The Timing Between Us

Chapter Five

His POV

Reig

I wasn’t supposed to care this much about an elementary reunion.

Yet there I was, standing in front of the mirror of my condo unit in BGC fixing the sleeves of my black button-down like I was about to attend something important.

Maybe because it was important.

Because Clara was going to be there.

After all these years, that fact still had the ability to make something restless shift inside my chest.

Pathetic.

I huffed out a quiet laugh and grabbed my car keys from the counter.

New York had changed a lot about me.

It taught me discipline.

Control.

Distance.

The city moved too fast for hesitation, and somewhere between graduating magna c*m laude from Columbia and surviving aviation training with almost no sleep, I learned how to bury emotions beneath routines and responsibilities.

But apparently none of those things mattered when it came to Clara Villanueva.

My little rabbit.

Even thinking the nickname after years felt strangely natural.

I leaned against the elevator wall as it descended, remembering the last time I saw her properly.

Fourth grade.

Tiny hands.

Big brown eyes.

Always carrying too many books against her chest.

She used to follow me around during lunch breaks pretending she needed help with math even though she was smarter than half the class.

And God, she talked.

Endlessly.

About random things.

Teachers she hated.

Movies she watched.

Stories she made up while eating snacks beside me.

She used to bug me so much that our classmates assumed we fought constantly.

Maybe we did.

But even then, I already knew one thing.

I liked her more than I should.

The elevator doors opened.

I walked toward the parking area, the memory lingering quietly.

My family migrated to New York when I was thirteen. At first, I thought I’d forget about the Philippines eventually.

Instead, Clara somehow followed me everywhere.

In small ways.

Brown eyes reminded me of home.

Girls laughing very loudly, reminding me of her.

Even during college, during the busiest years of my life, there were moments she appeared in my head without warning.

Especially late at night.

Especially when life becomes too quiet.

I went to Columbia on scholarship.

Finished magna c*m laude.

Completed flight school afterward.

Now I had a secured position waiting for me in New York next year with a private aviation company most pilots would kill to work for.

Everything in my life was planned carefully.

Except this.

Because the truth was, I came back to the Philippines for one reason.

Her.

The realization sounded insane even in my own head.

But it was true.

I wanted to see if the girl I spent years remembering still existed.

And if she did...

This time, I wasn’t letting timing steal the chance from me.