Ch. 4: Sighting

Central Park during the summer was, in Officer Rick White's opinion, one of the prettiest places in New York City. What made the sight even better was that he had the whole day off from work to enjoy it. The twenty-six year old officer gazed around him, shifting his camera from hand to hand. His hobby was photography and a summer day in Central Park was a picture goldmine.
Rick knelt on the grass and snapped a picture of three little children, who were playing tag. Rick grinned; the picture had captured the innocent joy on the kids' faces, which was exactly what Rick had been going for. The young officer hoped that, in a few years, he could have children as happy as the ones he'd just seen.
The trilling sound of feminine laughter caught Rick's ear and he turned to see two young women walking along the Park's path a few feet away from him. Instantly, he began snapping pictures, which caught the girls' attention. But Rick couldn't help himself; the girls were so utterly perfect in the summer noon he had to capture them on film.
The first girl covered her mouth and giggled, her dark eyes sparkling. She brushed a stray lock of cherry red hair from her forehead and grinned at Rick. She was garbed in a white sleeveless top and a pink knee-length skirt and had white sandals on her feet. Her face was quite made-up, but she still managed to look cute and innocent. The other girl, however, was the one who really caught Rick's eye. The red-haired girl was good-looking, but the other one was downright gorgeous. Long dark hair in a high ponytail, lovely hazel eyes, no make-up, and dressed in a green short-sleeved shirt and white shorts, she was really a vision.
"Are we gonna be in a magazine?" the red-haired girl asked jokingly.
"Columbia!" the other girl playfully reprimanded. Rick smiled back and approached them.
"Sorry, photography's just a hobby. But you girls looked so perfect walking by." The dark-haired girl smiled.
"That's so kind of you. It's nice to feel appreciated." The red-haired girl- Columbia, she had been called- gave a high-pitched laugh, which made Rick chuckle as well.

"Columbia, is it?" he asked he. She nodded.

"Yeah. And this is Kayla. My sister."

"Hello," Kayla said softly.

"Kayla and Columbia, huh? Well, thanks for being such good sports. Some people get a little ticked if I'm taking their pictures for no purpose other than to fulfill my pleasure of just photographing the world."

"Well, never mind them," Kayla said. "Your pleasure isn't doing them any harm and besides, if it makes you happy, why not enjoy an activity?"

"You sound like you know from experience." Columbia laughed again and threw her arm around Kayla.

"Kayla's pleasure is swimming; she's such a water baby."

"Oh, that's really great. A hobby that keeps you healthy."

"Same goes for Columbia. She's a dancer." The red haired girl smiled and tapped out a few steps. "I've seen her dance til she drops," Kayla added.

"Well, I'd take swimming and dancing over other worse hobbies any day. It was nice talking to you girls." The girls nodded and began walking away. As they did, Rick snapped on more photo of the girls' faces as they headed off in the opposite direction. He didn't know why, but he'd felt as though he'd seen Kayla somewhere before.