“Hey, babe,” Leah says after getting herself under control. “What’s up?”
Brent shakes his head. “I’m trying to get that image out of my head,” he mumbles.
Leah and I share a look, we have no idea what the hell he’s talking about.
“Okay, what image is that?” she asks him.
Brent points to the living room, and grimaces again. “Hairy ass crack. Do they not know their shit is hanging out? No pun intended,” he says. His voice is stern and serious. Leah looks at me, and again we crumble into a fit of laughter. “Laugh it up you two; I may be blind.” He rubs his eyes as to wipe away the memory.
“All right, man, you’re all set. Stop and make an appointment for four weeks from now and we will finish the second half of your sleeve,” I tell Mark, a longtime client. Asher did his first piece the week we opened the shop, and here we are six years later, and I’m giving him his second sleeve. Ink is an addiction for many.
I’m busy cleaning up my station when Ember walks in. She helps us out here and there between classes and during the summer. We are going to have to hire someone now that she will be teaching full-time in the fall. “Hey, Blaise, got time for one more?” she asks.
I roll my neck from side to side. I just spent the last four hours working on Mark’s sleeve. “What is it?” I ask her.
Ember rolls her eyes, so I know it’s something I could probably do in my sleep. “I have a girl who wants a rose on her hip.” She hands me a picture that was printed out on the internet.
Yep, this will take me twenty minutes, tops. I hate to turn away customers so, of course, I agree. Asher is on call tonight, so it’s just me at the shop. “Yeah,” I sigh. “Just give me a few minutes to finish sterilizing the station and to get a quick drink.”
Ember nods in agreement and walks back to the reception desk. I hear a squeal and roll my eyes. My sister’s bad habits are rubbing off on me. Just what I need, another co-ed vying for my attention. At first, Asher and I got a thrill from it. We had more female clients than we did male. The ink was also the typical rose, a heart, or even a butterfly. The result was always the same, “What are you doing later?” Of course, we were all over that shit, especially me after the Beth incident. Neither one of us ever have to work for female companionship.
Eventually that gets old. I know, I know, every man’s fantasy. Well, not really. Men want the same thing women want; well, at least some of us do. Asher fell hard and fast for Grace, and he makes it known to every female who comes through the door that he is taken and is a one-woman man. That leaves me to fend off the piranhas.
Finished with the station, I head back to the break room/office and grab a bottle of water. I tilt my head back and finish it off all at once. Twisting the cap back on the bottle, I toss it in the recycle bin and head back to my station. I stop and yell down the hall to Ember that she can bring back my next client.
I settle myself into my chair and begin prepping my gun. From the picture of the rose, I have a good idea of the colors I will need, so I set that up as well. I hear the clank, clank, clank of high heels marching down the hallway. Rolling my neck from side to side, I take a deep breath. It’s been a long ass day.
“Well hello, handsome,” I hear a southern twang from the doorway.
I stand up and reach out my hand. “Blaise. It’s nice to meet you,” I say in my most professional voice.
“Courtney,” she says, her voice lowered like she’s trying to seduce me. Great, I so do not want to deal with this right now. However, a customer is a customer, so I grin and bear it.
“Have a seat.” I motion to the table with my free hand. “Ember showed me the picture.” I hold up the print out. “Is this exactly what you want, or did you want to make any changes?”
“No, I want that exact thing, right here.” She pulls her pants down to expose her hip.
Without meeting her eyes, I continue getting everything ready. “Okay, let me get this sketched out real quick and we’ll get stared.”
“No rush, handsome.” She winks at me.
UGH!
I make quick work of the sketch and prep the site. Courtney giggles as I place the transfer on her skin. “That tickles.”
I smile and nod. I hate being rude; but really, can she be any more obvious? “All right, here we go. I’ll have you out of here in no time,” I tell her. Hopefully, she doesn’t hear the hidden meaning behind my words; I want you out of here.
“Am I your last customer?” she asks me. I can tell she is trying to mask the discomfort of the needle against her skin.
“Yes,” is my reply. This chick is starting to get on my nerves. It’s nothing that she’s done. I’m just over it, over chicks like her. A vision of Asher and Grace pops in my head. I can admit to myself that I’m envious of what they have. I would never admit it out loud; well, not sober anyway.
Courtney wiggles her hips, and luckily, I lift my gun before her tat turns into a larger f*cking rose. “Hold still,” I tell her.
“Sorry,” she giggles. “So, what are you doing after? Want to get a drink?”
I’m shaking my head no before she is even finished. “Sorry, can’t. I have to be up early in the morning, family thing,” I tell her. It’s not a complete lie; I promised Ember I would help move some new furniture into her condo. Apparently, Mom decided they needed a new dinette and gave Ember her old one. I smile thinking about my mom. She did the same thing to Asher and me, only it was a living room suite.
“Oh, well maybe some other time,” she says.
I continue to keep my eyes focused on her tattoo and don’t even bother to reply. A few more swipes of shading on the stem and I’m done. Finally. Seems like the longest twenty minutes of my life. I clean her up and cover the tat, all while going over the care instructions with her.
“Ember will take care of you out front. Have a good night,” I say as I tear off my gloves and walk out the room. I’m so sick of the stereotype. Just because I’m a decent looking guy covered in tats, who just happens to own a tattoo shop, doesn’t mean I’ll sleep with anyone who is willing to spread her legs for me. I’m just not wired that way.
I hear the bell above the door, and I know that she’s gone, so I head back to clean up my station. Ember follows me in. “What’s up, Blaise?”
I shrug my shoulders. “Nothing,” I snap.
“Liar,” she fires back.
“I’m just tired.”
“You’re not just a piece of meat,” she says, reading my mind.
“And I thought Asher and I were the ones with the freaky twin thing going,” I retort.
She smiles. “I know my big brother. You’ll find her. The one girl who will steal your heart. When you do, you will want to latch on and never let her go,” she says in a soft voice.
My sister, always the romantic. “You hungry?” I ask her, changing the subject.
“Yes, you buying?”
I smile and throw my arm around her shoulders. “For you, little sister, always. Give me a few to finish and lock up.”
Within ten minutes, Ember and I are in my truck and headed toward the local pizza joint. The same one our parents used to take us to when we were little. It’s been around for as long as I can remember and the food is the best. It’s always been Ember’s favorite place to eat.