by SC Edward
© 2013 by S. C. Edward.
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the author.
The characters appearing in this work are fictitious and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter One
Emily entered the tattoo parlor, feeling more than just a little out of place. The building was surrounded by groups of blonde and brunette Barbie girls of all shapes and sizes, in skin tight outfits. It was obvious that they were all there to drool over Ethan Brooks, owner of Twisted Ink. She was aware of how good looking he was, but did not come all this way to admire his looks.
Almost a year ago, the 26 yr. old had suffered a terrible injury to her back while she was on vacation in the Caribbean. Her family hailed from the beautiful Saint Lucia, and they had returned there to visit the beaches and landmarks that the island was so famous for. While having a hike at one of the rocky cliffs overlooking the Soufriere beach, Emily slid and fell on her back against a few sharp rocks, retaining a huge diagonal gash. The injury extended from the top of her right shoulder blade, to the left side of her lower back.
The gash on her back required many surgeries and it took many months for the injury to heal. In the end she was left with a huge raised scar across her back. At 240 lbs. she was already insecure about her weight and the scar across her back did not make her feel any better about herself. She constantly hid her curvy body by wearing unflattering and loose tops, which usually hid her large voluptuous breasts and beautiful milk chocolate skin.
Emily's doctor presented her with the option of having the scar treated with laser surgery. The process would have cost her almost $6000.00 but she had had enough of surgeries and operating rooms. Instead, she researched other ways of dealing with unsightly scars. Through her search, she came upon the idea of having her scar covered by a tattoo. Not only would the design hide the ugly scarring but it would also be much cheaper than laser surgeries.
She didn't know much about the tattooing process, and decided to visit a few parlors in her city, hoping to find an artist capable of the task. Through the advice of a few internet forums, she was informed on what to look for when searching out a good tattoo parlor. She needed to find an experienced and cautious artist who would take the utmost care with her skin.
After weeks of searching, she came upon Twisted Ink. The shop was given great reviews in many of the prominent tattoo magazines, and its owner, Ethan Brooks, was becoming a superstar from all the media attention. He was well known for his intricate tattooing style, which varied from ancient Japanese prints to more modernized art. She was looking for the best, and he was it.
As she walked up to the shop, a few of the Barbie girls stared at her with looks that said, "What's someone like her doing here?" She did feel uncomfortable not fitting in with their look, but she was determined to get this done. She had already called the shop in advance, and set up an appointment for 5 p.m. She anticipated what kind of people would be hanging around the shop, especially the scantily dressed women.
Not wanting to expose her body in front of these people, she had her sister take a few pictures of the scar on her back. She knew eventually that she would have to expose her skin and the fat on her body but she was not quite ready for all to see her yet. Upon entering the shop, she was approached by a cute and petite Asian girl with light blue highlights in her long black hair. She was covered in tattoos from neck to forearm and she smiled warmly at Emily.
"Hi, can I help you?"
"Hi, yes I have an appointment with Ethan for 5 o'clock."
"Oh yes, you're Emily right?"
"Yes that me."
"I'm Liz; I'm the one you spoke to over the phone. You said that you had a scar that you wanted to have covered up, right?"
"Yeah, I have a few photos here of the scar." she said, taking out the pictures and handing them to Liz.
"OK great! Well why don't you have a seat and Ethan will be with you shortly." she said, leading Emily to some empty red leather seats in the waiting area.
Emily was a little nervous, as she sat waiting for him. She began to chip the lavender nail-polish off her nails, which was something she usually did when her nerves were on end. She was about to meet one of the "Gods of Tattooing". The painful process of having a design etched into her skin by many sharp needles hadn't even occurred to her yet. Instead, she was worried about what he would think of her out-of-shape body. She didn't have to wait long, because he came out from the back room suddenly and her heart skipped a beat.
He was a very tall and handsome guy in his mid-thirties. His dark hair was cut into a stylish Mohawk and he looked like he belonged in a rock band wearing a black Rob Zombie t-shirt and distressed blue jeans. He had a few piercings on each ear and every inch of his skin reaching from his neck to forearms were covered in a variation of tattoos.
"Hi, Emily?" and he smiled at her.
"Hi, how are you?" she replied shyly.
"Liz told me that you wanted some work done to get your scar covered?" he said handing her back a few of the photos, keeping only one.
"Yeah, I'm not really familiar with tattooing, so I wanted to come down here to get your opinion on what would work for me."
"Do you have a design in mind yet? It's a pretty big area that you're trying to have covered." he said looking at the Polaroid.
"Not yet...but I was hoping that you might have a few recommendations." she said, feeling a little awkward that she hadn't chosen a design yet.
