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Location: Empire Chicago, Lombard Illinois During my first day on the job, I made my way around the office being introduced to the staff. Everyone in the office was divided up into teams and I was placed on team Dynasty. As I was being introduced to the team, Darius walked up and introduced himself by saying "Hi I'm Darius Carter." Our team leader at the time stated that I did not need to know him as he was no one important, in a joking manner, to which Darius replied "everyone needs to know me, I am Darius." I did not like this response and was quick to call Darius out for being rude and we did not speak for the first moth of my working there. During a trip to the field, Darius and I were paired together and although we were both hesitant, this lead to the beginning of something magical. We discovered that we loved the same music, ate the same foods, and both determined to be the best at anything we set our mind too. I learned that Darius loved to rap to TI and his favorite snack was honey buns with grape Fanta. I learned that he was very ambitious and what came off as cockiness during our introduction was just confidence. I discovered that he was a man who would do anything for his family and those he cared about. Darius learned that Taisha loved to dance to “gas pedal” and “red nose”. I learned she was the strongest and most self determined person I had ever met. Taisha always challenged me to be the best person I could in every aspect of life and work. We would always compete and push each other to be successful. Overtime, what started as just a job turned into excitement going into work just to see each other. It turned into long phone calls talking about our dreams and goals in life. It turned into hanging out on the weekends and looking forwards to Mondays just to be around each other again. We transitioned from a friendship to a relationship without realizing the bond we were building with one another and how it would impact the rest of our lives.