VJG Niche Notes

It was the smell of sweet fragrant Ye Lai Xiang scent that made my nephew noticed her at the library.Alvin first noticed her as she passed by his table to sit at the far end of the library. She smelled so nice, thought Alvin. She must have spent a fortune on perfumes.

She has been coming to the library on her own for the past two evenings.So he noticed. He had occasionally stole glances at the pretty young long-haired girl. He had made up his mind to introduce himself to her and get her phone number that very evening. It is a ‘do-or-die’ mission. He smiled to himself.

And there it is again! That wonderful sweet scent. Here she comes. Alvin looked up and his eyes met hers. She gave him a shy half-smile and he smiled broadly in return. Go for it, his heart told him.

“Hi,err.. would you like to sit here?” Alvin could not believe he was saying this. “I saw you have an interest in gardening. I am a Botany student and i wonder if we could talk about flowers.”

It was a silly ice-breaker but it worked! She smiled and sat in front of him.

“Yes, i like flowers, especially the scented ones. How did you know?” she asked.

“Ah, i always see you holding books on this subject.” winked Alvin. He was trying hard to think of the next few pickup lines to say.

“Botany must be a very interesting subject.” she said.

Alvin tried hard not to look at her beautiful hazel eyes and her delicate lips. She was an amazingly pretty girl. He wondered why no guys accompanied her to the library. Perhaps she had not a boyfriend.

They had a wonderful time chatting and laughing for the next two hours. Fortunately, there were usually not many people in the library at this hour. They did not disturb anyone.

Finally it was time for her to go home.

“Alvin, i need to go.”

“No, wait. Do you have a FaceSpace or NSM? or Yohaa ?”

“No.”

“Do you have an address?”

“Why?”

“I want to see your garden.”

she was pleased.She told him her address and her name was Britney Chong.

She did not come to the library the next few days and he kind of missed her. Alvin thought he was in love. He could not stop thinking about her.

Finally, he decided to pay her a visit the next morning. He reached a nice double-story bungalow in the pricey part of the city. He pressed the bell and an old woman answered the door.

“May i speak to Britney Chong please? She gave me this address a few days ago.”

The woman started to cry and an old man , came to the door.

“What do you want? Why did you make my wife cry?” He asked harshly.

“I.. I… was asking for Britney. I saw her in the library a few days ago but she didn’t turned up the past few days..i just wondered what had happened to her.” Alvin stammered.

The old man’s face turned pale and then he became angry.

“Young man, i don’t know who put you up to play such a cruel joke on my wife. Britney our daughter died one year ago!”

Alvin’s mouth went agape and his heart sank. The door was slammed on his face. His mind went blank.

That evening he went to the library and asked about Britney Chong. The old librarian typed something into her computer.

“Ah, a pretty little girl. But what a pity. She jump off this seven story building about one year ago. Right from that window over there.” She pointed to the window at the far end of the library.

Alvin was speechless and he sat down trying to regain his composure.At that instance, Alvin smelled fragrances…