This is an edited version of chapter 1 of the Photo Shop, my first steps into writing a story; I did this editing myself but only after receiving the edited version of chapter 2 by a very talented editor I now work with. This chapter 2 version is also forthcoming. Further chapters will always be edited by him. I appreciate comment, positive or negative, however when it's an anonymous poste a comment like "You don't know English" or "I was bored after 2 pages" will not help me to improve and do better in the future. For those who already read chapter 1, 2 or 3, I hope you will appreciate the edited versions.
Chapter 1: Catharina
My name is Lewis but everyone calls me Lew and my story starts, when I was made redundant in the company I worked for.
Up to when I was 59 I was doing pretty well in the business world, working hard sometimes 12 to 14 hours per day.
I held the position of European logistics manager for an American company which allowed me to travel extensively throughout Europe and sometimes even overseas.
During these travels I met lots of people of all ages and gender, but my interest was mostly drawn towards the women especially in view of my hobby, photography which eventually led me to open a camera and photo shop in the village where I lived.
I served the company faithfully for 42 years after all, so the redundancy payment I received was ample when I said my goodbyes, allowing me to follow through with my life ling dream.
A few months after my retirement I found an existing old photoshop almost in my backyard.
Nobody paid any real attention anymore to the little photo and camera shop in the village where I lived, it had been there for ages, with a small shop window with analog and the newer digital cameras on display, nicely arranged around some typical photos you would expect in such a small establishment.
Photos of pets, blended with some photos of newlyweds, kids doing their first or holy communion and some of the few local events.
The chap running the shop was almost an antiquity himself, he must have been well in his eighties, in fact during the actual sale I found out he was eighty-seven ,so high time for him to retire, which he confirm to me he was doing gladly.
The left over money allowed me to have a nice new photo studio built in the back and equip the shop with all the latest equipment I needed for printing photos.
Before I start however to tell you how my adventures in the shop were developing, at this point I would like to share the unique event that triggered my passion for mostly general photography to move into an entirely different direction.
During a business trip to Italy I met this gorgeous Italian girl. I quickly learned her name was Catharina.
Maybe, I wouldn't want to call her a girl anymore as it turned out she was 19, but more a young woman.
She was working as a waitress in the hotel's restaurant where I stayed at the time.
I had a rough day when I met her, going to several meetings with suppliers and I was absolutely bushed, so I decided to stay in the hotel rather than go outside to have dinner.
Usually these hotel restaurants don't attract to many patrons, as they tend to be pricy and the food mediocre, so the place was virtually empty when I arrived.
I chose a table next to a window overlooking the garden in the back of the hotel.
When I was comfortable seated, this beautiful girl came over with menu's tucked under her arm.
She spoke in a sultry voice like only Italian women can "Buonasera sono Catherina tua cameriera questa sera."
I always had a thing for languages so I must admit I sort of wanted to impress her with my relatively small knowledge of the Italian language.
"Buonasera sono Lew e mi piacerebbe cenare, ma parlo molto poco italiano."
"Do you speak English?" I asked.
"Yes" she replied, "I studied the language at school and love to practice."
She then kindly asked, "are you dining alone sir?"
Upon my positive reply, she asked "let me get you an English menu then sir."
"That would be very kind of you my dear."
She disappeared but returned quickly and handed me a menu card.
Catharina gave me ample time to check the menu after proposing to bring me a drink.
As a wine lover I asked, "Do you have an open bottle of red wine you can recommend, preferably something local maybe?"
That was clearly the trigger that she needed to demonstrate her knowledge of local and other wines.
"Oh yes sir, we have an excellent red wine from a small winery in the vicinity of Rome, they produce this wine exclusively for us. It has just the right amount of tannins and can be drunk very young."
"Excellent Catharina was it?"
"Yes sir at your service."
"You seem rather young to already know so much about wines how is that?"
"I am studying to become a sommelier sir."
"Excellent then I am in the right hands to give me the best advice about the wines offered here."
So we got to talking about her passion for wine and eventually mine for photography of course.
I must admit that I had been studying her and what I saw really triggered my interest and got me thinking about asking her if she'd done any modeling work.
Contrary to a lot of Italian women who have their hair dyed blonde, she had remained with her natural color which was close to black, not gypsy blueish black but a warm natural black color. She was wearing it in a high ponytail, as was probably required by the hotel management in view of her job there.
For an Italian girl she was rather tall, my guess was somewhere between 1,75 meter and 1,80 meter, like most young Italian women she was slender but with nice curves in all the right places.
