Whirlwind

Alternate Scene 2

[Summer 2009 – Midtown Manhattan]

Chestnut.

That was what caught his eye. It was the shade of her coiled hair tied neatly in a bun atop of her head and the accent aligning the pair of frames adorning her bare face. Actually, it seemed to also linger into the base of her outfit, in the tribal patterns decked along her cross body purse and it was even the color of the polish coating her fingernails. Each detail Lamarr noted left him to believe that this specific tone of brown was probably her favorite, it had to. He could only assume though, especially since she was a complete stranger that he knew nothing about. Okay, so maybe it was extremely odd of Lamarr to have this random woman under scrutiny, but he couldn't help but to admire her natural beauty that radiated from her being. That and he had been stuck in waiting to order his lunch for a smooth ten minutes now, and she seemed to be the only interesting thing with the ability to distract him. 

Of all days, the one where Lamarr had to be present for rehearsal within the next hour, people from all over the city decided to bombard the one gem in New York he always cashed his last few dollars at, and they did it at the exact same time he did. Initially when he walked inside and was rudely awakened by the crowd Lamarr was left speechless and a bit irritated, but he told himself that he could deal and that it was worth the wait if he managed to at least get this woman's name. She looks like an Ashley, he thought to himself. Nah, a Michelle, Alyssa or even a Leslie. Anything soft or feminine to fit her aura and delicate stature. Something that matched the serene essence he breathed from their short distance apart. As the line progressed forward and people slowly dwindled off to their seat or out the door, Lamarr continued to think of all the possibilities until he was faced with the option to get the actual one.

She was sitting in a booth all alone with her face glued to her phone, and luckily for him most of the other seats in the restaurant were occupied except for the table right beside her. This was perfect. Lamarr figured this was a sign to step out of his norm and casually walk over to her side of the room, seat himself quietly as if he hadn't even notice her presence and wait patiently for his food to come. So that is exactly what he did, and it was ironic and funny to him that as he was 'acting' she was actually doing. The young woman didn't even shutter as he passed by, she didn't look up from her hands, and instead she remained unbothered by him being there. Lamarr chuckled to himself as the realization hit him, surprisingly loud enough to do the trick of diverting her porcelain like eyes to his face and perk a smile along her lips. That was the only form of a greeting he'd get if he didn't open his mouth and speak up; so what the hell.

"You come here regularly?" Lamarr asked though he already knew the answer. Something about her he had seen before so he believed, but it wasn't from this setting. He was sure he'd remember being struck by a beauty alike to hers as many of times as he had been here. Still, this was going to be his conversation starter and he had his fingers crossed that it wouldn't get him to a dead end.

"I'm sorry, I actually don't." She politely responded. "I'm just in the area waiting on a friend I dropped off at an interview. I refuse to drive all the way back to Queens and come back."

"You're from Queens?" His interest was piqued as the woman nodded, her smile widening at his obvious interest. So maybe it was the borough he lived in as well that linked his conscious to her. He only had a good thirty minutes or so to figure it out. "May I ask how long you've lived there? I mean, assuming that you do. I feel like I've seen you before, you feel so familiar."

Her brow curved up as her demeanor shifted to that of suspicion, but Lamarr could still very much see the part of her that was willing to answer as she did from the get go.

"About two years..." She slowly began then bit her lip, hesitating to end it all here or give him a load of answers to the questions she knew awaited on his tongue. "My best friend and I moved there when we were juniors in college. I've never seen you before."