Damian Rosario, computer geek, creates a new dating app for the vertically challenged, as joke on a dare from his friends after a bad date. Before he knows it, millions of men have joined, overwhelming him enough that he has to hire a team to manag...
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It was a lot of work.
He had expected it. He knew it would take time.
But at current count he was at 1700 hours working on the app.
He had sacrificed countless weekend and after work hours going through the motions; from brainstorming what he wanted his app to look like, what features he needed to include, and what was going to be absolutely necessary on the backend for it to function.
Despite the many hours, he found that he had been enjoying immersing himself in a project to keep his mind off his dismal dating life.
He had always considered himself good looking; olive toned sun kissed skin with dark curly hair that his mother had made sure he knew how to properly care for when he was a kid, straight pearly white teeth thanks to braces from 6th to 8th grade, and a solid build that wasn't overly muscular. He hit the gym about 3 times a week and knew how to box thanks to his grandpa. In college, he had also gotten into Muay Thai, a very physical martial art. He, Kevin and Clyde had gone on a trip to Thailand and it had opened their eyes to so much culture and gave them an itch to travel.
Before that, the furthest any of them had gone was to Virginia, to visit Clyde's great grandparents who lived in a small homestead. It had been the first time he and Kevin had traveled outside the tristate area, so they were giddy. Clyde was used to the yearly trips, which he hated because he was stuck with his younger sisters Destiny and Dawn, not to mention doing chores at the crack of dawn.
Damian had the best summer of his young life that year; he'd ridden horses, had gone hunting and fishing, learned about milking a cow, had gone berry picking, and learned about canning. Clyde's great grandparents Mama Esther and PawPaw Paul, were already in their late 70's when they were 12, but were active and happy to show their great grandson's friends all they could.
Kevin had literally cried the day they left, Mama Esther wiping his tears and whispering comforting words in his ear. Whatever she had said had cheered him up, but he still hugged her tightly for 2 minutes before finally letting go. Hours later, Kevin discovered a hidden tin in his backpack, Mama Esther had packed him a portion of cornbread, bbq chicken and collard greens for the road.
Clyde's mother Ms. Cecily, was known around their neighborhood as the MTA lady. She was a bus driver on one of the buses that passed by their 'hood. They would often times catch rides with her when it was too hot to walk home from the library during the summer. Or if they went to the pool. Clyde's father had been a train conductor. They didn't talk about him much anymore and Damian felt like it had been ages since he'd seen the man.
Damian's own mother was the stereotypical loud Dominican mom. She worked for the city of New York's Human Resources Administration at one of their benefits offices. She had been there since Damian had been about 10 years old, when she had finally finished her college degree. His sister Rosalia had followed in her footsteps, earning a masters in social work just to be able to be their mom's boss. The only thing they knew about their father was that he had been deported back to the Dominican Republic when Damian was 5 and Rosalia was 3. He still sent them birthday cards every year with $200 in cash, but it had been almost 15 years since Damian had seen him in person. Sebastian Ochoa Rosario had carved out a life for himself in his home country that Damian felt did not include any of them.
Which reminded him that Kevin had lost his father when they were in their second year of college.
His biological dad had never been in the picture so Ms. Cho was a single parent for most of her kids life, until she met Mr. Lee, who owned a florist shop on Junction Blvd. He was a nice Chinese man who had never married and was in his late 40's at the time they met. He had started dating Ms. Cho when Kevin was 10 and they had opened a restaurant together. Mr. Lee had a heart attack on his way back home from the restaurant, the passersby trying to do cpr and keep him comfortable as they waited for an ambulance. It had inspired Destiny, Clyde's sister, to become a paramedic, as she had been walking home from an errand to the 24 hour pharmacy when it had happened. She currently worked for a private hospital as a paramedic.
"Life is simultaneously short and long..." he murmured to the empty apartment, shaking his head as he continued typing. He was on the last leg of code needed before he could test it to see that everything worked together cohesively.
It was at half past 10 when his phone beeped with a text, Damian looking away from his double wide monitor to peep what was up.
C.Matt: We have a situation
Kev: We? Who's we?
C.Matt: U dumb ass, ME.
Kev: Spill
C.Matt: Amira's sister wants to come stay with us. She just lost her job and is "preggo"
Kev: Oh Oh
Damian: She's your SIL dude... you cant say no.
C.Matt: Actually, Amira asked for my opinion.
Kev: You want to say no?
C.Matt: Correct
Damian: Y?
C.Matt: Well for starters, I don't like her. She's always been this high and mighty uppity, lying nuisance. Amira has always complained about how messy and dirty she is. Y'all know I don't play those games. I don't have time for that mess.
Damian: You are a neat freak.
Kev: Borderline OCD freak...
Kev: I mean neat
C.Matt: But like D said, she's my wife's sister.
Kev: Also a manipulator and a liar apparently
Damian: Pass. Amira has other family members doesn't she?
C.Matt: Yeah, her pops lives in East New York. Her Mom's is out in Staten Island. They've got an auntie who is up by Yankee Stadium.
Damian: U can ask Rosie for info on any help she can get from the city.
C.Matt: Yeah? Damn it's type late to be calling but im gonna hit her up in the AM on my way to work.
Damian: Nah, she's up. She doesn't go to bed until pretty late. Just text her.
Kev: Wait, maybe run that by Amira tho. How u don't feel comfortable with her sister staying with you guys, but you're looking into alternatives for her.
