HERSHE - TIAOM

Serendipity

Kim's eyes widened. "Oh c'mon..."

"I'm not lying!"

Kim laughed to her surprise. "Is Bangkok too big for us that we have to meet here in Taipei instead?"

"Maybe Bangkok is too crowded for us. Who knows, we might have been passing by each other but never noticed it."

Kim shook her head and shrugged. "Well, it's... it's just something..."

"It's not something," said the woman, beaming at her. "It is called serendipity." The woman held out her hand to introduce herself. "I'm Yam by the way."

Kim had to shift her coffee to her left hand to free her right hand. "I'm Kim."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Kim. You're here for vacation?"

"Mmm, sort of. I'm just visiting my dad for New Year's Eve celebration."

"Then why are you strolling around here at this hour? You should be spending the day with your old man."

Although the question may seem to be personal, Yam's way of talking made it impossible for Kim to resist answering.

"Unfortunately, my old man is busy with his clients even today."

"Oh, what a workaholic daddy you have there."

Kim chuckled. "Yeah. How about you, you're here for vacation too?"

"Not sure if you can call it a vacation, but yeah..."

"You alone?"

"Yup."

Kim hummed in response. She felt to urge to ask more but doesn't want to sound like a nosy person.

"Is this your first time here?" asked Yam.

"I've been in Taiwan twice but this is the first time I went to this area. You?"

"Not the first time. For the last six years, I've been going to this exact place every 31st of December."

"Wow. Something special here?"

"This is the exact place where I met my boyfriend," came the response. "He was sitting on your spot now and I was sitting here. It happened 31st of December six years ago. We became an official couple the year after. It became our routine to go here every end of the year because this is where it all started."

"Oh. That's nice. Is he with you now?"

Yam shook her head slowly. "Well, this is the second time I went here alone.... He can't make it anymore..."

"You guys... sort of... split up?"

Yam forced a smile. "I wish we did, but it's not that way..."

The answer just got Kim more interested. She felt like maybe Yam is a lost soul that needs someone to talk to now. "Hey, I know we just met but I'm all ears in case you want to talk about it."

Yam's face looked relieved to hear that. "I'm not sure if I've told you this already but I am a florist. Being a florist, my passion is to prepare the best flower arrangement to any important events in somebody's life. Of course, my biggest dream is to design flowers for my wedding — our wedding."

Kim didn't say anything, anticipating the other girl to continue her story.

"It's just that it never occurred to me that I'll be the one who'll prepare the flowers for..." Yam intentionally paused for a moment as if she's trying to get more courage to say it, "...his funeral."

Kim felt a sudden ache in her heart. She recalled how her dad was so depressed when her mom died. Although she was too young that time to remember all the details but the pain she saw in her father's eyes is kept in her memory.