Asiah Janai James was feeling spontaneous in August 2014 when she invited her co-worker, Gerald Leon Cannon II, to meet up with her at the Afropunk Festival in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Ms. James had been in a series of serious relationships, but when Mr. Cannon called, she was learning to “go with the flow,” she said. She wanted to prioritize building a connection with someone she thought was “cool” over trying to define the relationship early on.
She thought Mr. Cannon was cool. The two had first been introduced that May by a mutual friend and colleague at Top Shop in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood. Ms. James worked in personal shopping; Mr. Cannon was a stock associate.
Ms. James was attending the music festival with her roommates, and Mr. Cannon happened to be in the area with his best friend for the social scene. Weaving through the massive crowd outside Commodore Barry Park, where the festival took place, they eventually found each other in the fray.
As their group headed back to Harlem, where they all lived, Mr. Cannon and Ms. James drifted into conversation. Neither consider it a first date, but a good “icebreaker to get to know each other outside of work,” Mr. Cannon said.
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They continued to hang out: a stroll along the Harlem River; an impromptu visit to the now-closed Dallas BBQ on St. Marks in the East Village; and a Sunday service at Mr. Cannon’s church, Harlem Church of Christ.
