FOG

Part 1

         Hindi naniniwala si Oliver sa kasabihang, 'Love at first sight.'

          Paniwala niya, 'Those who believe that love at first sight is true, are not only blind but are also idiots!'

          Ayon pa sa kanya, 'The mind has to generate enough human memories and emotions before it can power the heart to produce pulses of love. It never happens at first sight... for the first time... but many sights, many times.'

          ... pero nang makita na niya si Ruby sa kanilang unang date, nagbago na ang kanyang pananaw. 

          Is he an idiot too?

           Kuwento ni Oliver...

          I never believe myself to have overwritten what I believe to be a lie – that love at first sight is but a word of mouth and is meaningless to the human minds, and that people who uses this phrase to describe their feelings as love to someone whom they see or meet for the first time are idiots!

          My friend set-up me for a blind date. I swear to God that I really didn't know it. If I have known it, I would have raised my pride and told them, 'I am not yet a desperate man that needs help just to find a girlfriend.'  But seeing Ruby for the first time, changed what I believed to be a lie. I doubted what I believed to be true. I asked myself, if the regular rhythm (and sometimes abnormal) beats of my heart that I felt when I saw Ruby for the first time is not love, what would it be? I lost words and had a foggy mind.

          We dine together. I'm facing her. She's facing me. Face to face. Breath to breath. Energy to energy. My eyes catches every movement she makes. My ears attentive to every word she says.

          It was my first time to see her. It was my first time to be with her. But every movement she made and every word she said have generated enough memories and emotions that powered my heart to produced what I believed to be pulses of love. Am I an idiot too?

          'Yes, I am...' matigas na sabi ni Oliver '... not for loving her, but for trusting that she's the one.'

          Pagkaraan ng isang buwang bakasyon sa Pilipinas ay muling nagbalik si Oliver sa bansang UAE kung saan siya OFW.  Ang plano ay mag-i-extend sana siya ng isa pang buwan dahil magpo-propose na siya ng kasal sa kasintahang si Ruby. 

          Sa katunayan, bago ang kanyang pag-uwi sa Pilipinas ay nakabili na siya ng engagement ring, nakabuo na siya ng dialogue na sasabihin, at nasa isip na niya ang kanyang gagawin. Yayayain niya si Ruby sa isang class na restaurant at doon gagawin ang kanyang proposal. Bubuksan niya ang box ng engagement ring, titingnan niya ang magiging reaksiyon ni Ruby kapag nakita nito ang 22 karat gold ring with 3 sparkling ruby stones; at tatandaan niya iyon sa diary ng kanyang isipan. Kukuha siya ng buwelo at bibigkasin ang kanyang dialogue habang inaabot ang engagement ring, 'This is not the best thing I a man can give to a woman. This is just the beginning. Love is the best thing. I love you, Ruby. Will you be my wife?'

          Ang planong iyon ay hindi nangyari dahil nagbago ang takbo ng kanyang kapalaran. Walang proposal na nangyari kaya hindi na nag-extend pa ng bakasyon si Oliver.

          Nakasakay si Oliver sa eight seater na van na minamaneho ng driver na Pakistan na sumundo sa kanya sa airport. Frustrated siyang napapailing sa nangyari sa kanila ni Ruby.  Ibinaling niya ang sarili sa pagtingin sa labas habang dahan-dahang tumatakbo ang sinasakyan niyang van.

          Dapat ay kanina pa siya dumating pero dahil sa makapal na hamog sa airport ay halos isang oras na naghintay ang sundong Pakistanong driver dahil na-delayed ang paglapag ng sinakyan niyang eroplano galing Pilipinas.