I Met You

ELLE POV

If I put the clothes in the dishwasher at the same time, I am screwed, especially since the neighbor's pipe exploded last week. I need a miracle to function with all of this crap, and anything I do at work gets me nowhere; many people get down because they lose what two? Two hundred readers? Customers for their work? While I am here, will those close to me express their sympathy? Talk about greedy, but if I keep thinking that way, I will be a bad omen. I roll my eyes, so much for support for one another. Maybe if the term 'it is not a competition, it is to support each other' was interpreted as it is written in literature, things would actually change, but then again, it is one vs. the world. Using the last duck tap I had available, I urgently needed to go to the dollar store; living in a foreign country but passing for one of them is truly a blessing in disguise, but man do I get tired of society; the constant bickering makes me nauseous; well, that was a waste of my time; here I am doing the exact same thing, but with one major difference: I am not acting in public. I am just getting it out of my system because I do not want it to stay in my heart. Okay, I am no Plummer, but YouTube is my version of how to for dummies; I need to get that and hopefully do not need anything else. Getting to the Dollar Store I play my video of the DIY in fixing my broken pipe in my bathroom, "Now you have your new piece to replace the old one, if you do not have this, you will not be able to solve this problem," I heard the horrible words of the instructor, I let my hand down still holding my iPhone, and as I let my head back, I let out a groan of annoyance, "Why me?" I walked to get the duck tape and small items I found and needed with me; I only have $157.12 in my unemployment card; I am never good with these types of names, so I am constantly giving names that irritate the hell out of other people; $21.12 was my total; awesome, I have enough to go on my bus one more time before I need to give more in the card, which I am sure I can do at any time with my phone. The bus was, as usual, a complete annoyance; if I tried to be a good person, I was on the verge of being taken advantage of yet again. Finally getting off the damn bus, I walk to the big ass Walmart that is only 44 minutes away from my apartment. I only have, what, $130? If not, I have $50 in cash, but I need to get some potatoes to go with the chicken, which I do not have. Getting a cart, I sigh because I know I will have to ask my mother for some money, why me. Also, why are the little hand carts no longer available? Or is it only me? I roll my eyes; clearly, society has it out for me. Okay, I need potatoes, so a sack of these, oh! Hello! Two for the price of one! Okay, do not mind me on the small hand cart; I am so in need of it. As I play my tutorial to ensure I have an idea of what I am doing, I hear a commotion behind me. I have been walking without paying attention to my surroundings, and when I come face to face with a man who is way out of my league, he takes his sunglasses off and moves to read something distracting himself so he does not notice I have caught him, but man, his bright blue eyes, medium black length hair, and cute pink lips, "beejigers," I shake my head, pull yourself together, woman. I let out a breath as I kept moving; when he does, in fact, follow me, I stop twice and accept it, so without warning, I try nicely, "Excuse me, do you need anything from me?" The man had put his sunglasses back on, "Mister sunglasses, I am referring to you, can I assist you with anything?" He noticed I was making a scene because his sexy voice was heard, and man, if I could give him the actor behind the voice, I would gladly say he sounded like Victor Seiz; ugh, why must I be tortured like this? My celibacy was not my choice, and now it is a battle of the sexes to get to first base again. I am waiting for the guy, who walks closer but with his hands up. "I will tell you everything, just pretend we are here together, please, I swear I mean no harm, I am just trying to avoid someone." I literally screened him like a freaking MRI, and a winning lottery sound screamed in my head when I saw no wedding band, fuck me yes. I smiled slightly at this, thinking that maybe things are not so bad today. I scrunched up my face, though, because this guy could be bad news; once again, I have the terrible trait of not knowing who is good and who is a waste of my time. "Here, just walk with me until your parents arrive," and my day was ruined. I closed my eyes and my head returned to its original position, "why did puberty hate me so?" Let out a breath, I raise my hand as I turned my fingers at the guy, all my life I have looked 20 years younger, hell, when I was 8 people thought I was 4, which is putting it mildly, it is cute until you are freaking 18 and in college