The Greatest Catch

Chapter 4

Being up most of the morning after putting Elijah onto the the school bus, Alana was tirelessly working on some more photos for her portfolio. With every passing second she found her eyes getting heavier and heavier begging for sleep to come.

The image posted onto her computer screen that she was almost finished editing was of a really cool sunset shot of this magical looking mosaic wall. There is this small little spot in Philly called The Magic Gardens and the entire building inside and out had been turned into a giant mosaic work of art by an old, hippie type of guy named Isaiah.

In her photo she snapped a shot of one of the many walls that glistened with thousands of pieces of random broken things ranging from mirrors, tiles, broken glass, even bottles. The best part is is that the sunset is being reflected back off of all the dazzling pieces of mirror that were cemented onto the wall creating a stunning orange glow to the entire picture.

With just the right amount of editing Alana was so proud of how this picture turned out. Part of her artistic style is doing little to no editing on photos. She wants to give the person looking at her work the real, raw truth of whatever story she was trying to capture.

This is why Alana loved Philadelphia for all of its artistic culture. Most of the local artists are like her, zero bullshit and one hundred percent authenticity. I mean for Christ's sake, Isaiah has painted tiles with vaginas and penises scattered all over his property. No bullshit, just one hundred percent real. That is what she wants to convey to someone who looks at her photographs.

Just when her eyes began to droop the loud vibration of her phone on the table a few inches away jostled violently. Alana looked at the unfamiliar number and wanted to just sent it to voicemail but then she remembered she had put her name and number up around Philly looking for some extra photography work so it could be a potential client. Or.... a telemarketer.

With a swipe of her finger she accepts the phone call, "Hello?"

"Hey, is this Alana?"

She would know that deep voice no matter how tired she was...

Okay, so maybe the "or" Alana was looking for was J.T. Realmuto.... Calling her. On her personal phone.

"J.T?" Alana breathed with uncertainty.

"Uh yeah, it's me." He says and Alana could just picture him awkwardly scratching the back of his neck with his toned arm.

"Hi! How are you doing!" Alana smacked herself in my forehead because she realized she probably sounded like a crazy person hopped up on either too much sugar or too many drugs.

"Im pretty well. I just got your number to tell you that the paperwork you signed was notarized the other day and we can start taking pictures whenever."

Alanas heart was pounding inside her chest.

"That's great, I'm really excited to do this. Thank you J.T. for giving me this killer opportunity. I feel like this will give me a little bit of an advantage once I graduate in a few weeks."

"No problem, from the little I have seen of your work I know you're amazing at what you do."

She smiled into the phone, "So when do you want to get started?"

It's like he already knew the answer to the question when he responded almost immediately, "How about tomorrow night? I'm sure you'll be there after the game?"

"Um well, yes, I will be there after the game but will I be allowed to? I mean, technically I'm working and the grounds crew will be there that I'm supervising."