by L. J. Swartz
"Ok." I call out getting her attention, then motion her to me. She walks over slowly trying to look at the line work I have in my hand. I hold it up for her. She gets the biggest smile on her face. It almost makes the unease of this situation worth it. I watch as she searches over every detail. I swear her eyes sparkle. I shake my head. What the fuck is happening to me? This chick needs to get her tattoo and go the fuck back where she came from. I clear my throat. "Where are we putting this?" She looks to me. "My side or my back. What do you think?" I search her face. "Well do you have other tattoos on those spots?" I motion to her side and back, "Or?" She smiles then drops her purse to the floor. Her right arm is a full sleeve, her left is a half. She really is a bitty thing. I look away for a minute. A really breathtakingly gorgeous bitty thing.... woman. I look back to her. "How old are you?" I blurt then realize that was the most unsmooth thing I've ever said in my entire life. She smiles biting her lip as she grabs the hem of her long tank top. I can't help but glance to her perfectly pouty lip between her teeth. I would love to bite onto it, hard. She releases her lip then flicks her tongue out placing a layer of moisture to them. I feel myself react. Jesus what is wrong with me? I look back to her eyes. "22." She whispers finally answering my question. Fuck me she's young. I knew she had to be younger, since we were never in school together. I would have remembered her. "What does that even matter?" She asks then lifts her tank top up to her chest revealing her stomach and sides to me. She has a couple smaller tattoos. A purple heart on her hip and a cross right below her bra line. I walk around her. Her back is a beautifully bare canvas of caramel smoothness. I want to reach out and touch her. To feel if she's as soft as she looks. I clear my throat. "Back." I state then walk over to copy her tattoo to thermafax. I need to get my shit together. This stupid sketch is throwing me off all together. I look over my shoulder at LeSage's daughter. At least I think it's the sketch throwing me off. She smiles at me. I look back to what I'm doing. I cut it to size then motion to the table. "Come lay down for me." She raises her eye brow, then walks over licking her lips. Damn it. Is she flirting with me? I smirk then walk over and put on a pair of gloves. She lays on her stomach. "Uh can you...." She lifts up taking her tank top off like it's nothing to her. I swallow hard. Damn it she's sexy. I step from foot to foot trying to keep my reaction to her from poking up. She lays back down then un hooks her bra removing the straps from her arms. She holds her hand out to me. "Carmen by the way." I shake it mumbling, "Hey." I get all the ink I need taking a minute to calm myself before I have to touch her. I get myself under control then decide it's time to get this shit over with. I stand. She looks up at me. Most of her breast is visible except for her nipple. I force my gaze to her back. Her skin is so flawless. She is a tattoo artists dream. I get in my mode as I make sure I get the placement perfect. She is just another client. Another tattoo. Except that I'm tattooing the most personal sketch I ever drew in my life on her. I get the placement right then press it to her back. "Uh do you want me to turn around or something so you can check it out. She shakes her head no as I pull the paper from her back. "I trust you Dalton." Something about the way she says it makes my heart jump in my chest. I look down staring at her back. At my sketch about to be tattooed to it. I remember that day like it was yesterday.
