CHAPTER 3 – CATCHING A BREAK
After over an hour -and a few refills- sitting at the terrace watching people walk by, not much had caught Roxbury's attention and it felt like only caffeine had managed to get his senses going so far. As he would often do when work was slow, he had taken a few random pictures of the crowd at different times and was now going through them. This was a technic he learned years ago to not only catch a lucky shot here and there, but also to train his eyes and mind to study the details of every photo he ever took.
Most pictures were shots of middle aged men and women on their way to their daily routine. Some had noticed him aiming the camera at them and the more playful ones had even dared to wave shyly, which now made him smile.
A few pretty women would occasionally catch his eye, but most were either too serious and focused or wearing sunglasses; Roxbury liked to call them "singlasses" since most people often felt braver and more daring when their eyes were hidden behind a dark shade.
As he was flipping through the pictures on his Nikon camera, a text came in on his phone. He nonchalantly glanced over and grabbed his Iphone while still going through the digital photos. The message was from Natalia G., his contact at the company who contracted him to sit at coffee shop terraces.
"Hello Mr. Porter. How is the quest going?" The message read.
Roxbury put his camera down on the round iron table top and reached for the phone. It amused him that Natalia never gave away her last name, even her business card read nothing more than "Natalia G. Talent Hunter".
Roxbury let a little more than two minutes go by before starting to type a response. He didn't want to give Natalia G. the impression he was sitting by his phone doing nothing, the time between her initial text and his response would make her believe he was somewhat busy. Unless she was spying on his from accross the street, he thought with a smile.
"Hell Miss G. The hunt is going well." Roxbury managed to type, using both thumbs.
"I should have a few good shots to present to you before the end of the week." He added, hoping this wasn't just positive thinking on his part.
"That's great news! Would Friday at 11:00 be a good time to meet?"
Roxbury took another two minutes to reply. This time, though, he was actually thinking whether meeting with Natalia on friday would give him enough time to have something good to present. What could he say anyway? This was his only serious work in quite some time, Friday would have to do.
"Friday at 11 is perfect. Will see you then." He typed and sent after one last pause on the "send" button.
"Can't wait. See you then." Natalia responded within seconds.
Roxbury put the phone down, now feeling more pressure than five minutes earlier. He was used to meeting deadlines though, and challenges had never been an issue with him so he knew he'd be ready by friday. As he went back to his camera, his eyes focused to the picture now showing, and for the first time this morning, he felt he may have something.
The picture was one of the random shots he took earlier. It showed about eight to ten people, the majority walking towards him and the camera, but one lady was coming from the left of the picture and was looking back at the lense, a tiny shy smile on her face. The look in her eyes was what caught Roxbury's attention, it was more than just her looking at someone taking a picture in the streets of New York, instead, it felt like she was looking directly at him, through the camera. She looked young but already "seasoned" in some way.
And Roxbury knew her. Well, he knew of her. She was the barista who served him his coffee earlier. He powered his camera off and stood up, putting his phone in his back pocket. He had to find out if the "face" on the picture was just one of those lucky shots or if that young girl could actually fit what he was looking for.
Roxbury left a few dollar bills on the table and walked inside the coffee shop, looking around as he made his way towards the counter. She wasn't there. The store wasn't as busy now that the morning rush had cooled down so he approached the new Barista and asked about her.
"Hey there." He tried using his best young and friendly accent. "I'm looking for the girl who was taking orders earlier."
The guy looked up and responded with a friendly voice, barely hiding an ounce of curiosity in his voice. "You mean Layla? Anything I can help you with?".
Thinking fast, not wanting to appear too funny or weird, Roxbury improvised what he hoped would sound legit.
"Yes, Layla. She mentioned this morning she was looking for a pet and I forgot to leave her my number." He said while scribbling down his name and number on a white piece of paper. "Could you pass this on to her, please?"
The barista looked at him for a second and quickly put his best customer-first smile on his nerdy face.
"Of course, but she might not see it until early tomorrow morning. She does the early morning shift."
"Oh, no rush at all!" Roxbury replied, thinking the posite. "Thanks a lot, buddy" He added, before turning away and heading out.
He quickly walked back to his loft and made his way to his working corner of the appartment. He uploaded all the pictures he took this morning from his camera and quickly found the one he was looking for. He saved it in a different folder on his MacBook and then double-clicked on it and zoomed on her face.
"Well... Hello Layla. Aren't you a pretty thing?" Roxbury said out loud as he leaned back in his chair, staring at her beautiful face.
