ATTRACTION AT FIRST SIGHT
1500 Words
ELSA
I stared at the cake table like a proud mother whose child had just graduated from Harvard and invented Wi-Fi 2.0.
Mom really outdid herself. The cake was stunning. I watched Mr. Daniel and his wife slice through the giant masterpiece as cameras flashed like lightning. My cheeks were starting to cramp from smiling, but I didn’t care. I felt blessed just to be here.
Then something vibrated inside my purse.
At first, my slow-but-trying brain thought, Aww, excitement!
Then the music blasted.
“Adulthood is a scam, believe it or not…”
MY RINGTONE.
Loud.
Obnoxious.
Echoing through Ghana’s unofficial royal wedding.
In front of important people — the type you only see during national broadcasts.
I wanted the floor to swallow me whole like hot puff-puff dipped in oil.
The event planner froze mid-step. Her eyes widened like she had just discovered she wore funeral black to her own wedding. I slipped out of the hall so fast even the ushers didn’t catch me.
I smiled as I walked, but internally, I was screaming like a kettle on fire.
I am changing this ringtone today. Whether my phone likes it or not.
I rushed toward the washroom.
Then suddenly—
“Aaa! What’s wrong with you?!”
A voice cut through the hallway.
I turned so fast I nearly unscrewed my own neck.
And there she was:
The actress.
The woman I admired. The woman I once swore I’d cry if I ever saw in person.
And she was glaring at me like I had stolen her destiny.
I smiled nervously. She rolled her eyes dramatically. I couldn’t blame her; after all, I was wearing jeans and a round-neck shirt — like I’d come to deliver bread, not attend the wedding of the century.
I turned to walk away—
And slipped.
My life flashed before my eyes in Nollywood slow motion.
But before my body could hit the floor—
Strong arms caught me.
I didn’t land.
I didn’t crash.
I just… floated.
His grip was firm, steady, warm — supporting my back and waist like I weighed nothing.
The actress looked offended.
I looked like someone whose soul had left their body.
And the man…
The man looked at me as if I were a miracle he had been waiting for.
His eyes locked onto mine — steady, intense, far too beautiful.
Time paused. Air shifted. My heart forgot how to function.
I blinked.
He stared.
The actress blinked.
What in the holy name of plot twists was happening?
---
PRINCE ADAMS
I stepped out of the reception hall to take a breath.Weddings were loud, overwhelming, and Daniel—bless his dramatic heart—was going to drag me onto the dance floor the moment I returned.
As I leaned against the wall, someone approached.
Not just anyone.
The actress.
The celebrity everyone had been whispering about since she walked in.
She smiled the practiced, glossy smile celebrities use when cameras are absent but pride is not.
“Prince Adams, right?”
“Yes.”
“You’re Daniel’s friend?”
“His fortunate friend, apparently.”
She laughed loudly. Too loudly. “Oh, you’re funny.So… are you single?”
I raised a brow. “Why?”
She stepped closer. “Because I think you’re… interesting.”
Interesting.
Right.
But then—
Over her shoulder—
I saw her.
A girl.
In jeans.
In a simple shirt.
Looking like she’d accidentally stepped into heaven wearing earthly clothes.
Yet… she was breathtaking.
Not the polished, filtered kind of beauty.
No.She had the fresh, stunning kind — the kind that punched you in the chest unexpectedly.
The kind that made something in me freeze and move at the same time.
Her eyes were wide with awe, her expression innocent, unfiltered, honest.
How did I miss her earlier?
How was she suddenly the brightest thing in the room?
The actress kept talking, but her voice became static.
My focus was gone.
Then I heard her yell.
“Aaa! What’s wrong with you?!”
I turned.
And there she was — crashing right into the actress.
Wine spilled.
The girl apologized in a panic.
She tried to walk away.
Then — she slipped.
And before I could think—
My body moved.
I caught her.
Mid-air.
One arm around her back, the other steadying her waist.
She smelled like vanilla and warm sugar — soft, sweet, familiar.
