by Regina Cole
There was silence on the other end. Clearing my throat, I tried again. “This is Sinful Skin Tattoo. May I help you?”
An electronic-sounding voice came on the line, and I nearly dropped the phone.
“You made a mistake. Correct it now.”
“What the hell?” I whispered as unease danced up my spine. “Who is this? Roger, this isn’t funny.”
“Correct it. Now,” the computer voice intoned before the line went dead.
I stared at the handset before hanging up. Good grief. Roger had gone too far this time.Shoving my desk chair back, I stalked around the corner and headed directly for the prankster’s studio. I looked in the window before I got there.
Roger was seated on his rolling stool, bent over a half-finished panther on a large guy’s calf. How could I have forgotten that he was in the middle of a tattoo? He said something to his customer, who laughed. Re-inking his machine, Roger saw me at the window and waved me over to the door. I went, trying to figure out what to say.
“Hey, kiddo, what’s up?”
I leaned against the doorjamb, trying not be distracted by the brightly colored posters all over Roger’s walls. “Nothing. Just checking to see if you needed anything.”
Roger smiled. “Nope, we’re good.” Leaning back over his customer’s leg, he resumed his story. “So we’re halfway through the game, and Luce looks over at me and . . .”
I didn’t know what else to do, so I wandered back toward my desk. What the hell had that phone call been about, if it wasn’t Roger pranking me? Was somebody upset with the shop? Had somebody fucked up a tattoo or something?
“Hailey, you okay?”
I whirled at the unexpected voice right behind me, my heart in my throat. “Oh, Karl, you scared me.”
The blond giant followed me to the desk, propping his massive forearms on the counter when I sank into the desk chair, scratching my fingertips nervously over the plastic arms. “You look a little preoccupied,” he said.
Glancing at the phone in front of me, I made a quick decision. Karl was part owner of the shop; he should know if some freak was pissed.
“I just got a really weird phone call. Some electronic voice said there’d been a mistake and we had to correct it.”
Karl laughed aloud, a booming sound that made me jump again.
“It wasn’t funny. It was really mean-sounding, seriously.” I glared at him just a little.
Karl straightened, still chuckling. “You can’t take every freak seriously, kid. If we did that, the cops would be here every other day. If somebody’s got a problem with the shop, they come to me or Neill. Don’t worry about it.”
I wasn’t convinced. I crossed my arms over my stomach, leaning back in the desk chair. “So what do I do if they call back?”
“You call me.” Karl knocked on the counter. “I’ll talk to Stephen Hawking and set him straight.”
“Okay. Thanks.” I glanced away, and my gaze landed on the pile of books and scattered pages of my assignment. I didn’t have time to worry. I had shit to do. But the thought of touching those books again tonight made my brain turn to mush.
A thought popped into my head, and I spun the desk chair to face the black bookcase behind my desk. The bottom shelf was a little neater than I remembered from stowing them there, but my black sketchbook was still at the bottom of the pile. Crouching low, I shifted the pile and pulled it free. “Hey, Karl, when you get a chance, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”
He crooked a brow. “Oh yeah?”
I explained what I wanted, and Karl agreed to help me out. I wouldn’t even need to wait long. Once the plans were set, Karl turned and went back to his studio, the largest in the shop, and I turned my attention to religion. Completing this assignment was going to be nearly impossible.
“Hey, Hailey, you ready?” Karl called through the lobby. “I’m all set up here.”
“Yep. I’m good to go.” I left my assignment for a little while. This was important, too.
Neill
I cut my bike’s engine and removed my helmet, glad for the cool night air as I ran a hand through my hair. Since I’d been the boss while Karl was gone, I hadn’t taken my usual day off during the week. But now that my mentor was back, he’d insisted that I resume my previous schedule.
The shop was closing, and I smiled to myself as the gravel crunched beneath my feet on the way to the back door. Karl couldn’t kick my ass for being here. Besides, I was here for pleasure, not business.
