Jimmy was the kind of person to be regularly misunderstood. He had this rough appearance. He had a rough face, some weird tattoos, he dressed like bad boys do.
People often had the conception that he was a criminal. There have been many times he was seen with people who were known criminals.
One evening, Jimmy told his mother about his plan to attend an event. It was an art event. Jimmy loved those but he had never been to one. He only watched them online.
"Mom, I'll be going to that art event happening tonight" he said
"Jimmy, please don't go. I feel you will get in trouble" his mom replied
"Why do you say so mom" Jimmy asked out of curiosity
"You know how the people around see you. They see you as a criminal. You don't even help your case. You dress like a criminal and you're almost always seen with people who are known criminals. The police are going to be all over that place and I don't want you getting arrested"
"Mom, I won't get arrested. I'm not going to do anything that would get me arrested. I just want to enjoy art" Jimmy replied as he went to his room to prepare for the event.
Karen lived in the same neighborhood. She was an artist. Her art was going to be on display during the event. Karen was excited and anxious at the same time because that was going to be her moment to shine. The event was her chance to show her art to as many art lovers as possible. With some luck, she would raise enough money to sort her needs.
Karen was running late to the event. As she hurried to the event, she noticed a strange man following her. Karen was concerned, so she hastened her foot steps. The man also increased his speed and then suddenly he cornered her into an empty place.
The man lifted his shirt to show Karen the knife underneath. Karen was now so sacred.
"Please don't harm me" Karen begged
"Just give me your bag and your phone quickly and you won't get hurt" the man said.
Jimmy was around and he saw everything that happened. He knew the lady was about to get robbed. So he rushed to the scene.
"Leave her alone" Jimmy said.
"Who are you? You better mind your business man" the man replied.
"I know you. I know where you live in this neighborhood. If you don't let her go now, you're going to have a big problem" Jimmy replied.
On seeing Jimmy's appearance, the man left Karen alone and left.
"Are you okay Miss?" Jimmy asked.
Karen was still shaken up. Trying to recover from the fact that she almost got robbed.
"I'm okay now. Thank you for intervening" Karen replied.
"You're welcome. Where are you heading to? Jimmy asked
"I'm going to the art event. I have my art on display there and I'm running late" Karen said.
"What a coincidence. I'm also heading there now. We can go together" Jimmy said.
Karen thought for a while and then she replied
"Sure. That would be perfect"
They got to the venue. Everything went smoothly. Jimmy enjoyed the art display, but particularly, he loved Karen's art. There was just something unique about her art.
He wasn't the only one to share that sentiment as people bought all of Karen's art. She was so happy.
Jimmy could see how happy Karen was and he just knew she put a lot of effort into her work.
After the event, Jimmy went to meet Karen.
"Congrats on selling your art" Jimmy said
"Thank you" she replied with a smile on her face.
"Would you like to have some drinks with me to celebrate?" Jimmy asked.
"Yes, I would love that" Karen replied.
They went to a restaurant and got drinking.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but to be honest, I had doubts about you coming with me to the event" Karen said.
"Because of my rough appearance right?" Jimmy asked.
"Yes. But now I've noticed that you're actually a sweet person. This is why you don't judge a book by its cover" Karen said.
"There's still more to know about me. You'll be amazed" Jimmy replied.
They got to know more about each other and Karen realized that Jimmy is an amazing person who has just been judged wrongly for most of his life. She saw that he had a compassionate heart.
They became the best of friends and soon, they became lovers.