Music, Ink, and Love

by Jude Ouvrard

  “Go and wait outside, Levi. It's almost time.” Tiff had decided I wouldn’t see Nix.

  Thankfully, Val had made it on time. I knew Nix wanted her by her side for her big day. Our big day.

  Even if I couldn’t see through the door, by the sound of it I knew, Bekka, Val and Nix were hugging and kissing. The return of the trio. Bekka introduced Tiff to Val and at that time, I decided to let them be. I joined the men downstairs.

  “Isn’t it the husband?” Tyler teased.

  “Where's your wife?

  “Hiding with your girlfriends.” I laughed nervously. “They won't let me see her. All of them, against me. I stand no fucking chance.”

  “Val just got here.” Tyler said.

  “I know, they let her in.” Tyler and Kyle started laughing and I might have heard Dad too.

  “You should see your face, man. Relax, she will be all yours in less than an hour.”

  I knew that. I simply hated the fact that they wouldn’t let me see her. It only made me want to see her even more.

  Colleen came out of the house, looking great in a beige long summer dress, and Tiff followed. “The girls are ready. You should all take your assigned places.” I almost ran to the arch. The officiant followed me and the rest of the guests sat in their chairs. Colleen sat with Dad and Tyler and on the other side of the aisle, sat Kyle and Tiff.

  We had soft music in the background and the sound of the waves on the shore. The atmosphere relaxed me, I felt very calm and ready for this moment.

  Nix appeared in the middle of the French doors of the house. Val and Bekka stood on either side. My breathing hitched, my hands turned clammy. My eyes were glued on her. She had curls in her hair, it fell loosely around her face. She looked incredible, her smile beaming. They started walking slowly toward me. I wanted her to run. I wanted to run to meet her and kiss her. I wanted to say ‘I do’ now and skip everything else. My princess.

  My vision blurred when she was three feet away from me. She offered me her hand, I took it and vowed to never let go of her. Tears in my eyes made it impossible to see her clearly now. I tried to control myself but I couldn’t. Kyle would never shut up about it.

  The officiant handed me a tissue, I bet he was used to this. I dried my tears and the officiant started his speech.

  Her lips were glossy, her eyelids had shades of turquoise and gold. The reddish tint on her cheeks made her adorable. I couldn’t look away or concentrate on anything else. All I heard was my heart beating fast, pushing the resistance of my ribcage. She mouthed to me that she loved me and I returned the words to her.

  Nix squeezed my hand and it brought me back in the moment. I caught a few words from the officiant.

  “Now, Phoenix Silverstone and Levi Munroe, you’ve gathered your friends and family together to celebrate this special day with you. There’s no doubt that you will be receiving some advice today. But I believe I speak for every witness here when I say this. The love you will feel will always be stronger than your anger. Compromise will be the key in any difficult situation and a key to a lasting relationship. Love your beloved with everything within you. Look after your spouse with devotion and admiration. Never forget to say I love you, not a single day.” He paused. “ I understand you would each like to say something. Levi.” He motioned me with his hand to speak. I hadn’t written it down because I wanted my vows to come from my heart.

  “Phoenix Silverstone.” I had only said her name when the tears started flowing again. “The first time I saw you, I stared at you and saw my life with you. I didn’t know anything about you, only that you were beautiful and you had the most mesmerising eyes I had ever seen. The first time I spoke to you, I irritated you.” I chuckled. “I didn’t know how to approach you, you unsettled me. I could have walked away, but I didn’t. I had to have you. It took you some time before you saw me beneath the ink. I want all of our kisses to be like our first. I promise to always look after you and protect you. I will buy you flowers every week. I want to see your smile when we wake up and I will make sure you smile until we meet again at night. I love you with everything I am.”

  “Phoenix.” The officiant said.