“Evening, boss man,” Roger said as I pushed open the back door of the shop. “Watch the wet floor.”
“Thanks for the warning.”
Karl looked out from his large studio, the closest one to the back door, since it was located in the back left-hand corner. The dark red walls were covered with color-splashed canvases, Karl’s bold style written all over them in swirls and lines of vibrant paint. He scowled as he thumped his fist against the doorjamb. “What the hell are you doing here? I said not today.”
I nodded toward the front desk. “I’m here to see somebody.”
Karl’s frowned deepened as he followed my gaze. “I need to talk to you about that later.”
“I think I’m handling this fine, thanks.” I waved to Karl and walked carefully across the slick black lobby floor. I was sure that my mentor had my best interests at heart, but honestly, I didn’t need help. Despite my early doubts, things were going just great with Hailey.
I rounded the corner and smiled. There she was, stuffing books into her messenger bag, hair messy and sticking out from its haphazard knot at the back of her head. Her black baby-doll tee was thin, and I could just make out the lines of her bra through the back of it. Thoughts of what I’d like to do to her when I removed that tee clouded my brain, and when she turned and caught sight of me, her eyes went wide with surprise.
“Neill!”
I leaned against the counter, drinking her in with my gaze. “Hey.”
She shook her head, continuing with her packing. “What are you doing here? It’s your night off.”
“And I had a great one. Ran some errands earlier, rode the bike down the interstate this afternoon, took in the sunset where there weren’t buildings in the way.” I moved around the counter and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. “It was beautiful. You’d have loved it.”
Hailey sighed as she picked up her bulging bag. “I’m sure I would have.” She slung the strap over her shoulder, grunting at the weight.
“Here, why don’t you let me carry that?” I reached out for the bag, but she didn’t hand it over.
“It’s not that far to the bus station. I’m okay.”
I lowered my brows in confusion. “You going back to the dorm tonight?” I couldn’t pretend not to be disappointed. I’d been looking forward to this all day.
She bent to the computer to shut it down, effectively cutting off my view of her face. “Yeah, I have to. I’m way behind on an assignment for religion class, not to mention the project I have due for graphic design. I’m sorry, but I’ve really got to get back.”
A chill settled in my lungs, but I nodded anyway. “Oh. Okay, but I’d be happy to help you study if you wanted . . .”
The computer screen now black, she turned to me. Her reply made it clear that she either hadn’t heard or didn’t care to respond to my offer. “I’m so glad you understand. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” Pressing a hurried kiss to my cheek, she hustled past me and around the counter, straight to the front door. “Mind locking this behind me?”
“’Course not.” I was glad my voice didn’t reveal what I was feeling. I wasn’t sure what the emotion was called. Disappointment, definitely, but there was something else. Something about the fact that she’d been so distracted, she hadn’t seemed to care that she wasn’t going home with me.
She disappeared down the street, and I looked after her after she was gone. Finally I retraced her path, twisting the thumbscrew lock home with a heavy clack.
“Hey, Hailey, that kid who wanted the custom piece, did he leave a second number? This one’s—” Karl stopped as he saw me at the door instead of Hailey. “Where’d the kid go?”
“She’s gone for tonight.” I kept my face flat, emotionless. “Had some stuff to do.”
Karl rubbed his goatee, blowing out a heavy breath. “Man, this is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. Come with me. I’ve got something else to finish up, but I want to talk to you while I’m doing it.”
“I’m fine. I don’t need to hear—”
“Get your ass in here.” The tone that Karl had used on me when I was a dumb kid, sadly, worked. I followed Karl through the lobby, thumping my fist on the back of one black leather couch on the way by. My chest felt tight, and my brain buzzed like I’d just stepped off a fucking huge roller coaster. What was going on with me? It was one night. It wasn’t a big deal.
Karl sat in front of his huge brown drafting table, the only one in the shop other than the community one in the office. He had a large piece spread out there, the beginning lines looking like a badass Chinese dragon would be swooping down someone’s back in the future. Karl picked up his pen and continued drawing. “Pull up a stool.”
