My brother recently arranged for me to go on a date with his friend Stewart, which ended up being a disaster. We found ourselves stuck at a fancy restaurant with an unpaid bill, and as the manager threatened to call the police, I realized the extent of Adam’s plan. I was left wondering how we were going to get out of this mess.
“You need to meet this guy, Jess,” Adam said, his face lit up as if he had just discovered something amazing. He was comfortably settled on my couch, channel surfing.
“Who are you talking about?” I asked, still focused on my laptop.
“Stewart. He works with me. He’s a great guy. Solid job, nice car, the whole package.”
rolled my eyes. “Is this another one of your setups?”
“No, seriously! He’s different. You’ll really like him. And he’s been asking about you.”
I sighed, skeptical due to Adam’s bad track record with setups, but his enthusiasm about Stewart made me curious. “Alright, but if this goes poorly, I’m not going to trust your setups anymore.”
Adam smirked. “Deal. You’ll thank me later, trust me.”
I spent the next few hours preparing carefully, wanting to make a good impression despite my reservations. By the time I was ready, my apartment was a mess from all the makeup and clothes. Despite my anxiety, Adam’s encouragement kept me going.
Stewart arrived in a shiny new sedan. As I got in, I couldn’t help but notice the car’s clean leather smell and the smooth hum of the engine.
“Hi, Jess?” he greeted me with a genuinely warm smile.
“Yes, that’s me. Nice to meet you, Stewart.”
“Likewise. You look great, by the way.”
I blushed, feeling a bit more at ease. “Thanks. So, where are we heading?”
“I thought we could try this new place downtown. It’s fancy, but the food is amazing.”
“Sounds good,” I replied, surprised by the upscale choice.
These Target stores are set to close: Here’s the full list
Target, grappling with escalating theft and “organized retail crime,” is set to close nine outlets across four states. Despite “adding more security team members, using third-party guard services, and implementing theft-deterrent tools,” the challenges with crime persisted. Below are the affected markets along with the remaining stores and employment data:
New York City: Harlem: 517 E 117th St. (96 remaining stores, over 20,000 team members) Seattle: University Way: 4535 University Way NE Ballard: 1448 NW Market St., Ste. 100 (22 remaining stores, nearly 4,000 team members) San Francisco/Oakland: SF Folsom: 1690 Folsom St. Oakland Broadway: 2650 Broadway Pittsburg: 4301 Century Blvd. (32 remaining stores, over 6,400 team members) Portland: Galleria: 939 SW Morrison St. Powell: 3031 SE Powell Blvd. Hollywood: 4030 NE Halsey St. (15 remaining stores, more than 2,500 team members) Over 150 stores remain operational in these regions. Target is boosting security through locking cases for certain merchandise and allying with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations division. “While we will continue to make meaningful investments throughout our business, we cannot solve this issue on our own,” the firm noted.
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