  “Levi, my angel, my lover, the love of my life. You gave me everything. You showed me life, you taught me how to love, and you gave me strength when I needed it. I will be the best wife I can be. I will work my best to make you happy. I will continue to support your amazing work and I will be the best mother to our future kids. I want to start each of my days with you because I love you.” Her voice became soft, her bottom lip trembled. “You make me the happiest woman on Earth, I want to give you the same, every day of our life together.”

  “With these vows to each other, Levi do you take Phoenix to be your wife? Do you promise to love, honor, and cherish her for all time?

  “I do.” I said it loud and proud. The moment I waited for was finally here.

  “Phoenix, do you take Levi to be your husband? Do you promise to love, honor, and cherish him for all time?” The officiant asked Nix.

  She snuffled. “I do.”

  “May I have the rings, please?” He asked. Both of us reached for the rings and placed them into his hand. “Please place the ring on her finger and repeat after me. Phoenix, I give you this ring, as a daily reminder of my love for you.”

  “Nix, my rock star, I give you this ring, as a daily reminder of my love for you.” I slid the ring on her finger. I loved her ring even better on her finger.

  “Phoenix, please place the ring on his finger and repeat after me: Levi, I give you this ring, as a daily reminder of my love for you.”

  “Levi, I give you this ring, as a daily reminder of my love for you.” She placed the ring she had chosen for me on my finger. I knew I would never take it off.

  “I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.” He said looking at me.

  “Oh hell yes.” I grabbed hold of her waist, pulled her to me and our lips crashed against one another. We kissed with eagerness.

  We were finally married. I had never expected to feel like this. I wanted to tell the world she had become my wife. Everything I had dreamed of in the past months had finally happened. I was on a high like I had never felt before.

  I went to see Dad and I hugged him and thanked him for everything he had taught me about life. I hugged everyone else, all of our guests. I had reached the peak of my joy.

  Where was Nix? I had lost her in the moment.

  When I saw her walking down the aisle, I looked at her. Nothing but her eyes, the love she let me see and the excitement we were both feeling that lingered in the air around us. I saw her dress, but didn’t look at her carefully until now. That woman reflected pure sexiness. Gorgeous, wasn’t she? Her dress hugged her curves and small pearls covered the entire dress in a flowery design. Her shoulders were bare for me to see. Small pieces of ink were apparent. I loved how she looked, how precious she was in my eyes.

  “Hey, wife.” I startled her. She stood facing Colleen and was talking about how great everything had turned out.

  “Husband.” She said smoothly, beaming at me.

  “I can’t believe we did it.” She draws me into her arms. “You’re mine now. Forever.”

  “I have been yours ever seen the first night. I knew.”

  “Maybe, I knew it too. You were such a bad boy with bad pick lines.”

  I laughed. “You loved it.”

  “I love you.”

  I’ll be good to you. I’ll never be the bad boy you once thought I was.

  “I love you too, Princess.” So much.

  And so, we kissed.

  Chapter TWENTY

  Alone, enjoying our honeymoon. I sat on the sand and watched her play, letting each of the waves hit the back of her legs. She seemed so young, happy, and carefree but mostly, she was one hell of a hot wife. Her white bikini, showing just enough skin, hugging her in all the right places.

  I took picture after picture, not wanting to ever forget that mome
nt, or vision.

  I watched and I had that impression of watching a movie in slow motion.

  Kyle had been right all along, she had transformed me into a pussy-whipped man and it fucking rocked.

  Phoenix Munroe married me two days ago and, since then, the distance between us now was the farthest we had been away from each other. I had to fix that.

  I ran to her and she jumped into my arms, her legs wrapped around my waist. Her body enveloped mine.

  So beautiful. “I missed you.” She murmured between kisses.

  I never wanted her to miss me ever again. I never wanted to give her enough time apart for her to miss me.

  But I missed her too.

  I let us fall into the water briefly. Her beautiful eyes, the color of the sky, her long brown hair covering her breasts.

  “You’re hotter than Brooke Shields.”

  She laughed, having no idea how much I had craved that moment.

  I love you.