trying to get laid but constantly confused to an 8 year old, it is a curse, "look kid, I am not a teenager, my 20s were 12 years ago, I am in no way near illegal, now for the legal question, how old are you? "And where are your parents?" He removed his sunglasses and reached into his back pockets for his wallet after handing me his driver's license. I returned to my cart, where my golden girls sac bag was, and opened my butterfly wallet, taking my driver's license and handing it to him. We both looked at our driver's licenses; his name is Leonardo Greenwood, 24 years old, and from what is shown single, "ca chica." I constantly quote Disney, so that is another con of looking younger than I am. "Okay, change of plans," he said, and he was now in front of me, "call me Leo, we can act like we are dating, do not worry after this, I will not ever bother you again," I heard him say, which discouraged me greatly, "as tempting as it sounds, I really do not think that is a good idea." I took my ID and gave him back, walking away, I swear I felt like I was pulled into a joke for the world to fully enjoy, everyone kept looking at me like I just got punked, the guy named Leo runs to my side clearly nervous as I push the cart, he keeps trying to butter me up. "I did not mean to insult you, I just, look, I really need to be taken away in terms of time, trying to ditch a pain of a person," I groan then glared, "what girl trouble?" He pressed his pink lips into a line, damn his cute. When a guy taps him on the shoulder, instead of turning to respond, he mouths the words "please help me." I hit his shoulder and said, "Seriously!" You will owe me for this, Leo; wait until mom parks the car; you will regret it!" The same guy taps again, and I move Leo to see a guy who I swear I had to look around because I assumed this was MIB, "Can I help you?" The guy clears his throat; he had a military cut, clearly Asian, with sunglasses; what is up with these guys and sunglasses seriously? "We are looking for this man," the guy says in a broken English, which I take advantage of by looking at Leo and saying in Spanish, "toma (take)" I pull his hand to the cart, "quédate tranquilo, ma llega pronto (stay still, mom is on her way)." I stand in front of him, hands in my pockets, and say, "Look, my big brother has autism, so he can not react like normal guys, but I can tell you that guy I have never seen before in my life, and you must be nervous chasing him around." Do you have any idea how difficult it is to keep someone with autism calm while being stalked? "Leave us alone or I will call the cops," the guy said as he snapped the photo and bowed slightly.

2

It did not take long for the guy to leave, but I could not help but notice how many people were staring. Seriously, people, stop staring; a lady in an electric wheelchair cart was heading our way. I am not in the mood for another conversation, and for all I know, that lady could be Mis Marge. I look closer, and sure enough, it is her, "Hey Marge, how are things going?" She smiles, showing her three missing teeth. Marge is a big girl with white curly hair, blind as a bat, and a watch dog who helps her when she needs to leave the house. She lives in my neighborhood, and the woman is similar to my grandmother, but a little more open-minded. "I thought I heard a Hispanic teenager giving a guy a hard time; how is my Latina gal doing today? I smile at her antics. I never take her words as insults, she is awesome like that, "Trying to make a point, what are you up to today, Doña Marge (Madam Marge)?" She chuckles in her deep voice and begins to catch, she qualified for cannabis use for her condition, but hearing her caught made me take a step back because of the fumes she emits; I am not a plant fan, I assure you. Leo takes my arm and asks, "Can we go?," as I wave my hand to diffuse the smells. I am free to go home if you come with me." I blinked, slightly nervous; what if he wants to take me for another reason? Or perhaps we will go our separate ways? Maybe he will be nice enough not to ditch me? That last thought made me hate myself; of course he is going to leave me. The guy was stalking me, and now he is simply trying to get out of his friendly little Hispanic helper, way to self-label Nitty. Turning back to Marge, I say my goodbyes to her when I see her golden retriever, "Well, I will see you, and Goldilocks around, do not get lost now Marge, I need your cookies for that special event." I waved at her even though I knew she had no idea I was waving; it is a habit of mine, and Marge knows I do not mean any harm by it. Walking away just enough, Leo decided to talk to me more. "Okay, that was pretty cool. I am not going to lie, you can pass for a teenager; I thought you were my little sister, but autism? Really? What else could you have told the guard? I was smiling at his admiration until he said