1 Chapter One [ The Characters' altered state of existence]

Chapter One [The characters' state of existence]

After spending a month on vacation in Baguio City, Mountain Province, Rhoda Schurz in her good curve waistline wearing black well-fitted jeans and a white silky tube blouse as she stands 5 feet and 9 inches tall with her sparkling Chinese eyes and long straight hair eagerly returns to Manila, the nation's capital, during a scorching, beautiful summer. She was hurrying to Emmy's beauty salon to present the rice cake she had cooked for her birthday when she heard a man's voice with a British English accent speaking with Emmy.

Since Rhoda is aware of Emmy's desire for a husband, Emmy asks her to write Rudolf Wagner an English pen pal letter, which she will replicate and give to his address. Rhoda, on the other hand, had not anticipated Rudolf paying Emmy a visit at this particular moment.

As she goes through the front door, Rhoda grins and says,

"Hello there, Good morning everyone! Emmy, I have some goodies for you, and I wish you a happy birthday!" She smiled and glanced at Emmy as she glances at her visitor.

"Rhoda, you're a blessing to us," Emmy says, smiling. "Come and help us welcome our new guest, Rudolf Wagner, Emmy's pen pal."

Nena who is also a friend and Emmys’ co-worker screamed, "Rudolf, this is Rhoda Schurz, our Friend above."

Rhoda waves her hands and says, "Hi." with a smile.

“Hello," Rudolf said with a smile.

After a brief talk, Rhoda suddenly remembers her appointment.

“I need a reason to go because I have an appointment.” She gets up and sprints outside.

Rudolf becomes agitated as he gets up, sits down, then gets up and leaves. Rhoda is taken aback because she knows Rudolf must spend time with Emmy. After all, it is her birthday that day. They had planned a date, but Rudolf interrupts them, apologizing to both of them as they leave. To Emmy and Nena, who are busy with their customers, Rudolf and Rhoda apologize.

“Are you interested in sharing a cup of coffee with me?

Rudolf came up to Rhoda who seems surprised as she smiles innocently but she maintains her posture and entertain Rudolf’s’ invitation saying,

“Come with me. I have a sister who always has hot coffee to serve next door.” Rhoda teases Rudolf as he is interested to go with her at that moment. Rhoda is focused on keeping her appointment, so after a quick introduction with her sister, who enjoys entertaining the two visitors, she eventually starts to get restless. Rhoda was more prepared to let Rudolf be alone with her sister when he requested her older sister to make some spaghetti for everyone.

Rudolf uses his free time to rapidly reveal to Rhoda, who is still on his good side, his desires and intentions.

"I wanted to court you and marry you right away, I love you."

Rudolf murmured to Rhoda who is relaxingly setting down while her sister is computing the cost of the spaghetti ingredients that Rudolf gave to her.

"I'll be leaving in a few weeks to work in another country."

Rhoda replied quickly. Rudolf is so insistent to Rhoda, "I loved you the first time I saw you," but Rhoda chooses to keep silent for a few moments as the notion enters her head,

"Please accept my apologies but I have an appointment during the next several days.”

Before Rhoda left the place, She met Emmy outside waiting for them after they closes the beauty shop. Emmy takes risks in an attempt to rekindle her interest in Rudolf and restart their relationship, but she ends up becoming a source of betrayal and derision for him since, in his words,

"I'm sorry, but I lost interest. She couldn't speak to me politely to offer the meals; instead, she dropped them off quickly and in a brusque manner, which disappointed me."

As Rhoda sympathizes with her chat friend,

“What can I do right away? It would be better to release him because I do not possess his heart and mind, Emmy.”

When the heavy rains fell, Rudolf followed her. As they walked along the pavement, Rhoda felt hesitant as she started to move aside to concentrate on her appointment. As they both giggle because the umbrella is too small for the two of them, they both get drenched from the heavy rain. The heavy rain allows Rudolf additional opportunities to talk to Rhoda, who has begun to realize that she must keep him from getting wet.

"Oh no, you could get sick. You said you were just visiting for a check-up from the hospital, right? "

People in the area began to smile at Rhoda as she raised her umbrella to shield him from the torrential rain. Rhoda is unsure of how to assist him.

“Hey Rhoda, you wait until the rain stops first and stand by. Your visitor can't help it.”

They continue walking along the pathway until they reach the bus station while making fun of the rain as they agreed to meet some other day again.

Rudolf, on the other hand, became more active in pursuing Rhoda, who has not yet accepted his proposal due to her upcoming trip overseas. Rhoda engages in a variety of negative behaviors and attitudes to get rid of him.

