Lucy Torres-Gomez, 44, wrote a romantic letter to husband Richard Gomez, 52, on Valentine’s Day and posted it on Instagram.
Together with the post was a throwback photo of Lucy and Richard sharing a meal—two people who were virtual strangers to each other then.
Based on the photo, it was taken on April 25, 1993. In her letter, Lucy related how that moment was special to her.
It was the first day of the shooting of their television commercial for a shampoo brand.
Little did Lucy know, whose family is prominent in Leyte, the TVC would launch her to celebrity status.
Richard, on the other hand, was at the peak of his career as an actor at the time.
In her letter, Lucy wrote how nervous she was to be sitting beside Richard because she had a huge crush on him ever since she was young.
She wrote how she ate the vegetable on her plate even if she did not like it, simply because Richard told her it was good for her.
Lucy began, “The first time we sat down to a meal—lunch break during the first shooting day of the first storyboard of our first TVC together.
“I did not particularly like vegetables back then and you noticed I had eaten everything else on my plate but the carrots.
"‘You don’t like carrots? Try them, they’re good for the body.’ I ate every last bit, not really tasting them, just getting them down.
“I needed to do that anyway because, frankly, I couldn’t breathe.
"I’ve loved you since I was 12, after all, and finally you were beside me. Real. Asking me to eat my vegetables.”
Lucy also wrote that when they were shooting, she would catch Richard looking at her “a little too long” with his piercing eyes.
“Plus earlier that day, on set indoors and under the light of the sun, your eyes were so beautiful, piercing.
"And I’d sometimes catch you staring at me, a little too long, a little too hard. Everything was a blur but you.”
“Happy Valentine’s Day, my love. And cheers to many more meals we shall share together @richardgomezinstagram”
Unknown to Lucy, Richard had fallen in love with her at first sight.
In an interview with Philstar.com in February 2018, Richard related that on the set of the TVC, he secretly took a photo of Lucy.
However, he didn’t show it to Lucy until they got married five years after.
In an Instagram post in February 2018, which marked their 20th anniversary, Lucy wrote that that she remembered that eventful day when Richard was taking pictures with his camera during a break on the second shooting day.
“I looked towards him, and seeing that his camera was pointed somewhere in my direction I smiled for him, never mind if I did not know for sure it was I who he saw in those lens,” Lucy wrote.
Richard and Lucy tied the knot on April 28, 1998.