guard. As I passed by to get the last few things, I looked at the guy and said, "Guard? "How did you know they were guards?" He paused for a second before letting his tensed shoulders relax; he did not say anything, so I watched the video to get what I needed; one way or another, this guy was getting what I needed; I am not paying a dime to that apartment complex, Jose. Bending down to get a piece of the video repeated, Leo begins to speak, "Well, I would feel more confident if I could tell you in a more private way; I would usually converse with you in a more professional manner, but you are definitely not what I would expect in a woman." He spoke in a low tone, his voice was low and seductive, and my sanity was slowly slipping away. Why does this guy need to enter my naughty side of imagination? Getting up, I almost slip, but he catches my hand and pulls me up, we slam on each other, a small groan leaves me, with my hands open on his chest, I say bashfully, "sorry, I swear that was not intentional," he helps me get my balance while saying, "it is alright, but I trusted you with this, I just want you to trust why I needed this, but I can not if we can not be alone, yes it is that important," I nod slightly. I am still very ashamed of losing my wired foot, but I never feel ashamed. I mean, if I was ashamed of half of my, oh please do not open that door, Nitchelle, and save yourself from the shameful things you have done. I closed my eyes and tried to think of anything to elicit the small memories that were attempting to surface from my deepest consciousness. "Okay fine, let us go, but only if you pay for my stuff; I can not go home without these," I walk to the cart when he asks, "Is there anything else or is this it? Because I can get you everything you really need on a budget." I smiled sinisterly as I pulled the cart to different locations on Walmart, "Okay, looks like I missed a lot of stuff." After an hour of shopping, we arrive at the cashier when I hear a cellphone from Leo. He picks it up and places it on his side, holding it between his ear and his shoulder blade to take out his credit card, which he hands to me when I notice it is a black card. "What the?" he said, taking a few steps away to a more quiet spot. They rang up all of my stuff, which I was afraid to do, but then my eyes nearly popped out of my head when the big digger numbers of $417.57 fell to zero the second I placed the card on the reader, putting everything back in the cart. Leo returns, and just as I was about to finish something, some people dressed casually approached where my belongings were, saying, "They work for me, do not worry, they will not steal any of your stuff." I furrow my brow, "exactly how is it that they are here getting things now when you need-" He stops me by gently grabbing my hand and pulling me away; as I get out, I notice they are loading the items into a BMW. I thought that was the car I was getting into, but instead, Leo leads me to a really cool bike, "What is that bike?" He sits on it and starts it, "Sit behind, and it is a Suzuki Hayabusa, we will not be long, I have a proposition for you," he smiles as he raises his sunglasses, and I am met with the most beautiful bright blue eyes, "sweet Honey ice tea. I love your eye color," he smiled his pearly whites with small dimples on his cheeks, and I swear I felt moist for a moment, "get on," I did not think about my response, and just blurred it out, "with pleasure I will get on you, I mean!" I immediately tried to hide my embarrassment, but it was a complete waste because he laughed at my mortified expression, my failed attempt to save my dumb ass. I swear he will never let me out of this, sitting behind him, I realize I have to hold tight to my blessing, I felt firm toned abs, okay so this could be a good payback for laughing at my embarrassing moment, he takes me to a really fancy penthouse, he parks his bike, when his cell phone rings again, he takes it, looks at me, and gives me another card, "hit the word Zu, that is where I live." I nod in response to what he said, just in case I take out my phone. After a short walk, I stay vigilant about him and text three people: my mother, Ted, and Arnold, who all gave me a big thumbs up. If I die, I tried to notify my so-called'support groups' in advance. "God, protect me from this bad moment because I need to get out of this celibacy before I go out with a bang," I say aloud as I press the first Zu button. I keep looking at my phone, hoping to see something when my mother begins texting, to enjoy myself a little, to see the bright side, if not to call her later, grate, so that if I die now, she will simply say the typical vows of a grieving mother, "she was so young." When the double doors ding, I flinch; the doors began to move slightly as my phone received a text from Ted; looking down, I hear the doors open; and I look up.

