It was early evening and most people were rushing to get home from work.
No one paid attention to the young woman with wild hair who was busy taking pictures. They barely paid her any mind as she clicked away, and Haley Slater preferred it like that. They might not have known it, but they were giving her exactly what she needed in order to finish up her latest project.
Her focus this time was on the passage of time and how people got so stuck in their ways that they forgot that every moment on earth was a gift. Getting lost in repetitive patterns and forgetting to just enjoy the moment. Nothing said, stuck in a rut quite like people going about their day to day of work, home, work, home, work, home... with nothing to be joyful about. A life that she had been stuck in once upon a time.
She took a few more snaps with her camera before she realized that the pictures that she was taking really were not speaking to her.
With a flash of inspiration, she changed the camera angle. Crouching down in front of the cafe where she had been standing. She began taking pictures of people's feet as they passed by. Making that her focus instead of their faces, and the change in perspective worked.
Pumps, boots, sandals...all manner of footwear passed her, and she took as many pictures as she could. Each and every single one of the shoes telling a story about their owner. Some of them good, and others bad. But Haley was not there to judge anybody. She was just there to take pictures and that was exactly what she did.
When the rush hour finally ended and she allowed herself to stand.
Her body did its best to snap, crackle, and pop as bones and joints rearranged themselves. Finally upright again, Haley put her camera away, then she balled her hand into a fist and lightly rubbed at her thighs, trying to get rid of the feeling of pins and needles there. She had been crouching for way too long, but the shots that she'd gotten had made her all worth it. No doubt they would sell for a pretty penny.
Done with her work for the day, she let herself into the very cafe that had allowed her to do her work in peace. She had just settled down with a cookie and a latte when her phone began to buzz. For a few seconds, she just stared at it. Watching the little device dance around on the table as it vibrated. The urge to just ignore it was so very strong.
Especially after she saw who the caller was, her grandfather. But knowing the old man, if she did not answer, she would blink and he would be seated right across from her. She had just had a productive session, she did not need her grandfather to dampen her spirits. But she knew better than to ignore him. So with a sigh, she let go of her food and answered.
"Hey, Gramps, long time no see,"
Without him there to see it, she did not bother hiding her wince at how over-enthusiastic she had sounded.
There was just no way that the old man would not pick up on the fact that she was faking.
"Ahh, granddaughter, it is good to see that you still remember your grandfather," Haley had to roll her eyes. He acted like it had been years since they'd last seen each other. It had only been a few months, and even then she still checked in from time to time.
Before she could say anything to that effect, there was a long drawn out cough on the other end. On anybody else it would have made Haley worry, thinking that the person was very sick, but she knew her grandfather. The old man was pushing eighty and she got the feeling that he would outlive all of them.
So most likely he was faking for her sake, still trying to manipulate her. Fighting the urge to hang up, she listened while her grandfather continued to cough and she idly picked up her drink and took a sip. She had just placed it back down when he finally decided to end the charade and talk to her.
"As you can tell things have not been too easy for your old grandpa. In fact, today they seem particularly bad. Did you know that Slater group just lost to those wretched Roths?"
"Your sisters put in all of that work, then they just swooped in and took everything like the vultures that they are,"
Ah, the Roths. If there was one thing that really bothered Haley than it was the Roth family. Stuck up, holier than thou jerks who thought they were better than everybody else. She did not agree with most things that her grandfather believed in, but for the Roths, they were fully in agreement. After all, she'd been to high school with one of them, and had gone against him quite often back when she had been the CEO of Slater Group.
That blasted Deacon Roth, really was something else. Always managing to get under Haley's skin.
"I am sorry to hear that grandpa. Is there anything I can do to cheer you up?" The moment that the words left her mouth, Haley knew that she'd made a mistake.
No doubt that was exactly what her grandfather had been aiming for when he'd started the whole thing.
"You can come back to the company. Your sister needs you by her side,"
With a sigh, Haley stirred her drink, her spoon, making soft clinking sounds as it hit the edges.
Looking out the window, she was met by the sight of her own wide green eyes and she did not bother holding back a sigh.
"Grandfather, I have already told you I have no interest in the business. It is why I left my post as CEO to become a photographer. This is what I love doing," Her grandfather made a sound like she had just broken his heart in two and Haley closed her eyes. She would not give in. She had been doing her own thing for three years now, and she did not regret a single moment of it.
The old man might try and guilt her however much he liked, but she was not going back.
"Sometimes I wonder what I did in this world to deserve this. I have raised you and both of your sisters since your parents passed away. But you treat me as though I am the enemy,"
" Grandfather, it is not like that at all. I just want something that makes me happy," There was a disgruntled sound from the other end.
"You were very happy in the company and you were even happier when you were going to marry that lovely prince Victor. You could have been both a CEO, and a princess. That young man wanted to marry you. Then out of nowhere you just packed up and left,"
Haley's grip on the spoon that she'd been using tightened at the mention of her good-for-nothing ex. Clearly, she and her grandfather had very different definitions of the word happy. She had been miserable in the company, crunching numbers for hours on end, going through countless documents. And then going to boring meeting after boring meeting. But that had almost been bearable. What she'd had with Victor had been awful. And Haley had faked so many smiles during that foul relationship that she'd been worried that she would never be able to smile for real.
It had taken everything in her to leave not only the company, but that good-for-nothing prince Victor as well. She was not going to go back.
Suddenly feeling done with the conversation.
She decided to just end it quickly.
"Look, grandpa, a client is coming in right now. I'll talk to you later. Love you. Bye," She hung up before he could say anything more. Then, Haley found herself just looking at the food that she'd ordered, suddenly not in the mood for it anymore.
What she needed was something far stronger. Something that would make her forget all of her worries and just enjoy life.
In her current mood, she would have been calling up her best friend so that they could go out drinking together. But Erin Wells had been out of the country for months.
She was currently digging up relics somewhere in the desert.
Personally, Haley would have been bored stiff, but archaeology to Erin was what photography was to Haley, so she did not mind it. But in that moment, she found that she really missed her friend. Shaking her head, she paid her bill and stood.
She would go home, get ready, then she would head to a club that she knew downtown, and she would make sure to drink for the both of them. She would drink until she forgot that her grandfather still wanted her to be the CEO, and that he still believed her marrying Victor would have been a good idea.
Nothing could go wrong.