The Tattoo Artist and the Girl from the Coffee Shop

by Terry Towers

  “I only apologize when I’m wrong.”

  “You’re an asshole.” She wanted to punch him, but refrained. Chase did a good enough job on him, but still… She’d have loved the satisfaction.

  ~*~ TT ~*~

  Chase

  Tessa: Please talk to me. Let me explain.

  Chase took another swig of beer and stared at the text message. She’d called four times and this was her fifth text since he left his parents’ estate, leaving her behind. He didn’t answer any of it. What was the point?

  But what if you were wrong? What if it was a mistake and not her fault? a voice in the back of his head argued. He gritted his teeth and ignored it. He was better off alone. He’d been tempted to call Shania, to lose himself in her body. But he couldn’t. She wasn’t who he wanted.

  But the woman you want wants Eric. She stayed with him. She didn’t go after you, she stayed with him, a different voice argued. He couldn’t deny that. She had. He’d waited at the house, maybe not a long time, but long enough for her to catch up. And she hadn’t. She’d stayed with him.

  The two parts of him battled it out in his head. Was he being unreasonable or had he been played for an idiot – again?

  He looked at the phone again. He was about to answer the text message when the doorbell rang. Looking at his watch, the time read ten past midnight. He was part hopeful it was her to explain, yet another part silently praying it wasn’t so he could just attempt to forget about her.

  Getting up from the sofa, he drank down the last swallow of beer from the bottle and threw it into the recycling bin as he made his way to the front door. Pulling open the door he was shocked to see his brother standing there, looking like royal shit.

  Chase laughed, a cold and bitter laugh at the sight of his brother dishevelled with a cut lip and a black eye. He looked a far cry from the man who won 99% of his cases and took pride in his conquests. Served the fucker right.

  “What do you want?” While he was tempted to slam the door in his brother’s face, or finish the job of kicking his smug ass, Chase had had time to calm down enough to refrain. Taking a step back, he motioned with his hand for Eric to enter.

  “We need to talk. It’s been far overdue, Chase.”

  “I think we’re past that.” But despite his words he had to admit he was curious as to why his brother had shown up; he was truly the last person he expected to see.

  “How are the parents? Pissed I imagine.” Going to the fridge, Chase grabbed another beer and thrust it at Eric. Gabriella had attempted to call him repeatedly as well since the incident at the gazebo. “Want one?”

  Eric hesitated a moment before accepting the offering and sitting at the two-person kitchen table. “We need to clear the air, Chase. We were on good terms once, friends, I’d like to get back to that place again. As for the folks. They’re confused, I didn’t tell them why we fought, but I assume after you left they figured it out.”

  The anger began to simmer again. “If you wanted to get to that place fucking my fiancée and then going after Tessa wasn’t the best way to achieve that.”

  “We’ve always had a rivalry over women.”

  “But I never fucked you over like you have me, brother.” Chase took a long swig of his bottle of beer, emptying nearly half in one drink. “The two women I truly loved you went for. There’s a boundary that should never be crossed and you crossed it. Twice.”

  “I won’t say sorry for Rachael. She was a gold-digging whore, you’re better off without her. She never would have gone for me if she truly loved you. I think we both know that.”

  “Regardless, you should have turned her down. You chose to betray me.”

  “Had I not you would have been married to that whore. She was after our money, that’s the bottom line of it.”

  Chase’s jaw clenched. It was still a sore spot, but his brother was indeed right about one thing. She’d never have cheated if she’d truly loved him. The rumours he’d heard over the years more or less confirmed what Eric was saying. Thought it still didn’t justify it. “And what’s your excuse for Tessa? How long has it been going on?”

  Eric took a deep breath in and slowly released it. “Because I like her – a lot. I didn’t realize until tonight you were the one she was with. It pissed me off and I took a shot. I’m an asshole, what can I say. I genuinely tried with her, for the first time in my life I tried, but she wanted you.”

  Chase sighed. “Either way, it doesn’t matter anymore.”

  “Why?”

  “She lied to me. I’m not going to forgive that.”

  “Lied to you over what? She didn’t even realize I was your brother until tonight. Jesus man, get a grip and give the girl a fair shake. She blew me off, she wants you, not me. I kissed her, not the other way around.”

  Looking down at the bottle of beer, Chase began to pick at the label around the bottle. Was he just letting previous emotions get in the way? Was he the one who was scared, using this incident as an excuse to back away before things could get to the next level? Eric certainly wasn’t a selfless person, if he’d thought he had a real chance with Tessa he wouldn’t have shown up on his doorstep.

  “Don’t be a fucking idiot, man. I wouldn’t risk getting my ass kicked a second time if I was full of shit.”

  Chase gave his brother a hard look. Maybe it was time to finally bury the hatchet. He kept harping at Tessa to forget the past and move on, perhaps he needed to take his own advice. His phone beeped, signalling another text message. It was Tessa, he didn’t have to look to know that.

