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they deliberately stand around where I’m at, trying to be the chosen one. You can tell when you have someone’s attention, and I didn’t have Simone’s. I would stare at her and she wouldn’t even glance my way. And you know damned well you can feel when somebody is staring at you. I would burn a hole in the side of her damned face from staring at her so long and she would never even look my way. I guess she just wasn’t interested, or she was playing one hell of a game.
    When Simone finished shopping, we walked to the register where I was preparing to lose at least a few grand. The price would have been worth it to see what type of woman I was dealing with. But, to my surprise, Simone pulled out an American Express platinum card and handed it to the sales clerk. I was definitely surprised and held even more respect for her after I saw that she wasn’t expecting me to come out of my pocket.
    “You two seem like good friends,” I said, with a lot of sarcasm, after leaving the store. We were walking down Rodeo Drive toward her car.
    “She’s only nice to me because I help keep her store open,” she laughed, sounding very indifferent about the whole situation. I knew what she had just spent and was impressed that she was able to drop money like that and carry a platinum American Express card whose balance had to be paid in full at the end of every month. I knew that her business must be very successful, allowing her to shop on Rodeo and drive a Benz exactly like mine, and my shit was nowhere near inexpensive. Simone definitely had my attention.
     “So, what’s next?”
    “Are you hungry?” she asked, looking at her watch.
    “Yeah, I could eat, but if you have to be somewhere else, I understand.” I didn’t want to keep her if she didn’t want to be kept.
    “No, I’m sorry. I have a client at 4:30 . It’s only 1:30 . I have time. How about the Cheesecake Factory? It’s right around the corner and we can walk.”
    I glanced at her as we walked down the street and couldn’t help but notice how pretty she was. From the first time I saw her, I knew I had to have her. Her smile was warm and friendly, revealing teeth that were white and perfectly straight. Her lips where full and plump, and the dimple on her right cheek did something to me inside that I can’t begin to explain. There was something pulling me toward her that I just couldn’t figure out. All I could do was follow my gut, go with the flow, and hope for the best.
     “Hello, earth to Deon?” Simone said, jolting me out of my daydream.
    “Oh, I’m sorry,” I laughed. “Cheesecake Factory is cool,” I said, still admiring her.
    We dropped her bags at her car, popped a few more quarters in the meter, and started to walk toward the restaurant. She took my hand and moved in closer. It felt like she belonged there. It felt better than right.
    Simone stood at least five feet nine inches tall with long, chocolate legs that looked to be blemish free. Amazingly, I didn’t notice any on her body either as I took my time exploring it last night.
    She was so pretty that people would stop what they were doing and just watch her. Even women took a second glance as we walked by. The sundress she wore came about an inch above her knee, had thin spaghetti straps, and was some shade of yellow that looked great against her skin. Her cashmere cardigan was draped over her shoulders in the same color as the tan high-heeled sandals she wore that showed off her pretty, French manicured toes.
    It seemed that everything she put on, she wore well. She was showing just the right amount of cleavage and enough skin that made me want to reach out and touch her. Her diamond earrings sparkled each time the sun hit them and her hair blew in the wind and hung around her shoulders as soft curls framed her face. She was definitely my definition of beauty.
    When we got to the restaurant, we were seated immediately.
    “So, where’s your girlfriend?” Simone asked, after we