By: Essence Gibbs

I love going on evening walks with Michelle. They make me happy and I look forward to our special time together every day. She is my everything, so beautiful and perfect. Michelle is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. The goddess Aphrodite doesn’t even compare. I don’t know what I would do if someone took her from me, but I will never let that happen. We have been going on walks together for about two years now, it’s become our little tradition. I even changed my work schedule so that we would continue doing them daily. We always walk the same path. Michelle and I both don’t take to change very well. Something I learned from simply being around her as often as I am.

We always start from her small apartment on the 3rd floor. Room number 326, to be exact. I have studied every single inch of her abode and I must say that it is quite nice. Around 5:30ish Michelle and I begin our walk, because that’s usually the time she arrives home from work. I am already inside her place waiting anxiously for her to arrive. She leaves a key taped to the underside of the door especially for me. Her apartment was where I saw her for the first time, actually. My dearest Michelle was leaving her apartment while I was delivering for my job. She caught my eye the second I saw her. Since then, she has always been on my mind. It seems like so long ago now, but I remember it like it was just yesterday. How her shoulder-length, blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail. Her leggings hugged tight to her petite frame, and her eyes. Her ocean blue eyes. More beautiful than anything I had ever seen. After leaving her apartment, she prefers to take the elevator. I can’t because of the stupid cameras they put inside for “security reasons”. From her apartment building, we always walk to a nearby park, taking the long way through the neighborhoods. Which is fine by me because I don’t like the busy streets. She walks pretty fast, but it’s fine because I’m never too far behind. Sometimes she looks back to check if I’m still there. I am, always. I like to hide sometimes to see if she’ll notice I’m gone, she never does. On our way, we pass by her favorite ice cream place, Bruster’s. She always orders her favorite, chocolate chip cookie dough in a waffle cone. So childish but I love her for it. It reminds me of the time she was there with her friends and she almost caught me snooping on her. At the park, she likes to slow to watch the kids playing. I know that she wants kids one day by all the pictures of her nieces and nephews up all over her apartment. After the park, we sometimes stop by Barnes and Noble to say hi to her friend, Ava, that works there. Ava doesn’t like me. I can tell by the strange way she stares at me and scrunches her eyes, like she trying to remember where she has me before. I have learned to keep my distance, so I just order Starbucks while I wait for her. She also likes to check out the new releases on display. She loves reading. So much so that she has books in almost every room of her apartment. I think it’s a little much but I don’t tell her. I could never criticize her. Usually by now, the sun is going down and it’s getting dark. I start to get a little antsy to let her know it’s time to start heading home. It gets dangerous at night and I don’t want anything to happen to my baby. I need to protect her and make sure she is safe, especially at night when dangerous people come out to play. We return to her apartment and she likes to order herself some food. She sets up the food, and turns on whichever Netflix show she is into that week. I personally prefer to watch sports but I just sit quietly in the back and let her do her thing while I admire her. Sometimes the show is actually funny so I have to stifle a laugh. But it’s easy being quiet, I’ve become a pro at it so that I don’t disturb her.

After a long day at her job, as a marketing coordinator for Amazon, she likes to take a bath to relax. I often sneak in some peaks when she’s not looking. I can’t help it. Her music is so loud, so she never notices. Except for once, when I almost got caught. I was standing outside her door while she was getting undressed. I guess she forgot something and made a quick turn in my direction. I was frozen by her beauty, but luckily she forgot she was naked and went to grab a robe giving me enough time to move. I wish I could tell her how beautiful she is, but I just can’t ever seem to find the right words when she looks in my direction. After her bath, she goes downstairs to grab a snack to enjoy before bed. Her bed, I must say. is very comfortable and smells just like her, a mix of cherry blossoms, the lotion she uses, and lavender, the soap she uses. I like to lay in sometimes while I wait for her to come home. After her late-night snack, she plays on her phone for a while, scrolling through Instagram and Twitter, while I just enjoy her company before I have to leave for the night.

When she starts to yawn and close her eyes for long periods of time, that’s when I begin to get unsettled from my area. When I know that she is 100% asleep, I turn out her bedside lamp, which she always forgets. I quietly whisper goodnight to my love as I begin to exit her bedroom. Usually, I just walk out but for some reason today I couldn’t resist so I went and pecked her on her forehead as she slept. She stirred a bit in her sleep and I held my breath but she didn’t wake. I left the apartment in total silence and thought…Maybe one day I’ll get up the guts to let her know I’m here.

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Essence is a brown-skinned woman that can often be found prancing with sunflowers in her hair. When not surrounded by petals, she might be covered in icing and flour or developing theories for criminal dramas. She has work forthcoming in Leaves of Ink and has been writing since her early childhood. She was born in Inglewood but was raised in Cerritos, California. After high school she plans to attend Bethune Cookman University where she will play softball and study kinesiology. She hopes to one day join the medical field and help injured athletes. Her family is her biggest muse and support system. Essence is very outgoing, hard-working, goofy, and loves to eat with her family and friends. Besides writing, she loves to listen to music and exercise to ease her overactive mind. You can often find her up late at night looking at recipes and watching softball games. She enjoys meeting new people and making them laugh. In the future, she dreams of opening a bakery business and traveling the world with her family. Essence is a Disney enthusiast, loving all things Disney and fun. She loves going to the beach and watching the sunset. She hopes to inspire other kids to love themselves just as she as learned to love herself.