First Glance

His POV

The first time I saw her, I was mesmerized by her smile.

The second time I saw her, I was amazed by her kindness.

The third time I saw her, I am in awe for her dedication.

Then I saw her the fourth time, fifth time, sixth time, seventh time, eight time, until she's the only one I can see. For some reason, she always catches my attention and it seems like my vision have set an autofocus on her.

I got to know her, that became one of my goals.

I actually don't know her name but I first seen her at an orphanage. My dad happened to asked me to deliver our donations at an orphanage and I saw her on one of the rooms there while teaching the kids how to paint. I stopped on my tracks because I was mesmerized by her smile. It's just so genuine and it's one of the brightest smile I have ever seen.

There's also this one time when I was about to cross the street, there's this old lady who is struggling to cross the street because of her groceries. I was about to help her but before I even take a step, I saw a girl helped her. I thought she was familiar and she is, she's the same girl from the orphanage. And that's how I saw her on the second time.

One morning, after my morning jog, I went straight to a coffee shop. As I approached the counter, I was welcomed by her voice that is full of enthusiasm as she asked about my order. That's where I saw her for the third time, fourth time, fifth time, and so on. I became a regular customer there and later on, based on my observation, I found out that she's a working student and she's working part-time in there to support her own education.

I didn't really had the chance to talk to her. I was too shy to initiate a conversation and I saw afraid she'll think I'm a weirdo, creep or a stalker. I really want to get to know her but I don't know how. But seems like destiny is on my side when I saw her walk in to the same class that I was.

I was already on my fourth year college that time. I'm already a graduating student taking up Business Administration and she was on her third year taking up the same course but is Economics major.

I was really surprised to see her on the same class as mine but I was even more surprised when she sat next to me. And if it is possible to be more surprised, she caught me off guard again when she started talking to me.

"Hi, I sat beside you 'coz I know you. You're our regular from the café, right?" "By the way I'm Angelica Bianca, AB for short."

It took me a few seconds before I composed myself to finally able to respond to her. I only know her as AB from her cafe's uniform, I didn't know she have such beautiful name as pretty as she is.

Just like that, it became like destiny's way of letting me get to know her. And as I get to know her, she only proves day by day how great of a person she is. She's so pure and very genuine and it became hard not to like her.

I don't really talk a lot but she made me not to stop talking. She made me get out of my comfort zone and she have that positive energy around her that she was able to transfer to me. But aside from all her good sides, she also didn't hesitate to show me her flaws. For me, she is perfectly imperfect.

Her POV

The first time I saw him I felt that he have a lot on his plate, that he have a heavy responsibility on his shoulders. He's too quiet, he's shy and he always hesitates. The total opposite of me, but for some reason, I find him so cute with those characteristics.

The first time I saw him, it was on the café where I work part-time. He looks so serious but he seems surprised as I greet him. He even looks nervous as he hand me his payment. I always see him on the coffee shop and I even memorized his usual order. Many times, I can see him looking at me on my peripheral vision but never did he approached me to talk to me. Honestly, as a girl, I actually have a little crush on him since he really looks good and I was hoping he'll talk to me but he didn't so I just let it be.

I didn't really came from a wealthy family so I had to work hard for my tuition fee and daily allowance. My mom is a single mother and I still have little siblings who are also studying so I decided to support my own to lessen my mom's burden.

I had to stop studying for one semester to save more money so when I decided to study again, I was a irregular student and have a different subjects at different year levels. It's sad that my blockmates are already ahead of me and I feel like I'll have a hard time going to different class and having a different blockmates.

I am always eager when it comes to studying but that's the first time that I'm not excited to go to school but when I enter the classroom, I was so happy to see a familiar face. Much more to that, it's the cute guy from the café!

So, even though we don't really know each other, I grab that chance to introduce myself to him. I thought he's a total snob for not replying to what I've said but after a while, he finally managed to talk and he also introduced himself to me. So his name is Karl Justin, he said he prefers to call him Justin but I call him KJ because he really is! But of course, I only started calling him KJ when the two of us became close.

I didn't expect that the two of us will click. I mean, we're just different in a lot of ways. I am an extrovert and he's an introvert. I talk a lot and he rarely speak. But for some reason, I was able to unleash the talkative side of him. We never ran out of topic whenever we talk and I got to see his real personality.

He's a good guy. He doesn't brag about it but I've seen him many times helping random people on the street. And I also found out that his family regularly donates to the orphanage where I am a volunteer worker.

He's the eldest son on his family and he's meant to inherit their business and I was right, he really have a lot on his shoulders. He is expected to perform well , he is expected to be good in everything, and his parents have such high expectation of him that even though he's doing his best, it's just wasn't good enough.

