Picture This...

It was an early morning in spring, a young photographer named Dave was going out to the mall to take some photographs for a project. A week ago he was informed of a contest, if he were to win this contest he would earn a great amount of money as well as a spot to be featured in a well-known museum. Dave was an aspiring young photographer that really wanted his work to be known; he thought this project could really do the trick. He was an average 22 year old guy that didn't dress in expensive clothing, normally wearing vans paired with faded black jeans, and a gray long sleeved button down with the sleeves half rolled up. He had his hair styled in a nice quiff and beautiful cloudy grey eyes. Dave began to gather all his equipment to head to the mall. He owned a Nikon D5300 that came with a variety of lenses. He placed all his equipment in a leather brown satchel. With the click of a button the trunk of his 2014 silver Audi A4 opened up and he put his stuff in there. 15 minutes later, Dave arrived to mall. Once he got inside Dave decided to walk around a bit to see areas where potential shots can be taken. He knew the way around the mall like the back of his hand and was very well known amongst the employees there. As he was wandering around the mall someone immediately caught his attention. She was a young lady that he had never seen before. She had a sad look upon her face, sitting hunched over on a bench with a tissue in her hand, staring at the ground as she cried silently. Dave wondered to himself what was wrong with her and if she were okay, he quickly thought of a way to make his way to her. He looked at her as inspiration so he took some photos of her and then walked up to speak to her. He sat next to her and showed her the pictures on his camera and said "You know a picture is like a thousand words and this one truly speaks "with a soft smile. She looked up at him with a smile that was warm and welcoming. This girl had a face that was perfectly sculptured by the hands of God himself. Her eyes were a mesmerizing blue, which resembled a beautiful sapphire gem. Dave thought to himself who would hurt such a beautiful soul.

He was speechless when she looked up at him but he eventually put some words together. "Why the sad face?" Dave asked. She looked down and replied "Well I have just been humiliated in front of my coworkers". Her voice was quivering but she continued. "Some girl came to my store today and told me she was pregnant with my fiance's child and that he has been cheating on me for the past year with her. This girl also told me that the only reason she confronted me was because she never knew he was engaged and that I had the right to know what he did. He kept me a secret from her." She kept her head low and tears began to drop continuously each one right behind the other. Dave saw this and put his hand on her shoulder, she looked up at him with a tear stained face "I'm sorry to hear that, but no woman should go through that especially someone as beautiful as you" he said with a sad smile, Dave felt so much empathy for this beautiful specimen . "Sometimes we spend time growing with someone not knowing that they might just leave us one day. It's like 2 people holding different ends of a rubber band and stretching it, you are putting yourself out there knowing that you will get hurt but for this one person you are willing to take the chance. In your case that other person let go of the other end of the rubber band and since it has been stretching for all these years it snapped back so hard, it might hurt like hell right now and sure it stings at the moment and maybe for a while longer but eventually the pain will go away. That person hurt you but you are still alive and you can still make it through life." She looked up at Dave and smiled at him; she wiped away the tears from her eyes and thanked him for his kind words.

They just sat there and looked at each other. She eventually broke the silence, stuck her hand out and said "My name is Layla nice to meet you". Dave smiled back, sticking his hand back out to shake and said "Hi Layla my name is Dave, and the pleasure is all mine" when he grasped her hand in his he laid a gentle kiss on the back of her hand. Layla responded with a giggle and got up she had on an all-black uniform. "Seeing by your uniform I'm guessing you work in Mac?" Dave asked. "Yes I do and I actually need to go back to work but thank you for spending time with me and brightening up my day." She looked at and Dave one last time and walked away. Dave was glad he helped someone today and continued on with his wandering with a huge smile on his face. Dave looked back at his camera and looked at the pictures he has taken of Layla and thought to himself, "wow she really is beautiful how someone can do that to her?" With those thoughts rummaging through his head Dave didn't realize that someone was calling his name in the distance. "DAVE!! DAVE!!" Says the woman, Dave shakes the thoughts out of his head and goes back to reality, he turns around to see Layla running towards him waving her arms in the air like a little kid. The sight of her running like that made Dave let out a chuckle," whoa dude you sure walk fast, I was chasing you for almost 5 minutes" says Layla with a light laugh. "I'm sorry I didn't hear you I was distracted by my own thoughts" said Dave as he scratches the back of his neck awkwardly. "No it's okay I wanted to know that if you wanted to hang out after I get off of work , maybe go out for some late lunch? Think of it as a thank you for getting my mind out of the gutter and giving me positive thoughts." "I would love to hang out with you after you get off of work, it would be a great pleasure." Says Dave with a goofy smile. "Well then Mr. Dave I will see you at 3:30 P.M., I'll meet you out front of the mall. Sounds good?" "Perfect see you at 3:30 PM Layla"