It was nearing closing time at the office. Ben was growing more and more tired every day of working in a payday and title loan office. The work was sketchy, and made him feel guilty. But tonight, rather than being down and ready to head strait home, he was starving from being on a fad "fasting" diet, and missing his lunch break where he usually got the most of his days food. He was craving a warm bowl, of broccoli and cheese soup from McAllisters, poured into a warm and fresh bread bowl.

Ben sat staring at the clock, but somehow the last ten minutes of the day always seemed longer than the rest of the day combined. Finally, it was closing time and he left the store in a halfway decent mood, in expectation of satisfying his craving. Little did he know, Ben was going to get something priceless, lifesaving, and angelic out of a trip for some soup.

On the other side of the county, in the health department of a state correctional facility, sat Janyth. Not a patient, or prisoner, but the most kind, charming, and gorgeous Therapist that had ever existed. As one may expect, Janyth, like Ben, was ready to leave, possibly even more so, as working with felons all day everyday tends to be more taxing than handing out predatory loans. As the time came to pack up and leave, she knew she wanted the famous spuds on menu at McAllister's Deli. Little did she know, she would find a much bigger stud than any spud a restaurant could offer.

As Ben pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, his eyes affixed on the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen. His heart skipped a literal beat, all the breath gone from his lungs, and completely taken aback by the beauty that was making her way to the front doors of the deli. So much so, he narrowly avoided hitting a pole with his car in the middle of the parking lot. As he sat in the car, he knew he had to at least introduce himself, find some way to make conversation. Hopefully, she was going to be single, and he could awkwardly make an attempt to talk to her. The worst case was she was likely already with someone, and at least he would have had the courage to speak to someone far out of his league. He took some deep breaths, popped in a couple pieces of gum, sprayed on some cologne, and made the most nervous walk into a restaurant of his life.

As he crested the doorway, the sun was coming down and shining in through the door behind him, grabbing everyone's attention, due to the blinding nature of Alabama sunsets. The plus side, and confidence boost he needed, was that the beautiful woman he saw in the parking lot, turned in line to see him at the door, and quite unexpectedly for Ben, she smiled.

Again Ben's heart skipped a beat, and he was forced to take another deep, but less noticeable breath of air.

She heard the bell on the door ring, and the bright sun coming from outside was like a hot spotlight shooting into the restaurant. She turned, and saw a figure coming through the door. A figure she couldn't immediately turn away from. Broad shoulders, taller than her, which was a must, and not skinny but not obese either, which she preferred. As the door began to close she noticed his reddish-brown hair, gentle appearance, strong demeanor, and beautiful greenish-blue eyes. Suddenly she realized she was holding her gaze to long, smiled while trying not to blush, and turned back around quickly.

The doors closed, footsteps approached, the air felt tense, then the tap came. Not a hard tap that would have startled her, but a genuine tap, that made her feel somehow comforted, and safe to turn around. She turned.

"Um, Hi, My name is Ben." he said. It was the look on his face as he peered down at her that welcomed her in, and encouraged a seemingly unstoppable response.

"Hey! My name is Janyth!" She said happily. That was one thing Ben would come to love and treasure about the woman he would find God made just for him. She was kind. Not just for show, not just to people she knew. But to everyone, every single person, she greets and speaks to with such excitement, its like a verbal warm hug.

"I hope they aren't out of sweet tea!" Ben said. "They have my favorite. It's probably the sweetest you will ever have, but it's delicious." REALLY!! Ben thought to himself. Was sweet tea the best opener he could come up with??!!

Luckily for Ben, it was. Janyth was what one might call a Sweet Tea Connoisseur, and that is an extra hard feat when living in the South.

"Oh really?" Janyth inquired, as if she didn't already know. She knew. She knew well enough that she could easily have made him an Excel sheet on the different places to get sweet tea, which was best and worst, letter graded and sorted by easiest to get to.

"Yeah. So are you here with anyone?" Ben asked, doing his best to not sound like "that guy" we all know. You know, the guy who makes small chat into some awkward, need-to-escape situation by over-sharing or over-inquiring, or getting too personal.

"Actually no, I was just going to grab some food and head home." Janyth said, she was nervous too, and was hoping she didn't imply she was trying to end the conversation. There was something about this man, that was easy to talk to, and who she enjoyed listening to after a mere four sentences.

"Well, I was going to do the same. Would you be interested in maybe eating together here and talking?" Ben said. This was the most forward he had ever been. And while it was terrifying, it wasn't as hard as he imagined, because there was something about this girl that made him feel like he could be himself, be open to, and he couldn't help but feel this was going to be a night he would never forget.

They dined, they drank sweet tea that could immediately give you diabetes, they talked, they laughed, and before either of them knew it, the restaurant was empty, and the employees were obviously eager for them to leave.

"Looks like they are getting ready to close up, I have really enjoyed talking to you. Maybe, if your open to it, we could exchange numbers and talk some more later?" Ben asked, feeling somewhat sure she felt the same way he did and somewhat feeling like he may have talked too much.

"I would love that." Janyth said. She smiled, feeling relieved he had asked.

J&B

Wedding Day

Reception