Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2001 13:04:21 -0700 (PDT)
From: M B <snoopytsu@yahoo.com>
Subject: "This Lifetime" Chapters 1 & 2

Chapter 1
"The Awakening of Love"

       Life has away of throwing things at you when you are not remotely
ready to address or even deal with the issues.  Here I was a lonely soul in
one of the largest cities in the country, a recent college grad and life
was most def moving in a way that was going to be surprising.  I was really
enjoying my job and the adventure of learning Houston, and was not at all
thinking about love because that was something that I had stopped thinking
about a long time ago due in part to the lack of it in my life.  But it
once again found its way into my world and I was definitely not ready to
deal with it, or the person that it would come in the form of.

	It was another Friday night and after getting off from work I was
once again faced with the challenge of finding something interesting to do
for the evening.  I decided to go down to this little Mexican restaurant
that I heard about a number of times from co-workers, but the only thing
that they recommended that you not go alone.  Well, that was something that
I didn't have a choice on because well I just didn't have anyone to go
with.  So I ran home and changed and jumped on the beltway to go downtown.
After getting there, parking, and going in that's where all the fun
started.  The wait was not that bad at all and besides I jammed to some
live salsa music while I waited and sat at the bar with a coke.  I think I
was looking pretty fly in a new pair of polo khakis, a gap sweater, and
some coco brown suede men's pumps.  At this point is when my life changed
forever.  As they called my name to go to the table I had an opportunity to
catch the sight of a true god with a small "g" The brotha was so off da
hook it just didn't make any sense for a black man to be as phine as he
was.  He was the color of a fine mike chocolate candy bar, with thick full
lips, the neatest goatee, long eyelashes, a full strong face, and the
darkest mysterious eyes. Now this was just the brotha's facial features as
I looked down at the rest of his body I just had to stop in my tracks
because the brotha was just nearly perfect.  I mean he was da bomb.  He had
on shorts so I got to get a good look at those beautiful legs, his butt
that you could services a set off of, and a chest that was just off the
hook.  I will admit that I was staring at him and I know that is very rude,
but I could not help it.  I had never been this bold before in just staring
at a man, but he just had all attention and I wanted him to know it.  He
looked away from me after a few minutes and then looked back and the one
thing that got my attention is the hostess asking me if I was o.k.  I
looked at her and smiled while she ushered me to my table.  When I got to
the table I order and sat back to see where they would places the object of
my attention after noticing an empty and clean table right across from me.
After spotting him up front again I continued to peek looks every now and
then until he got up and started to walk with the hostess towards my table.
She sat the brotha right across from me and that was my moment to exhale. I
stopped looking at him because I figured that it might be making him a
little uneasy and I didn't want to do that.  He was still very much in my
mind, but I didn't pay him much attention until he started looking around
then he said, "Excuse me, brotha, but would you happen to have the time?
I've seem to have left my watch at home."  I smiled at him and proceeded to
tell him the time.  At that point a beautiful young lady with long jet
black hair came to his table.  He got up and greeted her with a hug and a
kiss and then they sat down.  I just looked away feeling a little foolish
because I was thinking here I go again always interested in something that
I can't have.  As the evening went on I would notice ever now and then that
she would look over at my table and then look back at him and say a few
words and then he would glance over at the table.  This was the case until
I paid my bill got up smiled at both of them and walked out of the place.
I remember thinking at that time that I might have just let the perfect
opportunity to meet someone new pass me by.

Chapter 2
"The Meeting 1"

        Little did I know that this would not be the last time that I would
see this brotha.  About two and a half weeks later I was heading to my
favorite shop to get my hair tightened up.  I walked into the shop and said
my hello's to Marcus and some of the brothas that are normally there when I
come in.  I walked back towards the back of the shop and grabbed a seat
across from Kevin who was cutting a head.  I really didn't say much to
Kevin nor did I look his way, bad history between us you could say: However
it was not until I had taken a seat and was pulling out my laptop that he
spoke and the brotha who was reading the paper in his chair pulled the
paper down low and behold it was my object of affection.  When he saw it
was me while looking me in my eyes he smiled and folded up his paper to
listen to our conversation brief as it was.  Marcus called me to the chair
and we started our usual chatter bout the week and how it had been.  The
brotha was getting out of the chair and talking to Kevin while looking up
front like he was looking for someone until he saw me.  He grabbed a
business card out of his card holder and wrote something on the back of it.
As he passed me he stopped to talk to Marcus for a minute about something
that he had ever intention for me to here and then he handed me the
business card.  I could see that he had written on the back of the card and
so I put it in my shirt pocket until I got to my car.  After leaving the
shop I had forgotten about the card until I was at a light and looked in my
pocket for something.  I flipped the card over to see what was back there.
A number that said private line, there was cell number, and a message that
said, "Please call me I would love to take you out sometime so you don't
have to eat alone."  I smiled when I saw the message as I placed the card
in the console of my SUV.