  - The End -

  EXTRA SCENE

  From Body, Ink, and Soul

  I had been back from New York City for two days the first time I saw her.

  When I left New York, I left a dream and a girl. The dream consisted of opening a tattoo shop there. I almost did it; I wanted it so badly, but it wasn’t realistic. The costs were way more than I expected, but I had a good time thinking about it there. I met great people and a girl. Mercedes, wild, fun and a bit on the crazy side. She had no fear, absolutely none, and it drove me to push my own limits. Her talent as a tattoo artist knew no boundaries. Her portraits looked like paintings, her flowers looked real and her Japanese artwork attracted many people from around the world.

  We had a fun ride; she taught me a lot of tricks and I shared with her everything I knew. We connected, we partied, but I still felt a void. Something was missing. Our time had brought me a lot but it wasn’t meant to last. It sucked but I ended us. I broke her heart and flew back home.

  Uncertainty haunted my mind. Questioning myself about the choices I’d made. I sat at my friend Tyler’s club, sipping on a beer thinking about her, my life and my doubts.

  Until I noticed a woman behind the counter. She was the shining star on a dark and cloudy night.

  Her beautiful blue eyes, that long silky hair; but what hypnotized me was her smile. Who was she? She danced, laughed, sang to the song that was playing and smiled at each of her customers. A true star that made my world much more alive.

  “Tyler, who is she?”

  “The tall one is a no go, okay?” He said with possessiveness.

  “No, I’m talking about the blue eyed babe.”

  He chuckled. “That, my friend, is a good innocent University girl who appears to love her job. From what I heard, it’s her first time living by herself; she was over-protected by her mom.”

  “I have to talk to her, man. There’s something about her.” I tried to chill out, but my eyes kept on diverting to her.

  “I think she already has her eyes on a certain guy named Tristan.”

  Tristan? No, I was going to talk to her, flirt with her, I needed to make her mine. “Not tonight, but soon, I’ll talk to her. I’ll keep on watching her.” I couldn’t look away.

  “Okay, stalker. Do your thing. I have my eyes on the tall brunette. She doesn’t know yet, she is clueless, but I can’t stay away from her for too long.”

  “Go, get her.” Why wait? He knew her, they’d been working together for some time, right?

  “I will.” He tapped my shoulder in a friendly way. “When the time is right. I’ll get you another beer.”

  I stayed in my corner for another hour, contemplating my approach and what I would say to her. No cheap pickup lines would work with her. It never was my thing, anyway. My charm had to be my best weapon and I had to use it.

  Her eyes never looked in my direction. In fact, she didn’t seem to care for any of the guys standing before her. What about that Tristan guy? I needed to find out who I was competing against.

  My star, the blonde, and the brunette danced together, something that reminded me of that shitty movie. A short choreography where they danced in a provocative way while shaking their shakers full of alcohol. It ended with a mass of people at their feet, asking for shots. Men were giving them tips and the girls loved the attention. Somehow, I knew she wasn’t that type of girl. She looked timid, reserved, but there had to be some fire hiding inside of her. The proof was that she worked here. One of the wildest, coolest fucking clubs in Seattle.

  Tyler had done a great job with the place. While I studied to be a lawyer, he worked his ass off to get this place started. Back then, I was the nerd, he, the bad boy. I helped Tyler figure out everything about the laws and the rules he had to follow. I may look like a bum with tattoos now but back then, I used to wear a tie with shiny black shoes. Things changed, but I’m still the same old Levi at heart. Driven by my passion, living at the fullest, and obsessed by this blue eyed babe.

  I drank the remainder of my beer. Not tonight, I said, looking at her behind the counter. Her loose hair falling over her shoulders, I could imagine the feel of those tresses in between my fingers. Her beauty was flawless. She was driving me insane. Kyle needed me at the shop and I knew the next few days would be busy. It wasn’t the time to play Romeo just yet. I got up, waved goodbye to Ty and headed to the shop.

