Part 3 – A Chance Encounter
Julie Bracken posted a photo:
The champagne flowed rather more freely than I’d intended.
Somewhere between one conversation and the next, I found myself introduced to the most charming Nigerian gentleman. Impeccably dressed, quietly confident and blessed with an effortless warmth, he possessed that rare gift of making the person before him feel as though they were the only one in the room.
As we talked, the bustle around us gradually dissolved into little more than background music. His conversation was intelligent, his humour gentle and his attention so natural that I stopped wondering how I might be seen. Instead, I found myself laughing more freely than I had all evening, enjoying the simple pleasure of being accepted entirely at face value.
Watching us together, you might almost have guessed how the evening would unfold. His kindness, impeccable manners and easy charm had already written the next chapter before either of us acknowledged it. For one delicious hour, it felt as though the world had quietly stepped aside to leave us alone.
Reality has a habit of reminding us that every life carries its own complications, and ours were no exception. Yet that hardly mattered. Some encounters last only an evening, but they leave behind something far more enduring—the memory of being seen, accepted and appreciated without explanation..
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24 Jul 12
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