I was sad from him and at the same time, I feel special for he let me see the vulnerable side of him. Day by day, the little crush I had for him before continuously grows and I didn't even notice how my feelings for him grown. I just want to be someone who is always by his side. Someone who can understand him even if he can't even understand or express himself. Someone that can appreciate him and someone that will always be proud of him for doing his best at everything.

I thought my feelings for his was hopeless. I thought what he feels for me is pure friendship so I was so surprised when he asked me out on a date, the day before the valentine. On our date, he made me feel special like what he always do. And he formally said to me that he'll court me.

Just a month after, he officially became my boyfriend. I decided to cut the chase because that's just a waste of time. If we like each other then I'll gladly go for it. Being a relationship with him is the best. Aside from being my boyfriend, he also became my big brother and my best friend. He never gave me a reason to hate him or to be mad at him. He's just the best. Our relationship seems to be unreal because we never fight.

I thought everything's perfect. But then he graduated college, I thought that won't be a bad thing. I thought of it as a good thing because he'll now step on the real world. I thought it'll be a great opportunity for him to go out, discover things and reach his dream, but I didn't think things will turn out this way.

His POV

I graduated college. And 5 months after I graduated, we broke up.

I graduated college and I was the happiest. My parents are a bit disappointed because I didn't get the highest award but then, there's my girlfriend, there was AB who showed me how much she's proud of me.

Right after graduation, I didn't even had a rest. My father insisted that I should start training in his company and because I don't want to disappoint him anymore, I agreed.

Being a trainee at our own company is even way harder than I imagine it to be. My father isn't helping either. I feel like whatever I do, I cannot make him proud. Being a trainee eats up most of my time but good thing, I have a girlfriend who understands. I am just so lucky to have someone who's best character trait is to understand. She's just like that every time. I don't even need to explain myself. All I have to do is to be honest with her and she always try to understand.

For the first few months, our relationship is going smoothly but unfortunate things happen to her family. Her mom got sick so she have to work extra hours to support her family. On top of that, she also had internship so she became even more busy.

The most important thing in relationship is communication but as day passed by, our communication becomes vague. We rarely talk, we don't communicate our feelings with each other. When I am free, she's not. When she's free, I can't go.

We were splitting apart without me noticing. I was so busy chasing my dream and pleasing my parents that I didn't even notice how I al slowly losing her. She's having a hard time yet I wasn't able to be by her side like what she always do to me when I am frustrated with my parents.

I tried saving our relationship but the damage has been done and it's too late for saving. We end up having a mutual decision to breakup so that we could both focus on ourselves and families.

Her POV

I really tried my best to understand him but I guess, my understanding has also its limits. I was having a hard time too and I want him to be there for me but he's busy. I know, he's also having a tough time but I can't help it but to think that if he really wants to be there for me, he can.

But it's too late. I know I am also at fault. He's not the only one who failed in this relationship, I am too. And I thought that if we insist on holding on to our relationship, the more that we'll be damaged, the more that it'll get hurt.

And so even though it hurts, even though I need him at my side, I took the courage to end things up for both our sake and I'm just glad that he agreed. This is for the better.

7 years later

His POV

7 years have passed and I can still remember her. I can still remember her smiles and the thought of it can also make me smile.

Our breakup is not something that I didn't expected but I also do agree that it was for the best. And indeed, for me, it worked for my own good.

Few months after our breakup, I was promoted to a higher position in the company yet I wasn't enough for my dad. I just couldn't be enough for him. So I took the courage to live on my own and do what my passion is telling me to do.

I have always wanted a simple and comfortable life and so, with all the savings that I got, I used that to start a business. It's just a small coffee shop. I even took a short course to train as a barista so that I can also manage it well. At first, it was really hard. But later on, I was able to make the business established and now, I can proudly say that I am successful with the path that I chose to take.

I had made a lot of mistakes in the past but if there's one mistake where I had learned the most from, it is to never live based on the standards of others. I spend lot of time trying to prove myself to my family that I forgot how to live for myself. I didn't even notice that I am just doing what they want me to do and not what I want to do. And because of that, because I was too busy missing their standards, I lost the one who truly supported me on whatever I want to do.

So, never again. Never again that I will live being anxious of what others might think. I will live the way I want to because I don't have to prove anything to anyone.

And if ever that we'll meet again, I will make sure to be with her when she needs me to. I will make sure to understand her the way she understands me. And I will always try to have an open communication with her.

Someday... if we'll meet again.

End.

Should I make a part 2? LOL

I finally did my Valentine's entry. Hehe. But anyways, this is actually my entry for @carisdaneym2 's birthday giveaway. LOL. I don't even want to re-read this thing that I wrote. Just tell me your feebback about this, y'all!

Thanks for reading this far! Happy Valentine's Day!

:)