Jennifer and Benjie

Our love story began in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig, where I was completing my OJT (on-the-job training) at Fort Legend Tower. At first, I never imagined that something special would come from simply being at the same construction site. He was one of the people who taught me how things were done on the construction site, and I truly appreciated how patient he was in guiding me. Since I was an OJT, I also shared my number with people at the site in case there were any updates, changes, or anything I needed to know about the work. So when he asked for my number, I thought nothing of it and was completely comfortable sharing it with him. Little by little, though, I started noticing the small things.

There was a table at his desk that was usually unoccupied, and one day, he offered it to me so I could sit there. He would also message me asking if I could open his desk for him. One time, when I opened his drawer, I found chocolates—not just one or two, but so many that the drawer was almost completely filled with them. He told me they were all for me. I asked him why, and he simply said it was nothing. Somehow, those little surprises kept happening.

We would also eat together with the group from time to time. At first, it was always a group of us, but gradually, somehow, it became just the two of us. That was when I started wondering if there was something more behind all those little gestures.

There was also another engineer at the site whom everyone would tease me about. He would join in on the teasing too, which made me think that perhaps the chocolates, the meals, and all the little things he did for me didn’t really mean anything. Until one day, he invited me to walk around and have a dinner.

That time, he finally confessed how he felt. I asked him about the coworker everyone used to tease me about, including him, and he admitted that it actually hurt him whenever they teased me about that other guy—and even when he joined in on the teasing himself. He just never showed it because the people around us had already started teasing me about the other guy. After that, things became a little different. He stopped joining in on the teasing, and we continued working together at work while also spending more time just the two of us. Eventually, he asked me the question that would change everything: “Can we be together?” And I said yes.

What started as an ordinary OJT experience at a construction site in Fort Bonifacio became the beginning of our love story. From sharing chocolates, eating with our coworkers, and eventually finding ourselves having meals together just the two of us, our simple moments slowly turned into something much more meaningful. And now, after all the memories, laughter, challenges, and years we have shared, that simple “yes” has brought us here —to the day we get to say “I do.”