WHISPERS OF ENCHANTÉ

5: tangled beginnings

Kaduna State, Nigeria.

Yasmin didn't say anything throughout the first twenty minutes of the ride. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest. Although she knew she should call her parents to ease their worries, she decided to wait until she was closer to home.

One of the girls in the backseat was dropped off somewhere that Yasmin didn't recognize. Shortly after, the other remaining girl sitting behind with Yasmin, who had been engrossed in her phone, got out in front of a massive, illuminated mansion.

The gates were wide open for her by a sleepy guard, but Yasmin remained in the car.

She flattened her lips, thinking she wouldn't mind living in such a house, but she also enjoyed her current life. No matter how much wealth one had, without contentment, it meant nothing.

Ten minutes into the ride, the girl in the front seat tried her best to talk to Yasmin's Whisperwind but he shuts it down fast. If he hadn't entertained her earlier at the restroom hallway, she would've thought he was not a talker. He does talk. But maybe just to girls that stench an entire hallway.

The girl was also dropped off in front of a huge white mansion. Yasmin would have thought it was the Presidential Villa if she didn't know it was in Abuja.

The girl thanked him and waved at Yasmin –the only one who acknowledged her in the car –and Yasmin waved back enthusiastically. She loved nice people, as she considered herself one.

After dropping off the girl, Abdullah didn't continue driving. Yasmin tilted her head, wondering if he was waiting for someone or something. It was eerily quiet, an uncomfortable one.

She never thought with all the wild thoughts running through her head that she would be quiet with the man she has been thinking about the whole night.

Then she'd recall how embarrassed she felt when he found her outside the bathroom. Her face heat up at the mere thought of it. The way his face scrunched handsomely then his eyes swept over her frame.

That was so freaking humiliating. How could she meet the love of her life like that? What sort of cruel joke is destiny trying to play with her? This story is one to tell honestly.

"Come back to the front," he said, not bothering to turn around to see the last person left inside the car. Her.

Desperate to be closer to him, Yasmin quickly exited the car, walked around it, and sat in the passenger's seat. She placed her disco light stick, goggles, and heels beneath her, wearing the flip-flops Faiza had given her earlier as a souvenir.

Abdullah began driving, his eyes focused on the road, even though it was empty. He was one to follow rules, and he'd stop at a red light even at three in the morning with empty street ahead.

His friends always teased him for being a rule follower. It's just his nature. Everything should go in order, appropriate and perfect. That he has obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.

He never answered to them. There is no need of thag anyway.

Yasmin didn't like the silence, so she took out her phone to call her mother even knowing she didn't have much airtime. She needed to ease her parents' worries as they had no idea she would stay out so late.

She hoped her father wasn't outside trying to find a keke napep or okada to bring him to this place since she hadn't told him the name of the event center. He would describe everything he could to the poor man.

Her mother answered the phone after two rings, and Yasmin sighed in relief. Her mother wasn't scolding her, which was a positive sign, right? Not.

"Where are you, Baby?" Her mother, Safina, asked into the phone, but Yasmin couldn't hear her clearly.