"_Hartwell, what's your deal today?" I look up at Mr. LeSage shrugging as I sit back, crossing my arms over my chest. He gave us this stupid assignment to draw a moment in our life that we'll never forget. I can only think of one moment and ironically it's something I would give anything to forget. "I don't have anything to draw." I tell him giving him attitude. He nods. The bell rings. I start to stand. "Dalton stay for a bit. I'll give you a pass for your next class." I sit back down as the rest of my class trickles out. He meanders around until the bell rings. He must not have a class this period because no one comes in. He walks over and sits in front of me. "Ok. I don't know anything about your home life, but is there anything you need to talk about?" I shake my head back and forth. Really? I stand up without saying a word and start to walk out. He stands catching my arm in his hand. "Son, I'm just trying to help you." I glare at him. "Don't call me son. I don't have a dad." Right then I feel vulnerable. Then I'm pissed. Really over the top pissed that he made me say that out loud. I jerk my arm from his hand. "I'm sorry you don't know your dad, Dalton." I look off to the side. "Hey it's his choice." I hiss then get even more pissed that I keep spurting these things. He sits back down then motions to the seat I left. I walk over and sit back down. "Dalton, you seem so angry all the time. Then you come in here. You're so talented, and I can see whatever it is that's bothering you fade away when you put a pencil, or paint to paper. You capture emotions when you draw. That's something special. I don't want to see you throw away your talent because you can't let go of your anger." I don't say anything. I just sit there letting his words sink in. "Now why don't you stay this period and draw something for me. I won't show anyone what you draw if you wish. Try to let go of whatever it is holding you back." I search his face. Is he fucking for real? "You're going to get me out of calculus to draw?" He nods. "Just for today. I see so much potential in you, Dalton. You can really become something with the talent you have, but first you have to find a way to move on from whatever it is that seems to be making you so angry all the damn time." I swallow hard. I am angry all the time. I try to be happy or smile, but it's hard when you can't find anything to smile about. My mom hates me. Like legitimately hates me. My dad left me when I was 5. Just hugged me goodbye and walked out. I never saw him or heard from him again. I think maybe mom blames me and that's why she barely tolerates my presence in "her house." I look to Mr. LeSage who is looking at me expectantly. I nod mumbling, "Ok." He smiles then stands and walks over to his desk. I grab a pencil from in front of me. I still have a piece of blank paper since I didn't do my assignment in class today. I don't think. I just start to draw. Before I know it the bell is ringing. I stand and walk my sketch to him. He smiles up at me asking, "All done?" I nod then hand it to him. He looks at it. His smile fades. I clear my throat. "Uh, I don't want anyone else seeing that. Am I gonna get in trouble for missing calc?" He looks back to me. "No Dalton I'll talk to her." I nod then walk out the door leaving behind my sketch, leaving behind the anger and pain I've carried all these years. It feels pretty great actually. _
"Dalton are you ok?" Carmen sounds genuinely concerned. I don't look at her as I snap out of it. "Yep sure am." I sit down and grab my machine. "Ready?" She smiles at me nodding her head enthusiastically. I put the needle to her back. I need to remove myself emotionally from this. It's just a dumb sketch. No different than any other tattoo I've done on someone. Except for the fact that this is the very sketch that let me escape the anger I felt from my dad leaving me for no reason at all. I stop and call out to Sunny. She appears from around the corner. Carmen looks to me. "Put on some damn music would ya?" I hiss at her. I don't mean to be rude, but this is just too much shit for me right now. She nods then walks over to the sound system. She doesn't even care when I snap at her anymore. I'm always a dick to her. A minute later music is blaring through the room. It's exactly what I needed to stop myself from thinking. My movements are robotic. I'm on auto pilot. I can't let myself think about what I'm doing. The time passes by feeling more like minutes than hours. By the time I finish the outline I'm shocked that I've been at it for two hours. I look to Carmen. I feel like a dick. I haven't asked her if she needs a break or anything. "Wanna break?" She nods then sits up slowly holding her bra to her breasts. "Uh can I even fasten this?" I stand sitting my machine down. "Let me put something over it first." I cover up my work, then watch as she hooks her bra, pulling my gloves off then throwing them into the trash. "Do you want my sweater?" She smiles at me. "That'd be great since all I have is my tank top." She moves off the table as I walk over to where I threw it earlier and grab it. I come back holding it out to her. She takes it them slips it on. It swallows her. She has to roll the sleeves to have her hands free.
