Do you believe in Fate?

Yesterday I went for a gathering at the bridal house.

As you probably know or may not know, I signed up with Vaughn Tan to design my gown. He's a very easy going and friendly person. From his bridal house, I got to know this group of girls who had their gowns done by him as well. So as time passed by, everyone sort of bonded quite well and held a few gatherings now and then.

Last night, we had a newcomer. Actually it was a he, rather than she. Yup, the groom-to-be actually joined in our gathering. When I first met him, I thought he strike a resemblance to someone I know. It was a short while later, I got the connection or at least where the familiarity lies. New groom-to-be resemblances my senior from school. The same dark wavy hair, the small frame, the same hairy arms, the kind of nonchalant attitude. But no, they are not the same person.

My senior, let's call him J. He should have graduated from Harvard by now with his PhD. Was it in 2005 he went to Harvard to pursue his dream? Last email correspondence was that he got a girlfriend and that's in 2006? Maybe he has already gotten married and still in US, developing his career.

Got to know J actually from work and then realized we went to the same school. There's a little bit of Jimmy's "Turn Left Turn Right" element in our story. (Remember the 向左转 向右转 movie?!) He shifted into my neighbourhood about the same time I moved out. He was 2 years my senior and so by right, we should have bumped into each other in our poly years. But by left, we never did and I spent a good deal of poly years in NUH as attachment student.

He got very good grades and went to Japan for a year to work/ study. By the time, our paths finally crossed, I'm working in NUS while he's working and studying part-time for his Msc. We started talking and got on quite well. Went out a couple of times together and by the time we were getting quite comfortable with each other, he had to make a decision to stay here or follow his mentor to Harvard. Of course, when you were young and struggling for a career, would you still care about relationship? So he went and I congratulated his acceptance to Harvard and wished him all the best.

Our paths crossed but briefly. Though it was a relatively short period but yup, it was enjoyable in his company. This is one of the memories you hold when you were young and still exploring the outside world. And one very interesting "Fate" story to reminiscence.

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