TRANSFIXED (A Short Story - Non-fiction)

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I met Tim at a party—his ex-girlfriend’s birthday party. The party was fun, although I was exhausted from work and couldn't enjoy it due to that and my terrible mood. All the alcohol and well-cooked meat did nothing to help my mood. He kept flocking around his ex, and I thought, ‘Who is this guy? Why is he all around her? I have never seen him at one of our parties before’. I knew that my mood wasn’t helping my thoughts, and so I just sat at a corner alone, vibing to the songs being played while sipping on a cup of Grey Goose vodka. Fun fact? I like my vodka neat.

The party was on for a few hours, and when it was 9 p.m., we had to end it because most of us lived really far away from the venue of the party and had to go to work the next day. There were three available vehicles, of which two were going in my direction. I joined one of them, but it seemed that everyone else wanted to join that particular one. And the party host insisted that I and one other person, Ben, join the other car, which belonged to Tim. ‘Ugh! I don’t want to join the car driven by someone who felt too big to relate to other people at the party’, I thought angrily. I refused to accede to her request until everyone started talking to me about joining his car. I had to join him along with Ben. Ben sat in the front seat while I sat at the back. We bid the host and others farewell and left.

The ride was uneventful, and I just listened to Tim and Ben chat while songs were being played in the background. We drove for 15 minutes and got to a certain point where Ben had to alight. ‘Come and sit in front’, Ben said to me. I had no choice but to agree. I couldn’t make someone who was actually helping me home feel like a mere driver.

We still had about twenty minutes to go before I arrived at my destination, and I was alone with someone I sort of disliked for no apparent reason except that he didn’t talk to me at the party. A song titled Angel by The Weeknd came on, and I couldn’t keep myself from singing along with it. Tim turned up the volume, and we started singing out loud together. We sang along song after song, and at some point, I noticed that he slowed down the pace of the car. It felt wonderful. A few minutes from my house, he turned down the volume and started to talk to me.

‘You love singing, yeah?’, he asked.

‘Yes! I have a thing for good and meaningful songs’, I replied.

‘Nice. Nice’, he said, smiling. ‘Do you enjoy live bands?’

‘Of course I do. What would we do without them?’. At this moment, the air felt light, and I was smiling.

‘Good. I intend to take you out soon and get drunk with you while listening to a good band’, he said while taking a short glance at me.

‘Sounds like a plan. I am looking forward to it’, I said excitedly. We talked about a few more things, like where we worked and our working schedules, until he got to my house.

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Before he left, he got my number. I was already going into my compound when he got out of the car and asked me for a hug. It was weird because at that moment I didn’t feel like he was a stranger anymore and I was also eager to know what he felt like, and God! I didn’t want that hug to end. He smelled like chocolate and vanilla rolled into one, with a bit of lavender. It was even more perfect because he was taller than me, despite my 6-foot frame. It was just supposed to be a casual hug, but I couldn’t help but bury my face into the nook of his neck. I took more than a few deep breaths before letting him go. We both said ‘sorry’ as we let go of each other while he promised to call me the next day.

I got into my room, undressed, and laid on my bed. I didn’t want to take a shower yet. The memory of his scent kept me transfixed, and I didn’t want to forget it because it reminded me of how warm and perfect he felt.

I got to know him better over the next few weeks, and it was then that I found out that the party’s host was his ex-girlfriend. We have been good friends to date, though.