Her face hovered inches from mine.
Her breath brushed my lips.
Her eyes…
God.
Those eyes could make a man forget his entire destiny.
I stared. Too long. Too deep.
But I couldn’t look away.
The actress cleared her throat with enough attitude to summon thunder.
The actress’s disappointment was written all over her face.Her eyes dimmed instantly, losing that confident sparkle she always flaunted in front of cameras.She tried to mask it, blinking too quickly, lifting her chin a little higher as if pride alone could hold her together.
But the truth spilled through anyway.
Her jaw tightened.Her shoulders stiffened.And that elegant posture of hers suddenly looked forced, almost painful.
It was the kind of disappointment that didn’t explode — it leaked quietly, painfully — the sort that made her look like she’d just watched the spotlight she believed belonged to her slide onto someone else.
She repeated her question, slower this time:
“So… do you have a girlfriend?”
My brain should have said “No.”
But instead—
“Yes.”
She blinked. “Who?”
I looked directly at the girl still frozen in my arms.
“Her.”
Her eyes widened, shocked, adorable, panicked.
I helped her stand properly.
“T-thank you,” she whispered, her voice small and warm.
She hurried off.
I wanted to stop her.
To ask her name.
To ask if she was okay.
To ask why she looked like she had just rearranged the entire structure of my heart.
But Daniel found me first.
“Prince! Where have you been?! I’ve been looking everywhere!”
I didn’t hide my smile.
“I found her.”
Daniel frowned. “Who?”
“My wife.”
Daniel blinked rapidly. “Where? How?”
I pointed.
He followed my finger… toward the actress.
“Oh! You met the movie star? She’s—”
“No,” I cut in, still smiling.
“I mean her.”
I pointed toward the hallway leading to the washroom.
Daniel stared. “The girl in jeans?”
“Yes.”
Then I walked back into the hall before he could interrogate me.
“Prince! What is her name at least?!” he called.
I yelled back:
“I don’t know!”
But for the first time in a long time…
Something in me felt alive.
---
ELSA
I rushed into the washroom like embarrassment itself was chasing me with a belt. Everything inside looked too fancy for my emotional breakdown — gold-framed mirrors, marble floors, soft lighting that made everyone look expensive.
I locked myself inside a private stall and exhaled hard.
My phone was still ringing, the ringtone determined to destroy my life.
I answered.
Before greeting, I launched into dramatic whining.
“Mamaaaa… you embarrassed me!”
“Excuse me?” she snapped. “Did I follow you there?”
“Mummy! My ringtone! Everyone heard it! Powerful people! Influential people!”
“Did I not tell you to change it?” she yelled. “But nooo. You think you are funny!”
I paced in circles, nearly tripping from stress.
“Mummy, YOU called me first!”
“Should I send letter before calling my own daughter?”
I groaned.
She continued, “Elsa! Did the cake arrive safely? Did someone steal it? Did you call the planner? Did you check the table? Why didn’t you call me?!”
“Mum—”
“Answer me!”
“Mum—”
“Elsa!”
I sighed. “Mummy… the place is full of dignitaries. Important people. Movie stars. It’s… too much.”
She gasped dramatically. “El-saa! Behave yourself. Don’t embarrass me. Don’t shout. Don’t run. Don’t laugh like a goat. Don’t—”
“Mum—”
“Don’t argue with me!”
I leaned on the wall.
Then his face flashed in my mind.
The eyes.
The hands.
The scent.
The way he held me like I mattered.
My voice escaped in a whisper:
“…He’s handsome.”
“Ehn?” my mother said sharply. “What did you say?”
My soul left my body.
“I— I said I love you, Mommy!”
“Hmmm. Suspicious.”
Then, “Better behave and tell people about my bakery! No excuse!”
I hung up before she could list more commandments.
I pressed a hand to my chest.
My God… who is that man?
Because whatever just happened between us…
Was not normal.
Was not random.
Was not accidental.
It felt like the beginning of something.
Something scary.
Something thrilling.
Something life-shifting.
- Writer