  Tessa…

  ~*~ TT ~*~

  Tessa

  Back to the Haagen-Dazs. She looked at the tub of ice cream in distaste. It didn’t even taste good, despite it being her favourite flavour. It had been 24 hours since Chase left her at his parents’ place. A part of her was angry – she’d tried to explain to him, tried so damned hard but he was refusing to give her a chance. Who needed a man like that?

  But on the other hand, the bigger part of her was hurting, hurting worse than she’d ever been hurt before. One minute he was telling her he loved her and the next, over a misunderstanding, he was treating her like she was diseased. It was such a mind-fuck she could barely comprehend it.

  For the first time in her life she really and truly fell in love. It had been fast, and furious and exciting. It was gone just as quick.

  She looked down at her Snoopy pajama bottoms. They reminded her of the first night he’d shown up on her doorstep. Then the day he discovered her porn stash. Their walks in the park. The nights cuddled on the couch watching movies, both of the adult and non-adult breed. She couldn’t even go to see the progress of the café today, she was too scared he’d be there and reject her to her face or equally as bad, pretend like he didn’t even know her. This was hard enough. So she’d stayed home and wallowed in self-pity.

  She was watching a horror flick on the television. She turned up the sound, hoping the screams and eerie music would drown out her thoughts and the voices in her head.

  “Hello,” yelled a voice directly to her right.

  Tessa screamed so loud it challenged the screams on the television. Leaping from the sofa, the tub of Haagen-Dazs sailing across the coffee table and landing on the floor on the other side, she spun to face the direction of the voice.

  “Chase…”

  He leaned down and grabbed the remote off of the coffee table, turning down the volume to a reasonable level. “Hello, Tessa. How are you?”

  Seeing him in front of her, as if nothing had happened, as though he hadn’t spent a day ignoring her calls and texts, infuriated her. “Not good. I’ve been trying to get hold of you.”

  “I know.” He ran a hand through his hair and it was then that a beam of light shone across his face, displaying eyes that were bloodshot as if he hadn’t slept.

  “It wasn’t what you think.”

  “I know that too.”

  She wrapped her arms across her chest, hugging herself, forg
etting the tub of ice cream leaking all over the floor. “Then why didn’t you return my calls or texts?”

  “I umm…” He ran his hand through his hair a second time and then motioned toward the sofa. “Do you mind if I sit down?”

  Shaking her head, she uttered no and watched him sit, bracing his elbows on his knees, lacing his fingers and placing his chin on his fists. Once he was seated she slipped onto the sofa next to him, not sure what to say, so she said nothing.

  “I did a lot of thinking since yesterday. I’ve been so focused on saving you and making you see that life is about moving on and enjoying the good as it comes that I didn’t realize I wasn’t taking my own advice.”

  Her icy mood softened. “Okay.”

  “I’ve been afraid to love someone. Even as I felt it and admitted it to you there was a part of me that was looking for something to go wrong. I saw you with Eric and I immediately thought the worst.”

  “He did kiss me and you did see that, what else were you supposed to think?”

  He gave her a tight smile. “That my brother is a backstabbing asshole and that it may not have been what I thought it was. He came to see me last night. He explained it all.”

  Frowning, Tessa inched her way across the sofa toward him. “Then why did you ignore my messages? I’ve been a wreck.” Tears formed in her eyes and she angrily swatted at them with the back of her hand. Damn those tears! And damned him for making them appear!

  “I needed some time to get my thoughts together. I wanted to make sure.”

  Her frown deepened. “Of what?”

  “Of how much I loved you.” He looked over at her and she could have sworn that she saw a hint of tears in his eyes. “I was an ass, Tessa, and you didn’t deserve that. But I’m asking, please, give me another chance.”

  Tessa was floored. She never in a million years expected Chase to be the one coming to her house and apologizing when she was the one who was kissed by his brother. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “You could start by saying you love me too. That nothing has changed in that regard.”

  And she melted completely. “I love you too. Nothing has changed. I just need a promise from you.”

  Chase took her hands into his and nodded. “Anything.”

  “Never block me out again. Never.”

  “I never will. I apologize.”

  “I didn’t know that Eric…”

  And he kissed her, shutting up her apology. His lips on hers had never felt so sweet and she fell into him, relief flooding over her and tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. She didn’t even curse the tears, because these weren’t tears of sadness, they were happiness. It felt so damned good to cry tears of relief and happiness for a, She couldn’t remember the last time she cried for any reason other than from sadness and misery.

  But he did it. He made a broken woman filled with guilt and restrained sorrow into one who felt happiness again. Correction, a woman who allowed herself to feel happiness again. And somewhere along the way, without even trying, she managed to heal him as well.

  Epilogue

  Tessa – Three Months Later.

  “Excited?” Chase asked as they stood behind the counter of the coffee shop opening day, waiting for 7am to come around. The café looked much better than she could have ever imagined. A lot of it had to do with Chase, he’d hand-painted several murals on the walls, beautiful works of original art on her walls. If nothing else people would come to her café just for the ambiance, she was sure of it, though admittedly she was biased.

  “Very.”

  “Scared?”

