WHISPERS OF ENCHANTÉ

4: fate's brushstroke

Kaduna State, Nigeria.

Yasmin swallowed, her eyes widening at the sight of the man before her. For once, she wished the floor would open up, because the sight of him was so unexpected, so consuming that she had to remind herself to breathe.

Heat crept across her cheeks as her body temperature spiked with embarrassment settling in the pits of her belly.

She had just used the restroom, and the man she'd been crushing on all evening had to be the one to witness her leaving the restroom after she'd filled it with her natural scent. She swallowed hard.

Is this really happening? Yasmin couldn't believe she was enduring this, but she was.

"The girl's restroom is down the hall," were the first words he muttered.

She knew it was purely out of courtesy, not to embarrass her further. Such a gentleman. If possible, she fell in love with him just a little bit, even though the smell of her recent visit in the restroom lingered in the air like a giant elephant.

Yasmin had the decency to glance down the hall, now noticing the sign indicating it was the girls' restroom just a few feet away. This was the most humiliating night of her life. Universe, swallow me up.

Yet the night she found love... She thought with a coy smile in her head. Yep, definitely love.

He was still wrinkling his nose, discreetly taking steps away from the bathroom and retreating to the event hall to escape the horrifying stench that was about to make his stomach turn.

How could a tiny girl like this one create such a mess?

The whole hallway now reeked of her deed. No one would believe that such a beautiful girl could do something like that, not Abdullah. Then again, baby's mess could make a grown-up wretch or turn green if exposed to the smell for too long.

Not wanting him to leave, Yasmin grasped for anything that would prevent him from walking away, because she feared she might lose him in the sea of people, and he would be lost to her forever.

No. She believed that this man in front of her was her chance at something deeper. There was something about him that drew her in. She wanted to explore this, whatever it was.

She wanted to keep talking to him, listening to his deep voice that soothed the edges of her mind. His voice was deep and soothing, like a warm embrace for her ears.

Hearing it for the first time felt like a rich, velvety symphony, resonating with a sense of comfort and security, enveloping her in its gentle timbre.

Yasmin's face turned bright red, and her words stumbled as she tried to speak in front of her crush, whom she would like to nickname Whisperwind in her head. He calmed her at the same time, she felt humiliated.

She couldn't help but fumble with her small Nokia phone, almost dropping it as her nervousness became apparent. Her attempts to impress him suddenly seemed futile, and she wished she could just disappear in that moment.

What a messed-up first impression this was.

Then she blurted out in desperation. "Uh- I can get perfume and spray it all over the place, and then you can use it."

When he still didn't stop and appeared conflicted, she added in a shrill voice. "The perfume is so potent, it could probably moonlight as a superhero. It can chase away the stench in seconds!"

Abdullah didn't know whether to laugh, grimace, or show his amusement in different ways. It had been a while since he had wanted to howl out a laugh like he did at that moment, though he managed to hold it in.