by Ranae Rose
“I hope you don’t mind me telling her that,” Eric said.
“Not at all,” Mina replied, taking a sip of her iced tea. “She definitely has a talent for it.”
Eric smiled ruefully. “Yeah, well, it’s not exactly the career most people would choose for their kids. I’m sure your parents would rather she went to college.”
That was hardly the case, but Mina let his assumption pass without comment. She wasn’t about to crash the light-hearted dinner with a sudden revelation of her and Jess’s depressing childhoods. She would have liked to let him know that she was Jess’s guardian, since he apparently didn’t realize that, but Jess was already chattering enthusiastically.
“I am going to go to college,” she informed Eric, “art school.” Mina and Karen had already heard all about Jess’s college hopes a hundred times, but Eric was a fresh target. She gave him the briefest rundown of her carefully laid plans that Mina had ever heard, but she was still breathless by the time she finished.
“That sounds like a great plan,” Eric said. “I wanted to go to art school too when I was your age.”
“But you never did?” Jess asked.
He shook his head. “Nah. Life got in the way too fast for me, and before I knew it I was tattooing. I’m sure you’ll get there though.”
The afternoon stretched on, and they all lingered after lunch, with Jess and Karen doing most of the talking. Mina didn’t mind letting them dominate the conversation. Talking a mile a minute just didn’t come naturally to her. Eric seemed content to listen too. Mina watched him quietly, waiting for him to look toward the door or pull out his cell phone and glance at the time. He never did, just sat there looking as if he were genuinely enjoying himself. He was a nice guy. Maybe too nice for his own good. If Mina didn’t intervene, Jess and Karen would talk his ears off. “Come on, Jess. We’d better get going if I’m going to help you with that research paper.”
Jess frowned and cast a glance down at her plate. It was empty of fries, which left her with no excuse to stall. “All right.” Her tone held all the enthusiasm that could be expected of a teenager agreeing to leave someplace fun to do homework.
“Tell you what – we’ll order your dress today,” Mina added.
Jess’s face lit up like a Christmas tree at the mention of her homecoming gown. “Really?”
Mina nodded. Karen had given her a check from Hot Ink for her modeling, and the payment combined with what she’d managed to save was just enough to buy the gown.
“I have to go too,” Karen announced. “I want to get a little rest before I have to come back here to work tonight. Come on Jess, I’ll help you into Mina’s car.”
Before Mina could object they were gone, leaving her alone with Eric as she hurried to don her jacket. When she’d finally done up every last button and couldn’t think of any other ways to procrastinate without being rude, she turned to him. “This was fun.” At least, it had been for her, but maybe that was just a mark of her lackluster social life. He’d probably been bored to death listening Karen and Jess, though he’d managed not to show it.
He smiled as he laid a tip on the table. “Yeah. It was. Can I walk you to your car?”
It was maybe half a minute’s journey away, but Mina didn’t point that out. “Sure.”
He stopped just a few yards outside the door. “Can we get together again sometime soon?”
Mina tried to hide her surprise, but the look that passed through his eyes told her she’d been unsuccessful.
“After all, I owe you a coffee.”
She smiled. “Actually, I think it’s the other way around. You bought me a latte and I abandoned it.”
A sharp gust of wind sent Mina’s hair dancing and he closed the distance between them, invading her personal space in a way that made her want to run through the poses they’d struck together earlier that afternoon in the studio. “OK. You got me. I just want an excuse to see you again.”
A shiver of mingled delight and alarm raced through Mina’s being. “Really?” she asked before she could stop herself.
“Yeah. I’d kind of hoped you’d gleaned that from the kiss, though.”
Beneath the heavy makeup she hadn’t taken the time to wash off in the studio, Mina blushed. He was almost close enough to kiss her again, and her heart was racing as if he were about to.
“How about Tuesday?” he asked. “I’m not working late that night.”
She searched her mind for a prior obligation or excuse but found nothing.
He misread her silence. “Do you have to work then?”
She shook her head. “No. Tuesday will be fine.” She’d meet him and use the time alone with him to explain who she really was. When he found out that she and Jess were a package deal, he wouldn’t be interested in seeing her again and that would be OK. It would sting, but she couldn’t leave him in the dark. Not after the kiss. The memory of it sent her heart racing, and she could have used a little heartbreak to balance the effect.
“I’ll pick you up. Any time after six will be fine with me.”
“How about seven?” That would give her time to cook dinner for Jess before she left.
“Perfect.” He leaned in suddenly, settling his hands on Mina’s sides and pulling her to him. The kiss he gave her was sweet, but she sensed the tension beneath his restrained movements. She felt it too but didn’t dare give in. After all, this would be their last kiss.
****
“Mina, take a look at this.”
