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“What is it by the time?”
Smith quickly turned to see the figure behind the honeyed voice. Behold, it was no other treasure than the lady of the moment; Emerald. A slim, tall, fair mermaid with an infectious smile that displayed the gaps between her teeth and invited others to smile back and fill the space. But behind the beauty and charm was a lukewarm attitude that forced her to live a reserved life.

More startled than surprised, Smith could hardly decipher what he had done to merit a conversation with such an introverted personality. He speedily flung his eyes to both sides but realized that he was the only one left in the Art Gallery ..
‘Yes, I am the one…
I’m the one she spoke to…’
Random thoughts kept musing over his head as he fixed his gaze at the treasure before him...lost in the Ireland of his thought.

“Time…..Time….”

Emerald echoed again, this time, in a rather penetrating tone that recoiled Smith’s wandering mind and left him panicking and sweating profusely. He quickly dipped his hand inside his pocket and brought out his Tecno Camon C8, customarily his trademark as he was known in the department as the student with the most sophisticated mobile gadget. He was gradually regaining his composure as he carefully caressed his fingers over the screen to unluck his long passwords. But while his attention was still fixed on the phone, Emerald echoed again..

“6; 28….Thanks”
Again Smith was enshrined in the closet of his ignorance as he was puzzled at how Emerald got to know the exact time without his help. Could it be that she was playing a trick on him? Smith then raised his head fron the phone and saw Emerald’s eyes fixed on his wristwatch.
‘So I even had a wristwatch on…how stupid could I be!’
Smith kept muttering within himself as a cloud of shame engulfed him. He was divinely gifted an opportunity to create a good impression but he buried it in the alter of pride and arrogance...He lost, even without a battle.

As Emerald turned to walk away, Smith stretched out his hand to grab hold of her and perhaps rewrite the script, but she was steps away from his touch…but not his words.
“Hope there is nothing else I can help you with. I have all the textbooks and notes… I’m also close to most lecturers in the department. It might interest you to know that the Dean of this faculty is my uncle. So you see, you might need me around.”
Emerald paused at the sound of Smith’s words, turned and smiled at him. Smith immediately regained his boldness, knowing that he was back on track.

“Happy to know you have such connections. Every girl would be startled at your profile, but I don’t think I need all of that right now….can you just tell me your name?”
Every of Emerald’s words landed like a storm on Smith’s heart as she listed his flaws in just few words. How stupid he was to have forgotten to tell her his name but remembered to tell her about his connections and who he knew. But Smith was determined not to accept defeat.

“I am Smith…Smith Udoh..The only son of the former secretary to the state government.. My dad is currently aspiring for the senatorial seat under the umbrella of the reigning political party.”
Smith confidently gazed at Emerald as he uttered those words.
“Don't you think the name is too long for one person?...well never mind.. The lecturer handling Mac111 handed me some test scripts to distribute to the class. Let me fetch yours.”

Emerald put down her pink handbag and brought out some books. Smith was quickly moved by an i-phone he saw among the pile of textbooks. He was surprised that Emerald could have such a gadget yet no one knew about it, while he [smith] advertised his little phone to the whole school. There was certainly a lot to know about this strange being standing before him and Smith was determined to research on her.
“Here is your script. You scored two. I think you need to do some work on your textbooks. You said you have lots of them. I think I’m connected to some private tutors and I can connect you to one of them. All the same, it was nice talking with you.”
Smith’s ego was finally buried in few words. It was now obvious that Emerald was out to taunt him, and if she was, then she surely won. But smith definitely had his mind fixed on another day…Maybe a revenge.

....To be continued.

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_{Image 1&3 from pixabay, 2 from google}

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