Some moments in life sneak up on you; quiet, unassuming, yet destined to change everything.
It began on a typical evening. I was welcoming home my little cousin, who was only home from university on semester break. I stepped outside to greet him, shaking hands, exchanging excited banter. It was there I met her.
Teni. I hadn’t seen her in years. She was my cousin’s childhood friend, part of a family we had long shared close ties with. And she was quite young back in the day, a familiar figure in a crowd of family get-togethers. But in the yard on that day, she was a woman—her deep brown complexion glowing under the golden hour ☀️, and her smile—it was a careless smile, a warm smile, the type that lingers longer on her than she would care.
I smiled back at her. She smiled, and there was something natural about her charm. I could only say a brief hello before going inside. But for the first time, I truly thought about her, not just in passing, but in a way that made me pause.
New Year's Eve came. In Nigeria, we spend the final hours of the year in church, praying and stepping into the new year with faith. Later that night, after the service, I was outside talking with my older sister when I saw her again.
Teni. She was breathtaking. Her curves were cinched in a cyan dress, her dark skin gleaming under the dim lights ✨. She was even more beautiful than when I had first noticed her. But I wasn’t sure about her connection with my cousin, and I wasn’t the type to force conversations.
So I hung back, one hand in my pocket, the other texting on my phone, pretending not to notice her.
Until she made the first move.
She walked over and smiled. “Just wanted to say hello”, she said. And in that moment, something in the air between us shifted.
We spoke briefly, but the moment lingered. And later that night, I saw her name flash across my phone screen 📩—a message from Teni. My cousin had given her my number.
We texted. A lot.
Music became our language. I sent her songs I had recorded, and she was hooked. She made me promise to keep sending them, and with every message, something unspoken was building: raw, unfiltered, and honest.
Then I asked the question that changed everything.
“How old are you?”
“Seventeen.”
The number hit me like a gust of wind. I was 22. She was five months from turning 18, but my conscience couldn’t ignore it. No matter what I felt growing between us, I knew I had to pull back. So I kept things light, simple—at least, I tried to.
But when she turned 18, something shifted. The hesitation disappeared. We grew closer, and the connection that had simmered between us finally found its place.
We eventually started dating ❤️.
One night, we talked about how it all began, and she confessed something that made me laugh.
That New Year’s Eve? When my sister left right before she came over to talk to me? It wasn’t a coincidence. She had plotted it with my cousin to get my sister out of the way so she could speak with me alone 🤭.
I had never met anyone so bold yet so effortlessly charming.
Now, two years later, I look at her and realize—meeting her was one of life’s best surprises. And no matter where the road leads, I’ll always be grateful for the night she smiled back at me.