  I hadn’t been at the shop as much as I should have since my return. My dad wanted to see me so I stayed there the first night. It felt good to hang out with my old man, he couldn’t seem to stay away from his cell phone, but he did mention that he had a very demanding case to work on. The second night, I crashed at Tyler’s. I had to find a place to stay soon. Not that Ty’s couch wasn’t comfortable, but after spending months in New York, I kind of wanted to settle down here. I had sold my condo before leaving, which turned out to be a mistake since I came back only few months later. I guess it was a learning experience.

  Mercedes hadn’t stopped calling me since the day I’d left. My dad raised me to be a gentleman so I told her nicely that we had to end whatever we had. I honestly didn’t know what to tell her anymore. A long distance relationship meant hard work and many trips to the East Coast, and I wasn’t ready for that. I liked her, we shared great memories but that was all. In the end, I had no desire to be serious with her. Eventually, I knew I would have to answer her call and remind her that it wouldn’t work. Besides, the beautiful blue eyed babe at the club had already captured my heart. She’d made me a fool and we hadn’t even exchanged a word. Soon...

  “What’s up, Kyle?” I asked as I set foot in the shop.

  “Hey, man, I thought you were going to be here this afternoon. I had scheduled an appointment for you. I told the guy to come back tomorrow.”

  Damn, I hated doing this to my clients, so unprofessional and unlike me. “Why didn’t you call me?” My voice sounded frustrated at first, but I toned it down. Disappointment defined how I felt.

  “I figured you were spending the day with your old man or that you were looking for a place to stay so I told him to come back tomorrow. He agreed, no big deal.”

  “Alright, then. I thought it would be bittersweet, but I’m happy to be back here. This is where it all started and I think I’m pleased with the shop we have.”

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s good to have you back. Now tell me about the Big Apple.”

  I told him everything from the pretzel I ate in Time Square to the parties I went to, and some details about the girl I used to date. Her name only made me feel uncomfortable. To me, it ended as soon as I left the city but to her, the end seemed unbearable and unacceptable. Something that required to be taken care. Even if I’d rather not talk to her, I couldn’t keep on ignoring her calls.

  “If you have feelings for her, why did you end it?” I couldn’t believe that I was having this discussion with K.

  “I don’t. I like her, but there’s no love involved.” I paused thinking about what I had just said. �
�On my side, anyway.” I added. “Mercedes must have fallen in love with me.”

  “Clear this up, man.” I hated to say it, but he was right.

  I nodded silently, walking around the shop. Kyle had changed a few things while I was gone and it seemed a better fit. It looked bigger and more spacious. “What are you doing here anyway? It’s late?”

  “I’m just working on a design, you know how it is. Trying to mix it with what he already has on his arm. It’s quite the challenge.” He chuckled.

  Some people literally asked the tattoo artist for a miracle. Not everything was possible if you want your body, your skin, your ink to look great.

  We talked and I tried to help him out the best way I could. We stayed in the shop until early in the morning. I ended up crashing on the couch. Being homeless and dependent on my friends didn’t exactly go well with me. I needed to figure this out fast. Later that day, after a couple of hours of sleep, K returned and woke me up. My neck hurt and felt stiff. A shower would help, but I had no place to go, and very little time before my first appointment. Kyle lent me the keys to his place and I returned in less than an hour. I was anxious to tattoo again. Tattooing was my drug, I needed my daily dose and it had been a few days.

  The night was young and Tyler asked me to stop by the club. I knew I was going to see her and I thought tonight would be the perfect moment to talk to her. For some reason, the idea of interacting with her made me nervous. My whole body transformed into a whirlwind of anxiety and excitement. There was a possibility that she would reject me, but I had my ways of seducing a woman. I was going to give everything I had.

  The music of the club was so loud that I could hear everything from my car. My hands were moist and trembling. I had never reacted this way for a girl, not even for a first date. This woman had gotten under my skin. As soon as I was inside, my eyes immediately searched for her and she was looking at me as Tyler welcomed me in. I could see the surprise in her eyes.