Mr. HOT & Ms. COOL

CHAPTER 1: When They Become Airplane Seatmates

June 1, 2018. Friday. Kian Estrada, a famous vlogger and V+Tuber, had just finished taking up a semester-long film-making course at New York University (NYU) during the spring. He immediately scheduled his flight that day, so he could already start on his newest project as soon as he returned.

For his collegiate education, he finished a bachelor’s degree in aviation, major in flying, covering both the private pilot license (PPL) training and the commercial pilot license (CPL) training. Because of his exemplary accomplishments in flight school, he immediately landed a pilot job at Air Filipinas of JI Pinnacle Corporation.

In his tenure as a pilot at Air Filipinas, he just focused on his job and his hobbies as well as in his relationship with his maternal grandparents and his then girlfriend, Valerie Co.

During his days-off, he liked travelling and recording a video diary of his travel experiences. When online video sharing became popular in 2005, he uploaded short video clips of his travel experiences, which gained several likes. Much later on, he created his own video sharing account on YouTube and shared more videos of his travel experiences. When Callix Valderama launched V+Tube, he also created his own video sharing channel on the platform.

As he was already earning from advertisements, he decided to take an online degree in business entrepreneurship. He included that on his 12 days off per month as a pilot. As he completed his business entrepreneurship degree, he also proposed marriage to Valerie. But little did he know that his girlfriend was already being very friendly with Arthur Lee, a much wealthier businessman as well as a budding politician belonging to the upper class society of Roscotta City, the easternmost city in the State of Missi.

Then he caught them in the act of kissing after his business meeting with JI Pinnacle Corporation CEO James Tan at Palais Isabelle in Vienburg City. He secretly followed them and saw them entering a hotel suite. When he saw the room service attendant delivering wine and lunch for them, he sneaked in and saw Valerie seated on Arthur’s lap as they continued kissing even in the presence of the hotel employee. Valerie and Arthur, as well as the room service attendant, were, of course, shocked upon seeing him. He just said this – Just call off our wedding and don’t show your face to me ever.

Valerie just agreed and gave him back the engagement ring and said this – Okay.

James Tan had actually followed him, and felt very sorry for him. They had just talked about Kian’s resignation from Air Filipinas as a senior pilot and as an alternate private jet pilot for the Tans, because he wanted to focus on his OPC and eventual marriage.

After that, Kian went to NYC to take a semester-long filmmaking course to enrich his filmmaking concept and skills.

Kian had already established Viajeros Enterprises, a year prior to his resignation. Viajeros Enterprises is a one-person corporation (OPC), which encompasses all of his travel-related business endeavors. It included Viajeros Travel and Tours Agency, Viajeros Bar & Restaurant, Viajeros Travel Apparels & Gadgets, Viajeros Productions, and Viajeros Travel Network (VTN).

Meanwhile, on the same flight was Reina Joya. Reina had just finished a one-week fashion photography course at University of Arts London (UAL) to expand her genre in professional photography. After that short-term course in London, she traveled to New York City to visit her mother, who married an American consul when she was just young. She stayed with her mother and her second family for a week before she decided to board a flight back to Filipinas that day.

Reina was just one year old when her parents, Diego Joya and Regina Costelo, got separated because of irreconcilable differences. They eventually had their marriage annulled and then both remarried to other partners.

Diego Joya was the current city mayor of Roscotta City. Her father was from a prominent wealthy middle-class family of businessmen and politicians in Roscotta City, while her mother was from a middle-class family of educators.

The marriage of Reina’s parents was annulled when she was about two years old. Her father immediately married his then-pregnant live-in partner, Elaine Marzo, immediately after the annulment. On the other hand, her mother met her second husband, Timothy Rivers, when she was five years old. They got married as well afterwards

Her father did not allow her to live with her mother in another country where her stepfather had to serve as consul, so her parents had arrived at a decision for her to take her basic education (kindergarten to senior high school) in Filipinas, and just for her to spend the entire school break with her mother whichever part of the world she was with her second husband.

As her mother and her stepfather left the country, she continued living with her maternal grandparents, her maternal uncle and his family during weekdays and spent most of her weekends with her father’s parents and new family. She was not very close with her father’s second wife, Elaine Marzo, but they remained cordial with one another.

After finishing senior high school, Reina flew to Paris, where her mother was, and then decided to take up a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography degree at Paris College of Art, then specializing in documentary photography. After finishing her degree, she went back to Filipinas and worked as a freelance professional photographer in travel and documentaries. She had won several awards in photography, including a number of top prizes in National Geographic Travel Photo Contests, and an Infinity Award for Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism from the International Center of Photography.

Despite her success in her career, she opted to remain a freelance professional photographer and just accept photography jobs as she pleased. She also had a great eye for portrait photography, so she had often been commissioned by several prominent personalities in the country to do their portraits. When she had no commissioned jobs, then she traveled a lot to take photos or take short-term photography courses. And the last one she took was fashion photography at UAL.

As Reina sat down on her designated business class seat on the plane, a handsome man was already seated on the seat beside it. Her seatmate helped her with her hand luggage.