"Well, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself here. There are a few things we need to talk about before we even figure out what kind of design you'd like. Come this way and we'll discuss it." and he led her to large Cherry wood table, with a few black folders and forms neatly arranged on top.
He motioned for her to have a seat and he sat down on the opposite side of the table.
"Okay... covering a scar of this size can be a very long and painful process." he said pointing to the red raised scar in the picture.
"It might even be more painful than getting a tattoo done on normal, unscarred tissue. The question is, are you willing to go through the pain of having it covered up?"
She thought about this for a few seconds and nodded her head. She had endured much pain after the accident, and if she had survived all the stitches and operations it took to close up the wound, then she could definitely deal with this.
"Alright, well since you've made your mind up, I have some good news and some bad news. I won't be able to do your tattoo... you see I'm totally backed-up with clients for the next few weeks and most importantly, I'm very heavy-handed. What that means is, when I work on a design I apply a certain amount of pressure on the skin and usually during the process of tattooing over scars, ink might need to be re-applied a few times. I don't want to risk damaging your skin and from what I can tell you're going to need an artist who is careful and very gentle with the gun. "
Her heart sank at that moment. He was an experienced professional who really cared about his clients. It saddened her that he wouldn't be able to help her.
"You look disappointed but I haven't given you the good news yet." he smiled
She looked at him doubtfully. There couldn't possibly be any good news after this.
"My baby brother is perfect for the job." he said, smiling with confidence.
"I taught him myself and he's had 8 years of experience. He'
s very gentle with the gun, and I usually refer clients with sensitive skin to him. He always does a great job. I'll also knock $200.00 off the initial price that we set."
"Well, I'm not so worried about the price, as I am the finished product. It's a very important step for me and I want to make sure that it's done properly."
"Trust me, this is my little brother. He can do it! I wouldn't send you to someone that I didn't think was capable of handling this."
"Okay...if it's coming from you then I guess I'll give him a chance." she sighed.
"You won't regret it! Luke is in the back. I'll get him for you...oh, and mind if I hold on to this for reference?" he asked as he held up the Polaroid.
"Sure." she said, even more nervous now than when she first came in.
She hadn't expected Ethan to be so nice to her and she was warming up to him. Now she was going to be introduced to his little brother. All she needed was another man who was used to seeing pretty Barbie girls all the time, looking at her ugly body. She watched Ethan walk away to the back of the studio behind some black curtains, and continued her ritual of chipping off her nail polish. She tapped her foot against the floor and waited.
Emily heard two sets of footsteps approaching from behind the curtain and clasped her hands together tightly. Ethan emerged from behind the curtains, followed by his younger and much more gorgeous brother. Luke was about 5'11 and was dressed in a style similar to his brother's black t-shirt and blue jeans. Unlike his brother, his skin was free of any tattooing but he did have piercings.
Luke had multiple piercings on each ear and she could make out two thin silver rings which went through the left side of his pink, bottom lip. His shiny, jet black hair was very thick and the curly locks gently fell over his forehead and ears. Her heart pounded in her chest as the two approached and she began to tap her feet faster.
"Luke, this is Emily." Ethan said smiling.
"Hi, how are you?" Luke asked, with a beautiful dimpled smile.
"Hello." was all that came out of her as she stared blankly at the blue eyed man in front of her.
Ethan explained to her that Luke had agreed to take on the job and that he would now leave her in his capable hands. He then left the two and returned to the back room.
"I should apologize for my brother. You probably came in expecting him to be the one working on you, huh?
"It's alright, he had very nice things to say about you and I trust his word." she replied with a smile.
"Well, I want to make sure that you don't have any doubts about letting me work on you. My brother's much more well-known than I am. Since the shop is closing soon, would you mind coming back tomorrow? I can show you my portfolio and we can talk some more...Um I'm going to need you for a few hours though, do you have any plans? If you do we can set this up for another day."
"No, tomorrow's fine. What time would you like me to come in?"
"I have a few appointments tomorrow but nothing too major. It might take up the whole day, sooo...." he paused, shuffling in his wallet for his business card. "...how about 4:30? I'll be free after that and the shop will be totally empty. Is that alright?" he asked while handing her the colorful card.
"Sure, that would be fine."
"Great! I'll see you tomorrow then, Emily." and he gave her that gorgeous smile once again.
"Okay."
He turned away and walked behind the curtains, as she took a long, deep breath. Emily hadn't realized that she wasn't breathing normally when he was next to her. She slowly got up and made her way out the door. Luke had been really nice and didn't seem fazed by the huge scar on her back. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. He was going to have her come back when no one was around and she was thankful for this. Heaven forbid that she should undress in front of the gawking Barbie girls.
