1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. She counted in her head each dong that spilled from the large grandfather clock that indicated it was now midnight. A new day had begun and he still hadn’t returned. She wasted no time removing her petite body from the comfort of her sandy brown carpeted floor and standing to her feet. She let go of the paper and pen she held in her hand and let it tumble down to the floor beneath her. She walked over to her front door and slid her feet into her black slides and grabbed her keys. She knew exactly where she needed to go.

The bell dinged and I couldn’t move fast enough from my current seat into the one across from her. Her eyes stayed glued to the book resting in her palms just as they’d been for the past twenty minutes. I’d spotted her the moment she’d walked out the back and begrudgingly walked to the station laid out for her. Of the twenty women in this room, her energy screamed at me and I’ve paid no attention to anyone since. Koffee Payne was every man’s dream – they just didn’t know it like I did.