From Worse to Worse

1. It All Started

"Sooo..."

"Sooo I'm flattered but no thank you."

"Aight, well good luck with that." He said loud enough for me to hear as I walked away.

As if on cue I heard Dae greeting another customer. I looked to see a Hispanic looking chick with long curly hair walk up behind him running her hand down the length of his locs before grabbing his hand leading him to the 'Skirts' side of the store. We locked eyes one last time as they crossed my path to the opposite side of the store.

I shook my head and walked towards the back office. Opening the mini-fridge I grabbed an Angry Orchard and plopped down on the couch. I sat there sipping my drink for a minute before laughing to myself thinking: How the fuck you gon be any type of jealous. Bet you wish you took his ass up on that offer now huh? Hell yea!...No! Nope! He obviously has a girl and I have a...a relationship or something. Yea it's fucked up but it's still something...FUCK!..FUCK! I didn't even get his name!

I sat my half empty bottle on the floor and laid down, closing my eyes and running my fingers through my mane. As I laid there the nameless man with the locs popped into my thoughts. His complexion was barely lighter than mine and his eyes barely darker than mine. He was fit. I could tell he spent some of his days in the gym. His free flowing jet black locs touched his elbows and matched his well groomed facial hair. His arms appeared darker than his face and legs because they were covered in ink. Various names, words and pictures. A few tattoos on his chest peeked from under the white V-neck he had on. Suede cord adorned with a hand carved Africa silhouette hung around his neck competing in length with his hair. His black basketball shorts were paired with a pair of black and red Retro 13s. Overall there was nothing special about him but at the same time, everything about him was special.

"What the fuck you in here doin?" Dae said bursting into the office.

Jumping up I replied, "Shit Dae! You just scared the crap outta me!"

"Mr. Rasta out there asked for you," she said smiling from ear to ear.

"Why do you call everybody with locs a Rasta? How long was I in here?" I asked looking for the damn clock.

"Iono," she shrugged, "close to an hour. So what's up? You coming out here or what?"

I walked past my Twin and up towards the counter where the nameless man with the locs was standing. When I got to him I made sure to leave quite a bit of distance between us. My way of setting a boundary. But apparently he didn't give a shit about my line in the sand because he quickly closed the gap.

"Dae, do you mind," I said still looking in his direction but trying not to look directly at him. After I heard her mumbling and footsteps fade away I shifted my attention back to Nameless. "Yeah?"

"I just wanted to explain..."

"Let me stop you right there," I said putting up my hand. "You don't need to explain anything to me. I told you I'm flattered but no thanks."

He smiled before responding. "I know what you said." He paused and licked his lips reigniting that fire that I thought burned out when his girlfriend walked into the store. "She's my 'complicated'," he shrugged laughing.

"Well, good luck with that."

He glanced back at the door before holding out a small piece of paper.

"What's that your number? A little old fashioned isn't it?"

"Well I figured you wouldn't give me yours and my chances of you putting my number in your cell was what?"

"Slim to absolutely fucking none."

"Exactly," he laughed. "At least this way I know you physically have it. Now whether you use it or throw it away...well...it's on you from here." He said turning to leave.