  She nodded, grinning. “Very, very.” Though as she spoke the words she could see several people lined up at the door waiting for 7am and the grand opening of the café.

  Slipping an arm around her waist, he pulled her into his embrace, placing a tender kiss on her lips. “Have faith, babe.”

  “But it’s the restaurant business. Remember what your father said…”

  “My father wanted me to be a lawyer instead of an artist. I may not be as financially wealthy as I may have been, but I’m still successful, Eric has been paid in full and I have a woman I couldn’t imagine spending my life without.”

  “An entire lifetime!” she teased, a twinkle of mischief in her green eyes. “Do you really think we’re there yet?”

  “We were there from the moment I set eyes on you, Tessa.”

  She didn’t have a chance to respond, even though her heart was bursting, because a knock on the door with a customer impatiently tapping her toe while pointing to her watch was staring at them.

  “I gotta open up. It’s showtime.” She attempted to wiggle out of his embrace, but he held tight.

  “Can’t you spare a moment for one more kiss?”

  She shook her head, her ponytail swinging behind her. “Sorry, hon.” She ducked out from under his arm and scurried across the restaurant and toward the door. “Sorry sweetie. Customers come first.” She shrugged, looking over her shoulder at him and giving him a wide smile. “It’s life as a barista.”

  The End.

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  Failure To Stop

  By

  Terry Towers

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  Prologue

  “I really need to get back to work, I have a meeting to give, Logan,” Violet weakly protested, arching her back and allowing her head to fall back so her boss, CEO of G&B Innovations Advertising, had better access to the sensitive flesh as his lips worked their way down her neck. His lips sent shivers of desire through her, testing her resolve.

  “You’ll just be a few minutes late, baby. Don’t worry about it.” He pulled her tighter with one arm as he grabbed her hand and directed it to his rock hard erection. “I happen to know the boss pretty well.”

  She stroked him over his pants and he groaned. He was right, he was the boss so who was she to argue, it’s not like she was going to get in shit over being late. But their office sex romps had been going on for quite some time now and she was starting to hear murmurings – people were getting suspicious that there might be something going on between them. They’d agreed to keep their relationship a secret; he was separated and in the process of going through a nasty divorce and she didn’t want the staff to think she’d fucked her way to the top. She’d earned her position within the company well before the relationship with Logan began, but she suspected they wouldn’t see it that way.

  Quickly she undid his pants and freed his member. Grasping him in her hand she began stroking his length; he didn’t have the biggest cock in the world, but it did the job. As she was dropping to her knees in front of him the door to the office flew open. Shit. She couldn’t believe she didn’t remember to lock the door, but then again she wasn’t expecting this impromptu sex session; her drop in this afternoon had been for a legitimate business reason, but Logan could be such a very convincing man when he set his mind on something.

  “Rebecca!”

  Violet’s body froze, her hand still clutching him as she looked over her shoulder to see a tall, dark-haired woman storm in, rage in her dark eyes. Rebecca, his soon-to-be ex-wife. She’d been in a relationship with Logan for a little over four months, but this was the first time she’d actually seen his almost ex ­ in person.

  Her cheeks burning, she immediately released him and got to her feet as he tucked himself away. This was beyond awkward and she was at a loss as to what to do.

  “What are you doing here, Rebecca?” Looking back at Logan, Violet saw horror and guilt etched in his expression.

  “I knew it! I knew you were fucking around on me and sure enough I catch you here with thi
s whore!”

  Whore? Who, me?

  Violet frowned as she continued to stare at Logan, who met her questioning stare and grimaced. And she could see right then, he’d lied to her, the guilt was written all over his face. He’d been lying to her, to both of them, no doubt from the beginning.

  She’d never, ever been in a situation like this before and had absolutely no idea what to do. There was a whirlwind of emotions racing through her – shame, embarrassment, confusion, hurt, rage... So many emotions all wanting to break out. Cry, scream, run out of there and never return – all of the above.

  “You were never separated?”

  Logan looked anxiously from her to Rebecca and back to Violet. “We… were.”

  “For a few weeks and it was hardly a separation,” Rebecca snapped, cutting her eyes at Violet.

  Violet’s brow creased, even more confused. “But your apartment. I’ve been to your apartment… There’s no…” Had it all been one big elaborate lie? How could she have been so stupid? But in her defense, in their four months together Rebecca had never shown up at the office and he did a very good job at covering his tracks, keeping his private life extremely private.

  Just when she didn’t think his face could get any paler, it did.

  “What apartment, Logan?” She dared a look over at his wife, who seemed to have forgotten all about her and was focusing her hatred directly onto her husband. “And where’s your wedding band?”

  He hung his head in shame. “In my desk. I never gave up the apartment I rented when we separated.”

  Tension filled the room, so thick it was suffocating. Violet was so confused. She couldn’t think straight, but she did know one thing… She needed out of there, and quickly. Up until a few minutes ago she’d really cared for him, but in the span of a few minutes that affection was gone and was replaced with a hate so intense that it was taking all of her restraint not to charge him and knock him senseless.