One in a million summers

“Boss, aren’t you going to have a summer vacation? I’ve never seen you take a break from work.” Yvaine’s assistant asked her.

“I don’t like vacations, more so summertime. How about you, why don’t you take one?” She said then faced the big windows behind her.

…

Looking back, summers weren’t really memorable or worth remembering for Yvaine. She spent most of her days reading books, writing reviews, exercising, and sleeping. She stayed inside her apartment all summer, went back to school after that. She’s usually alone during summer since her friends are traveling this time of the year.

Until that one summer, the last one she has before graduating college, years ago. She met the person who made her never forget about the beauty of summertime. Reagan was that one summer. He gave Yvaine a summer that she never forgot…

Yvaine had the urge to do some grocery shopping on a market near her building. It was an open space with fresh fruits and vegetables and its beside a park.

Going through some of the produce, her eyes settled on a box of green unripe mangoes.

She proceeded to the stall where she saw the mangoes.

“Do you want the ripe ones?” a deep voice and a familiar face appeared behind the curtain in the stall that had the mangoes.

“No.” She answered hesitantly without looking at him. She feels that she knows him, but can’t remember where.

“So…you like the sour ones?” Yvaine knew that he wanted to start a conversation. But she just wasn’t into it.

“I’ll get 10 pieces of the unripe mangoes.” She said and gave the money to him.

“I’m Reagan.” The man said while handing the mangoes to Yvaine.

Nice name…Yvaine thought

“Well, thanks. Got it from my mother.” He answered. Yvaine said her thought out loud, unconsciously.

Out of shock, she faced Reagan.

His eyes were a shade of brown that reflected the shine of that one sunny day.

His hair was a mix of natural warm brown and black that was waving with the breeze of that day.

His features were strong and sharp and he was taller than Yvaine.

She stopped herself from over-analyzing him more.

“Done already?” he smiled at her and Yvaine was frozen in place.

She quickly grabs the mangoes and went straight right into her apartment, forgetting that she hasn’t gotten everything she needed for the week. In fact, the mangoes and fresh milk was the only thing she was able to get.

Frustrated as she is, Yvaine just decided to eat her newly bought mangoes and read her first book of the day.

…

Reagan decided that he wanted to help her aunt sell some produce that they grew themselves on the farm they owned a couple of miles outside the city.

“Oh, Darling. I’m sure that I can sell all of my produce at the end of the day!” His aunt cheered.

“And why is that? Isn’t there going to be lots of other stalls with the same products?” he asked.

“Well, they don’t have a good-looking nephew like I do. I guess it just runs in the blood naturally.” His aunt said and laughed while entering Reagan’s car.

Reagan’s aunt went to the other stalls where her friends were and he was laying down on the back of their stall when he saw a figure behind the curtain, approaching their stall.

The woman was eyeing the green mangoes that they had, not paying attention on anywhere or anyone else. He took the opportunity to carefully look at her.

Her lashes were the first thing he noticed. It was long and full, it looked like it belongs to a doll.

Her nose was small and pointed, perfectly sculpted…he thought.

Her hair was black, wavy, and long, it reaches her waist.

And her eyes. It was jet black and sharp. Shining as the sun reflects in it. Beautiful…Reagan’s mind dictated.

“Do you want the ripe ones?” Reagan asked and he noticed she was startled but didn’t look at him.

He tried to start a conversation but he knew she wasn’t interested.

Reagan said his name and heard the woman praise it.

He noticed that the woman was taking her time to look at him but suddenly looked away and focused on anything but him.

“Done already?” Reagan was trying to remove the awkward space between them but the woman hurriedly grabbed the mangoes and went straight to her apartment complex which is just across the road from the stall.

…

An hour has passed since Reagan and Yvaine’s first encounter.

The doorbell of Yvaine’s apartment rang.

She was planning to not answer it but whoever’s at the door is quite persistent.

She opened the door, only to be frozen in place for the second time today.

“uhm…you left your change at the store and my aunt said to bring you this basket of sour fruits. I had to wait an hour before the stalls closed and yeah, I know it’s weird, but my aunt’s the one who pointed me here, I wasn’t stalking or anything. You don’t need to call the authorities. My Aunt Cres knows you and knew your parents.” Reagan was outside her door.

