How We Found Love!

Ch.1-First Meeting (Edited)

(A picture of Kataleenah)

It's ten o'clock when I check my phone on my way home from night class. I look up and see a six-foot-tall man approaching me. I halt and move into the shadows to hide from his view. His hand is gripping his biceps, and blood is dripping between his fingers, so I can see he's pained. He seems pained, pausing by the bench a foot from me. I argue with myself for three minutes over whether to aid him. Confidently, I emerge from the shadows, offering my help. With curiosity and confusion filling his steely blue eyes, he informs me, "I could be a murderer." "I'd be dead if that were true, right?" I look at him and ask, cocking my head and raising an eyebrow. "That's true," he chuckles, wincing from the pain. He asks, "How do you think you can help me, pretty lady?" "Well, I can suture you up and take out the bullet from your arm. Unless you desire a visit to the hospital, which I presume you do not, as it would be in the opposite direction," I reply with a smirk as I sit on his injured side. "How do you know it's a bullet wound?" he exclaims in disbelief. "I am not a moron. I see the bullet hole," I reply, shrugging my shoulder and pointing to his wounded arm. "No, you're not that stupid, are you?" he replies with a smile. "I'm Joseph, by the way, but people call me Joe," he says as he extends his uninjured arm for a handshake. I smile and say, "I'm Kataleenah, but people call me Kat," as I grab his hand and shake it as my cheeks flush. "It's nice to meet you, Kat," he says, flashing a little smile. "It's good to meet you, Joe. Can I fix your arm now?" I inquire, turning my gaze back to his wound. He smiles and nods, so I smile back, remove my backpack, and place it beside me. After setting up my backpack, I rummage through it to find my first aid kit and take out my tweezers, some napkins, and some alcohol. I gaze at him and say, "I apologize in advance, but this is going to be painful," while sanitizing the tweezers with alcohol. I take my tweezers and dig around in his wound as I hear him groan out in pain. "HA!! I got you!!" I exclaimed triumphantly about two minutes later once I caught the bullet. Joe looks at me and gives me a full belly laugh. My cheeks flushed a fiery crimson as I put the bullet and tweezers down. I then take out my surgical needle, thread, and alcohol again. I thread the needle, pour some alcohol on it, and start to sew up his wound. Once I'm done, I take out my gauze and tape over his now-fixed bicep. I smile and pat his arm, saying, "All done," as I raise my head to face him. "How did you learn to do that?" he asks in shock. "I work as an intern at St. Michael's Hospital and attend N.Y.U. as a nursing student. Oh, and I tend to have accidents, so I reasoned, "Why not enroll in medical school and learn how to treat myself?" I smiled as I babbled. "All right, Kat, thank you so much. As payback, I'd want to take you out on a date," he beams confidently. "Do you flirt with all the ladies that patch you up?" I ask, smirking and exuding confidence. "Only the pretty ones, but you'd be the first to even approach me and not want sex from me," he tells me with a wide smile as he looks at me. "Well, that would be an honor then," I reply, blushing profusely. His smile widens as he takes out a pen and a piece of paper and writes down a number. He pulls out a pen and paper, writes down a number, and his smile gets bigger. Then he delivers me the paper, and Joe's smile gets bigger, making me blush even more. As I take the paper, he says, "When you're ready, text that number, and we'll work something out, pretty lady." "I will," I reply, grinning and experiencing a sensation of butterflies in my chest. I can't help but feel a mixture of excitement and anxiety about what might happen between us as I turn to go. "I better be going. Thank you again, Kat, and I hope to hear from you soon," he says with a wide smile. As I give him a cheek kiss and say, "You're welcome, Joe, and you just might," I grin. I watch as Joe walks away, and I smile as my cheeks flame bright red. Once he disappears, I take out my phone and type in his number. I grin to myself as I head home with a little more energy in my step and consider, I might have to see where this goes. While I'm walking, I have this feeling of being watched, but it isn't a creepy feeling. It makes me feel safe under this mysterious, watchful gaze.

***

I can't help but observe her every motion as she fixes my arm. She's gorgeous, I think to myself. I feel proud of myself as I watch her cheeks light up a brilliant crimson as I offer her my number when she's finished. I can't resist grinning like a fool as I move away from the bench. She has a hint of shyness mixed with sass. The perfect combination, I think to myself with a smile. I turn to face Kat's direction again and watch her with a smile as she enters my number into her phone. I think *I hope she accepts my date.* My smile disappears as I turn around to walk home and notice movement in the shadows out of the corner of my eye. I see he's stalking Kat, so I snarl low as I cut him off while he's still in the shadows and give him a hard shove back. "Don't even consider harming her or following her, forget about her, or I'll chop off your balls and serve them to your family. You got it?" I say with malice in my voice as I look him in the eye. He agrees and bolts, and I can't help but snicker at the terrified expression in his eyes. As I face the bench again, Kat's absence sends me into a desperate search. When I catch up with her, she has resumed her trek home and seems to be unaware of what transpired. I trail behind her to make sure she doesn't get hurt. I have an intense need to make sure she's safe, happy, and healthy for whatever reason. As I follow her, I notice that she's approaching a pretty house, so I duck behind a tree and watch as she struggles for a while to get the lock to work until she opens the door. Watching her enter, I notice the light in what I believe is the living room turning on. Once I see that she's safe, I smile and continue walking to my home.