It goes down to her knees. I've never seen a woman look more adorable than she does right now in my sweater. "I need a cigarette." She announces then picks up her purse pulling a green pack from it. She looks to me. "Do you smoke?" I nod then shake my head no. "I quit." I walk over to where I left my drink hours ago. I twist the cap off taking a swig. It's warm now, but hey it's wet. She holds her cigarette's up then turns and walks out the door. Luke steps up behind me. "She's great right?" I turn around glaring at him. "Did you know?" I hiss angrily. His eyes widen. I'm not sure why, but I really want to punch his face in for helping her find me. "I , I don't kn, know what you mean?" He stutters. I shake my head back and forth. "Never mind." I turn and start for the door. "Hey Dalton." Dave calls out. I stop and turn to face him. "You ok?" I nod then continue outside. I push the door hard. It slams off the wall behind it rattling the glass. Carmen looks to me. Fuck, I forgot she was out here. "Are you ok?" She whispers then takes the last drag on her cigarette before dropping it to the ground and stomping it out. I watch her lips part as she blows the smoke out. I nod as I mumble something about needing fresh air. "Well I'll let you to it." She reaches for the door then stops and looks to me. I don't look at her. "Dalton I'm sorry if this makes you uncomfortable. I need you to know this means so much to me. I'm honored you agreed to do it." She opens the door and walks back in. I look to the ground. I will definitely be going to the bar tonight. I turn and open the door.
Tears spring to her eyes as she looks in the mirror. Dave walks over checking it out. "Wow man did you just come up with that?" I glance at Carmen then look to Dave. "Yeah I did. She wanted something to honor her father who passed." She meets my gaze in the mirror. He shakes his head letting me know I have is approval. "Sweet." He smiles at her then walks back over to his station. She looks to me whispering, "Thank you." I nod then walk over to her to cover it up. She gets herself all done up. I look to the clock. I'm supposed to have a 7 o clock appointment, but right now all I can think about is getting to the bar where I intend to pick up the sluttiest woman there. I need to drown myself in alcohol and sex. This was too damn much for me. She steps in front of me wrapping her arms around her waist. I can see the goose bumps rise on her skin. I should offer her my sweater again, but I'm not that "nice guy", so I keep my mouth shut. "It's been a pleasure." She holds her hand out to me. I nod, ignoring her out stretched hand, then step out around her heading over to the desk. She follows behind. Every step she takes echoes through my head. It's like she's stomping, but she's not. My heart is pounding in my chest. I don't like how aware of her I am, and I want her gone. I look to Sunny. I never talked to Carmen about money. I don't want to charge her something she can't afford. She is after all Mr. LeSage's daughter. I hold my finger up then turn to her. She searches my face. "We didn't talk price." She smiles. "I know you charge $100 an hour. I have money to pay for this Dalton." I nod then turn to Sunny. I spent four hours on her, but I feel like I need to cut her a break even though she may have single handedly ruined every bit of progress I've made over the last 15 years. I never expected to see that sketch again. It, for me, was my way of letting my past go. "Uh $350." Sunny smiles then looks to Carmen as she pulls her wallet out. She hands her money then looks to me. I start to turn and walk away. She catches my arm. I look to her. I hate that part of me doesn't want her to leave. The bigger part wishes I had never met her. She steps to me wrapping her arms around my neck. I hesitate a minute then wrap my arms around her. I turn my face into her hair. It smells like coconut and something fruity. "Thank you." She whispers then kisses my cheek. I close my eyes for a split second then pop them open. I take my arms from around her like touching her is burning my flesh off. She gives me a funny look then turns and walks out the door and hopefully out of my life forever. I don't need anymore reminders of the shit I locked away all those years go. Truth is, if I try to deal with that on top of everything else, I may just give up entirely on trying to get my head back above water.
