The busy streets hummed far away from him as he flagged a taxi, his thoughts occupied by this never-ending search for a perfect model. The cab rolled to a stop, and just as he reached for the door, a voice behind him made him jump.
"Excuse me sir, mind if I share the ride?"asked a woman, her face partially obscured by a cascade of blueprint-filled canisters. She was the same woman he'd noticed hurrying past Chester's apartment.
"Sure, hop in," Cam replied, his voice edged with curiosity.
"Oh, thank you so much," she said as she slid into the taxi, her canisters obscuring her face momentarily. Cam saw her eyes; they expressed some kind of determination and fatigue at the same time.
"Long day?" he asked, attempting to break the ice.
"Architectural plates. Tonight is my deadline, and I need to get there on time," she said, giving a very tired and slightly awkward grin.
As the cab pulled into the traffic, Cam just couldn't refrain from inflicting that last dose of his melancholy. "You know, I'm a designer too, but today is just a bummer. Can't seem to find the right model for the gala."
"What? gala?"asked the woman, her expression thoughtful as she turned to face him.
"Yeah. What? Don't I look like a high end, gala worthy fashion designer to you?" Cameron teased with a playful smile, causing the woman's face to flush red as she hurriedly defended herself, dropping a few of her canisters in the process. Flustered, she struggled to explain herself, stumbling over her words.
"I h-ha - I'm so sorry, th-thats not what a-a I meant, I, I, just -"
Cameron let out a small, awkward laugh, guilt creeping in from the joke he'd made. He couldn't help but run his fingers through his hair, trying to manage both his embarrassment and the awkward atmosphere he had created.
"Calm down miss, I was just kidding."Cameron said. The woman sighed a breath of relief and smiled awkwardly to Cameron. Silence filled inside the taxi.
Cameron screamed inside his head, imagining himself banging his head repeatedly against the window of the taxi. He turned his head towards the passing view, away from the woman, feeling the rush of blood heating his face, especially his ears, which were now glowing red.
He squeezed his eyes shut, his lips pressed firmly together, and the corners of his mouth slowly turned downward, wishing to jump out of that moving vehicle with how awkward the atmosphere is.
"What about - " the woman was trying to say something
"Huh?" Cameron Interrupted
"What about actors? Influencers?" she asked.
Cameron gave her a confused look which, of course, made her blush again and he realized immediately what she had asked about.
"Ahh, you're talking about the model."Cam said and the woman nodded.
"Well, we've looked and searched for days now."
Then the woman started rattling off names of actors just like that. But with every suggestion, Cam keeps shaking his head with an awkward smile, slightly annoyed but trying his best to hide it beneath an upturned smile.
"She must definitely be just naming actors that she's seen on TV," he thought. "They're not even models. There's no way they could pull off a runway walk."
Eventually, she ran out of ideas and gave up and just kept quiet and looked at the view from the taxi window. An awkward silence continued to fill the cramped space, even prompting the taxi driver to fake a cough.
All of a sudden, loud music blasted itself out of that tension, it was the woman's ring tone. When she saw the name on the screen, hesitation clouded her expression. She let out a sigh as she screamed in her head "Oh my god, why now?"
Blushing, she takes the call. "Mom? No, mom, I won't late. YES, MOM- mom, I'm inside the taxi,- "
Cam was waiting to barge in on the discussion between the woman and her mother when he got distracted for some ear-scratching that took place while keeping the phone quite hot.
The world went silent in wonder at her presence. The almond-shaped hazel eyes were shot through with brilliance and mystery framed by long, dark lashes that held the secrets of a thousand untold stories.
Tan with a golden-brown hue and soft rose blush streaked on her cheekbones, her skin glowed with all-natural warmth. Her chestnut waves framed her face making every strand flow elegantly, as streetlights streamed through taxi windows illuminating her soft and lustrous hair.
There was just a sort of weariness about her that was appealing, russet eyes indicating that she probably hadn't slept too much. In fact, tired eyes and messy elegance spoke of a sleepless night, but with grace added to it. Cam could now see beauty in her fatigue, a kind of beauty much deeper than surface flair, but one that revealed a kind of inner peace with exhaustion.
He stared, unable to turn away. Then it struck him. This woman, exhausted yet radiating in the glow of the city lights, was her. The model he'd chased in sketches and dreams. His thoughts raced.
"It's her. Wait ... what? Her? Hell nah. What am I thinking? I'm just tired. What am I thinking? I'm just tired."
He was still in denial and kept convincing himself in his mind.
"No way. Not talking to a stranger. My tired brain is imagining things. Architecture student who's totally stressed out, not a model-and not the one; romance with her cheekbones is a waste of time; get it out of your system, Cameron. Only the best for Luc. Yes. enough with this nonsense."
He was glued onto her face, hypnotized almost, and he did not even notice the woman had already terminated her phone call. He did not even hear her apologize for the noise.
He only had one thought: she might be the model he had been searching for ages. A hand was waved in front of his face, jerking him out of his reverie.
That's when Cameron made his move. It didn't make sense at all. He hadn't even got her name. But he couldn't have said what other than pure instinct drove him to reach for her hand and ask:
"Would you be interested in being my Model for the Gala?"