The Valentine Crush

It was my first Valentine's Day as a freshman at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) when I first saw him. He was standing behind a flower stall, with a sharp, shaved jaw, in a suit, vibing to music with AirPods in his ears, looking incredibly handsome. C1 hallway was buzzing with music and red colors, with stalls of roses, gajre (flower bracelets), red cupcakes, and jewelry set around the circular hallway.

As I stood in the upper circle, looking down, I couldn't help but enjoy the view of beautiful couples buying presents for each other, girls wearing stunning red dresses, cute boys giving them flowers.

Although there were many good-looking guys in the hall, my eyes kept wandering toward the one behind the flower stall. It was like looking up at a sky full of stars, and there was this one star that caught my attention, even though there was nothing extraordinary about it. But for some reason, I felt that it was shining the brightest, and my attention kept returning to him.

He looked so professional, as if he was doing the whole world a favor by selling a bunch of red roses at a triple price on Valentine's Day in a suit. I wanted him to know that I was watching, so I used a psychological trick - people can sense when someone is staring at them. And yes, I was staring like an idiot to make him sense it, and he did!

Whenever his eyes found mine, I would look away. And whenever they wandered back to him, I found that his gaze was already on me, and we would both look away. It happened a few times. If it had been up to me, I would have stayed there all day playing this game, but I had a bus to catch.

Leaving without doing something was not an option. I had to do something, anything, to get him to notice me. It was like seeing a shirt in a shop that you just know you want so badly, and leaving the shop without buying it is not an option. That guy was like that shirt, and I needed him to know about me no matter what.

So, I decided to buy a flower from him. But the action I was going to take now was a very idiotic one, the one that would make me feel embarrassed on thousands of random nights coming ahead. I went like a crazy teenage girl to his stall and asked for a flower. I don't know why he still had his AirPods on when music was already blasting.

I gave him the money, and he gave me the flower. After checking the flower, as if checking its worth, I gave it back to him and said, "For you!" Oh damn, I did it. For the first time in my life, I gave a flower to someone on Valentine's Day. Damn! I was blushing, but there, I saw it - he smiled! It was a soft twitch of his lips, but it was there, and it was beautiful.

My day was made, and now I had to catch my bus. But before leaving, the words came out of my mouth, "I'm Maya, by the way. Just to let you know."

"Hamza. Hamza Sikandar!" he replied. Oh damn, even his name was handsome like him.

That day, I left with the biggest, the cheesiest smile my face could afford