From this chapter onwards, I will be mentioning specific places for more clarity on the description of distances, time and locations. ✌🏼 Ana and Ryan will be travelling a lot. 😊

"Ladies, I called you in for a quick meeting. The management has issued a memo that our 8-day mandatory vacation leave will be scheduled by the area office." Livina addressed the officers and staff.

The tellers grumbled.
"What? We can't choose anymore?" "What are we gonna do on those dates?" "I can't plan a vacation without the specified dates!"

"Now, now girls, this is for operational control," Livina dismissed their murmurings and continued to preside. "Ana, you are the first on the schedule here. You will be starting your vacation on..." Livina looked into the paper. "Oh! It's tomorrow! Friday!"

"Jessy, prepare Ana's memo on this please. She'll be back on Wednesday after next week." Livina looked at Jessy who was taking down notes. "So Ana, you prepare your turnovers this afternoon. Okay?"

"Yes, Miss Livi."

"That would be all for now, girls. The list is confidential. I will call for a meeting again for the next schedule."

The girls scurried out of the manager's office to finish their tasks before they can call it a day.

"Perfect! Ryan's been pestering me for a two-week vacation and he's not even here on my scheduled leaved." Ana uttered to Pinky as they walk back to their counters.

"I just hope mine falls on my boyfriend's arrival," Pinky giggled.

"Why the sudden change in the policy..." Emmy butted in. "I guess you'll just have to spend it with your friends."

"I think I'll have to do a makeover at the condo, or drive myself out of town..." Ana said.

"How did they come as anniversary gifts?" Pam asked referring to the condo and the car that Ryan's parents had given her.

"I don't know. They just presumed the date nearing Ryan's move here. So that anniversary dinner was actually our anniversary month per se." Ana stated as she was balancing her end-of-day cash. "They actually thought Ryan moved here because of me."

"Oh, I wouldn't care about dates and schedules if I have that kind of boyfriend!" Lexie joined in. "He has everything planned for you, Ana. You're one lucky girl!"

"Well, yeah, except this one. For the first time, he didn't have anything to do with this."

"Hmmm... but I'm just wondering... Do you sleep in the same room when you travel?" Lexie asked giggling.

"Whoa! Where is this leading to? Hahaha!" She was taken aback with the bluntness of her colleagues. "Ok, to satisfy your curiousity, we'd usually stay in a villa. Sometimes, in a two-bedroom penthouse. He's a gentleman! My gosh! Shall we start with the turnovers?" Ana changed the topic.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

"Baby, I know you went out last night. But Fred's going to pick you up by 9am. Just catch up with your sleep on the plane, babe. I miss you. 😘 Love you." Ana read Ryan's text message early that morning. He was still in Lyon, France and he'll be flying to Nice this afternoon.

Ryan called up last night and when she told him about her long vacation, he suggested that she spend some of it in Manila, with his mom.

"I thought they're in Singapore now, hon."Ana said over the phone.

"Yeah, you'll meet them there, babe. I guess Mom wanted to shop for my new niece before heading to your destination, and she wants to take you shopping, babe."

"Ok, hon." Ana readily agreed because she loves hanging out with his mom, too. Amanda would often take Ana to her charity projects. Besides, she will just do anything just to pass her two weeks unplanned vacation.

She packed her passport along with her clothes. It will just be over the weekend so she just packed clothes good for two days. Besides, she bet Amanda would insist on shopping clothes for her again. Aside from that, she already has a closet full of clothes at Ryan's house in Manila.

Fred, her driver-cum-bodyguard, arrived at 8:30am and drove her to the airport. She was ushered directly to Ryan's private plane.

"Everything's all set, Miss Ana. You can sleep in the cabin after the plane has taken off." Greta, the flight attendant ushered her to her seat.

Ana transferred to the cabin after the seatbelt sign was switched off. After all, it's a 3-hour flight. And because of the late night bonding with Bambie, she fell into a deep sleep.

          ~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

"Miss Ana." She was awakened by a soft knock on the cabin's door. The door opened and Greta's head appeared. "Miss Ana, I hate to wake you up. But you've been sleeping for so long. I'm bringing in your food."

Ana got up and sat on the middle of the bed. Greta was setting the tray of food on the table beside the bed. Ana looked at her watch. She had slept for seven hours. "So much for the start of my vacation..." she thought. Then she paused to gather herself when she realized something.

"We're still flying?!" Ana shrieked with her eyes wide open. Singapore is only three hours away from the Philippines.

"Yes, Miss Ana. We'll be landing in Dubai in an hour for refuelling. We'll be at the tarmac for an hour..."

"Dubai?! Where are you taking me?!" Ana panicked.

"Haven't you been informed?" Greta wondered. "We're heading to Côte D'azur after refuelling."

"Côte what?! Where is that?!"

"France, Miss Ana. We're heading to Nice Côte D'azur International Airport after our stopover in Dubai."

France. France. France. Ryan is in France right now. Oh my God!

"Miss Ana? Are you okay?" Greta interrupted Ana's frozen state. Her brains seem to have jammed.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay then. Just transfer to your seat when you're done eating. We'll be landing in less than an hour." Then the pretty flight attendant left the cabin.

          ~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Ryan was standing at the foot of the airplane stairs when Ana alighted the plane. They landed at 4 o'clock in the morning of Saturday.

"Welcome to Nice, France, babe! Surprised?" Ryan welcomed Ana with arms wide open. He never looked so happy.

Ana ran down the stairs straight into Ryan's embrace. He then kissed her longingly. "Oh, Ryan, I don't know if I'd get angry with you or what!" She said while catching her breath after their lips parted. She was already teary-eyed.

"Oh, baby... please don't cry." Ryan was embracing her while rubbing her back. Then she burst into tears.

