Euphoria

Beautiful Stranger

Valerie's POV

Hi, I'm Valerie Hofstetter. I'm a 29 year old, freelance Photographer and a web editor of the Game Informer Magazine. I'm striving to earn enough money to build a studio of my own so that I can share my passion to the world.

I was strolling around the Zen Mall on a very unfortunate day. I just got an e-mail that my entry for the GI Magazine's mid-year front cover was declined. I worked so hard on that entry that I haven't rested enough in the past few days, all of the restless nights for nothing. So, I decided to just walk around the mall to get my mind of the magazine. It was even more unfortunate when I saw that there were a lot of people in the mall, but I still continued strolling since I was already there. As a freelance Photographer, I got used to bringing my Panasonic Lumix ZS50 wherever I go, just in case I got a photo op. I didn't want to bring a big ass camera around, specially my Canon EOS-1D X Mark III, which I always thought as a proud investment for my future studio.

I was getting tired walking around when I felt like I was being followed. Imagine being followed in a crowded place, you would've easily lost your pursuer but it wasn't like that. I took a quick shoulder glance to see if I was truly being followed and I saw someone behind me, I kind of felt every step that the person took, slowly nearing me. So, I took off and ran to the nearest boba shop since it was one of the reasons why I liked this mall anyway. As I ran towards the store, I glanced back every once in a while to see if I was still being followed. Before I got to the store, I glanced one more time and when I saw no one following me I looked forward again but I bumped into someone which resulted for me to fall on the floor.

"Can you please watch where you're going?!" I shouted at the person in front of me, not even seeing their face yet. I realized that I fell on top of my bag and immediately took it from under me to open and check my camera. As I was busy examining my camera on the floor, the person I bumped into offered a hand to help me up, "Heyy, Miss. I'm really sorry. Are you okay?" I stood up on my own still focused on my camera to see if there were any damages. I struggled to balance myself a little bit but I got up. A bit dizzy but I managed. I was just so angry 'cause my camera wasn't turning on.

I looked up to the person in front of me who was offering to support my balance, I didn't even realize that it was a woman that I bumped into. She was a few inches taller than me she would still be even if she wasn't wearing her heels, she has dreamy eyes, and by dreamy I meant teal in color. I didn't know if it were real or not but it took me off guard. Her eyes shifted, worried. "Hey, are you okay?" Fuck. I almost forgot that I should be mad at this stranger. This beautiful stranger for making me fall and break my camera.