Holding on Would've Been Selfish

Chapter 2- Marriage?

Things between James and I kept getting better with time. We started to be more comfortable around each other. We started flirting more, finding out common interests and short term goals. We both loved dunkin donuts. He usually ordered a caramel glazed iced latte and I would order a light and sweet iced coffee. It was our usual go to, whether we were together or not. I also found myself taking pictures more often. Before meeting James, I had stopped taking pictures. I was completely closed off. I didn't care for any man's attention. However,when James came along, all of that changed. I craved his attention. His compliments were all I needed. I didn't give a fuck if any other guy found me to be beautiful. James was slowly taking over my heart. He was taking over me.

The weekend after we went to the beach, James wanted to see me and I also wanted to see him. I had to work a 4-8 shift that Saturday and didn't feel like taking the New Jersey transit train.

"James, I would love to see you and spend time with you but I come out late today" I said.

"What time do you come out?" he asked.

"Usually 4-8 actually means 4-7;30 at my job" I responded.

"I can go pick you up, I'll be getting there exactly at 8pm though" James responded.

It was set. I was already anxious and happy as hell. I was in such a good mood at work and since it was busy, time flew by quickly. Once it was 8pm, I clocked out quickly, got dressed and left. James was stuck in traffic a few blocks away from my job. It was his first time driving up to the city and he didn't know how to get around much. I was waiting on the corner of the street where I worked, facetiming James to give him directions on how to get to me. After five minutes, he got there and I got in the car.

"OMG! You actually came for me! Hi,by the way." I said in such a happy spirit.

"Hello to you" James responded joyfully.

Since I already knew that James was not going to let me pay for gas or the tolls, I asked if he can park a block from my job. There was a dunkin donuts. I got out of his monster truck and bought his caramel glazed iced latte with chocolate sprinkled and glazed donuts. It was a form of saying thank you on my behalf.

The entire ride to my aunt Eva's we were just talking, smiling, flirting and listening to music. When we almost got there, he told me to call aunt Eva.

"Hellooooo, where are you guys at?" aunt Eva asked happy as hell.

"We're 20 minutes away, do you want anything to eat?" James asked.

"No, I'm good. I just ate. Thank you. See you soon!" aunt Eva responded.

That very moment I felt butterflies all over. This man also took the people I cared about and loved into consideration. I felt like the luckiest woman. There was a man interested in me, who showed me it through respect and consideration for my family. It just left me speechless, needless to say.

We made it to aunt Eva's. She was cheesy as hell when she saw us walking in together. We all sat at her dining room table and started gossiping. We were great at that. The gossip was mainly about how she felt bad for her loyal employee. His wife had cheated on him and he found out about it by catching her in bed with another man. It truly was devastating to hear because he was a great guy. In all honesty, he was the last person to ever deserve such a painful experience.

Two hours had gone by and aunt Eva went upstairs to her room. She figured she'll give us alone time. She truly wanted us to go out.

"Hey, we should go to the pool," James said.

"Huh? At this time? It's 1am!" I asked in shock.

"Well if you don't want to go it's fine," he said.