Chapter 465 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

He was twenty-six years old again. Young, vibrant, and ruggedly handsome.

He was back in his studio apartment which also doubled as his photography studio where he took photos of upcoming models for their portfolios.

Twenty-two years old Sara walked into his studio, clutching her portfolio tightly in her hands as tears ran down her cheeks.

Aaron who had been busy attending to another female model, paused when he saw her, and immediately excused himself to go meet her.

“I thought you were supposed to meet with the CEO of the modeling agency you talked about today, didn’t you meet him? Why are you crying?” He asked with concern, but she only cried harder.

Seeing how she was weeping noisily, Aaron led her to the little corner that was his bedroom which he had demarcated from the rest of the photography studio with a curtain. And once she was seated on the bed, he offered her a box of tissues, and excused himself to go discharge the model he had been attending to.

By the time he returned to join her, she had calmed a bit, but he could tell that she was very unhappy, “Do you want to tell me what the problem is?” He asked softly.

“I was duped. All the money I gave him is gone. There is no agency. They were all con artists,” Sara said before breaking into a sob.

“Money?” Aaron asked, startled to hear that new piece of information since the couple of times she had told him about having an agency that wanted to sign her, she never mentioned it.

“I gave him all the money I had on me. I have nothing left now. I have no place to go to,” Sara cried, and Aaron embraced her awkwardly, since they were not exactly close friends and she only came to the studio to take photos for her portfolio, and sometimes interact with him and other upcoming models in the studio.

“Calm down, and tell me exactly what happened. I’m lost. Who did you give money to? Why would you give money to an agency to sign you as a model? Why didn’t you tell me about it?” He asked, confused.

Sara sniffled as she pulled away from him, and looked into his face, “He said the agency was very picky, and he promised to make sure I was selected if I paid him. He said I couldn’t tell anyone else about it as that would cause a lot of problems for both of us if I did,” Sara explained tearily.

“And you gave him money? How much money are we talking about?” Aaron asked, and when she mentioned the amount of money she paid, his jaws dropped.

“Where did you ever get such an amount of money from?” Aaron asked in surprise, and she looked away from him guiltily.

“It’s my life savings. I’ve been saving for a very long time,” she said, and then broke into a sob once again.

“Calm down. Your tears won’t solve this. How did you find out it was a scam?” He asked, and by the time she finished narrating everything to him, he sighed.

“Well, you were pretty naive and gullible. However, you won’t be the first young lady that has fallen prey to men like that, and you won’t be the last either. You have to move on,” Aaron said, feeling sorry for her.

“How can I move on? I have nothing. I have no place to go to. I don’t have any money. I don’t even have a place to stay. He assured me I would move into the accomodation the agency has for their newly signed models after meeting with the CEO today,” Sara complained bitterly.

“Where were you staying before now?” Aaron asked in confusion.

“A guesthouse,” she said, and Aaron shook his head.

“What about your family?”

“I don’t have a family. My parents are late and I’m an only child,” Sara cried, and Aaron looked at her with pity.

“I’m sorry about that. Where were you living before you moved into the guesthouse?”

“I was living with a friend, but she threw me out. That was when I met the con artist who duped me,” Sara cried, and Aaron sighed, not knowing how to help her.

“You’ve had quite a tough life for a young lady of your age,” Aaron said as he patted her back, and then she looked up at him with teary eyes.

“Can you help me?” She asked, and when he frowned she quickly grabbed his hand.

“I’m not asking you for any money. I could work for you. Clean your apartment, cook for you, do your laundry, even assist you with the models. All I need is a place to stay while I try to find my feet,” she pleaded, holding his hands.

Aaron shook his head, “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Where would you sleep? This place is tiny. It’s barely comfortable for me,” he said, making her look around the tiny room.

“I could sleep on the couch in the studio,” she assured him.

“Please, don’t say no. I have no where else to go. If you turn me away I would have to wander around in the streets please,” she begged, her honey-brown eyes beseeching him to come to her aid.

“I don’t need you to do anything for me. You can stay here, but only for three months. Get a job if you must so you can move out to your own place,” Aaron said, and she jumped on him happily.

“Thank you so much. I promise you won’t regret this,” Sara promised, but Aaron said nothing as he stood and returned to attend to his business.

Although Aaron had asked Sara to get a job and not bother about helping him out with his chores, Sara paid no attention to him.

Sara went about cleaning the whole place and rearranging everything in a way that the studio became more spacious and started to look homely.

After cleaning and preparing breakfast for them every morning, she would sit around the studio chatting with the models that came around and asking them questions.

Soon, she asked Aaron to teach her how to use the camera so that she could work alongside him whenever he had too many people to attend to at the same time or whenever he wasn’t available.

Seeing how much interest she showed in his business, Aaron agreed to teach her all about photography, and soon she became almost as good as he was.

Once she became capable of handling the studio on her own, she encouraged him to start accepting jobs away from the studio as those would fetch him more money.

Taking her advice, he began to travel with some of the models to different locations to take pictures of them in places of their choice, and he started leaving her in charge of the studio.

This not only brought him more money, but it also brought him more exposure, and slowly his client base increased from just upcoming models to supermodels.

Falling in love with Sara had been a very slow but gradual process, and it had little or nothing to do with her beauty. Of course, Sara was a strikingly beautiful woman, but he had seen even more beautiful and desirable women than her.

---