Here comes another day of exploration. Samantha loved the plantations. The different stalls that sell plants and even herbs. The painting canvas of fruits. They were authentically pleasing for her. 
“Beautiful pieces. They were works of art.” She muttered. She was smiling before she then looked at him. He wasn’t eyeing the canvas, he was eyeing her. 
She looked straight in his eyes. “What are you thinking?” She asked, curious about his thoughts that were running in his head. 
Gregory straightened his posture. He stared at her in the same gentle manner. “I don’t even know what I was thinking. All that matters is, is that I am looking at you.” He answered. 
There he goes, making her heart went into frenzy again. The only man that arrived that made her feel grateful. She removed her gaze away from her and stared at the other stall where two people were making sculptures of fruits. She stared unable to remove her gaze from it. 
“This is new.” She said. Before she stared at Gregory. “But this is the type of newness that brings me fulfillment.”Her eyes went back to the people in front of her. “Lettuce, spring onions, carrots. root crops.” She pointed at what she can see. In her perspective, the drawings all look amazing. 
Gregory moved his lip. He suddenly grinned before he draw his mouth to show her his lazy smile. His eyes had the look of being fascinated at her. “I love…” He uttered slowly, pausing. Samantha followed through. She was waiting for the next words that will come out of his mouth. 
Gregory smile widened. “I love these things too.” He was then letting himself display the full look of being happy. 
Samantha shook her head. She was anticipating something. She was waiting for something from him. She can’t help but feel weirded out. Because despite of her anticipation of something and it didn’t happen, she was still happy upon hearing the words that came out of his mouth. 
--
They went into the quite spot. They walked far from where the stalls are. Both the two of them sat in the metal bench. Both of them were quite. Samantha stared at the trees around and suddenly burst into chuckles. Gregory stared at her, his eyes were in question. 
Samantha restrained her sounds for a bit before she started to flash a smile on her face. “I love trees.” She blurted out. 
Gregory nodded as if he already knew. “I know that too.” He answered. 
Samantha blinked. She was now the one whose staring at him with confusion on her face. “How?” She paused, examining his face. “How do you know?” She asked him. 
Gregory had a relaxed look before he let his back rest in the bench. He was staring at her as if he was reading something in her. “It was pretty obvious that you love trees, Sam. You were basically looking at them all throughout the ride.” He then searched through her eyes. “Most people wouldn’t spend some time to stare at them for long periods of minutes. You were staring for most of the hours while we were seated in the vehicle.” 
“And? It’s not a bad thing, right? It’s not an act out of foolishness, right?” She asked. Her tone was hesitant. 
He immediately shook his head at her. “No, Sam. It’s not.” He scanned her before his gaze suddenly looked alerted. “What’s wrong? Did I say something that you didn’t like?” It was now him who was asking her with the same tone she just used to him. 
Samantha then shook her head. “It’s not that. It’s because I remembered something.” She answered. She let her eyes roam. Letting her eyes gaze through what surrounds her. She then looked at Gregory who was waiting. She then smiled again.
She will be baring another part of her to this man. “They say that when you hug a tree, all of your stresses just faze away.” Gregory nodded his head at her. “I love to hug trees whenever I was near one. My ex-boyfriend thinks that it was something that is dumb. He didn’t like that I was hugging trees. He even joke that maybe my mental health is deteriorating and I need a check up because I was hugging a tree.” Samantha thought how she didn’t like how he worded his words at that time. 
“He reprimanded me to do it when I am with him.” She then let her back rest on the bench too. “I stopped because he literally told me that it’s giving him an ick…” 
Gregory had a calm look on his face. His stare was gentle. “He was the dumb one.” He stated in a direct manner. 
“He wasn’t appreciative of nature.” She talked. “He was more inclined with the city life. And although I love the city, I love the rural areas too where you can’t see the skyscrapers and the taxis. But the trees and everything connected to the natural way of life.” 
Gregory was smiling. He then suddenly stood. He bowed for a bit and offered his hand. “Then let’s walk around and enjoy this place, Sam.” He replied. 
Samantha stared at his hand and placed her palm right above it. Gregory help her get up with his hold before he then enveloped their fingers. Samantha stared because they were basically holding hands while they walk together. 
She noticed how he was gentle with his pace. He can take long and fast strides as they walk but for once he never did that while she was with him. He walked slow. He was always matching her pace. She remembered how she was always in a hurry to catch her ex’s pace whenever they walk. He never for once tried to wait for her. She was always the only one who tried to do match with him. Almost as if she was the one who always chases after him. He never tried to equaled her efforts with his. 
Samantha realized how she stayed for the sake of familiarity. How there was an imbalance but she tried to bare the tolerance for it. But with Gregory, she finally received a fresh wave of thinking. Two people can be on the same page. The meeting of their minds can mesh as long as two are both willing. 
It took her a while to remove her gaze at their joint hands before she stared at Gregory. Samantha finally realizes something. She realized that this is something she’s been looking for all of her life. He is the one she’s been searching for. This is the one that the younger her also looks for. 
Samantha then heard her mother’s words. 
“Promise me to find the man that you will really, really love.” Her mother’s whisper echoed in her head. 
Samantha smiled. She wanted to tell her mother that the search is finally over. She finally found the man. Gregory is starting to become the man that she will really greatly love…