JANNAH

3: THE ENCOUNTER

Jannah sat on a long bench outside the lecture halls after her morning class, she puffed out an exasperated air. It had been a little over ten minutes since she sat there waiting for Ramla to bring her some handouts.

Jannah hated it when someone waited for her, even if they were patiently waiting she always ended up almost toppling over in her haste. But then what she hated the most was her to wait for someone. And under this baking sun, she was allowed to be angry at Ramla.

Jannah sighed and brought out her book from her satchel she might as well while away the time by briefly going through her previous lecture notes. Barely two minutes through it, heady Oudh with a hint of mint citrus and Indian patchouli bombarded her nostrils, she almost let out a dreamily sigh. This was definitely gem of a fragrance and gosh! she was a sucker for nice fragrances.

Where did Ramla get it? But why was she wearing such strong perfume when she knew she was going to come out?

When jannah sniffed again, she realized it was too strong for a woman. When she looked up, her breath almost caught in her throat, a tall dark-skinned man was standing beside her, donned in a black button down shirt and a pair of chinos. Her eyes quickly shifted to his face, dark aviators stood on his perfect chiseled nose, shielding his eyes from the scorching sun, his dark short curly head of hair connected gracefully with his side burns and full short beard. Wait, what exactly was this creature?

When Jannah realized she was going too far, she quickly averted her gaze back to her notebook, but why was he still stan...

Her thought was cut short, when she saw him, in her peripheral view, sitting beside her on the bench. She almost huffed. What the heck was he even doing there, beside her, completely invading her space with his strong scent and his.. presence? There were like ten unoccupied benches scattered around, he could have simply taken one.

"Salamu alaikum."

Jannah's brows slowly shot up, what was that voice? Silvery, husky and deep? She should have known that men like these naturally had silvery voice that was as sweet and captivating as their features.

Her eyes still fixed on her note, she found herself clearing her own voice, "Wa alaikumussalam."

She waited for him to talk, a minute passed but he didn't. Crazy man!

And Ramla! Ya Allah, that lady still wasn't here. Jannah wiped the pearls of sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand, the sun was literally baking her. She would stop at nothing to skin Ramla alive today.

"Salamu alaikum." The curly-haired man greeted again.

Now, he was really starting to get on her nerves. Was the first salaam wasn't enough for him? His perfume was all over the place, she'd really be glad if he occupied another bench.

She didn't answer him and continued to shuffle through her notes but a hand, with neatly manicured fingernails, took hold of the book.

"Bawan Allah what are you doing?" Jannah almost yelled, as she stared at him wide-eyed, as if he just had his brains spilled on the ground.

The man smiled and jannah would have secretly admired him if she didn't know what a great invader he was. "How did you know my name?" He slightly furrowed his brows.

Her brows shot up, maybe there was a dysfunction brain under all that handsomeness after all, "Bawan Allah, when did i call your name? As a matter of fact, this is the first time I'm laying my eyes on you."

"Miss, you just called my name again."

Jannah was about to scoff when it clicked, "Bawan Allah? I have never come across a person with such a name."