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Justin was a unique young cat. He was an interesting fellow where he was a mutt, coming from both a black and white parent. He had a true ladies’ man presence about him, with his wavy set of curly brown hair perched on top of his aesthetically symmetrical face which proudly showcased his firm jaw line. He also had light brown skin that some folks referred to as his “mocha charm”.
It was late one night when Justin stopped by a 24hour supermarket on the corner of Grant Ave. and Hutchins St. He was going in to try to get a money order, so that he’d be able to pay his tithes come next church service. He walked into the nearly empty store wearing a tribal patterned sweater with some tight ripped black jeans and pair of brown wing tips.
The young woman over the counter’s eyes lit up as she enjoyed watching Justin make his way towards her. As he came closer, she began to play with her hair and pop her pink Bazooka into various bubbles.
“Hi,” Justin began.
“Heyyy!” The young woman eyed Justin like he was a gourmet dinner. “How can I help you, baby?”
“Uh...I’ll just take a money order.” Justin felt slightly uncomfortable by this woman’s advances.
“How much you want, boo?” the woman asked as she secretly fantasized making sweet love to what she considered a fine specimen.
“Uh...I need about 400 bucks please,” Justin nervously uttered.
He found himself feeling increasingly objectified by this woman; each new look she gave him felt like some type of invasion of his personal space. Part of him found her to be pretty sexy, with her red-bone complexion and her baby face with cheeks that held a set of adorable dimples. She resembled that of a free thinker, where her dark brown hair was partially dyed with purple coloring. There was another part of Justin, however, that felt this woman was not on his level, especially considering the fact that she was working this graveyard shift. It made Justin think that she didn't have the drive to strive for anything she wanted out of life. Besides, he noticed how she seemed to be even more into him after mentioning the amount of cash that he was trying to obtain. Typical, he thought, of the women these days.
“There you are, boo.” The young woman finally handed Justin his money order. “Is there anything else that I can get for you today? Or maybe something that I can do for you?”
Justin was shocked by the boldness of this lady, partially feeling turned on, but really just wanting to talk to his real boo.
“No. That won’t be necessary.” Justin began to walk out the store. ”Thank you for your service and have a good night.”
Justin hops into his Chevrolet and immediately pulls out his iPhone, searching up his girlfriend on video chat. All that flirtation coming from the other woman made him think about his girl just that much more.
His girlfriend was a gorgeous young lily white woman named Emma. Emma was also a devout Christian who’d initially met Justin through a Christian dating app. She had silky dirty blonde hair with a stud diamond ring through her right pierced nostril. Her crystal blue eyes seemed to call to Justin’s soul as he admired their grace from the screen of his phone.
“Hey babe,” Justin said as he placed the phone erect on his dash board as he drove.
“Heyyy!” Emma was filled with excitement. “How’s the sexiest man in all of creation today?”
“Ah, I’m good. Can’t really complain. Just finally got this note, so I can tend to my tithes.”
“Well, look at you! Being all responsible and what not! I’m proud of you, baby! I’m so blessed to have such a handsome, ambitious man of God in my corner!”
“So...speaking of such, please tell me that you’re still planning to come see me next week,” Justin asked shyly, biting his lip.
Emma gave him a distraught puppy dog face, then extracted a plane ticket out of her purse. She proceeded to wave across the screen so that Justin could see that the ticket was real.
“Uh...yeah!!!” she exclaimed boldly. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world baby, you know that.”
“Wow! You really are so amazing.” Justin’s face lit up with a smile of pride. “God really knew what He was doing when He had me meet you.”
“Aw, Justin!” Emma started to visibly blush. “Sometimes I swear that I don’t deserve your sweetness, like seriously!”
“Nonsense. You are by far the most worthy. I’m really blessed with how well-rounded you are.”
“What? I mean, if that’s what you want to tell yourself.” Emma let out an awkward chuckle.
“It’s just...” Justin took a slight pause and exhaled. “I feel like the people around here are pretty superficial and hard to connect with on like a personal level. I’m just really grateful to have someone who truly has the full package. I mean, look at you; you’re absolutely gorgeous. And that’s barely scratching the surface because you are also highly intelligent and you are a well-respected professional in your city. It doesn't get much better than that, if you ask me. That’s just so hard to find around my way.”
“Aw baby!” Emma squealed. “You’re totally being like too too sweet right now! Like, I wish I could just walk through this screen and be right by your side, so I can eat you up, you sexy thing!”
“Patience. We’ll be embracing one another in a matter of days, my love.” Justin paused for a few seconds and then took a deep breath. “You know, so many people around here used to always ask me why I didn't just up and move out of town.”
“Well, why didn’t you?” Emma sarcastically laughed.
“My job kept me here. It was some of the best pay that I’ve ever seen, so for what it was worth, I felt like I had to stick around. But besides that, you gave me an excuse to step out every once in a while. I really enjoyed being able to see you up in Stoneburge. What a special city! So much art and history! And the people! I’ve never experienced such loving and cultured people in one city!”
“Wow! Sounds like someone just needs to move to Stoneburge!” Emma joked.
“It’s not outside the realm of possibility, but it’s not going to get you out of finally coming to visit me here! Now I get to show you my neck of the woods!”
“Ah yes! I’m very much looking forward to seeing what the great city of Pittiesburge has to offer! I’ve heard so much about the scenery out there but never had the chance to like fully check it out, you know?”
“Until now!” Justin exclaimed.
“Well yeah!” Emma countered.
“I guess it’s not too bad around here, all things considered. Like, the scenery is beautiful. We got these beautiful palm trees all over town, and I live roughly 25 minutes from the beach, so there’s that.”
“OMG!” Emma was overcome with excitement. “You didn’t tell me that there was a beach! We’re definitely going to have to go!”
Justin laughed. “Alright, we’ll be going to the beach.”
“So please, help me understand what’s so morbid about Pittiesburge? What drives such a sensible fellow as yourself to emphasize the pity in Pittiesburge?”
“Honestly, it’s the people more or less that have the ability to take away from this place’s atmospheric charm. It’s kind of comical looking back on it.” Justin let out a jolly laugh.
“Wait, what? Did I miss something?”
“No, just an inside thing. See, people were always talking about how I was some big loon for having the audacity to seek love online. But it’s hilarious because now, when you actually come in the flesh, I can finally throw you in their faces and show the world how much of a woman God has blessed me with.”
“Ooh baby, well, with my man and palm trees all in the same vicinity, I’m sooo down for that! I just want it to be next week already!”
As Justin listened and watched Emma on his phone, he observed himself start to stiffen down low.
“Uh...hey babe,” Justin nervously uttered.
“What’s up, baby?”
“I’m almost to my place. I’m going to sign off for a hot minute, but I promise I’ll hit you back once I’m situated in the tub. What do you say?” he asked naughtily.
“I say that sounds like a good idea to me. Love you and will hear from you soon, okay?”
“Love you too.” Justin ended the chat as he turned into his apartment complex.