As she put her in-flight pouch to the left table of her seat and sat down, Reina smiled to her seatmate, thanked him, “Thank you very much, sir,” and then put on her fleece scarf around her neck.

He replied with a stoic face, “You're welcome, Miss,” and then continued browsing the in-flight magazines.

On the other hand, Reina put on her wireless Bluetooth ear buds and then called up her mother through her smartphone. Their conversation was like…

She first said – Hello, Mom. I had just boarded the plane. It will already take off in a few more minutes.

Her mother replied with a question – Is your seatmate male or female?

She knew that her mother would just want to bring up the topic of marriage. She already turned twenty-eight last May so her mother was already asking her to think of having a romantic relationship and settling down.

She lied and answered – Female. Because she did not want their conversation to lead again to the topic of her love life. She was not just very keen about getting into another romantic relationship after her breakup with her first boyfriend.

Her mother then responded with – Then have your EpiPen ready.

She replied with – My EpiPen is always ready, Ma. It is always in my in-flight pouch. And I usually ask the flight attendant if the food has peanuts, so I can avoid it.

Her mother then asked - Will you already move to the condominium unit that your father gave you last Christmas?

She confirmed it – Yes, Mom. Kuya Zandro and Jennie will soon be married, and they will need all the space in the ancestral residence. It might just be a one-bedroom unit, but it also has some sort of study room which I converted as a home office space and storage all of my cameras, lenses and other equipment. The gift Dad gave me has all the space I need. I already had it fully furnished little by little. It is now ready for my occupancy.

Her mother then asked – How about the security in that area?

She assured her mother – It is a perfectly safe area, Mom. It is also close to the City Hall. Dad also made sure that the unit was equipped with reliable security features. So you really have nothing to worry about. It is not the first time that I will be living alone, anyway. I have been traveling a lot and staying in different rented homes alone for a month or so if I have commissioned jobs.

Nonetheless, her mother still expressed – Still you need to stay cautious. You are a lady after all.

As the announcement to put all the smartphones in flight mode had already been announced in preparation for the take-off, she told her mother then – The take-off had been announced already, Mom. We are already asked to set our smartphones in flight mode. I will just call you again when we have already landed. Bye for now, Mom. I love you.

As Kian heard his seatmate say those words to her mother, he could not help but recall the tragedy that happened to his own mother. His father, Ronaldo Estrada, just married his mother, Karina Nuevo, because of his ambition to make it big as a businessman and become very rich. The Nuevos belonged to a middle-class family in Roscotta City, and owned AVENTURA, one of the most prosperous travel and tours agencies in the entire State of Missi. Their family business had been flourishing as years passed by, so they became very wealthy.

His mother, being an only child, was the heiress to all the fortune of his maternal grandparents. His father was from a lower class family with a widowed mother and lots of younger siblings to support, but he was gifted with business acumen. His father’s family were not poor but needed to work hard to earn a living. So his father decided to marry his mother, who was then so enamored to him.

His father was able to establish another branch of AVENTURA in Camnei City, which is located to the west of Roscotta City. That business had flourished as well. But his father had also met a much wealthier woman, a single mother, to be exact, from an upper-class family, who had inherited a tour bus service company from her parents. His father had an affair with that woman named, Diana Ong.

Diana Ong had already given birth to a son, when his mother discovered their affair. His parents separated. His mother then suffered from depression and eventually committed suicide even before the annulment had been finalized. He was seven years old then. He saw his mother in a bathtub with her bloody wrist on the bathroom floor. His grandparents never allowed him to live with his father after the death of his mother.

His father had immediately married his mistress, adopted his mistress' daughter and then legitimize his son with her. He had never seen his father again after his mother's death. A few years ago, he had just heard that his father and his second family had already moved back to a newly constructed mansion residence within the quarter of an acre of land that the Estradas owned in Roscotta City. His father was able to buy the surrounding lots on such a property, making the land where their mansion house seated, more or less an acre.

Kian knew that it would just be a matter of time for him to cross paths with his father and his family. So far they never did. Their family residences were in different barangay both a little far from the city proper. He also lived in a condominium building near the city hall, making him a little far from the residences of his father and his maternal grandparents.

Much later into the flight, the flight attendants had started to serve the dinner. As expected, Kian's lady-seatmate had asked the flight attendant if the food had peanuts or peanut sauce on it. There was none, and so she ate the airline meal without worry after sanitizing her hands with the disinfecting wipes she had on her in-flight pouch.

She offered some wipes to her seatmates.

He got one and then expressed his gratitude with a simple, "Thanks."

After the meal, Reina went to the toilet, bringing her in-flight pouch, to mouthwash, floss and brush her teeth. Then, she returned to her seat. Her seatmate was already sleeping upon her return, so she readied herself as well for sleep. She put on her eye mask for a much better sleep. After all, it was almost a 17-hour flight, so she needed some good night's sleep. That way she would be able to have the energy to do the photo shoot scheduled just a few hours after her arrival.

A friend of her father wanted a family portrait but the only time for the family to be completed was the day of her arrival because the daughter would have to leave for a business trip abroad. The driver of her father would fetch her from the airport, drive her to the residence if her father's friend and then send her back home to her condominium unit.

