Celestial Encounter

(An original story by Lebogang Kote Tlou.)
Copyrighted text.

Foreword

This story was written for you, a little under a month ago, not with any agenda in heart or mind, but simply because the author could and, so, he did. He gifts this to you today, on your thirtieth birthday.
Happy birthday...

LeBeaux: Part One

It happened five months ago that they were at long last acquainted. He, on returning home from his regular after-work wine, found her there. He had never expected to meet her. She smiled as she introduced herself, and all he heard was the ringing that fills one's ears when the heart decides it's found a space worth snuggling into and calling home. That night, Time stood still to allow them a window in which they could soak in the magic created around them.

"I feel something very curious for you," he said bashfully at some point.

"I feel it too," said she.

They were sitting next to each other, their knees touching at points. Sensational ripples he could never put into words coursed throughout his body in those fleeting moment: he sat still and composed, so as not to give the impression that he was immature. She spoke with confidence and reassurance. Her soft, smooth voice filled the air in the room with beautifully articulated evidences and proofs about ways forward for a community of persons whose identity had been stolen from them by colonial forces. He sat and listened intently, paying close attention. Very few people over the years had ever bothered thinking about the things she was saying; he had, however he lacked the knowledge in that moment to share his own opinions.

Throughout the night, he felt a warm vibration at the very core of his being - where he had always imagined his soul to be. He retired to bed before she could leave, because saying good bye to one who had touched his soul so deeply was not part of his plan for the rest of the night.

"Somehow, I will see her again," he said to himself that night while lying in bed.

He didn't see her the next day, or the next week; he surely didn't see her the next month when he moved to another town to carry on with his adventure to gaining socioeconomic security while working on #CompleteEmancipation from the #system.

Five months passed, and the world had changed completely where he now stood having a cigarette. He was employed as a public figure, and was taking his time in getting his work done that he could return to the shadows where he worked hard on his craft as a words-mage. He walked into the room where High Magick was being displayed, and lo! There she stood, at the threshold to his destination: a sentinel on guard, almost, there to take in beauty and celebrate with a Fellow and Contemporary. He saw her, and a series of curious feelings engulfed him once more. Did she remember him? Would she consent to being hugged? Was wanting to hug her selfish?

He stood still and smiled at her. She saw, and beamed back. He waved shortly, and looked away really quickly, keeping her in full view out of the corner of eye while he reached for the camera he was already meant to be holding and putting to good use. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her frown a little at the aversion* of his gaze.

He set to keeping the space alive, getting work done as quickly as he could, and explain that he couldn't run the risk of getting distracted, which had happened either way the instant he had seen her again.

At the end of his short shift, he caught her up and embraced her swiftly, prematurely excusing himself once more from her company out of fear of blurting out his curious feelings to her.

Hours turned to days, days to weeks, and soon another month had passed. He entered the restaurant, sweaty at the brow, his heart beating frantically. Moments before, he had been outside egging himself on. He had, days before, told her that he would once more be in town, and he had asked her out for lunch. He saw her seated at a table, looking away from the door. He quickly wiped his face with the scarf he was wearing, and he walked in the direction of her table. 

"Hi," he said.

"Hello," said she. "How are you?"

And thus it began. There wasn't a moment of silence between them all throughout. They drank, ate, laughed and played - and by the end neither wanted to believe that they had to part ways; it was as though meeting yourself, and then being forced to walk away from your self: it hurt them both when they realized that they had lives to get back to.

"May I walk you anywhere?" he asked.

"I stay a bit of a stretch away, so I guess I'll be fine," said she. A deep sadness showed on his face, nothing unlike anything she had ever seen before.

"Unless you really don't mind?" she offered, to which he beamed.

"Yes, please may I?"

The walk wasn't long at all, and they had soon reached her front gate.

"This is my stop," he announced, holding it open for her to enter through. He kept it ajar by keeping hold of it while he spoke.

"Would you like to come in for tea?"

"I would, but I shouldn't," he said. "The magic is in the mystery of seeing you again. Besides, I still have work to do - and crossing this threshold may cause me to become side tracked."

She frowned, so he added quickly, "I really would love some tea, actually. May i?"

"Yes!" she said.

As he climbed the only step, he became aware of a flurry of wavy hair flocking his face. A second later he was looking into a set of beautiful eyes which sparkled just right. His nostrils were being filled with an amorous perfume like no other. He felt his knees turn to jelly when she kissed him. He acclimatized, and held her hand as he kissed her back.

And they lived happily ever after as partners, growing from strength to strength each day and finally establishing a powerful media empire and a league of schools geared towards #FreeDecolonisedQualityEducation.