United States, Maryland, Fort Washington.
Inside a small shop located in the suburbs of the nation's capital, a handsome young man was examining a damaged space heater a client brought in to be repaired no more than ten minutes ago.
At first glance, if anyone looked at this young man, all they would see is an African American man who looked to be in his early twenties with grey eyes, light brown skin, and shoulder length dreadlocks standing at 6'5" (approx. 1.96m) tall.
Upon closer inspection, however, you would see that he was examining the space heater with his eyes closed. AS a matter of fact, by legal standards, the young man was blind. He has not spent his whole life this way, though. In fact, for most of his life, he had perfect visual acuity. However, due to an accident in his teenage years, he lost most of his eyesight. Now, he can only see out of his left eye, and what he can see his heavily blurred.
Now, if you were wondering why a legally blind man was working in a repair shop, then the answer is simple, yet a bit fantastical. Shortly after losing his sight, the young man noticed that his senses had changed. Changed in a way that he could not explain by scientific means.
For some reason, whenever he comes in contact with a mostly metal object, he can visualize the object's structure and understand its material make up. Naturally, this made repairing and figuring out what is wrong with an object much easier. So, taking advantage of his new found ability, the young man chose to become a repair man.
"Bang!*
While the young man was examining the space heater with his hands, suddenly the front door to his shop was slammed open. Standing in the open door was a beautiful, smiling, African American woman with short, straight, black hair, dark brown eyes, a skin tone one shade darker than the young man in the shop, and standing at 5'6". (approx. 1.68 m)
"Fonzie, it's time to go!" the young woman shouted as she walked toward the workshop area of the shop.
"*Sigh* Elicia, we're not kids anymore." The young man, Alfonzo "Fonzie" Marcus, said in an exasperated tone. "Could you stop calling me that?"
"Nope!" The young woman, Elicia Taylor, said happily. "I'm the only one that calls you that. So, it makes me feel special."
"*Sigh* Do whatever you want." Alfonzo said.
Smiling happily, Elicia closed the distance between herself and Alfonzo. Then, she wrapped her arms around his left arm.
"Come on, or we're gonna be late." Elicia said, tugging Alfonzo's arm.
"Why are you in such a rush, anyway?" Alfonzo asked as he took his right hand off the space heater. "It's not like it will start without you."
"That's true." Elicia said with a nod. "But my fashion show won't start itself, either."
As implied by what she said, Elicia Taylor is an up and coming fashion designer. What no one could understand, however, was that she never used a sewing machine when she created clothing. Instead, her speed and precision with a thread and needle was considered to be superhuman. Some people who have observed her work described her needle work as a magical ability.
"Yeah, you're right." Alfonzo said. "Let me change, then I'll be ready to go."
"I brought something for you to change into." Elicia said. "Go take a shower and it will be ready by the time you get out."
"Fine." Alfonzo said with a shrug.
Alfonzo then walked out of the workshop area of his shop with slow, yet steady steps. The whole while, Elicia's eyes stayed glued to him. Once Alfonzo was no longer in her field of vision, Elicia began to move back to her car.
"*Sigh* Is it wrong to say that I'm glad his eye sight went bad?" Elicia said to herself. Then, she looked at the white gold, diamond ring she wore on her left ring finger. "I mean, if it hadn't, we probably would not be engaged right now."
In the past, although Alfonzo and Elicia had known each other for as long as they could remember, their relationship was not always this close. Elicia could always count on Alfonzo to help her whenever she needed it, but there was never any romance between them. Rather, until a few months after Alfonzo's accident, Elicia held on to an unrequited love.
On the other hand, Alfonzo was an arrogant jock. In his freshman year of high school, he made the varsity teams for both basketball and football. Then, in his sophomore year, he also joined the varsity baseball team. On top of that, his grades were perfect.
"It really was hard to be more than a friend to him back then." Elicia muttered to herself.
Back then, Alfonzo thought he knew and could do anything. Basically, no one could tell him anything. On top of that, there were a lot of high school girls that wanted to get into his pants, thinking that once he graduated from high school, he would be on the fast track to a career in sports. And Alfonzo loved the attention.
Then, during his junior year, Alfonzo had his accident. During the baseball season's state championship game, he was hit in the back of his head by a 92 mph (148 kph) fastball. Luckily, he was wearing a batting helmet, otherwise, he might have lost his life. However, the trauma caused damage to both optic nerves and a severe retinal detachment in both eyes. In the end, he lost the majority of his eyesight and all the attention he had been enjoying up to that point.
While she thought back to how things were nine or ten years ago, Elicia arrived at her car, a silver-blue 2002 BMW Z3. Then, she opened the driver's side door and pulled out a suit she designed specifically for Alfonzo to wear to tonight's fashion show.
At the same time, Alfonzo had just stepped into the shower. While standing under the warm water, he began singing.
{BGM: "If I Ever Fall in Love (Acapella Version)" -- Shai}
While singing, like Elicia, he was also thinking about the way he was back in high school.