Anika Guilas, her assistant, would already go to the residence ahead of her with their staff members to set up the lights and reflectors needed. Her assistant would also set up the cameras, lenses and laptop that they usually used in her photo studio in the residence of the client. Her father would be there as well to formally introduce her.

After a few hours of sleep, they were both awakened by another announcement from the pilot about incoming turbulence.

Reina felt a little anxious, then asked her seatmate all of a sudden, "What is turbulence? What could be the reason for it?"

Surprisingly, her seatmate answered knowledgeably, "Turbulence occurs when an airplane hits a strong wind current that can push or pull the plane. Many environmental factors contribute to it."

Then a few more seconds, the passengers had all felt the turbulence. During the turbulence, Reina panicked even more and suddenly hugged her seatmate.

It was the first time she experienced such had in her years of traveling, so she felt anxious.

It was also the first time that a lady whom Kian barely knew hugged her and that had a profound effect on him.

But as an experienced pilot, he told his seatmate calmly, "Focus on your breathing, Miss. Take slow and controlled breaths. Listen to my voice. Inhale...exhale."

She followed his instructions and soon, she felt less anxious already and the turbulence had stopped already.

Then her cheeks blushed as she realized that she was hugging her seatmate tightly. She immediately released his body and then apologized, "I am really sorry, sir. In my years of traveling, this is just my first time to experience turbulence," and then managed to thank him again, "Anyway, thank you very much for your help. I feel much better now."

Her seatmate then replied, "You're welcome. Just try to remember to stay calm once you get to experience turbulence again. There are standard operating procedures on how the pilot can deal with these kinds of situations, even severe ones. Pilots are well-trained in handling them."

She responded with, "You seemed to be well-experienced with this turbulence thing."

He replied, "I am a licensed private commercial pilot. But I resigned after almost 13 years of service. The turbulence we just experience is just mild."

She said, "I see. Nevertheless, thank you very much again."

Kian then decided to engage in small talk with her seatmate, "Anyway, why do you often travel, Miss?"

Reina then answered, "I am a professional photographer. I do documentary photography, travel photography, as well as portrait photography. Just recently, I took a short-term course in fashion photography in London before I came to New York to visit my mother."

Kian then said, "You actually look familiar. But I don't know when and where I encountered you in the past."

Reina stated, "I was born in Roscotta and lived most of my life there when I was not traveling abroad. Perhaps, I had been one of the passengers on a flight you piloted."

Kian responded, unsure, "Yeah, perhaps that is the case. I just resigned as a pilot from Air Filipinas last February."

Reina was curious as to why, and so she asked her seatmate, "I don't mean to pry, but why did you resign."

He replied with, "I just want a career change. Anyway, I was born in Roscotta, as well. I also lived there for most of my life. As a pilot, I also traveled a lot. So for the past 13 years, I had been mostly away on international flights."

She reacted, "What a coincidence? We are from the same city, and yet we have not met each other yet until now."

He agreed, "Yeah," and then decided to casually introduce himself, "Anyway, I am Kian."

She responded back, "And I am Reina but you can just call me Rei. It is a pleasure meeting you."

He smiled a little and Reina felt like a giddy teenager deep within. It had been the first time that she felt giddy again over a man since the breakup.

Her thoughts were – It had already been more or less six months since Arthur had broken up with me. We had become busy with our respective careers as I returned to the country from my studies. But we often find quality time to spend together. I often traveled for the documentaries but on the later part of our relationship he had become very demanding of my time. Being in politics changed him. Arthur wanted more from me. I tried to give more. But it was still not enough. All the while, I thought that he was understanding and supportive of her career. He was even always bragging about all my achievements. So I was really taken aback when he broke up with me. He is even engaged to be married already to that TV presenter upper class socialite.

He then said, "Same here."

She then offered him her business card, "This is my business card. If you need a professional photographer then just contact those details. My assistant usually answers the calls, messages, and mails. But they are all being notified to me."

Then he recalled when and where he had seen here, "Now, I recall when and where I had seen you first. You recently won an award for photojournalism if I recall it right. Sometime in April. Your personal photo as well as the winning photo were flashed on the TV screen as it was reported on the news."

She bashfully responded, "Yeah, that's me," and then said, "Actually, you also looked familiar."

He then told her, "I don't have an updated business card as of the moment so I won't be able to give you one. But you might have seen me on my travel videos in YouTube and V+Tube."

So she recalled, "Yeah, you are the famous travel vlogger, Viajeros, right?"

He confirmed, "Yeah, that is me."

As the other passengers heard that he was Viajeros, they had then approached him one by one for a selfie and an autograph.

Reina could not believe that she was seated beside an international online celebrity. She had only seen one of his videos, and that was about his trip in one of the islands in Vasil. They were on that island at the same time. But their paths did not cross back then.

In her mind – The odds of two random people meeting is indeed very slim. We are even from the same city yet we have actually just met now. You looked so happy in that video I saw. So who would have thought that you are this stern-faced hot hunk sitting beside me? Of all the passengers on this flight, you have become my seatmate. Will we still see each other after this? I doubt.