“uhm…okay, do you want to come in?” Yvaine wouldn’t normally let people inside her apartment, more so a stranger, but she did know Reagan’s Aunt and him, from her childhood and he did show her some pictures that proved that he really was her nephew.

They went inside and she let him put the basket in her kitchen isle.

“So…Yvaine right?” Reagan faced her while she was placing the fruits in containers for the fridge.

“yep.” She shortly answered without looking at him.

Reagan knew that she wasn’t comfortable with any of this, especially with the interactions, and was bothered by that.

“Do you have anything to do this afternoon?” He had to ask.

“Uh…pardon?” She was surprised by the question.

What does he want from me? Yvaine thought.

“Oh, Aunt Cres asked if you could possibly stop by the farm for a while. She’s annoyed that me and the farmworkers are the only ones she’s spending the time all day.” Reagan explained when he realized how his question sounded.

“Oh, okay.” Yvaine nonchalantly commented.

“I can drive you…I mean, that’s where I live right now, and if you’re free today I can drive you there and back here later…Aunt Cres would like that.” Reagan was mumbling stuff and that made Yvaine smile.

He’s intimidated by me…she thought.

“I’ll just change, make yourself comfortable,” Yvaine said then stepped out of the living room.

…

It’s been three weeks since they met and every day Reagan has been driving Yvaine around the farm and the city when she had errands, as per his Aunt’s request.

And within those weeks, they were able to know a lot about each other, even though it wasn’t that easy for her to open up.

“Where do you wanna go today?” Reagan was laying down on Yvaine’s sofa and she was preparing two bowls of fruit salad in the kitchen.

“I don’t have any idea, how about you?” She was enjoying his company.

“Oh, I have an idea. But I won’t tell until we're there.” He said and smiled.

…

They drove outside of the city.

“Are we going to the farm?” Yvaine asked.

“No. That’s not exciting, where we're going is.” Reagan answered and laughed.

“It’ll be a 1-hour drive, try to sleep. I know you were awake late at night, working.” He said and reclined Yvaine’s chair.

“Okay, boss.” She answered and rolled her eyes and Reagan only laughed.

…

When Yvaine woke up, Reagan was behind the car taking out the picnic basket they brought with them.

“We’ll walk for 5 minutes and we’ll be there.” He smiled at her and handed her a bottle of water.

And after a five-minute walk, a hidden lake appeared before their eyes.

“It’s beautiful, Reagan.” Yvaine couldn’t help but stare at the majestic view upon her eyes.

“And so are you,” Reagan whispered but she was to preoccupied to hear what he said.

“Go swim, I’ll set the food,” Reagan said and proceeded to lay out the things they brought, in the table he set up earlier.

…

After a few minutes, Reagan went into the water while Yvaine was sitting at the edge of the dock.

“Thank you, Reagan.” Yvaine wholeheartedly said.

“For what?” He asked floating beside the dock where Yvaine was.

“A summer like this, a company like yours and your Aunt Cres’. My parents, they have their own families now, and it seemed like I never did exist. Why are you so nice to me?” Yvaine was tearing up.

“Come on down here.” Yvaine obliged and went into the water.

Reagan starred into her eyes as he held her face while they float on the water.

“Meeting you, was the best thing that happened to me. You are my summertime; my heart is yours. Until we ran out of summers in every lifetime there is.”

And that was the last day they saw each other.

…

Yvaine felt a tear fall down her cheeks and saw it fell on the pile of papers on her desk.

It has been exactly 5 years since she last saw Reagan, since that day on the lake.

“Boss, the investors are waiting.” She heard her assistant’s voice by the door.

Yvaine has built her own publishing company that expands all over the continent.

“I’ll be there. Thank you.” She said then wiped the tears left on her face.

She walked to the conference room and breathed deeply before entering, but the moment she opened the door she froze on the spot.

Those eyes that mesmerized her years ago, was staring right into hers.

“Hey, spend a summer with me.” Reagan, the man she knew in a short span of time but was able to love and adore. But the one who also disappeared on her without a trace for five years is now facing her. Asking her for a summer that she doesn’t know if she could still give, in this lifetime.