I actually got through my last appointment. It was a sweet older woman who wanted a breast cancer ribbon. She told me she kicked breast cancers ass, and that she made a promise to herself that if that happened, she'd get the ribbon tattooed on her wrist to remind her of how lucky she is. It was nice to have a client who made me feel normal again. I walk from the studio. I cannot wait to get a cold drink in my hand. "Hey Dalton." I hear someone call out from behind me. I stop walking and turn to see Luke jogging up to me. I roll my eyes. Here we fucking go. I didn't get annoyed by him yet today. I feel like that's about to change. "Carmen texted me and told me to make sure to thank you for fitting her in while she's here." I nod then turn and continue to walk down the street. I need that drink a bit more than I did a minute ago. I walk into Kiki's. I love that my favorite bar is also named after the very first stripper who ever gave me a lap dance. I named a fish I had once, Kiki. But it died within like a week because I forgot to feed the fucking thing. I sit on a stool at the bar. I see Wes at the other end waiting on a couple women who look like they've already had one to many. That may very well work in my favor. He spots me and waves before stopping in front of a couple other patrons sitting about the middle of the bar. I rest my elbows on the bar then run my hands up through my hair. "Hey man. Rough day?" He sits a square napkin in front of me as I nod. "I need rum." He raises an eye brow then grabs a short wide glass and the bottle of rum off the shelf behind him. "That good huh?" I huff as I pick it up and take a swig. I look to the end of the bar where the two obviously drunk woman are laughing and carrying on. The one isn't bad. She has a good body and a decent face. Nothing a little from behind action won't cure. The other one though. I wrinkle my nose then throw back the rest of my drink in one large gulp. I slam the glass down. Wes looks to me. I point to it. "Again." He fills my glass then walks over to serve a couple cute college girls who step up a few stools down from me. One looks to me. I wink at her. She giggles then bumps her friend nodding in my direction. Her friend takes me in, then nods before saying something to her. She locks in on me then walks out around her friend toward me. I turn to face her as she steps up in front of me. "Hey." She bites her lip then flips her hair over her shoulder. I trail my eyes down her body. Yeah this is more like it. Thin body, high perky tits, long ass legs. "How are you tonight sweetheart?" I tip up my drink taking a swig. She bites her lip. "Well I'd be doing better if some hot, tattooed man would come dance with me." I raise my eye brow. "That so? Too bad I don't dance." She pouts. This girl can do it like Abby can't. She looks sexy as fuck. I slide from my stool getting right in front of her so that our bodies are an inch from touching. She inhales sharply. "Maybe, for you, I can make an exception." She flicks her tongue out wetting her lips making my dick jump in my pants. She takes a step toward me pressing her fine ass body to mine. "Let's go." She whispers then turns and walks out on the dance floor. I grunt low in my chest. She has on tight ass black yoga pants and a loose fitting off the shoulder top. I wanna bite down on the pale skin exposed by her shirt. I walk out onto the floor stepping up behind her. She backs up grazing her ass along my already hard cock. She looks over her shoulder biting her lip. Fuck me. She knows what she's doing. Maybe I should have gone to college. I slide my free hand to her hip pulling her to me, hard. She runs his hands down my thighs as she grinds her ass up and down me. I lean forward pressing a kiss to her exposed shoulder. She slides her hand up my face into my hair tugging lightly. That's it. I'm gonna have this girl tonight. We dance through the rest of the song. When it ends she turns to me. "Wanna get out of here? My place is just down the street." I nod then take her hand in mine leading her over to the bar. I throw back the rest of my drink then sit the empty glass on the bar. Wes walks over with a smile on his face. "Leaving already?" I let go of her hand and dig out my wallet throwing a twenty to the bar. "Yeah man I am." I tell him as I take her hand in mine again. I look down at her. "Do you have a tab that needs settled?" She shakes her head no. "I didn't get a drink at all. I got distracted by you." Damn it she's sober. This may not be
as much fun as I had hoped. I smile at her then nod toward the door. She turns and leads me through the people to the door. Just as we're about to walk through it, I see her. Carmen's here. My heart instantly begins to pound. I feel like a slime ball piece of shit as she looks up from the table she's at and waves at me just as college girl pushes her hand to the door. Fuck it. This is who I am. Why the fuck should this girl's presence make me feel bad about it. I nod at her then press my hand to the door holding it open for perky tits. She smiles up at me. "Thanks." I nod then wrap my arm around her waist asking, "Where to?"