"I'm in the process of packing my belongings for a trip abroad," she explained to Rudolf, who was following her around everywhere she went.

She could even observe her niece extorting and courting him covertly, which alarmed her because she might be exploiting his status as a foreigner.

As she remembers it, her eyes immediately widen in shock.

“Oh my, if my niece doesn't stop requesting money from him, he will run out of money very soon.”

Rhoda whispered while she is sorting out her travel documents inside her apartment.

She may potentially move to her other sister's place, which is far away, making it impossible for him to find her, but he hasn't given up and is still hunting for her.

.Rudolf visited her at her previous residence when she was staying with her sister far away. Her elder sister called her younger sister to inform her that Rudolf was in her home causing some little disruption to her husband and two children.

"You tell Rhoda to come back here right away. My family will get tired of his visits," her senior sister stated angrily.

"You accept his proposal now since you can't get married and start a family while you're on a mission."

Her sister persuades Rhoda, but Rhoda sits silently, pondering and weighing the benefits and drawbacks just in case.

Her sister said,

"You are not getting any younger. You are the only single person in our family. We all have our children and husbands," as Rhoda grew alarmed.

When she is by herself, she thinks and prays, pleading with God for insight.

“But how can one keep warm on her own? " she prays as she read the message in her pocket bible.

"Lord, show me signs if Rudolf is the guy you want me to marry, even if I didn't ask for him.” She added.

Her eyes sparkle as she closes her bible after taking a moment to read.

She suddenly remembers something.

"I adore you, and I don't want to be even a little apart from you,"

Rhoda recalls what Rudolf mentions before they separate.

“We have a 10-year age difference; I'm 26 and he'll be 39. He's such a handsome guy at his age. My childhood buddy called me an 'old maid,' what a tag! Being an old maid is a silly thought, but I wanted to be a missionary for good since it brings me happiness and calm.”

Rhoda considers her options but decides to reject him.

Rhoda hastily returned to her former apartment after those self-confrontations to prevent Rudolf from upsetting her senior sister's family. However, when she got there, her senior sister laughed at her and said,

"You arrived late. Rudolf went to see you there. Come on, go back there. He's there now."

Rudolf is so distracting Rhoda that she gets irritable. but deep inside her as she scanned,

"Why am I laughing right now? Instead of being upset, I appreciate that he gives me such importance and feel like a true lady being treated with such respect by such an intriguing, attractive, and foreign man in our country.”

The dogs nearby are in trouble when Rudolf arrives because he is like a giant at 6 feet and 2 inches tall standing before others with his blue, sparkling, pretty eyes, wavy brown hair, and bearded face. He walks stunningly like a military in position to march along the camps as Rhoda giggles while she quickly returns to her distant sister. He is not there yet when she arrives.

Rhoda was able to relax a little while they waited for him after that hectic hour of his unexpected visit.

“You accompany him back to the old house now.”

However, Rudolf decided to leave earlier than indicated after informing Rhoda that,

“I love you. I will do everything to reach you. You may now relax. Let's meet the following week. I'm hoping I can have your response then. I'm willing to take all the danger to get to you.”

Rhoda no longer has the opportunity to smile as Rudolf fixes his attention on her. As he left Rhoda in her sister's far-off home, Rudolf seems able to know the route going out of that den.

When Rudolf came back for a visit, he continued repeating, and Rhoda started examining Rudolf's face to determine what he was thinking.

Rhoda is confused.

"I'm already falling in love with Rudolf," as she grinned at her sister, who pushed her to marry him.

"OK, that's a positive sign of maturation." her sister answered.

"How could it be that my thinking is at odds with my heart?" " Rhoda continued.

“It caused me more pain by continuing to reject his affection. But it rubbed me the wrong way several times when I refused to wear the ring he put on my finger.” Rhoda muses.

"Is this love?"

She wonders to herself as she mulls over the situation.

When they met again after a month, Rhoda slipped a message into a card and handed it to Rudolf, anticipating his response:

"Nice, I love it,"

Rhoda had scribbled "Sweetheart" inside the card, so she addressed him in a tacky way. He continued, saying,

"I don't like a sweetheart. It sounds cheap."

Rudolf murmurs and Rhoda can hear him. She is anxious and confused once more about whether or not she would accept him.

Rhoda muses for a while before returning to her earlier concept.

“He is not the same as I am, and while I don't seek perfection, I do move on for the sake of love. God help me.”

