Hollow

Picture Perfect

NOT EDITED

Audrey’s POV~

He was odd, Cameron I mean.

His chocolate eyes held all his emotions, putting them on full display. Didn’t he realize how vulnerable he was making himself? I mean, if he lets everyone know his every contemplation, nothing in his life is personal.

Cam almost reminded me of an excited puppy, rambling on and on about god knows what for the past hour.

It was certainly new for me.

“So I was just wondering…I-I mean, if it’s not creepy, or weird” The brunette stuttered, “If I could just t-take a picture of y-you”

Well that was definitely unexpected. My eyes flickered to the oversized camera lying in his lap.

“I g-“ I barely got a word out before he interrupted.

“I’m sorry” He cringed, “That was creepy of me”

“Cam-“

He shook his head embarrassingly, running a hand through his short hair, “What was I thinking? You don’t just go around asking random girls for a picture! I can be so stupid sometimes, I really need a filter for my brai-“

Like I had been doing for most of our conversation, I bluntly cut off his bashful babbling, “Shut up.”

Instantly he went tight lipped, and his eyes widened as he waited for me to continue.

“You can take your picture” I said simply, “I don’t mind”

Letting out a relieved sigh, Cam smiled sheepishly. He picked up the professional device, and lifted it to his eye. I stayed still and he pushed down on the little button.

He thanked me timidly, peeking his eyes over the top of the camera.

~Cameron’s POV~

I was an idiot. I’d never felt so nervous in my entire life.

Audrey sat there motionless, allowing me to get a photo of her. When I glanced at the little screen after I snapped the image, I couldn’t help but be disappointed. It didn’t do her any justice. It just looked like a pretty girl, with a coffee in front of here. Nothing to it.

Where as just sitting in front of her made her, looking into her secretive blue eyes, I felt everything.

And I mean everything.

I felt giddy, curious, intrigued, jittery, calm, happy, embarrassed, and almost anything else you could think of.

“You’re peculiar” She told me. I noticed a slight shift in her posture, like she was leaning back as if trying to decode me.

“Really?” I questioned, “My mum says I’m clear as crystal”

For the first time in the hour I had been sitting here, the corners of her lips twitched, so close to forming a small smile.

“You are” I had noticed that every answer she gave me was short and precise, lacking elaboration.

“What’s so peculiar about me then?” I raised an eyebrow, leaning my elbows on the table.

“Exactly that” Audrey nodded simply. I was planning on asking for more of an answer, but she abruptly stood up, picking up her empty coffee cup.

I must have looked pathetic, my eyes widening in disappointment, “Where are you going?”

“It’s 11:30, I really need to get home” She told me with a quick glance at the tiny watched wrapped around her wrist.

I hadn’t even realized it had been that long. Here I was, thinking I had been embarrassing myself for ten minutes, when in fact I had been going off for a little over an hour. Nice going, Cam, I mentally smacked myself. No wonder the she was leaving, lord only knows how she lasted this long in the first place.

I know I’m a nervous bumbling fool. I’ve never been the calm, cool, and collected kind of guy. In order to be like that, my brain would actually have to have some sort of connection with my mouth.

I looked back up to Audrey, her kaleidoscope eyes scrutinizing me. Not in a critical way, just curiously.

But me being me had to open my big mouth.

“Your eyes are breathtaking” I blurted, and my hand immediately slapped over my traitorous lips. Good god, how much more could I humiliate myself in one night?

I would normally say I regretted my lack of verbal control, but seconds later it became one of my proudest achievements.

Flittering in the air like a bells, a light laugh escaped her lips. It wasn’t much, but it made my entire face break out into a full on smile.

Audrey quickly covered it, playing it off with a slight cough at the end. The placid look was back, but nothing could make that laugh disappear from my memory. We both knew it happened.

“Goodbye, Cam” She nodded her head briskly, turning on her heel and walking right out of the little shop.

The old woman at the counter was smiling at me as I slumped in my chair.

So mysterious and puzzling.

 So exquisite and innocent.

Eyes that spiraled with colours and hair that seemed to not only reflect light, but exude it.

I had found my muse.

~Audrey’s POV~

Stepping through the massive double doors, I greeted one of the butlers before making my way up the spiral staircase.

Before I reached my bedroom, I heard saw my fathers study door swing open. My father took a poised step out, training his green eyes on me. His blond hair was strategically graying on the sides, and his sharp jaw was help firmly.

“Where exactly have you been?” He inquired, toning it as an order more than a question.

“Looking for an evening gown for Mother’s charity gala” I lied smoothly, “One of the designers in town makes elegant dresses, and I was looking into a handmade one”

Mother was walking up the last steps of the stairs, her presence alone demanded attention.

“Wise choice, Audrey” She said, pushing her long chocolate tresses over her shoulder, “I, of course, will need to see the finished piece in advanced”

Obviously I had not been in any sort of dress shops, nor had been thinking about the gala at all. But I would be damned before I told them about Darla’s. It was my getaway, and no one was taking that from me.

“I was actually thinking one of Mother’s contacts in France would be better suited” I answered coolly, taking in my mother’s glint of approval in her eye. She wasn’t as skilled at covering her thoughts as Father and I. I knew very well that she would much rather a handmade dress be flown in, all to add to the exclusivity of it all.

“Very well” Father said, taking mothers hand and leaving me alone upstairs. No goodnights, no terms of endearment, nothing.

Suppressing a sigh, I slipped into my bedroom.

Nothing in my life had feeling. It was like I was living in a photograph. Picture perfect, but empty.