I wake up feeling like a new man. Last night was exactly what I needed. I went home with perky tits and ended up getting a two for one deal. I've had threesomes before, but I knew damn well that is was going to happen. Last night, perky tits, was sucking my dick then her hot little friend, tight ass, came in and started kissing all up on me. Damn I love college girls. I sit up expecting my head to hurt. It doesn't. I only had two drinks at the bar, but I had like half a bottle of vodka during and after my performance with perky tits and tight ass. They told me they'll find me again another night. I fucking hope they do. I slide from my bed and shuffle into the bathroom. This place sucks. I really do need to find myself an apartment. I'm booked solid today, but maybe I could go look around this weekend. I turn on the shower then grab my tooth brush. My mouth tastes like ass. I smirk as I put paste on it. There may be a reason for that. Toward the end things got a bit crazy and a bit hazy. I remember walking home, but some of the other details are a bit questionable. The mirror is starting to steam up. I rinse my mouth and drop my boxers to my ankles. I step out of them and into the shower. It feels good. I just stand there letting the hot water pound my skin. I reach out for the soap. For some reason Carmen's face pops into my head. She is fucking gorgeous. I'll give her that. If she had been a ruffer, I would have kicked her ass to the curb when she showed me that she wanted my sketch as her tattoo. I guess I should get over it and feel honored that she wanted a sketch I did in high school on her body forever. It was a great sketch. Probably one of my bests. I wash my body then stand under the water with my head tilted back. I shampoo my hair then turn and shut the water off. I step out grabbing a towel off the rack when I hear the door to my room open and close. That's funny. The only way anyone could get in is with a key. I open the bathroom door. Abby is standing in my room naked. "Hey." She walks toward me. I hold my hands up. "How the fuck did you get in here?" She smiles deviously. "I told the little boy at the counter I was your wife and that we left the key in the room." Next time I see that little fuck he's getting an ear full. He knows damn well I'm not married. He just didn't want to tell the hot woman flirting with him no. Any other time I actually might not care, but after yesterday I'm just over her. Unless she pops another chick out her ass, she can't compete with last night. "Abby you need to leave." I walk pass her to my suitcase. There's a dresser here, but I didn't expect to be here this long, so I never put my clothes in it. "Wait what?" She barks. I drop my towel to the floor and pull on a pair of boxer briefs. I don't like letting my shit flail all around, but I can't handle feeling like a little boy in briefs. This is a nice compromise. "I said you need to leave." I turn to face her. She has her hands on her hips looking at me like she wants to rip my head off. "I thought we had something good going here." Oh fuck here we go. I knew I let this go on too long. It's not like she didn't know I was fucking other women. What did she think? That I would realize she was the only piece of ass I want? Fuck that. "We had great sex Abby. That's it. Now I'm over it." I turn around and grab a white thermal from the clean side. I pull it on and grab my grey jeans pulling them on. I turn around rolling my eyes. I walk back to the bathroom and put some goop in my hair. My hair dresser said I should use it to give me bed head. I don't fucking get it, but chicks dig that shit. I walk back into the room. She's putting her clothes back on, thank god. She turns to me as she buttons her pants. "You know Dalton. You're gonna end up alone. You're such a dick." I shrug. I don't really give a shit. I plan on being alone for the most part anyway. There will always be some desperate chick who wants to bone the tattoo artist. What the fuck else do I need a woman for? "I like it that way." She huffs and turns whispering, "Whatever. Don't call me." I wave at her back as she storms out the door. "Don't worry I won't." I mumble then walk over grabbing some socks from my bag. I sniff um. Not really sure if they're clean or not, but they don't smell bad so they're good. I pull my chucks on and stand. Ready for work. I grab my keys off the bed side table then turn off the light before locking the door and walking out.