Rhoda smiles as she looks up to talk to God. Rhoda accepts what he murmured since she is aware of his different viewpoint as Westerner. Rhoda was trying to keep what she had noticed about Rudolf's demeanor from them while continuing to play the victim. They were in the home of her older sister, who was there with her husband and kids.

She is already having trouble at that point because she gave up on her application and canceled all of her travel plans to marry Rudolf and start a family.

Rhoda had barely arrived when she noticed Rudolf attracting the woman's attention to himself as he collected her address.

She accepts Rudolf's invitation to go on a date to a mall that day after he mentions traveling to the south. "Not yet, I shouldn't go with you so far because I still have to reimburse my sister for the money I spent on visiting abroad," she says.

Rhoda appears serious. She is still upset because she can feel jealous of the stranger who gave him her address. As they are in the taxi heading to the mall, he muses over the piece of paper that she gave him. The more jealous Rhoda feels the more she wants to abandon her plans. However, she is in excruciating pain because she chose to love him over following her dreams. She continues to go with him to the mall.

“You wear this ring now because I love you so much, honey so that we can both be content.

Rudolf grinned as he asked for her finger to put on the ring, they purchased from a jewelry store. She also took his finger and did the same. They both enjoyed sharing a great pizza that late afternoon.

They couldn't escape the bad traffic that night, and when it started to rain unexpectedly, they became stranded.

"Why does it rain? Rhoda appears repulsed as Rudolf continues,

"Honey, the month is almost over. Summer is over, and May always comes with rainy days. No wonder."

As the flood gushed on the road.

They decided to wait until the flooding and rain stopped while remaining safe in a single, quiet location. They decided to wait until the flooding and rain stopped while remaining safe in a single, quiet location.

Rudolf tightened his hold on Rhoda, something he had never done before, while Rhoda let go of whatever she thought she had freed. When Rudolf grabs her and kisses her lips, Rhoda replies with the same deep yearning for each other.

Rudolf and Rhoda were going to apply for their marriage licenses the next day. That night the lover confirmed their impending marriage ceremony before the wedding dinner.

"What should I do? Both of us are covered in filthy floodwater." Rudolf address of Rhoda, who grins and gently unbuttons his polo shirt, while Rhoda observes what happens next in that remote place.

When Rhoda and Rudolf finally connect as one body and soul ties for the first time in their existence together as husband and wife already apart from the marriage vows, it results in thrilling flaming burning feelings of physical contact. Slowly, both Rhoda and Rudolf go to the warm water in the bathtub and enjoy washing, scrubbing, and soaping one another.

Rhoda remembers the beauty of God's plan for man and woman to be united by the bond of love, respect, and marriage vows despite their temptations to pursue and consume it before the precise date of marital bonding, as God intends.

They did, however, wait for Rhoda's parents to show up at the wedding reception rather than disregarding them.

"What made you love my missionary daughter?" Rhoda's father inquired Rudolf while Rhoda’s preparing fresh cook meals for her parents, who had just arrived with many gifts for her wedding the next few days after the storms.

"She is benevolent but wicked at times," the father added, turning to Rudolf.

"I loved her the first time we met," Rudolf replied as he sipped the hot creamy mushroom soup in a bowl.

"You're becoming used to lying," Rhoda softly commented on Rudolf's assertion.

"It appears that your soup is lacking in black pepper," Rudolf said, smiling, and Rhoda's mother smiled as well, saying,

"She's a good chef,"

mother observed,

"but she often overlooks the spices to add flavor.” "But she's an outstanding housekeeper," father said. "Never mind," Rudolf said to them,

"I have the plan to bring her with me to my homeland overseas at the perfect time according to God's will."

When Rhoda and her father were alone, Father conveyed to Rhoda,

"You should follow our family's wedding tradition; you know the old persons who would be our guests."

'Pa, our wedding ritual sounded luxurious, and it's simply to show formality. So far, we've gone to our wedding," Rhoda explains.

"The elderly folks will mock you with dishonor and disdain if you don't follow the usual wedding set-up," father raged, leaving Rhoda alone in her anguish.

But Rudolf arrived and promised to carry out the wedding plans, and the guests gladly celebrated the wedding.

With his groom's best clothing on, Rudolf is looking younger as he takes Rhoda's hand from her father to take their oath, which will be performed by the church's pastor. Rhoda is stunning in her wedding gown, and everyone is enthralled by her incredible, gorgeous, bright gown.

The woman in a black outfit who stares seductively at Rudolf does not go unnoticed, but it is more exciting and enjoyable to enjoy the wedding party than to be bothered about her presence.***