Relationships! Who the hell needs them? Years ago, I swore I'd never get involved in another because the cost was just too high in terms of emotional extermination, financial depletion and plain old bad feelings. It had been ten years since my last steady relationship with any woman and I don’t feel bad about it in any way.
Some would call me selfish, afraid of living or even hostile to women, but that would be far off the course. Beautiful women surround me nearly every day because I'm a fashion photographer and if I wanted, I could have a different woman in my bed every night, but that's not something I need or want.
Being a sought after photographer has it benefits and being around some of the most beautiful women in the world was just one of them. For me, my job it was the worldwide travel it afforded me. I have been to some of the most exotic and beautiful places in the world. Today, I was in perhaps my favorite, the Bahamas.
When breaks in shooting came, I retired to my beach bungalow to relax. Feeling the soft Caribbean breezes drift over my skin. The thin linen drapes blew with breeze and revealed the multi-colored blues of the ocean ranging from pale aquamarine to deep indigo where the ocean bumps the sky. Who couldn’t enjoy this? I was about to take a sip of my Cuba Libre when a troubled voice shattered my peace.
"Jake!" "Jake!" I heard someone calling my name. It was Rubio.
"What's up now," I asked.
"We got trouble on the set," Rubio said.
"Who," I asked.
"Petra and Zoe," he said.
I should have guessed it before he told me. Both of them had been a pain the ass since we arrived in the Bahamas. Although, I'd already sold the photographs I would shoot there, I also had real expenses including my time and rental for a small island for the shoot.
By themselves, each was sweet and personable, but putting them together was fire and gasoline. Zoe was from Argentina and had a flare of sexuality about her that radiated from her pores. She knew it, I knew it and so did everybody else on the shoot. Raven hair flowed to the middle of her back. She was the kind of girl I might have pursued ten years ago.
Petra, on the other hand was a striking Romanian beauty standing 6' 2" tall with nearly white blonde hair. With me, she was always sweet and fun, but she didn't get along with the other girls. That makes it especially difficult on a shoot when time is short and money slips away with each hour. She was a general pain in the ass with the other girls who tended to ignore her, but it was her attraction to me that caused me concern especially knowing the personalities I'd be dealing with.
With that in mind, I shook off my relaxed state and got into my business costume, which also doubled as my daddy costume as some of the girls were barely past twenty. After slipping through the sand, I finally made it too the shoot site, which was less than 200 feet from my bungalow. Though I always tried to keep temper neutral, this shit was getting on my last nerve.
"What the fuck is going on," I shouted. "Just what the fuck is going on," I asked. "You start acting like fucking children the minute I go. This fucking shoot is costing me and you're costing me. I don't give a shit if you hate each other, get your shit together and act like professionals." No one said a thing as Ii stalked off fuming and cursing under my breath.
When I came back a few minutes later, all was well in the Garden of Eden. I finished the shoot and packed up ready to get the hell off that island, but I should have known it wouldn't be that easy. It seems that Miss Argentina and Miss Romania decided to get my interest. They already had my interest or they would not be here, but rarely did I ever mix business and romance, especially when there were indications that a casual fling was not the intent.
For a moment, I thought about making them a permanent part of Roving Eye photography studios, but one woman is tough enough for me as far as I'm concerned and two would be untenable. They would stretch my nerves to the breakage. Besides, how many times could I shoot the same models? There were plenty of clients who would be willing to use them for everything from hand modeling to expensive jewelry neck shots. I’m sure they could pay their keep. It was inviting them into my life that gave me pause.
Fifteen years passed since then and life has changed. I live in the Bahamas permanently with my three teenage children. It is an idyllic life that suits me well. Zoe and Petra live here too, just not at my house. They have their own homes and lives. Both come by to visit the kids often just as the kids go to visit them, but in the end, those children belong to me.
"Poppi," It was Raul. All of my teenage children call me Poppi and always have. They are the long-term relationship I was seeking.
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