It was showtime.
She had been peaking around the corner to wait for him, feeling as nervous as he had probably felt a year ago with meeting the girl from the blog. When he appeared on the sidewalk, Katelynn gathered her wits and walked forward, purposely making herself bump into him.
“O-oh I’m sorry,” she whispered, hands sweating with her nerves. She knew it was just Jack but a part of her worried he would laugh at her attempts to recreate their meeting. “Sorry about t-that..um..I’m Katelynn Foster..nice to meet you..—?”
Holding out her hand, she cocked her head to the side with a shaky smile, hoping he’d catch on.
It took Jack a moment to catch on, since hadn’t realized how closely she wanted to recreate each detail from their first outing. But once he did, he gave her his best shy, sweet smile.
“Katelynn Foster the photographer?” He straightened up, and didn’t have to pretend to be nervous. The memories were still strong enough. “M-Miss Foster, it’s wonderful to meet you. I’m a huge fan of your blog-” He made a show of pausing, realizing he should introduce himself. “Oh. Uh, m-my name’s Jack. Jack Maple.”
“That’s a cute name,” she giggled shortly, making a show of checking him out as she teetered on her feet. “You read my blog..? I-I didn’t think people did or that I’d meet someone who did..”
She even wore her camera around her neck though it was the one Jack had given her for Christmas instead of her old one as she had lost it. Her hands were caressing it tenderly as it was her greatest possession.
“Would you like to see the newest ones I’ve taken?” She lifted the camera up, acting like a shy teenager with a crush.
“If they don’t, they’re missing out,” he replied. “Your photos are wonderful. And y-yes, I’d love to see some new ones.” Jack could feel heat rising in his own cheeks, and not just from the cold. He tried to remember how their conversation had gone that first day …
“M-maybe you’d like to see some of my work as well?” He smiled shyly. “I’m an artist too. A painter.” He thought about adding you show me yours, I’ll show you mine, but even now, a year later, it was embarrassing to think about how he’d let that line slip out.
Jack Maple 