Mina tucked a stack of bills into her register, closed the drawer and turned to face her co-worker Amy. Amy was holding a cell phone, a snapshot on display on the screen. “You took a picture?” Ashley was the subject of the photo, looking annoyed as she stood behind the bank counter in her white sweater with its comically positioned salad dressing stain. After lunch that day she’d gone about her work for an hour before finally catching sight of her reflection in the drive-through teller window and noticing the bright orange smudge.
Amy shook her head. “Not me. Brian took it.”
Laughter echoed across the lobby. Mina turned to see Brian, one of the loan officers, peeking out from his cubicle and flashing her and Amy a mischievous grin. It wasn’t just the other tellers who couldn’t stand Ashley. She’d only been working at the bank for three weeks and she’d already succeeded in offending almost every one of the employees, except for the managers. She treated anyone with a lick of power like royalty, simpering and ‘brown-nosing’, as Brian liked to call it.
“He’s calling her ‘Thousand Island Tits’,” Amy said, returning Brian’s grin.
The bank’s front double-doors swung open and Mina suppressed a snigger as a customer entered. “I think it was actually French dressing.”
Amy cast a glance over her shoulder.
“I’ll take care of him,” Mina said, nodding at the customer as she stepped toward her register.
She didn’t quite make it. An argyle blur collided with her shoulder and sent her spinning. She tipped into Amy, knocking her against the counter. As they struggled to regain their balance and untangle themselves, something clattered against the floor tiles.
Amy’s cell phone. It ricocheted off the wall and hit the spiked heel of Ashley’s shoe. She stood there glaring from above the high neck of her argyle sweater, her eyes darting between the phone, Amy and Mina. Whether or not she’d realized that Amy and Mina had been talking about her at first, she’d seen the photo now.
“Are you OK?” Amy brushed a few stray curls out of her eyes and shot Mina a look of concern. It was a good thing neither she nor Mina were wearing shoes like Ashley’s. They probably would have broken their ankles if they had been.
Ashley turned on her heel, somehow managing to simultaneously send the cell phone flying across the floor again before marching away, her shoes beating a staccato rhythm against the tiles, echoing noisily.
“I’m fine,” Mina said, rubbing her shoulder. It would probably bruise where Ashley’s bony arm had co
llided with it. “I’m not sure if the same can be said for your phone.”
Amy stooped to retrieve the device. After a quick check, she pronounced it to be fine. “Ugh, I can’t stand her,” she mumbled quietly, glancing balefully in the direction Ashley had gone.
Mina silently agreed. A part of her would have liked to knock Ashley down in retaliation, but she didn’t dare. Unlike that spoiled brat, she needed her job. It was hard enough making ends meet on her teller’s pay as it was – unemployment was not an option. Besides, she was in the running for the junior loan officer position that had opened up a few weeks ago. If she got the job, she’d have her own Ashley-free cubicle, not to mention a pay increase. The possibility of promotion had been in the back of her mind ever since she’d submitted her application, though she tried not to think about it too much. If she got her hopes up any higher she’d end up hating her current job if she didn’t get the position. Suppressing a sigh, she attended to the customer who’d arrived and watched the whole spectacle with a look of surprise pasted across his face. She quickly cashed his check and gave it to him in the requested small bills.
“Are you still being considered for that junior loan officer position?” Amy asked after the man left.
Mina nodded. “As far as I know.”
Amy frowned. “So I guess you’re not interested in helping me kidnap Ashley, drive her to the nearest body of water and toss her in?”
Mina snorted. “I’m afraid not. Not that the idea doesn’t have a certain appeal…”
Amy laughed. “Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll be out of here and in your own cubicle soon enough.”
It was a mark of how miserable Ashley had made their jobs that they fantasized about a cubicle. “Why,” Mina asked, “did Chris say anything about the job?”
Amy shook her head. “No, but you’re the best teller we have and he said he’d prefer to hire a current employee instead of an outside candidate.”
The doors swung open, admitting several customers at once.
“I hope you’re right.”
Chapter 5
Mina had cooked dinner for Jess before leaving the apartment, and Karen had volunteered to stay there with Jess for the evening. So there was no reason why Mina shouldn’t relax and enjoy her time with Eric – or at least, there wouldn’t have been if she’d already made her confession. But she hadn’t, which meant that Eric still didn’t know that she was a fourteen year old girl’s sole legal guardian. He didn’t even know what she did for a living. He didn’t know her.
But they’d kissed. Mina’s mind kept reminding her of that, as if it meant anything. A kiss didn’t mean much more than a handshake to most women her age nowadays, did it? Well, maybe a little more, but few people gave it the significance that her heart was trying to assign to it. She tried not to think of the feel of Eric’s lips against hers as she settled into her seat at the cozy restaurant table. “This place seems nice.” Eric had picked her up at her apartment at seven as he’d promised and taken her to a Mexican restaurant known for their specialty fajitas. She loved Mexican food, but couldn’t seem to muster up much of an appetite as the hostess handed her a menu.
“It’s a favorite of mine,” he said as he took a seat. “The fajitas really are amazing.”
