The Photographer (Ignazio Boschetto Fanfiction)

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

          Exactly one week later, I met Il Volo’s manager and their current photographer at a fancy restaurant to discuss the job offer and the contract. The photographer was a beautiful woman of about thirty who they called Valerie. She told me eagerly all about her job, and she did her best to convince me that I would have fun traveling with Il Volo. I asked suspiciously why she was leaving, and she said that she had accepted a job with a company that was stationary.

“All this activity is tiring!” she laughed, “But a young girl like yourself will easily be able to handle it!”

The manager’s name was Michele Torpedine, and he was a jolly Italian man of about sixty with curly white and gray hair and a beard and mustache. He had a kind smile and gentle eyes that crinkled around the edges when he smiled. He reminded me vaguely of Mr. Masters, and I quickly began to feel comfortable with him. Throughout our dinner together, I felt as though he had come simply to get to know me rather than to discuss business. Until, that is, he slid a copy of the contract across the table to me.

          “So, Tamzin,” he said, and I felt my insides shrink at the sight of the contract, “Let’s negotiate. What do you think of the offer?”

          The pay and the benefits of the job were generous, and I knew that I couldn’t go another year without accepting an offer. I reached out my hand, and Michele smiled and took a pen from his sleek black jacket.

          I gripped it tightly, reminding myself that I had to sign, and I looked at Michele’s eager face for comfort that it wouldn’t be so bad. I looked down and quickly scribbled my name on the contract, then dropped the pen and slid it across the table, feeling as though I had just signed away my dreams.

*****

Another week later I said my goodbyes to my parents, Harrison, and my Florida home and boarded a plane to Los Angeles, where I’d live for two weeks as Valerie mentored me on my new lifestyle before she left Il Volo’s team.

          I was picked up by Michele when I arrived, and as he drove me to the condo I’d be sharing with Valerie I admired the skyscrapers and palm trees surrounding me, possible landscape photos dancing through my mind. When we reached the condos, I met Barbara Vitali, Il Volo’s road manager, and she seemed sweet and excited to meet me. Then Valerie took me to the condo we’d be sharing and helped me unpack my suitcase, but I insisted that I be the only one to handle my photography equipment. As a photographer herself, she understood. She gave me some time to recover from the powerful jetlag I went through before she started coaching me, and then our work began. She explained more about what it was like to be Il Volo’s photographer, and she showed me her work and the different angles she had played with. She told me stories about the boys, and I listened politely, though I was unamused. I didn’t particularly want to know more about the boys than was necessary.

          I learned that Gianluca was the serious part of the group, and he tended to be somewhat reserved until he ascended the stage or met with fans.

          Piero was the self-proclaimed crazy one, and he was very smart and silly. He liked attention, and loved to play around onstage with Ignazio.

          Ignazio was the funny one, who was always trying to make people laugh. In addition to that, he was supposedly especially sweet and kind, and was the most outgoing when it came to public appearances.

          I committed this information to memory, but I was admittedly suspicious about whether Valerie was glorifying them for me or if she meant what she said about them.