After grabbing a sandwich with him where he described how he likely knocked up Farah the night before based on the sheer gallons of sperm he left inside her, I was fucking done talking to him for a while. Cooper just laughed and ate a second sandwich.
“You’re so jealous!” he yelled when I flipped him off and walked out.
Truth was I was jealous that he was with his woman and I had to wait days to see mine. I wasn’t admitting any of this to Cooper who was having too much fun at my expense.
Even before entering the tattoo shop, I heard Jade’s voice and my fellow artist didn’t yell unless someone was on her last nerve.
“You don’t know shit,” Jade hollered at Melissa who shrugged.
Sitting on the couch in the waiting area was Jade’s boyfriend Tony who worked as a bouncer at a local dive. The guy was huge and likely got help of the injection sort to get so buffed. Yet, he was a teddy bear with Jade and she cooed over his every boo boo. Now though, Tony was flipping through a People magazine while his woman schooled Melissa.
“The guy looked like trailer trash,” Melissa said. “No way does a guy with a mullet have the money to pay for a tat.”
“You can’t know what he does and doesn’t have if you don’t talk to him,” Jade nearly screamed. “Where do you get off judging?”
Sighing, I nodded at Tony who gave me a grin. The women ignored me though, so I stepped closer.
“Do we have to yell?” I said, turning on Professor Longhair. Who could argue through the legend singing Jambalaya? Apparently, these two chicks.
“She sent away a customer without even finding out what he wanted.”
“The guy was trailer trash.”
“Melissa,” I said calmly, always the voice of reason. “You can’t judge people based on their appearance. Haven’t we all dealt with enough prejudice over the years from being tatted?”
“I’m not tatted,” Melissa reminded me.
“Well, we are and this is our shop. Next time someone comes in looking for a tattoo, you have them talk to me or Jade. We’ll see if we can help the person.”
“And if they can’t pay?”
“We’ll worry about that.”
“You’re the receptionist,” Jade added. “Not our business manager.”
“I’m working on a degree in business.”
“Whatever you need to tell yourself, freshman,” Jade said, spinning around and joining Tony on the couch.
“She’s a bitch,” Melissa muttered.
Sighing, I rubbed the back of my neck. “A bitch that’ll ruin you if you don’t watch your mouth.”
Melissa started to complain then put on a smile as the door opened. I knew it was Nick even before I saw him. Every time he came in, his fellow freshman cooed and batted her eyes. Meanwhile, Nick acted like she was a guy and he was incredibly heterosexual.
“Hey,” she said, ignoring his lack of interest. “Are you going to the kegger at Jimmy’s house?”
“Yeah.”
“Maybe we could meet up there.”
Nick pushed the bangs out of his eyes and displayed a black eye. Melissa looked ready to touch it when he backed away.
“I’m dating someone,” he said quickly. “I’ll see you around, Melissa.”
While Nick walked into my workroom with me following behind, Jade laughed way too hard to be professional. I didn’t blame her though.
“Who’s your chick?” I asked Nick while he yanked off his shirt and got comfortable. “Anyone I know?”
Nick glanced back and shook his head. “There’s no girl. I just don’t want to go out with Melissa.”
“She’s not your type?”
“I sent a guy in here to see about a tat and he said the receptionist treated him like shit. I don’t need her treating me that way one day too.”
“Besides, you’ve got your eye on a girl.”
“My girl is out of reach, but shitty seconds don’t work for me either.”
“Fair enough,” I said, getting my needles ready. “What happened to your eye?”
“A guy’s fist happened.” Nick pulled out his laptop and sighed. “Do you mind if I ignore you so I can get my reading done? I’ll be happy when the school year is done and I can get a break from this boring shit.”
“No problem.”
Nick glanced back again and grinned. “Lark seems happy this week. Giggling over the smallest things. Girls like her don’t giggle over nothing.”
“Lark is perfection, but you’re right about her family. They’re bastards.”
“She’ll have to choose and Lark’s not stupid. Sticking with shit isn’t her style. She’ll choose you and things will get easier.”
“I hope you’re right.”
Nick nodded then the interest in his green eyes turned off and I knew he was done talking. While he read, I worked on the last part of his dragon. It wasn’t easy to focus on anything besides Lark, but I finished his tattoo and headed home to another night alone. Two more days before I’d have Lark back in my arms.
Chapter Twenty Five - Lark