'When I lost my sight, it amazed me how quickly those dick riders stopped fuckin' with me.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'In the end, only Elicia was there when everyone else left. Honestly, she's too good for me. Not only does she put up with my disabled ass, but she puts up with the asshole that I am naturally.'
"And~ if~ I ev~, Ever~ fall~, in love~~~ again~~~, I will be sure that the lady is a friend~~~~~."
Around the time Alfonzo finished the song, he also finished washing up. Then, after turning off the faucet, he stepped out of the shower and dried himself off. Then, he found a deep blue suit with a grey dress shirt that matched the color of his eyes and a tie that matched the suit perfectly. Also, there was a pair of black leather shoes alongside the suit.
'Good thing I keep a spare set of clothes in the shop.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'Wearing a fresh suit with some used draws would suck.'
When Alfonzo looked into the mirror, although he could only see a blurry image of himself, his instincts told him that he looked good.
"I don't even need my instincts to know I look good." Alfonzo said to himself while adjusting his tie. "Everything Elicia makes looks good. There's no doubt about that."
"Fonzie, hurry up!" elicia shouted from the shopfront. "You're taking longer than my girlfriends do. I mean, I got ready faster than you did, too."
;'that's only because you came in here with your hair and make-up done.' Alfonzo thought to himself as he exited the bathroom. 'If you had to do all that while you were here, we'd miss the show, for sure.'
"I'm coming!" Alfonzo shouted back as he made his way to the store front.
When he arrived, Elicia had changed out of her casual clothes. Instead, she was wearing a grey dress that matched Alfonzo's eye color with deep blue accents that showed off most of her back and shoulders. Also, there was a slit that showed off most of her left leg and thigh. Then, on her feet was a pair of strappy heels that called attention to her gorgeous calves and feet.
"*Sigh* It's times like this that I wish I had my sight back." Alfonzo said as he approached Elicia.
"Oh really?" Elicia said with a smile.
"Yeah." Alfonzo said as he took Elicia's hand in his own. "But at the same time, I'm glad I can't see that well."
"Why?" Elicia asked with a slight frown.
"Because I'd probably have a real dumb look on my face if I could see you clearly." Alfonzo said with a smile.
In response, Elicia smiled brightly. Then, she began pulling Alfonzo toward the door.
"Let's go~." Elicia said in a sing-song voice.
"Slow down sweetheart, I need to lock up." Alfonzo said,, pulling out the key to the front door of his shop.
Once Alfonzo locked the door and pulled down the shutters, Elicia started pulling him toward her car. As he was pulled away from the store, Alfonzo looked up above the door. When he saw the shop sign that read "Sixth Sense Repairs," he felt nothing but pride in what he had been able to achieve after losing everything he had worked hard for in the past.
A few moments later, Alfonzo and Elicia were seated in the car, with Elicia driving, naturally. Their destination was the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Northwest DC. So, from Alfonzo's shop to their destination would usually take about thirty-five minutes by car.
"I guess you made it big now, uh?" Alfonzo said with a smile while enjoying the feeling of the wind on his face. "I mean, getting the convention center for you alone is pretty impressive."
In response, Elicia smiled brightly while tapping her right index finger on the steering wheel in rhythm with the music coming out of the speakers.
"I'm just glad to see your dreams coming true." Alfonzo said. "*Sigh* Maybe if I hadn't been such a dick, my dream of playing in the NBA would have come true. Oh well, Karma is a bitch, as they say."
"Well, you're still a dick to everyone." Elicia said with a little laugh. "So, maybe that's not it?"
"Oh, am I?" Alfonzo asked.
"Yup, you make fun of me all the time." Elicia said with a pout.
"Well, if you didn't make it so easy, I wouldn't make fun of you all the time." Alfonzo said with a chuckle. "Besides, you end up laughing at my jokes most of the time, too."
"You're just lucky I love you." Elicia said, removing her right hand from the steering wheel and making a fist in Alfonzo's direction.
"I know that." Alfonzo said, wrapping his much larger hand around Elicia's fist. "And I'm grateful for it."
Although she didn't blush, Elicia's expression turned into something weird. After Alfonzo's statement, she didn't know how to continue.
"That's not fair." Elicia said after a few moments with a pout.
"Life ain't fair, Sweetheart." Alfonzo said with a smile on his face.
As the couple continued to banter, they eventually entered the city. Unfortunately, as they approached their destination, while crossing an intersection, a semi ran a red light and crashed headlong into the passenger side of Elicia's BMW Z3, killing them both on impact.
Meanwhile, in the driver's seat of the semi, an old man with a long white beard paled when he saw what happened. Then, he began shouting in the semi's cab.
"Damn it, Truck-Kun, you ran the wrong light." The old man said angrily. "You were supposed to run the next one. The people in that crash would have actually been deserving of death."
The semi, Truck-Kun's engine revved several times as if it were responding the old man's outcry.
"*Sigh* I know DC's layout is confusing. And, yes, I know it was an honest mistake." The old man said in exasperation. "But that's no excuse. Since those two were killed on accident, I'll have to set them up with new lives. Damn it, so much paperwork."