The global pandemic could not have had a worse timing when it started spreading at a breakneck pace last year. It caused the entire world to come to a standstill, ruining plans like outings, vacations, birthday parties, and weddings. One such important event that had to be postponed due to the widespread disease was my wedding. Yes, I am still very disgruntled about that.

Waiting for an aircraft inside the confinements of the airport can be bothersome. Yet, striking conversations with random strangers you will never meet again sounds interesting. The guy and I were scheduled for the same flight. The moment he walked past me was precisely when the tantalising smell blew me away. I was so mesmerised that I thought about starting a conversation and then gently inquiring about the perfume.

After an old friend casually commented that my wardrobe looks horrendously monotonous and dull, I was pretty disturbed. It made me reflect on my styling and choice of clothes. Unfortunately, his comments about my wardrobe were genuine. I decided that I needed to revamp my wardrobe. Sometimes, a change can be good. I reached out to another friend who made some excellent suggestions.

When my twins mentioned they had their school play coming up; I was pretty excited for them. They had been rehearsing their lines every spare second they got and had them memorised to a T. My daughter mentioned that she needed to get some new shoes to go with the school's outfit for the play. That’s what led us to take a trip to the mall. During that very trip, my eyes landed on the beautiful perfume bottle of Nina by Nina Ricci. It was sitting on a display shelf of the shop, and I just had to get that beauty without a second thought.

To say my twins had been acting strangely for the past two weeks would be an understatement. The furtive glances and hushed whispers they constantly exchanged were not as discreet as they may have thought. Or maybe it was just my motherly intuition that caught onto their exchange. I tried to surreptitiously confront them about it by casually bringing up how they had recently started spending more time together than usual, only to be deflected with excuses, such as having a school project together and needing help with homework assignments.