Ohwofasa_Emonena

Mira Adebayo has her life carefully mapped out—career-focused, emotionally guarded, and living thousands of miles from home. But when a routine airport pickup for a client turns into a chaotic twist of fate, she mistakenly picks up Noah, a charming stranger from her home country. Unbeknownst to both, one wrong encounter leads to the unraveling of everything Mira has worked for.

After a ruined project and an unexpected firing, Mira returns home heartbroken—only to cross paths with Noah again, this time on her own soil. With resentment bubbling and attraction refusing to fade, their accidental meeting evolves into a slow-burning war of emotions.

But when tragedy strikes and Mira is forced to confront her past, Noah becomes the only one who sees beyond her defenses. As secrets unravel and feelings deepen, they must choose between the walls they’ve built and the hearts they never planned to lose.

Enemies by chance. Lovers by fate. But can love bloom from a mistake that changed everything?

Unplanned Hearts

Back in the city, everything moved faster—cars honking in the distance, crosswalks crowded with strangers, and a clock that never seemed to stop ticking. Mira stood at the edge of it all, suitcase in hand, watching her reflection in the tinted windows of Noah's car.

He opened the door for her, a subtle gesture she hadn't expected but had grown to appreciate. It was always the little things with him. Quiet presence. Earnest eyes.

"I can take a cab from here," she said, voice low.

"I'm not letting you carry that bag up five flights of stairs," Noah replied, already grabbing the suitcase. "Besides, your landlord barely fixes your plumbing. I don't trust the elevator either."

She laughed softly—real laughter this time. It had been a while.

Upstairs, the apartment was stuffy. A lingering smell of unopened windows and dust. Mira walked in like she was stepping back into an old version of herself. One that had been frozen the day she left for her father's funeral.

She didn't cry. Not yet. She unpacked instead, folding clothes into drawers, organizing papers on her desk, pretending like the weight in her chest didn't exist.

Noah leaned against the doorway of her room, watching her.

He stepped in slowly, then reached for the photo frame on her bedside table—the one with her dad and her, smiling with paint-splattered hands.

"I think he'd be proud," he said. "You came home when it mattered."

Mira turned to him. The distance between them was small, but it felt charged—like every time they got close, the air turned heavier. Every glance, every accidental touch. It was becoming impossible to ignore.

She didn't mean to kiss him. But she did.

It wasn't soft or tentative—it was desperate. The kind of kiss that held too much grief and too much wanting. She wrapped her arms around him like he was the only thing tethering her to the ground.

And he kissed her back like he'd been waiting.

Clothes tangled. Breathless gasps filled the room. They didn't make it to the bed. The wall caught them halfway, and her fingers clawed at his back as if she could find answers in his skin.

But when it was over—when the silence returned—Mira didn't feel lighter.

She rolled away, pulling a blanket over her chest. "That shouldn't have happened."

Noah sat up slowly. "You don't regret it."

"I didn't say that," she replied. "I just don't know what it means."

He looked at her for a long moment. "It doesn't have to mean everything right now."

But to Mira, it did. Because loving someone—really loving someone—was a risk. And after losing her father, she wasn't sure she could survive another loss.

Still, as Noah reached for her hand under the covers, and she didn't pull away, a small voice inside her whispered: maybe this wasn't the end of something.

Close Enough to Burn