Propping my helmet on the small black side table usually reserved for clients’ purses or backpacks, I rolled the extra stool over beside Karl like I used to when I was an apprentice. The position gave me a great view of his drawing technique, and I watched my mentor work in silence for a few seconds. The familiar scratch of pen on paper eased me, let my head clear a bit of the fuzz that had been clouding it since Hailey walked out. The darkness of the walls combined with the bright paintings made a cocoon of color, and it was hard not to imagine that my swirling emotions weren’t calmed by them.
As Karl continued drawing, I stared at the paper beneath his hands. I didn’t care that she’d turned me down for the night. I didn’t. She had a life to lead, same as I did. She had classes to get to, homework to do, a family to deal with, even though it was fractured. So what the hell was my problem?
“Listen,” Karl said, as if he’d remembered that I was sitting beside him, “you know I try not to get involved in your personal life.”
I tightened my jaw as some of my tension returned. “Yeah.”
“Well, I’m breaking my rule here.” Karl set down his pen and picked up another with a finer tip. “Hailey’s a great girl. You were right to hire her. I’ve seen a couple of her drawings, and you were right there, too. She’s got talent. But as far as whatever else you two have going on—”
“Which is not any of your business,” I interrupted, scowling at him. The stool squeaked under me as I rolled it back a little.
Karl turned to me and arched a wiry blond and gray brow. “Didn’t I already say it wasn’t? I know you’ve got feelings for her, and I think she cares about you, too. But do you really want to get serious right now? I don’t think you do. Have fun, do your thing, whatever. But don’t hang your heart on this girl. You haven’t known her long enough.” He turned back to the dragon. If he noticed the way I was shaking with anger, he didn’t say anything about it. He just kept on preaching. “I saw how Gretchen wrecked you. And I don’t want to see that shit again. All I’m saying is, you need to take this slow.”
My knuckles cracked, my fists were clutched so tightly. Anger, hot and violent, rose within me until all I could see was red. My voice was a snarl. “Mind your own damn business.”
Karl set his pen down again and turned to me. “You want to kick my ass? Fine, go ahead. You can try. But you know I’m right. This shit’s happening way too fast, and you’re going to get hurt.”
Shoving to my feet, I grabbed my helmet and stalked out of the shop without another word. Karl could fuck off. I knew what I felt. She just had some studying to do, and she was distracted. For Karl to use that to make me regret being with her? That was a dick move, and I wasn’t going to stand there and listen to it.
Kicking my bike into gear, I spun gravel and shot out of the alley like the devil was on my back tire. I was ready for the day to be over.
Chapter Twenty-three
Hailey
Once I arrived back on campus, I headed straight for the library. The night was warm and clear, but I didn’t have a chance to take my time and enjoy it, look up at the sky and count the stars, feel the evening breeze on my skin. I had too much to do to admire the depth of blue and black through the thick green leaves. As I walked up the ornate brick stairs to the library’s front door, a voice called my name.
I turned and a relieved smile spread across my face. “Hey, Rose.”
The dark-haired girl winked over the armload of books she had balanced precariously in front of her. She started up the stairs a little crookedly. “I haven’t seen you outside of class for a while. Everything okay?”
I grabbed the top book before it could fall from Rose’s stack. “Yeah, everything’s great. Just been working a lot, that kind of thing.” Fortunately, I’d already turned to keep walking into the library, so my blush at the thought of what else had been keeping me from my usual routine would go unseen.
“I get you.” Rose’s footsteps echoed behind me as I pushed open the heavy white-painted front doors of the library. The scent of books wafted over me, as comforting as it was depressing. As much as I liked to read, I’d much rather have been spending my late night somewhere else. I frowned. Hopefully Neill had understood and wasn’t upset with me. I’d run out kind of quickly when he got there. But I hadn’t been expecting him to show, and besides all the homework I needed to finish, I’d wanted to wait a while before showing him what Karl and I had come up with.