She managed a smile as a waiter hurried by their table, the platter he carried sizzling and exuding a surprisingly tempting aroma. “Mexican food is actually my favorite, too.”
“Yeah.” He smiled ruefully. “Karen called to let me know that.”
Mina sighed. “Maybe I should be surprised, but I’m not.”
He laughed. “Neither am I. I got the feeling that she was trying to push us together the other night at Ruby’s.”
“You have no idea,” Mina said, thinking back to the heated conversation she and Karen had shared that afternoon in the restaurant’s bathroom. “But anyway, I appreciate how nice you were to Jess. I know she can be chatty.”
He shrugged, revealing a hint of a smile. “She’s quiet as a mouse compared to your friend Karen. Besides, I didn’t mind. She seems like a great kid.” His smile seemed to waver for half a second, the lapse so brief that Mina wondered whether she might have imagined it. “And very talented, too.”
Mina grinned, remembering their night at Ruby’s, when Eric had been caught in the crossfire of Karen and Jess’s characteristically enthusiastic conversations. “Yeah, now that you mention it, I guess I tend to surround myself with loud people.” Maybe that was another reason she was so attracted to Eric. He was calm and relatively quiet, but not in a brooding way – more in a laid-back fashion. Her cheeks warmed as she remembered his complacency at Karen’s studio, where he’d agreed to her suggestions without batting an eyelash – including her request that he pose half-naked with Mina. Was he always so agreeable, or had he wanted to wrap his arms around her with nothing but a sinfully thin layer of silk between their bodies?
They shared an appetizer, discussing the reason why they’d met in the first place – tattoos – between bites. By the time their fajitas were delivered hot and sizzling, she knew she’d only be able to enjoy the meal if she got her ultra-condensed life summary out into the open. Then they could enjoy dinner together and Eric would have a little time to contemplate it. It wasn’t an easy thing to bring up. She’d just have to plunge right in. “I should probably tell you; Karen is keeping Jess company for me right now. Jess doesn’t have parents – just me. I’m her legal guardian.”
Eric set his water glass down on the table and Mina couldn’t help but notice the moisture that gleamed on his tempting lips. “Wow. I wouldn’t have guessed.”
Mina nodded. “Yeah. We’ve been living that way for three years now. We’re both used to it – I just thought it was something you should know if, you know…”
He nodded. “I understand.”
His tone was easy and decidedly neutral; impossible to really interpret. She tried not to read too much into it. The moment of truth would come when dinner ended. For now, she’d just try to enjoy the meal as best she could.
She wasn’t sure whether to be pleased or not when he suggested that they order dessert. On one hand, she was enjoying being with him, even when they were simply eating, making little conversation. On the other hand, if he was going to tell her he wasn’t interested in seeing her again, she’d rather their date end sooner. Just like peeling off a Band-Aid, it would hurt less the faster it was done. Wouldn’t it? She eyed him across the table as he gave the waiter their order, and couldn’t deny the wave of longing that swept over her. Instead of tasting the tea she’d just sipped, she tasted him. His lips had been soft, and his hands hot on her skin…
“The flan here is great too,” he said, causing her to divert her gaze from his arms to his face. He was wearing one of those sinfully simple cotton shirts again, which allowed her make out the curves of his biceps underneath. Now that she knew exactly what lay beneath, it was harder than ever not to think about it. “Are you OK?”
She snapped out of her muscle-dazed trance, realizing with embarrassment that she’d been staring at his arms again. She must have looked like she’d been zoning out. “Yeah, I’m fine. I was just thinking about work. Sorry.” It was sort of true. She’d never really gotten over the way Ashley had assaulted her and Amy that afternoon and the incident had been a prominent fixture in the back of her mind ever since.
“You said you work at a bank, right?”
She nodded. She’d mentioned it in passing but had steamrolled over the topic in her haste to confess her family situation. “I’m a teller.”
“Do you like your job?”
She shrugged. “I did, but I have a new co-worker who’s been making work miserable for all the tellers lately and I’m hoping to be promoted to a position as a junior loan officer.” She smiled at the thought of her own private cubicle. “I guess you could say that I like working in finance though.”
“Oh yeah?”
She nodded. “Working with money is easy. If yo
u run into a problem, there’s always a way to solve it. All the counting and calculations…it must sound really boring, but there’s something satisfying about knowing there’s always a method that can be used to reach a solution.” Unlike real life, banking was organized and formulaic. For the past three years she’d been striving to achieve that same balance and sense of comfort at home, despite how difficult it was to truly control one’s life.
“I can imagine that,” he said. “When I’m tattooing I sort of get into this zone where I’m not really thinking about anything else. When I’m in that state, I know the piece is going to turn out great.”
She nodded. Applying permanent artwork to someone’s body wasn’t exactly the same thing as cashing someone’s check, but she appreciated him trying to bridge the gap between their vastly different jobs. “That sounds great too. Too bad I don’t have a lick of artistic talent or I might just consider trying my hand at something more creative.”