Justifer: From the beginning

The Start of Something Special

Jen and Justin walked together from the market to his apartment. In the 7 minutes it took them to make the trip to his place, Justin thought a million thoughts. Was there someone special in her life? If there was, was he good to her? The thought of another man making her laugh and smile and .. well.. just the thought of another man making her happy was an annoyance in Justin's brain. He willed himself to think of other things but his thoughts always returned to her. It had been that way since they had met. He thought of her often and today would be the day he would take his chance if he got one.

Jen watched Justin as they walked. She watched the way his body moved, the way his muscled bulged under the weight of all the bags, the way he kept his eyes on hers whenever he spoke to her. She liked him. She liked him a lot.

They reached a crosswalk and Justin put their packages at Jen's feet and abruptly excused himself.

"Give me one second okay? I'll be right back." He darted across the street leaving a confused Jen wondering what he was up to. Once she saw where he was going and understood what he was doing she felt the sting of tears behind her eyes. Across the street from them was an old man carrying a grocery bag in one hand and his guide stick in the other. He seemed flustered and he was having some difficulty navigating the crosswalk. Justin reached the man's side and said something to him that caused the old man to laugh. The old guy handed his bag to Justin and took his arm allowing Justin to guide him to the other side of the street. They walked over to Jen and Justin introduced them.

"Jen, this is my newest friend Oliver. Oliver here lost his bearings for a sec but I'm pretty sure this blind thing is just an act and his master plan was to meet you."

Jen giggled at Justin's game and he shot her a quick wink before he continued.

"Oliver, this is my good friend Jennifer. She's incredibly sweet and beyond beautiful but she's too smart to fall for your tricks so you wasted your time. I don't think your relationship is gonna work out."

Oliver laughed out loud at all the teasing. Jen took the old guy’s hand and held it in both of hers.

"It's nice to meet you Oliver. Pay no attention to my friend here. I'm a sucker for a guy who can pull off a master plan." Jen placed a light kiss on Oliver's cheek.

"You okay from here?" Justin asked Oliver. "I'd be glad to walk with you the rest of the way."

"No, I'm fine now." Oliver replied. "I'm only a half a block away from home. Thank you so much. You two really made my day. I haven't laughed like that in ages. Thank you again so much for taking the time to help me."

"It was our pleasure Ollie. Be safe my friend."

Oliver smiled a broad smile and headed for home still laughing.

Jen & Justin watched Oliver walk the half block and turn to walk into his building before they continued on their way. Jen fought tears the whole way as she replayed the scene she had just witnessed in her mind. He was, without a doubt, one of the kindest souls she had ever known.

When they arrived at his building, Justin started to put down the bags to get the keys hanging from his belt loop but Jen beat him to it.

"I got it." Jen said, quickly snapping the karabiner off of his pants in one fluid motion.

The gesture was small but very intimate and it definitely caught their attention. It was normally the type of thing people got comfortable doing after they had been a couple for a while but it had come so naturally to her … like they were a couple.

She swallowed hard before asking "Which key is it?"

"The blue one" Justin replied with a slight smile. He liked this. He liked the feeling of familiarity that he had with her. It was comforting. His mind told him to slow down and remember that there could be another man in her life. His heart told him that she belonged with him and he should go for it. The conflicting messages were confusing!