him. She was grateful that her voice was more relaxed than the frantic beating of her heart.
“Hi. Going home?” Gerald asked. Kim nodded. “Okay. Take care.”
They stood there looking at each other for a couple of seconds before Gerald moved forward and motioned to Kim that he was going inside the men’s room. Kim just smiled and waved at him as they went their separate ways.
Inside the men’s room, Gerald stood in front of the mirror smiling to himself. All day long, he was successful in trying to avoid crossing paths with her. But he was surprised that Kim greeted him. He wanted to hug her so badly but remembered his promise to leave her alone. He thought about what his dad said on his last night with him.
“Forget it, Gerald. Even if you want her back, she will never take you again. You hurt her so much before and she doesn’t even want to be friends with you, for crying out loud!” Gerald said to his image on the mirror, thankful that he was alone.
Meanwhile, Kim walked towards her car, lost in her thoughts. She missed him. That’s a fact that she’s been trying to ignore but failed miserably to do so the moment she saw him after a week of absence.
“Perhaps Cathy’s right. I am being harsh on Gerald.” Kim said. Surprised that she spoke out loud, she looked around and saw no one. She went in her car. “Maybe I should start being a little more nice to Gerald.”
A knock on her window startled Kim. It was Gerald. She rolled down the window. “What’s up?”
Gerald looked concerned as he spoke gently. “Is there something wrong?”
Kim shook her head. “No, why?”
“Well, I noticed that you have been sitting inside your car for quite sometime now so I thought something’s wrong with your car.”
Kim blushed. “Oh, no, nothing’s wrong.” She turned the ignition on and smiled. “See, it’s running.”
Gerald chuckled. “Okay, I’m sorry.”
“Thanks for asking anyway. I guess I just spaced out for a bit there.”
“Tiring day, huh?” Kim nodded. “I know what you mean. Anyway, you should get going then. Take some rest.”
“You too. Thanks again. Drive safely, Gerald.” Gerald just smiled at her and stepped away from her car. When Kim noticed that he didn’t leave, she asked him, “Uh, do you need a ride?”
“Oh, no. I brought my car with me. I was just waiting for you to leave so I can be sure that there’s really no problem with your car. You’ll never know what can happen if you leave your car parked for the whole day.” He winked at her.
Kim couldn’t help but laugh at his remark. “My car’s fine. I can prove you that.”
“Alright, I’m waiting.”
“I’m going. Bye.” She smiled at him one last time before rolling up the windows again and put the car on gear and drove away.
Gerald waited until Kim’s car was out of his sight before he walked over to where his car was.
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I'm so sorry for the long delay. I had some sort of writer's block. I'm not even satisfied with this chapter but that's all that I can come up with for now. I promise to make up for it on the next chapters.