“I’m going to be here for a while, working on an assignment,” I whispered to Rose, who’d joined the line at the counter. “Are you staying?”
Rose nodded. “Yeah. I’ve got to swap these out, but I’ve got some things to work on while I’m here. Grab us a table and I’ll join you.”
I walked past the front counter, lugging my bag toward the back corner of the library. I didn’t spend a huge amount of time in the library, but whenever I was here, I liked to hang out in this corner. In the middle of the biographies, there were two windows, a large spacious table that was almost always unoccupied, and in the afternoon, lots of natural light that silhouetted the dogwood outside the window. Hey, maybe I could see the blooms tonight. I dumped my bag onto the scarred wood table and propped my arms on the windowsill. It was too dark. All I could see was a far-off streetlight that made the softly waving dogwood branches look a little creepy.
Shaking my head at the ridiculous tickle at the nape of my neck, I spread out my books, claiming the table for me and Rose. Pulling out the religion assignment, I sighed and opened an extra-thick book about Catholic saints. No wonder Brian had taken so long with this assignment, despite his near-ridiculous IQ level and 4.0 GPA. There was a lot to go through, and I’d barely scratched the top of the third page.
“Twenty pages of this shit,” I whispered to myself as I stared at the book-laden shelves in front of me. The shelves were that dingy beige color, which made the spines of the books seem more colorful in comparison. My gaze ran over them, trying to find the answers that weren’t there. “I’m never going to have it done by Wednesday.”
Even with the sense of defeat hanging over me, I flipped to the correct page of the assignment and started to dig in. I wasn’t a quitter. I’d do this, and I’d ace it. I was determined. I kicked off my flip-flops beneath the table and let my toes curl into the dark brown carpeting.
“There you are,” Rose hissed as she dumped her bag and stack of books on top of the table. “I thought you’d left. How the hell did you know this corner existed?”
I smiled and tilted my head toward the windows. “It has the best light.”
“Ooh, you sneaky . . .” Rose sank into the chair at the end of the table. “I should’ve known.” She powered up her laptop and grabbed her earbuds. “Wave if you need me.”
“Di
tto.”
We worked in silence for about an hour, Rose typing on her computer and flipping through her textbook, me flipping through historical text after religious tome, hissing a curse when I couldn’t find the right answer, cheering silently when I did. When the clock clicked over to twelve, Rose pulled her earbuds free and yawned. “I’ve done all I can do tonight.” Her voice was a whisper as she shut her laptop lid with a soft click. “How much longer are you going to hang out? I think they’re open all night from now until exams are over.”
With a depressing glance through the remaining pages of my assignment, I propped my cheek on my hand and whispered back, “Not long enough, I don’t think. I’ve got to finish this by Wednesday or I’ll be repeating this class.”
“Want me to stay?” Rose tried to stifle a second yawn and failed. “I really don’t mind.”
I snorted softly. “You’re about to fall asleep right there.”
“I was out too late last night. Black-light bowling. You missed it.”
“Sorry. But no, I’ll be fine. I’ll catch you guys for lunch tomorrow?”
Rose stood, putting her laptop in her backpack. “You got it. See you then.”
With a wave, Rose turned and walked away, leaving me alone with a stack of books and an assignment that refused to die. Wrinkling my nose, I stared down at the paper. “Well, I’m closer to done than I was.”
With that hardly reassuring thought, I dived back in.
At one, I got up to use the restroom. At two, I rummaged in my backpack for a granola bar. At two-thirty, I’d drifted off and then startled myself awake. I’d just about decided to pack it in for the night when a sudden movement outside the window caught my eye.
“What?”
I shoved the wooden chair back. Bracing my hands on the narrow windowsill, I leaned as close as I could to the thick glass. A form was standing on the walk on the other side of the dogwood, but the streetlight’s beam coming from behind made it impossible to see a face. The person was just a silhouette, standing stock-still as if staring back at me. I raised my hand halfway in a wave, but the figure didn’t wave back.