It's a Service, Really (On Hold)

3. Black Flats

Chapter 3

Black Flats

***

"Hi again!" called Jay.

I frowned. At first, I'd made a mental note to try and ignore him, but then I remembered that I had to go see him.

He was paying me for it.

Again.

"Hello, Jay," I responded, approaching him. He was sitting on a bench outside of the park, his arm propped up on the side. A couple birds perched themselves on the ground around him, picking at the food that various passerbys had dropped.

"Come sit with me, Mel," he said, that cute grin surfacing to his face that I could tell he had been trying to suppress. He was using what he thought was my name... Melissa.

"Of course," I replied slowly, taking my time to walk over to him, so that the over-sized, black flats I had on my feet didn't threaten to slip off. He had chosen my outfit off my website wardrobe. This comprised of pictures of all the clothing I owned (it had to be a lot so there could be a variety). They could choose random or picked different pieces from my closet. I often went to thrift stores to buy more, but to keep it cost-efficient.

Most men didn't pick flats as their choice shoe considering they didn't particularly appeal to a specific type of man- hence why I hadn't invested in a better fitting pair. Converse for nerds, Vans for "hipsters," heels for people looking for a hot date... that's typically how I knew what the man was looking for.

But flats?

It was just odd.

"So a walk in the park?" I asked as I sat down with him. "Very classy."

"Mmh," he replied, not looking at me, but gazing out at the massive amount of grass before us. It was full of people and things, all just living.

I did the same as him and watched the distance. "Do you want to walk soon?" I asked, still looking into the distance.

"No," he said, not moving.

I was surprised. He had requested a walk for his date.

"You're going to run out of time just sitting here like this," I said to him assuringly.

He turned his head towards me, moving slow. "People today are always in a hurry. I noticed that you are especially... always rushing, always worrying about the time and the logistics. Too many numbers and too much thinking, not enough enjoying. When was the last time you sat and just looked at stuff, without worrying what you had to do next?" He looked back to the yard in front of us, focusing onto some tiny, colorful flowers that ran about the perimeter.

My mouth fell open. He'd identified me to a T. He was not wrong at all. I was always on-the-go no matter what it was. "How did you know that?" I asked sharply.

"I can just tell... I can profile people well. I've made it my personal mission to get you to relax some," he said with a tip of his head, now looking at the sky.

"Mission?" I asked, confused. I was still unsure about what was really happening and why it was happening to me in general.

"Yeah. I bought this date so that you could relax more," he replied nonchalantly, like this was something that someone normally said to me.