He was happy Jakinda's children were cool with him. Minah was a big flirt, but a cool girl. Dwight was more reserved but he did but seemed phased by their relationship.

But her ex? He would rather never run into him again.

He thought he was with Jakinda for money? Besides the fact they made the same amount, even if she had more money he wouldn't care. Jakinda had expensive tastes and spent a lot on renting that high-end midtown apartment, getting her hair done often, and expensive clothes. But she never asked him for any of his money.

He would love to one day help her enjoy all those things and not stress about money. That's why he was hoping his art took off.

He found an art show that would show up-and-coming artists' work and he applied to get a slot and got in. That meant he needed to see if he had enough pieces to showcase. If there were offers to buy he could sell some of his work and make some money.

There were only a few pieces he thought would work, so he decided he needed to work on some new stuff. That meant every day after work instead of spending it with his love he spent it hard at work. When he painted, he was focused and did not like distractions. Jakinda was the same with her work so that was good. She stayed at her place, and he stayed at his.

He would invite all his friends and family to the showcase too, even his mom. She needed to see his work and that he was serious about it. That was the thing with his mother, she knew he was good, but she just did not see it as a career. Maybe if he made a little money from his work, she would see things differently.

For now, he did not mind his day job, he rather enjoyed it. He enjoyed meeting all the people on his route and making new friends. Since most of the places were businesses, they were always offering him deals, tickets, or perks. Like delivering at Busch Stadium, they gave him a couple of free tickets, and the good ones too. In one of the premium suites.

He was going to invite Jakinda, Amorica, her now fiancé, his cousin, his uncle Santiago, and a co-worker who helped him out sometimes.

Attending a Cardinal's baseball game was a whole event. The fans were fanatics and there was a sea of red and white. The game was at seven at night, but people were in the area partying at five. He had to get off work and change then go pick up Jakinda who wore her Cardinal jersey for the day and did not have to change.

"How was your day, baby," he greeted her while she sat at her desk wrapping things up.

"Ready to skedaddle." She shut her computer down.

The same white woman from the elevator that time came over, saw him, and looked appalled. What was her deal?

"It's not five o'clock yet," she said to Jakinda.

"It's four forty-five and you're not my boss so why does it matter? Steve knows I'm leaving early."

"Some people are just so lazy," she mumbled, but loud enough to be heard.

"Some people who?"

"You people-" the woman started but then stopped. She looked his way and then backed away. "Good night."

The woman passed by him and seemed to purposely bump into him. She quickly held her arm and grabbed her purse as if he tried to go into it.

"He's trying to rob me."

What in the entire hell? Was this woman out of her mind?

"Now Sharon, I clearly saw you bump into my boyfriend minding his business. Are you okay? Is something wrong with you?"

Now her boss Steve came out of his office and he was not ready to be in the middle of this with that man.

"Kindy, I can wait for you downstairs in the lobby." He turned to walk away.

"Wait, what's going on here?" Steve asked stepping over to him.

"This...this...thug is trying to go into my bag."

"What?" he questioned. "Lady, I was just standing here waiting for my lady. Why would I-"

"What happened, Sharon?" Steve asked the woman, ignoring him.

"I don't know...but he's loitering out here and when I went to leave he tried to take my bag."

"Take your bag...go in your bag...make up your mind," Jakinda said. "Bullshit! You bumped into him, end of the story. Now, you can say whatever you want, but leave my man out of it."

Jakinda grabbed her purse and walked around her desk to take his hand. "Now, can we leave to go to the game?"

"You're going to just let this guy go?" Sharon said, nearly foaming out of her mouth.

"Sharon, I think you are overreacting to the situation. Jakinda would not be with the type of person who would do whatever you're saying. Maybe you misunderstood what happened."

On one hand, the man was defending him, on the other it seemed he did not totally believe him either. Whatever was going on, these people were wicked and he hated that his woman had to work with people like this.

Sounded racist.

Thank goodness the elevator came and they could get out of that place.

"You good baby, because that shit was stupid. What is that lady's problem? Calling me a thug like...what the hell?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Fuck that! Why are you working there with a creep of a boss and a racist co-worker? Report that shit."

"I just ignore her. She's always grumpy about something."

"Yes, because she doesn't like Black people."

"Can we just drop this and enjoy the game?"

He would let it go but he did not understand why she thought it was okay. No job was that serious. She could get another job anywhere that appreciated her better and made her comfortable all the time.

Amorica and Leah were walking over from her law office and meeting them there. His uncle and cousin probably were already there getting loaded up on beer.

They went to Bally Sports Live to enjoy the view of the crowd, drink some beers, and get some real food in them before the game. Amorica arrived as their food came.

"Nikko, stay on this route forever if this gets us good game tickets again."

"Here, here!" Leah stated.

"Perks of the job and I'm not mad." He sipped his beer. He wondered if he should talk to Amorica about Jakinda's work issues but he would leave it alone for now.

"Amorica, you look so cute in that...then again, you always look so cute."

"Thank you, girlfriend. See my fiancé, she said this was too much." Amorica stood and modeled her outfit. "I'm so St. Louis!"

"Ask my tattooist!" they all chimed in and laughed.

When they made it to the box there were already lots of snacks spread out for them. Popcorn, pretzels, chips, and a few drinks. Loads of beer but any other alcoholic beverages they had to pay but all the other food was free. He could get used to this.

"Can we smoke up in here?" Rafaello asked him.

He knew what he meant and that was an asinine thing to think was okay. "Boy, don't get us kicked out of here."

"Damn, it's legal," Rafaelo said.

"No, it's not," Amorica said right at his side. "And maybe if you stopped smoking so much you could hold a job like most of us adults do. You keep trying to bring my homeboy down with that."

"I never force the kid to smoke."

"Stop calling me a kid you're only two years older than me."

"Oh, this must be your cousin Rafaelo." Jakinda walked over to them after she had taken in the view. "Hi, I'm Jakinda."

"Well hello. And dammmn!" he said doing his Friday impersonation. "Oh, my bad. Hi, Mrs. Parker."

He punched his cousin on the arm. "Stop it."

"She looks good for her age. I see why you like the cougar."

"Oh, wow," Jakinda said, simply with a chuckle.

"Sorry for my cousin. Where's unc?" He looked around to see if he saw his uncle but he was not there.

"He brought Mom along since you gave him my extra ticket. They probably went to the gift shop." Rafaelo went to grab himself a beer. "Damn, I wish I had a date to show off."

His co-worker came and he introduced him to Jakinda and Amorica. His uncle and aunt came a lot later, missing the first three innings. His uncle pulled him aside after meeting Jakinda to tell him he thought she was a "real one" and a keeper.

"Tell me something I don't already know, Unc."

He had no plans on letting Jakinda go, only ways to make her life better, and happier. Starting with that damn job she worked.