3

My jaw opened so wide that I swear it would have slammed the floor if it could, the entire place had been opened to the main living room, "Oh my shingles," I stepped out of the elevator to be treated by two maids who bowed like the guy back at Walmart. I have no idea what the fuck to do; do I really bow back? Say hello. Breathe? I was so perplexed as to what to do that the first one did not raise her head but said, still in her bow, "we have finished all we needed, if you require anything Miss Sebastian, please ring the bell on the main dining room table, have a peaceful visit." They walked towards the elevator behind me, keeping their eyes glued to the floor while pushing the cleaning cart, and as I walked in, I was amazed by the Asian decorations. I feel like I am in a Jackie Chan movie, everything is marble, gold, and with cute bonsais around, this place looks peaceful to stay in, the sofas are white with pop gold pillows with dragon designs, one thing I did see on the window was a symbol, a gold tree with a dragon growing from it, "that is the symbol of the crazy strict rich family, they wait a minute," I stay still when I realize where I have seen that logo, "oh fuck" the elevator dings again, and I lo "Looking for me, Hacker King?" I snicker, feeling like the safest person alive, "So now you know who my family is?" I nod with a big smile, making him laugh: "Do you now feel safe with me?" Do you need any more convincing?" I scrunch my face, "Honestly, now I really want to know why you were hiding in a Walmart. Of all places," it was his turn to scrunch his face, "not a proud moment, I swear, but okay, I will tell you, I did not choose this, I am trying to get out of this mess." His cell began to run again, and his expression changed to one of pure dread and annoyance: "Yes?" He responded without a care in his words, and I pressed my lips at how he was behaving; clearly girl trouble; perhaps he was hiding from a girlfriend or an ex; that must suck, but it would not make sense given what his family does for a living; they are the world's leading hacking company, and they have purchased other companies to keep themselves hidden from the public; my friend Ted and I are obsessed with his family's role in all of this. After a while, I realized how uncomfortable this was for him, so I decided not to push him any further; from what I am seeing, he is had a rough day. "Hey, if it is okay with you, I do not want you to explain anything to me; in fact, let us just call it a truce; you have had a fantastic day, and so have I; right now, I need to go home to do some things." He looked at my hand, which held my cell phone, and said, "You mean your plumbing problem? I can send someone and have it paid for; you have literally given me fresh air to breathe; I have never needed a free friend; I mean, what I mean to say is that I did not have to elevate you or something like that, or call in a favor that my company could." I laughed at how hard he was trying to clarify. I understood what he meant by a true friend who did not want anything from him, but in reality, even though I was older, I wanted third base with the guy. Is it just a crazy idea for a 32-year-old to go bow chicka wow on a 24-year-old? No? Was it just me? "Thank you for being there for me despite the wondering eyes; do not worry about the plumbing; I do not mind telling the truth unless it bothers you." Calming down, I looked at him and shook my head, saying, "That will be perfect; just say it is to help a girl in need; you saw her at a stupid Walmart." "Not a big deal." He did not take my final words lightly: "Aside from the plumbing, is there anything else you need to do?" I shook my head, "Well, let us get some food, and you can go home if you want?" I smiled, a full stomach never hurts me. He walked to get a tablet and handed it to me, "here, order whatever you want, I am getting changed, as much comfort as this is, I have business meetings tonight with my family," he looked back at me. "I will be back soon," I told him as I ordered my food and waited. He has a dinner meeting with his parents? Look up to see him; he has already left, "damn". I said aloud, maybe he will be fine without my order. As soon as I submitted it, my phone texted back, it was Arthur, and as I opened the text, it read "he knows." My eyes widened. I looked around the room and realized I was alone. I tapped my cell for the clearing code and then answered my friend. "I am not home, but did he arrive?" I waited a few moments after hitting send before he responded, "No, he could not find you; from what the tracking shows, you are fine, but fuck was that a close one; do you want me to go over that?" I thought about it for a moment.