Chapter Two
Emily's appointment with Luke was in a few hours. She wasn't as nervous as she had been yesterday, since he'd guaranteed her privacy. She was actually looking forward to seeing him. Now, she stood in front of her mirror topless, with her hands covering her voluptuous breasts. She didn't like looking at herself topless, or even naked for that matter. She wanted to see what Luke would see, and to also prepare herself for any looks of disgust or rude remarks.
Emily turned her back to the mirror and looked back at herself. There it was; one of the main sources of her insecurities. She touched the surface of the smooth, thickened flesh on her shoulder and wondered what he would really think of her deformity. She could usually tell when people were horrified by the marks on her body, even when they didn't say a word. Their eyes would give it away. She wondered what his eyes would tell her.
She had already gone this far; there was no point in regretting her decision now. It was time to take the first step towards her new body.
It was a hot and humid Saturday afternoon. Emily didn't want to go through the hassle of straightening her hair, just so her sweat and the humidity could make her look like she was having the worst hair day. Instead she applied a palm full of mousse to her hair and let her natural curls do the rest of the work. The soft curls in her hair suited her nicely and had it not been for the loose black t-shirt she wore over her tight black jeans, she would have definitely caught the eyes of a few men that day.
She arrived at Twisted Ink, relieved to find the block vacant of Barbie girls. She smiled to herself and entered the shop. She walked in almost expecting the Barbie girls to come out from hiding and yell, "Ha, fooled you...we're in here today!"
As silly as this thought seemed, she scared herself a little thinking that it might actually be true. She walked slowly towards the waiting room and peeked into the spacious workplace. No one was in sight. "Thank goodness." she thought.
It was eerily silent. She had at least expected to see Liz, but there wasn't a soul in sight.
"Hello?" she called out, wondering if Luke had forgotten about his appointment with her.
"I'll be right there!" a muffled voice yelled from behind the black curtains.
Luke drew the curtains aside and stepped out.
"Hey!" he said, smiling at her. "You're a little early, sorry I wasn't there to meet you."
"It's ok, I was wondering if you had forgotten about our appointment." she smiled, showing off her full, soft lips.
"No. Never!"
She laughed and was beginning to feel more comfortable in his presence. He was wearing a white Nirvana t-shirt and dark green shorts. She took notice of a beautiful koi tattoo on his left leg; probably done by Ethan.
"That's a beautiful tattoo." she said, with her eyes still fixed on the highly detailed piece.
"Oh thank you. It's the first tattoo that Ethan did on me. I'm thinking of adding more to the design."
"It's really impressive!"
"Well, he's one of the best!" he smiled. "We're just going to have to find you something equally impressive."
He motioned for her to follow him to the back room and drew the black curtains aside for her. She had always wondered what was back there and she was about to find out. She followed him down the long dark hallway where she saw many closed doors along the sides of both walls. He led her to the last door which was slightly ajar. He held the door open for her and she stepped into the brightly lit room.
To the front of the room was a reclining chair and a large work station with many tattooing instruments neatly arranged. She didn't know their function but the neat arrangements gave her the impression that Luke was serious about his art form and would do his best to ensure her satisfaction. The entire left wall was covered with a mirror, where three dark velvet couches were aligned against it.
On the opposite wall were posters of what she assumed were his favorite bands. She was familiar with and loved many of them: The Deftones, Rage Against The Machine, Kittie, (hed) P.E., and Slipknot. She followed him to the back of the room where a few, fat, black folders were piled on top of a huge metal table. He grabbed one of the folders and flipped through it, set it aside and finally pu
lled out the last folder in the stacked pile.
"Is this gonna be your first tattoo?” he asked, looking up from the stuffed folder.
"Yea, I've never had any work done before."
"I see...well I'm sure Ethan's told you that judging by the size of the scar, it's going to be a long process. I'm not sure what you really think about that. Depending on your tolerance of pain it can take up to 20 sessions. I wouldn't want to make this too difficult for you, so we'll start off slow okay?"
Emily nodded in agreement.
"I'm going to have to test the scar to see if it will absorb the ink. If it doesn't, I wouldn't advise getting tattooed. The ink might bleed and ruin the design."
She took in all of this information and let him continue.
"I'm not going to tattoo you today but I'd like to take a look at the scar and take a few pictures with my camera. Ethan said you didn't have a design in mind yet but after seeing the Polaroid I have a few choices that you might like. They're all my original designs and would go well with the movement of the scar."