CGI, Part 2

Turning away from the clerk to wait for the preparation of her much-needed coffee, Erika’s discomfort increased.  Sure enough, the couple sitting at the table adjacent to the entry was still staring at her, although they were now clearly trying to pretend that they were not.  Hastily deciding a quick trip to the restroom’s mirror to ensure she hadn’t neglected to fasten buttons, don slacks or conform to some other basic tenent of proper grooming was in order, Erika had the strange sensation several patrons were watching her.  Finally freed from her interminable wait and clutching her steaming morning libation as she exited the café, she knew she didn’t imagine the sudden rush of conversation which burst forth before the door even closed behind her.

She was fumbling in her purse to find the key to her shop and had just about convinced herself that she really needed to consult a professional to determine if the sudden onset of paranoia was any indication of what her future might hold when a man finally seemed to break the tacit agreement of ogling and commentary and instead stopped by her side.  Politely turning towards him while hoping that perhaps he was a customer and not some strange acceleration of her nightmarish journey to work, Erika smiled.

“Holy crap!  You’re more beautiful than I had realized.  I hadn’t thought it was possible, but you are.  I mean, well, I suppose it’s difficult to capture your exact shade of sapphire eyes on film and you didn’t really smile last night.  Maybe that’s it, maybe it’s the gentleness of yourself in person which your character doesn’t seem to have.”

She couldn’t help it.  As he apparently babbled to himself, she endeavored to back away in the event his insanity turned violent.  Seeming to become aware of himself, the man shook his head and smiled ruefully.

“Sorry, it’s just that the up-close you is very different from your character.  Anyway, I don’t want to hassle you, I just wanted to tell you that I loved your show and keep up the good work.  Oh yes, and I look forward to seeing more of you, so much more.”

His eyes dipped lower for a moment before he turned quickly and simply walked away as if he were not more of a candidate for the funny farm than she was.

The ringing of her mobile phone brought Erika out of her amazed stupor.  The comforting sound of Angie’s voice greeted her as she turned the key and escaped into the safety of her shop.

“Girl, you’ve so got to check Section E of the paper, you are not going to believe it!”

“Morning Angie.”

“Come on Erika, do it, check the paper!”

“Okay, hold on a second, I just got in the door.  Let me get settled.  How was your evening?”

“Dammit Erika, just forget that for a minute.  I’m serious, you so need to check the paper, now!  Oh my god, you DO have one don’t you?”

Deciding her poor friend wasn’t going to be able to wait very much longer, Erika set her bags and coffee on the counter before fishing her paper out of her carryall.

“Yep, right here.  What section again?  Oh yes, E.”

“Hurry UP!!!!”

She pulled the section from the rest of the paper and froze in amazement.

“Oh my god it’s . . .”

“You!”

“But I’m not . . .”

“The ‘Gravity defying, chameleon-like, curvaceous new sensation of Era:  Tropospheric’?  Yeah, well, based on that picture, you could have fooled even me.”

Her perfect image, albeit without much covering her voluptuous upper body, stared back at her from the paper as Erika barely articulated the words which were going to become her mantra for weeks to come.

“But how?”