1 Fated Encounter

My name is Ludwina. My parents were big fans of classical music and named me after the maestro, Ludwig van Beethoven.

My older brother was Johann. I guess you could tell that his name was taken from Johann Sebastian Bach. My second brother's name was Wolfgang, from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and he passed away ten years ago when he was only fourteen.

Enough about me, though.

I wanted to tell you the story about Andrea, the only man I have ever loved in this world and how I would do anything for him.

I am Andrea's second and last love.

During high school and university, he fell in love and dated his best friend. She came from a wealthy background and her family considered Andrea unworthy to be their daughter's boyfriend. Not only because they were not equal in status, but because they were also raised in different faiths.

You see, religion still played a big role in many parents' minds back in my country, Indonesia.

For years, they fought hard for their love but finally, the girl gave up and said goodbye a year before graduation from university and continued her education in England.

Andrea became a reclusive man who was cold towards women and chose to work as an engineer who only dealt with computers and other inanimate objects.

Our first meeting happened in an airport in Jakarta, one evening six years ago. I was too absorbed in searching for my passport, which fell out of my bag somehow. He was spacing out and walking backward, reading the flight schedule on the display board.

He was going to fly to Singapore for a job interview at an international IT company, and I had just returned from Hong Kong to seek inspiration to write my novels, as well as to attend the opening of my father's newest hotel.

He turned around just as I was walking behind him, looking down frantically at the floor, checking if that damnable passport was there.

The collision was quite powerful because he was big and tall and I was small and frail. I fell hard on the floor.

"Oh.. my God. I am so sorry..." he said as he helped me up. "Let me help you ..."

I was very angry (actually I was angry at myself for losing my passport, cellphone, bag, and other small items for the umpteenth times) and brushed off his hand.

"Don't touch me! I can help myself."

He frowned at me, shrugged and then left.

I tried to stand up but my feet wouldn't cooperate. It turned out that my stiletto heels were dislodged to one side, and I just realized that my right foot was sprained from the impact.

"Hey, you! Come back here! You must take responsibility for me. I can't walk, you know!" I shouted. "Heyyy...!!"

Some people tried to help me but I brushed off those hands offering help. I was a spoiled princess who used to get whatever I wanted, and at that time I wanted THAT MAN to come back and help me!

Andrea narrowed his eyes with a look of disbelief at my behavior but he walked back to me and helped me up. Without saying anything, he carried me to the nearest bench and took my bag.

He asked me where I was going so he could take me to the boarding gate. I answered curtly that I had just landed and was looking for my passport that had slipped off somewhere so that I could pass the immigration to get out of the airport.

He looked at his watch and sighed.

"Let me take you to immigration. You should be able to take care of it if you lost your passport."

I let him take care of me for hours. He contacted the airport security to file a report that I lost my passport, then took me to the immigration office so I could get out of the airport, then get my suitcase from the carousel.

I could have called my father (who then would call the head of the airport or the head of the immigration office so that I was given a pass), but I wanted to teach this person a lesson. I wanted to test his limit.

Gosh ... I guess the joke was on me!

There was no limit!

This guy was so calm and patient, as if he had a bottomless well of patience, to the point that this spoiled princess finally felt bad for bothering him in such a way.

If you guessed Andrea missed his flight and ended up taking me home by taxi, you are right.

On the way home, I began to feel ashamed of my actions that had caused this stranger to miss his flight. When he was about to leave my house, I forced him to leave his telephone number so I could contact him to send him reimbursement for the hospital fees in case my injury was severe.

I know, you must be saying I was being too much. But at that moment, I immediately knew that this man was special and I had to have him.

I was never so attracted to a man like I was to him. Usually, they were the ones who were competing for my attention.

Ever since our fated encounter, I always looked for an excuse to contact him. I even schemed him to take me to the hospital to check my leg and later asked him to wait on me during the 'physiotherapy session' once a week as recommended by the doctor (who was actually my brother's classmate in university).

He never rejected my demands even though I could see he was often checking my feet suspiciously. My feet were actually fine, and maybe he guessed it, but he never voiced his suspicion.

A month later, I finally ran out of excuses to meet him and I cried all day.

My brother, Johann, told me to stop my foolishness and act like an adult. That meant: stop lying to find excuses to meet Andrea. He told me to talk to Andrea to see each other properly.

I flat out said no. I insisted that I had never pursued a man. I want him to be the one to pursue me.

So, I waited for him to contact me for one week. I was miserable but remained stubborn.

One week ... two weeks ... three weeks ...

Aarrrghhh...

Finally, a month later, I gave up and decided to call him.

I was too late.

Andrea had just moved to Singapore. His previous job interview failed because of me and he lost his chance to work in the country. But later, another bigger international company contacted him to work for them and, after a very impressive interview, they immediately arranged a work visa for him.

He had just left for Singapore the day before I called. When I hung up, I realized that I just made him pay such expensive roaming charges. Strangely though, he didn't mention the roaming fees at all.

Suddenly, I was feeling so sad. I finally decided to pursue this man, but because I was too proud, he left before I could ask him to meet. I didn't know what to do.