Rather quickly Catharina confided that paying for her studies was hard, as her parents were not wealthy, she had to work multiple jobs to make ends meet and gather the money to finance her studies.
"And that is how I ended up in this hotel as a waitress."
"Yes I understand your predicament, but allow me to ask, you are a very beautiful young lady..." "You are flattering me sir," she said with a shy smile.
"No I mean it, have you ever thought about modeling?"
"Modeling, you mean like in fashion shows or for fashion magazines?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I mean, there is a lot of money to be made in that line of business."
"So I heard but then you need some sort of a portfolio to be sent to agents and fashion houses and I don't have the money to have one made, besides I don't think that I am beautiful enough or have the courage to venture in that direction."
"As photography is my hobby, allow me to totally disagree with you, I think you absolutely have what it takes to make it in that world, maybe I could help you with that?"
"I couldn't possibly ask you to do that for me and I am sure that you have no bad things in mind but to be honest, I don't really know you."
"You are absolutely right Catharina, I am a total stranger and as far as you can see I might be a serial killer or rapist that's true.
"No, no, you seem like a nice person, but I only just met you and I only know that you are a guest in the hotel."
"Yes you do which makes it extra easy for you to look up my data in the hotel registry."
"That's right but still..."
"You know what, I am staying in Rome over the weekend to continue my meetings the next week and I have nothing planned, in fact I am looking at a boring weekend having already visited all the tourist sites in Rome on previous occasions, you are from Rome, I bet you know a lot of places in the city totally unknown to the average tourist which are absolutely worth seeing."
Gathering up all my courage I asked Catharina "If you are free, would you consider to be my special guide Saturday or Sunday afternoon? you would be totally safe out in public places, surrounded by fellow Romans and you would save me from total boredom, please, I will pay you the going fee for a private tourist guide!"
Catharina looked at me, I saw her braincells turning at full throttle, weighing pro's and con's.
"Ok, I could do that, and you are right I would be safe out in the street and the money would be more than welcome."
"Great! And you know what, I will bring my camera and if you allow me I'll take some pictures of you, that you could eventually put in your potential portfolio. I have some experience with wedding photos and pictures of kids that I made for friends and family, so how hard could it be to photograph such a beautiful young woman like yourself?"
At that point in time I had no intention whatsoever of taking pictures of her in her underwear or partially or totally naked well especially not down town, the future would prove me wrong.
We said our goodbyes and agreed that she would pick me up for a walk Saturday around two o'clock.
Rather excited about what would be my first model shoot, not with a professional model but still a very beautiful girl, I went to my room.
The next morning , after breakfast I asked the concierge of the hotel where I could find a shop to stock up on batteries and one or more memory cards for my camera as I didn't want to run out of power and certainly not out of storage capacity as I intended to make the most of this opportunity.
Promptly at two o'clock she showed up in the lobby of the hotel to take me on her walk around town.
She looked quite different not wearing her waitress uniform, she sported tight fitting jeans, which actually looked like they were painted on instead of her wearing them. No visible traces of underwear were showing, I guessed she did not go commando so I presumed she wore a tiny thong or string.
The tightness of her jeans really accentuated her head-turning cute bottom.
As it was nice and warm outside, her top was sleeveless with a boat neckline leaving the top of her shoulders bare hinting that she was not wearing a bra which was confirmed by her nipples pressing against the tight fabric, seemingly like tiny naughty creatures that were desperately trying their best to get out.
The top stopped short above her jeans, just leaving a hint of bare skin at the level of her midriff but still showing a cute belly button.
Luckily in those days navel piercings and tattoos, which I find absolutely horrible, were not the fashion yet.
There is nothing more beautiful than the natural look of a woman, an unpierced untattooed skin is the best dress a woman can wear.
"Hey Catharina I don't think we can totally avoid some of the touristy places, the Trevi fountain, the Spanish steps, the Colosseum, San Marco place and the Vatican as these would look great in your portfolio."
As we went along she really got into the modeling thing and started to take poses drawing the attention of the younger Italian men devouring her stunning figure and looking at me with envious eyes.
After she took me to some patios of private houses that she knew were extremely nice and which were not locked around four we went for the obligatory small and extremely strong Italian coffee in one of the many coffee bars.
Taking me to these more secluded spots and me behaving like a gentlemen she had gathered that I could be regarded as a trustworthy person and started to confess that she was rather enjoying herself and becoming more confident.
