The Smile That Wasn't Mine
1098 Words
The sound of rain tapping against the window pulled Nadia Adebayo from sleep.
She lay still for a moment, staring at the ceiling of her one-bedroom apartment. The room was dim, washed in the gray light of an overcast morning. A faint chill lingered in the air, and the rhythmic hum of traffic several floors below drifted through the slightly open window.
Her alarm hadn't gone off yet.
She reached for her phone on the bedside table.
6:12 a.m.
She frowned. Her alarm was set for 6:30.
Strange.
With a sigh, she pushed the blanket aside and sat up. She rubbed her eyes, trying to shake off the odd feeling that clung to her. It wasn't fear exactly. It was the unsettling sensation that someone had been watching her while she slept.
She glanced around the apartment.
The living room was empty.
The kitchen was silent.
Nothing seemed out of place.
"You're imagining things," she muttered.
She stood and made her way toward the bathroom, her bare feet padding softly across the wooden floor.
The bathroom light flickered once before settling into a pale glow.
Nadia leaned over the sink and turned on the tap. Cold water splashed against her face, washing away the last traces of sleep. She reached for a towel, drying her skin before finally looking up.
Her reflection stared back at her.
Dark eyes.
Messy curls tied into a loose bun.
A faded gray T-shirt.
Everything looked normal.
She gave herself a tired smile.
Her reflection smiled too.
She exhaled in relief.
"See? You're just tired."
She reached for her toothbrush.
Halfway through brushing her teeth, she heard something.
A soft knock.
Three slow taps.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
She froze.
The sound hadn't come from the apartment door.
It came from behind her.
She spun around.
Nothing.
The bathroom was empty.
Her heartbeat quickened.
She opened the bathroom door and looked into the hallway.
Silence.
No footsteps.
No voices.
Only the steady drip of rain outside.
Nadia laughed nervously.
"I'm losing my mind."
She returned to the sink.
The mirror reflected the empty bathroom exactly as it should.
She shook her head and continued brushing her teeth.
A few minutes later, she rinsed her mouth and reached for the towel again.
Then she looked up.
The smile disappeared from her face.
Her reflection...
...was already looking at her.
Not moving.
Just staring.
Nadia frowned.
She slowly tilted her head to the left.
The reflection copied her.
She raised one hand.
The reflection did the same.
She forced herself to laugh.
"Seriously?"
She turned away, grabbed her moisturizer, and began applying it to her face.
When she finished, she looked back at the mirror.
Everything was normal again.
She sighed.
"You need coffee."
An hour later, Nadia left the apartment carrying her camera bag over one shoulder.
Photography had always been her escape. She worked freelance, taking portraits, events, and the occasional product shoot. It wasn't glamorous, but it paid the bills.
The elevator doors opened with a soft ding.
She stepped inside and pressed the button for the ground floor.
The doors began to close.
At the last second, a man's hand slipped between them.
The doors reopened.
A middle-aged man wearing a navy-blue suit entered, nodding politely.
"Morning."
"Morning," Nadia replied.
The elevator descended in silence.
Then...
The lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
The elevator stopped.
Nadia looked up.
"What now?"
The emergency light blinked on, bathing the elevator in a faint amber glow.
The suited man sighed.
"Power outage?"
"Probably."
Nadia reached into her pocket for her phone.
No signal.
Odd.
The emergency button didn't respond either.
The silence grew heavier.
Too heavy.
Then she noticed something.
The elevator walls were polished stainless steel.
Reflective.
She could see herself.
The suited man.
And the closed elevator doors.
She stared absentmindedly at the reflection.
Something felt...
Wrong.
Very slowly...
The reflection of the man turned its head toward her.
The real man hadn't moved.
Her breath caught.
She blinked.
The reflection was normal again.
"Nonsense," she whispered under her breath.
"What was that?" the man asked.
"Nothing."
The elevator suddenly jolted back to life.
The lights returned.
The doors slid open.
The suited man stepped out without another word.
Nadia remained inside for a second, her pulse racing.
Had she imagined it?
She shook her head and walked into the lobby.
Outside, the rain had stopped.
The café across the street was nearly empty.
Nadia ordered a cappuccino and sat near the window.
She scrolled through the photos from yesterday's shoot on her camera.
Bride.
Family.
Flowers.
Cake.
Everything looked perfect.
Until she reached the final image.
Her finger stopped.
A chill crawled down her spine.
Standing behind the bride...
was a man dressed entirely in black.
His face was blurred.
Not by motion.
Not by poor focus.
It was as if the camera refused to capture him.
"I don't remember him being there," Nadia whispered.
She zoomed in.
The image became grainy.
The stranger appeared to be looking directly at the camera.
No...
At her.
The café door opened.
A gust of cold air swept inside.
Nadia instinctively looked up.
No one was there.
The door slowly swung shut on its own.
She frowned.
The waiter looked over.
"Everything okay?"
"I... I think so."
She looked back at the camera.
The photograph had changed.
The man was gone.
Only the smiling bride remained.
Nadia stared at the screen in disbelief.
She checked the previous photo.
Nothing.
The next one.
Nothing.
It was as if he had never existed.
Her coffee suddenly didn't taste warm anymore.
As she packed away her camera, she caught sight of her reflection in the café window.
For a moment, it looked perfectly ordinary.
Then she stood to leave.
She took one step toward the door.
Her reflection...
didn't.
It remained standing by the table, watching her.
A slow smile spread across its face.
Nadia spun around instantly.
The café window reflected only the rainy street outside.
No smiling figure.
No second version of herself.
Only her own frightened face.
Her heart pounded.
She backed away from the glass without taking her eyes off it.
"What is happening to me?"
Outside, across the street, someone stood beneath a black umbrella.
The figure didn't move.
Didn't wave.
Didn't walk away.
It simply watched her.
When a passing bus blocked her view for only a second, the stranger was gone.
Nadia stared at the empty sidewalk, a knot forming in her stomach.
For the first time in years, logic failed her.
And somewhere, hidden behind an ordinary mirror, something smiled back.
- Writer
