How I Fell In Love With Him

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He is not a love at first sight. As cliche as it can be, I can still remember the first time I saw him. He was wearing crisp blue long sleeves tucked in slacks. He was not that tall. His hair was actually a bit annoying at first. There was no remarkable feature in his face. But overall, he looked handsome still.

Maybe it was the way he carried himself. Maybe it was sheer confidence. Plus, I like the guy who can easily pull together a presence that predominantly draws attention. Qualities like that are so rare nowadays. People tend to exert too much or too little effort to succeed on that. I think he just knows how to strike a balance between the two.

But, I did not fall in love with him the first time I saw him. I guess I will never fall in love just by mere first, second or even third sight. Feelings work for me differently. I don’t know if it is typical, but I fell in love with the little things about him first before completely falling in love with him.

I fell in love with his eyelashes. That was the first thing that made me want to look at him for the second, third, for many times. Maybe because his eyelashes seem like a curtain of his eyes. They move perfectly whenever his eyes blink–open, close, open close. Whenever he smiles or laughs, I see his eyelashes beaming with something I can’t perfectly describe. And when he cries (yes, he does), teardrops tend to remain intact in the strands of his eyelashes. I love looking at them (and it makes me feel guilty). But more than that, I love how they cover the very thing that links us two.

I fell in love with how he wittily tells stories. I fell in love with how words cascades out from his mouth whenever he shares with me or even with others stories he really loves. A lot of people love talking but only few do the way he does.

I fell in love with how he strokes his hair. I used to envision him like the male protagonist in a movie– there is a sudden slow mo as the character enters the scene for the first time. He confidently strides across the room and does that classic stroking of hair.

I fell in love with how he calls my name in the morning with that “Hi, Hello.” Gestures like that brighten up my day if only he knew that before. I fell in love with how he differs from me. I actually see the two of us as Yin and Yang, as two opposite poles. We certainly have a myriad of differences but we find ways to compromise. I always hope that we’ll keep on discovering ways to continuously compromise.

I fell in love with his presence. I fell in love with how he becomes a constant part of my life — as I wake up, as I get through the day, as I end the night. I have no idea how to “unlove” his presence. I fell in love with the idea of him coming into my life and changing how my small world revolves.

He fills in the gaps, he rearranges things, he breaks wall, he teaches me to break my own walls. I fell in love with him in so many little ways. And even though I can’t write all of them here, I want him to know that I never run out of reasons- even the smallest ones- to fall in love with him. I guess I will just keep on falling in love with him day after day.