We had scheduled the auditions to finish at 4pm, but when we went outside, there were still quite a few to see. I had a chat with Carla, just to check, and we decided to work on until 5pm, and after that we would ask any remaining candidates we hadn’t managed to see to come back on Monday evening. Come 5pm, we had had enough, thanked the remaining women for coming, but explained we couldn’t stay any longer, and told them we would see them on Monday evening around 6pm if they were interested, but if they couldn’t manage that, then they should e-mail us, and we would make an appointment. There was some obvious disappointment amongst them, but Carla and I were both exhausted. It had been a long day, and we weren’t finished yet. I asked Carla if there were any obvious, ‘stand-outs,’ for her and she immediately said ‘Carla,’ was one for sure, and then looking at her notes, named about ten or twelve others. The other twenty or so candidates weren’t up to scratch. Maybe one or two of them with a little bit of guidance would be acceptable, but not the others. We had also told a few other girls to come back when they were eighteen if they were still interested, but right now, they were too young and illegal. It was good to see we were pretty much in accord as regards the choices we had made. I thanked her for helping me out, paid her, and off she went, home to her husband and a well-deserved rest.
Rather than cook for myself, I decided to go into the local town and get something to eat at a restaurant for a change. I parked near the old harbour, and walked back towards the main street, checking out the taverns and restaurants until I found one that looked attractive and cheery. It was a bit on the early side really, the Spanish like to eat late, but I thought that would suit me fine, since I was tired. My plan was to get in early and get out before the crowd arrived, so in I went. I smiled at the attractive young woman who approached as I entered, and showed me to a table. She looked to be in her early thirties, I estimated.
‘Will you be expecting company sir?’ she asked me in very good English, and I replied that I would be eating alone.
‘Your English is very good,’ I commented, ‘but how did you know to speak English to me?’ I asked her with a smile. She smiled in return, and it was a beautiful warm smile.
‘You’re too pale to be Spanish, even though you have got a slight sun tan, and I guessed you might be English, and I was right, ‘she said.
‘You’re a very clever young woman, but on this occasion you’ve got it very badly wrong. I’m not English, would you care to guess again?’ I teased her. She looked at me, still smiling, and handed me a menu.
‘Let’s see, Dutch, German, Norwegian? But you’re English is very good, better than mine anyway,’ she confessed. ‘Go on put me out of my misery please,’ she pleaded.
‘I’m not English, or Norwegian, but geographically very close to both in a way, I’m Scottish,’ I explained.
‘Ah, I mustn’t get you confused with the English then, that would be unforgivable of me wouldn’t it?’ And now it was her turn to tease me.
‘Oh, I don’t know, I think I might just about manage to forgive a lovely looking woman like you anything,’ I said, flirting a little with her as I looked at the menu. She positively beamed another gorgeous smile at me, then suddenly all business like, she asked if I had made my choice from the menu, but adding that there was no hurry really if I hadn’t. As it happened, I had made up my mind. I gave her my order and as she hurried off, I watched her making her way between the tables. She had a great figure, very slim, with curves in all the right places, and really nice legs too. The shoulder length dark hair was swept back in a pony tail, and her face was lightly made-up, just enough to enhance her strong clear-cut features. A touch of eye make-up to enhance those already wonderful eyes, and a hint of lipstick was all it took to complete the effect, and the effect was really lovely. She was very attractive, or maybe it was just because I’d been looking at half naked women all day and despite my tiredness, was feeling horny. I dismissed that unworthy thought almost immediately, no I told myself, she was lovely, no doubt about that, and when she walked in my direction again, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She noticed me looking at her and smiled again, I was liking her more and more.
‘Would you care to order a drink while you wait sir, wine perhaps?’ she asked me, but I declined saying I was driving, and besides, I didn’t drink much, so iced water would be fine. ‘Very good sir,’ she replied, ‘Your food should be ready soon.’
‘Your English is very good… Elena,’ I said, squinting cheekily at the name tag on her prominent bosom. ‘Where did you study?’ she smiled and thanked me.
‘I didn’t study it apart from school,’ she explained, ‘but I worked in the UK for about five years when I was younger, in various hotels, first in London and then with the same company in Edinburgh, which is where I learned not to confuse a Scotsman with an Englishman.’ We both smiled at the shared confidence.
‘Please don’t call me “sir” Elena,’ I asked her, ‘I feel I should look behind me to see who you’re talking to when you do.’ She smiled sweetly, and I told her my name. Just then, the owner or manager called out to her, and she excused herself, saying she’d be back in a minute; my food was ready.
‘Here we are,’ she said, laying the dishes out on the table. ‘I hope you enjoy your food.’
‘You’re not very busy at the moment are you,’ I observed. She looked around the room, and shrugged.
‘No, not at all, but an hour or so from now this place will be very busy, which is why I’m just going off duty, to have something to eat too, before the evening rush. Bon appetite,’ she wished me, making to leave, but I stopped her.
‘I just wonder Elena,’ I said, not wishing to appear too pushy or desperate. ‘If you would care to join me while having your dinner? If it’s not against house rules, of course, and if the idea of sitting with me, a customer isn’t too awful to contemplate, and only if you want to, you could perhaps take your food out here, sit down and keep me company? I promise I won’t be offended if you say no, but it’s never good to eat alone and you, I think, would be lovely company.’ Much to my surprise, she agreed, and a few minutes later appeared with a plate, and sat down opposite. I thanked her for sharing her time with me, and we started chatting as we ate.
We got on very well, she was intelligent, vivacious, and easy to talk to. Very outgoing, which funnily enough is what I look for in a model, and I almost instantaneously liked her, which is also a good thing. Being able to build some rapport with a model is very important, in my opinion anyway. Inevitably of course the question came.
‘So, what do you do, are you here on holiday?’ she asked me, so I told her the truth.
‘ No, I used to work in the oil industry, but I was made redundant late last year, and I decided to go for a change of career. I’ve loved photography for quite a few years now, and decided that I would become a professional photographer, and do something I loved for a change. On top of that, I also decided that a new start somewhere else would be good, so I bought a villa, here on the Costa Del Sol, and converted it so I could use it as a studio and work from there.’