A Childhood Promise

The Unexpected Reunion

Then out of the blue, after years of trying to move on, he once again finds himself drifting to the thought of the girl he once thought of as his world. The girl he gave his grandmother's ring to, when he promised to marry her when they were young. He thought of it to be true to him for the longest time, but now he'll be marrying someone else.

He felt guilty with the pang of regret knocking at the back of his head. He shouldn't be regretful, because after all that had happened, he ended up meeting Diane. He's very fortunate to have her. It's likely he would never see that girl again anyway, he should be happy and just move forward with his life with his soon to be wife.

She noticed the troubled look on his face. "What's the matter? What are you thinking about?"

"I'm just thinking how lucky I am to have you in my life and how much I have to make up for."

"You are lucky, aren't you? Yeah, you should think about that. I expect to be spoiled." She teased him.

He knew she doesn't really care about any of those things. What she really wants is simply to spend time with him. But it doesn't hurt if he does spoil her once in a while.

The following day, Ace scheduled himself to be off duty, leaving his kitchen to his trusted friend Toni, in order to spend time with his fiancé. It would definitely be a long day. He has no idea if there are other things Diane has planned to do.

He got out of bed, washed his face and brushed his teeth, then headed for the kitchen. He got the coffee started, and went on to make pancakes, eggs and bacon. Diane walked in on him just in time as he plated the last of the crisp bacon strips.

"Good morning, beautiful." He greeted her as he placed a plate in front of her at the counter.

"Smells delicious."

"Me? Or the food?" He teased.

She knew how to kick back, complimenting the food means complimenting him, so she said, "the coffee."

He took the plate away from her in defiance, playfully glaring at her.

"Hey!"

"What? I thought you don't want any." He began cutting into his stack of pancakes covered with butter, maple syrup, and bits of bacon.

"I just didn't say it was the one I smelled. I do want some." She pouted at him like a kid.

He smiled and pushed her plate back to her.

"So, what are our plans for today?"

She chewed on a piece of bacon recalling the itineraries she made.

"We'll go browse at a few shops and maybe meet with a couple of designers."

"A couple? Yesterday it was just one."

"We've got a lot of time before our appointment with her."

"What time?"

"7 in the evening."

"Your designer's at the office at that hour?"

"Not yet my designer. And they got their own time. Designing the perfect dress takes time."

"Is there any way out of this?"

"Not a chance."

They made their way through bridal shop to another and another. She browsed through the dresses and he just nodded at each of them. There weren't one very striking to him. None that made him imagine her wearing walking down the aisle towards him. And a couple she tried made him cringe, but he was sure she only tried them on to see if he really was paying attention.