"I-I d-don't know w-what to f-feel for the l-last eight hours," she sobbed into his chest.

"Shhhh...hush, baby. I'm sorry." Ryan wiped away her tears with his thumbs. Then held her on both her arms. "Now, let's get you settled. We'll rest at the hotel first before we tour around Nice and the rest of France. Maybe we can start tomorrow.  I want to spend this day catching up and cuddling with you. I miss you so much, Ana." Ryan hugged her tight.

"T-tomorrow's S-Sunday. I-I
o-only packed clothes good for the w-weekend." She felt a little calmer now.

"Baby, I have your whole wardrobe prepared. We're spending two weeks here together!" Ryan grinned.

"W-what?! H-how?"Ana's eyes bulged. "Oh my God, Ryan! You manipulated the HR department?!Or is it the Policies and Procedures department this time? You've engineered all this?!"

"Engr. Ryan Anthony Villareal at your service!" Ryan bowed down in front of her. "Come on, babe. Shall we get some rest?"

"I just can't believe how you've orchestrated all these..." Ana said, still in disbelief.

"I love you, Ana. That's all it takes for me to move mountains." He held her back and led her to the car.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Back in the Philippines...

"CEO of Amaro Conglomerate Spotted in France" the title of the  article on society pages of the newspaper reads. "CEO Ryan Anthony Villareal was seen having a romantic getaway with girlfriend Ana Isabelle Ocampo. Sources says Engr. Villareal was already in France when Ms. Ocampo was flown in by his very own private jet. The couple were said to have spent two weeks vacation all over France..." the article further states.

Then there's another column in a tabloid newspaper with a heading that says "True Love or Just Another Passing Romance?" The writer punctuated on the social and financial differences of Ana and Ryan.

"Babe, will you please stop reading those news? They'll just ruin your mood." Ryan called from his desk. Ana was sitting on the couch inside his office waiting for him to finish reviewing and signing documents that he missed during his monthlong absence from work.

He deposited twenty million pesos in the bank to cover up Livina's deficit in quota for her monthend ADB just to extend Ana's vacation for another week. They've spent the whole two weeks of her vacation leave in France. And now that they've returned to the Philippines, the reporters were hounding them since their arrival.

Ana put down the tabloid on the table. She stood up and went to Ryan's desk and hugged him from behind. Ryan stopped what he was doing and pulled Ana into his lap.

"Babe?" He hugged her like a baby on his lap.

"Hmmm?" Ana lazily hummed as her head was leaning on his chest while sitting on his lap. She's drawing circles on Ryan's chest with her pointing finger.

"Can I have a sleepover at your place tonight? I got so used to sleeping with you in France. I want you wrapped in my arms always."

She hastely got up. "I'll think about it," she teased. She gave him a peck on his lips then laid down on the couch.

"Oh babe, you're a tease!"

"Ssssshhhh... I'm going to rest. I'm not used to long flights." Then she tried to close her eyes. But she can't fall alseep. She just kept on staring at the ceiling of his office, reminiscing their moments together in France.

          ~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Ryan had taken her all over Nice. Then they toured to the other major cities like Marseille, Lyon, and Bordeaux before heading to Paris where they took off on their way back to the Philippines.

Ryan had her rested at the hotel on the day she arrived. And they caught up on each other, snuggling and cuddling for the rest of day. They only go out and dine in classy restaurants at lunchtime and dinner.

On her second day in Nice, which was a Sunday. They roamed around the city. They went to the Old Town (Vieille Ville), shopped at Marche aux Fleurs Cours Saleya, then walked around Place Massena.

They stayed at Hotel Aston La Scala which is overlooking the city with views of the Mediterranean coastline.

Before the sunset, Ryan took her to Phare de Nice, a lighthouse. When they reached the edge, they watched the coming and going of sailboats and yachts.

"Isn't this place open for public, hon? I wonder why we are alone here at the tip of the rampart." Ana was mersmerized with the view that she didn't notice Ryan pulling a tiny box from his pocket. "Hon?" She turned around when she didn't hear any reply from him, and was surprised with what she saw. "Oh my God, Ryan! Where did that come from?!"

Ryan was holding a big bouquet of flowers. He walked towards her as he handed it to her. "I got a little help from the locals, babe." When she held the flowers, that's when she saw the box he was holding with his fingers. She covered her mouth in awe and she was tearing up.

"Ana," Ryan began. "Today's the 21st of September. Exactly the same date I found you again last year. I meant for us to be here in one of the most romantic place on earth on this very day. Baby, I could have done this at the top of the Eiffel Tower, or in front of the Louvre Pyramid, or in the middle of the Arc de Triomphe or the Versailles Orangerie... the list can go on." Ana was blushing red and already sniffling. "I chose to do it here babe, at the foot of the lighthouse, because like a lighthouse, you brought light into my life, you are my guide in navigating through life's pursuits and adventures. You made me realize that no matter how much possessions I've had, no matter what titles I've attained, I still need someone to guide me through them, someone to remind me to keep my feet on the ground... because without the lighthouse, ships like me could crash even into the shallow misadventures in life."

"I've been troubled by the memories we've had together five years ago. I felt lost then. I felt incomplete. Until I saw you again inside the bank. I know you're the one I needed." Ryan continued. This time he's holding Ana's right hand with his left hand and the box had already been opened in his right hand. Inside it was a 14k gold ring with a lighthouse lens cut stone.

"I love you, Ana. I want to give you the world. And I want to mark this day that you become officially mine." Then he slipped the ring into her right middle finger.

"Oh, Ryan!" She burst into tears. "I love you, too." And he kissed her passionately.

Romantic, isn't it?

Remember, Ryan's family is an airline owner. He can take her anywhere he wants!

Watch out for the conflict part of the story. Up next...

Please don't forget to vote! 😊