by M. D. Melai
She was stunned for a moment, and it took her a second to respond.
“Yes!” she said as she jumped off the couch and ran over to me, flinging her arms around me. “Yes I would love to stay on!” She made her way over to Violet, and hugged her as well. “Thank you!”
“Well, get yourself some coffee and let’s get to work. We need you to call around and see if we can get some new clientele around here, before we’re all three out of a job.” I smiled.
“Actually, about that, I’ve been answering the phone for both of you,” Elle said shyly. “I had all the phones routed to my cell phone, so every time someone called the office, it came straight to me. I hope you’re not upset with me. I knew the two of you were really busy, and I just wanted to help out as much as I could. I’ve made a few notes, and you have several businesses to call back. I wrote down their names and numbers here,” she said as she picked up a planner that had been lying on my desk, and handed it to me.
“Wow, thank you so much for doing that. We really appreciate it,” I said smiling. “Violet, if you think you’re good here, then it seems I have a few calls to make,” I said as Violet gave me a thumbs up.
***
I called every client that had left a message with Elle. I also checked our voicemail just in case she had missed a few calls as well. Almost all of them still wanted our business, and I apologized for us not getting back with them sooner. By the end of the last call, we had almost fifteen new projects set up for over the next year. This was exactly what I needed, and I was thankful that my wish came true.
Violet started to make a schedule for each of the projects that would be approaching soon, and she also called to give our contractors a heads up. She told them she would know for certain the dates after our initial walk-throughs.
Elle and I started brainstorming ideas of each space we knew had definite themes. With some of the projects, we were free to come up with any ideas we thought would work, but some clients knew exactly what they wanted.
By the time evening came around, we all had a firm grasp on our plans for the next few weeks.
The three of us decided to stay in and make dinner that night. As we cooked, we turned up the radio and danced around the kitchen. It was nice to just laugh and hang out with the girls.
“I’ll be right back. I have a playlist on my iPod you both need to listen to,” I said as I made my way out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
When I got to my bedroom, I searched through all my things, but sadly, I couldn’t find it anywhere. I made my way over to my vanity and pulled out a couple of the drawers, searching for it. I knew it was around here somewhere—I just had it yesterday.
There was a small box in the bottom drawer. I knew my iPod wasn’t in there, but I, myself, was curious, because for the life of me, I couldn’t remember what I had put in there.
As I opened the box, I saw a lot of my knick-knacks from when I was younger. I flipped through everything, when I came across a picture of Emilio and me.
We were sitting on the dock at Giorgio’s lake house, soaking wet from being in the water all day. I was smiling and laughing as I looked at the camera and my mother. Emilio, though, was looking straight at me, like I was the only person in the world at that moment in time.
It was the last year he and I had been together before he tore my heart in two. He had just graduated from high school, and my family and his were all at Giorgio’s house celebrating.
He only had the one tattoo on his ribs at the time—our sayings to each other. His mother had been so mad at him, since he had only been sixteen when he got it. His father, on the other hand, had slapped him on the back and told him it was a good choice.
I smiled at the memory.
We both looked so young and innocent. It was hard to believe this was six years ago. So much had happened in those six short years.
Why couldn’t things be as simple as they were back then?
I put the picture back in the box and sighed as I put the box back into the drawer. I had done so good today. I hadn’t thought about Emilio, Lucas, or Benito at all.
“Everything okay up there?” Violet yelled up the stairs.
“Yes,” I said, shutting the drawer and standing up. “Be there in a minute!”
I searched my room for a few more minutes, tucking my thoughts about the men in my life away. I finally found my iPod behind the door of the bathroom. How it ended up there, I had no clue.
When I made my way back down the stairs, I thought about how far I had come in the last couple of years and what all I still wanted to do with my life. There was still so much I hadn’t done, especially the adventures I had written on my bucket list.
There had only been one that I had crossed off, and Emilio helped me achieve that. It was now time to do that again—soon.
That was when I came up with a courageous idea, and I wasn’t sure how Elle and Violet would react.
As I walked into the kitchen, I had a smirk on my face. Violet and Elle both looked at each other and then back at me.
“Is everything okay, Lily?” Elle asked.
“Yeah,” Violet added. “You have a very unusual look on your face, like you’re about to do something crazy.”
“You’re right. I do have something in mind, and it is crazy.”
They both looked at me with anticipation as they waited for me to tell them what was on my mind. I held out the seconds, wanting the anticipation to grow until they couldn’t stand it any longer. Violet was starting to get fidgety, and Elle’s eyes grew wider with each passing second.
“Who’s up for a tattoo?” I asked excitedly.
Chapter 4
“Are you crazy?” was Violet’s immediate response, just as I expected. That was two days ago.
I tried my best to convince both Elle and Violet to get a tattoo with me, but neither one of them wanted to.
“Are you sure about this?” Violet asked me for the millionth time as I put my lipstick on.
“Yes.” I smiled at her as I turned away from the mirror and headed toward my purse, which was lying on my bed. I had never been more sure of anything else in my life. “Elle said she asked around and this Jasper guy is supposed to be one of the best.” I placed my lipstick back into my purse and checked to make sure I had everything I would need for the night.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this.” She sighed, disapproving my decision.
“It’s on my list, and I want to do it. Life is too short to not do the things I want to do.” I put down my purse, turned to face her, and took her hands in mine. “Stop worrying about something that isn’t even your decision. Tonight is only about celebrating my belated birthday, your birthday, and the fact that my best friend in the entire world is getting married to my awesome brother…” My voice trailed off, and my eyes dropped from hers. I still wasn’t used to this whole ordeal yet.
“Lily,” Violet said as she dipped her head to the side to bring my attention back to her. Once our eyes met again, she continued. “Dante is your brother, no matter what. You were raised like that and you shouldn’t let it confuse you this much. This was how Benito wanted you to grow up. If he would have wanted it any other way, then he would have made a different choice. No matter what the circumstances were when he made that decision, it was his decision and he is the one who has to live with it. Giorgio, Giovanni, Marcello, and Dante will always be your brothers. Benito, well…” She let her sentence end, before shrugging and giving me a supportive smile.
Violet had been my rock for the last couple of days. She always had the right words to say at the right time. I don’t know what I would have done without her. Violet had been my “sister” for years, and soon, she would carry my last name.
“Okay, enough about this,” I said as I hugged her, fluffed her hair, and smiled. “Let’s get this night started!”
I looked in the mirror one last time. My outfit was really cute tonight. I had bought it online a while back and hadn’t had the chance
to wear it. It was a cute one shoulder, quarter length sleeved, black lace dress. It was cute and flirty for the evening, but most importantly, it would cover up the place my tattoo would be. I had on my red pumps to match my jungle red lipstick I was sporting. Violet looked as lovely as ever in an electric blue sleeveless dress and matching heels. Only she could pull off such a color.
“If you two don’t hurry up, then I’m leaving you,” Elle called from downstairs.
I winked at Violet in the mirror, before grabbing my purse and heading down the stairs.
Elle was waiting patiently for us at the end of the stairwell. She was dressed in her new canary yellow strapless dress that was complemented by a black belt and her favorite black pumps.
“I swear you two take forever. I aged five years waiting on both of you,” she said sarcastically.
“You can’t rush perfection.” I smiled as I passed her and headed out the door. “I’m driving,” I said over my shoulder, before catching a glimpse of Violet and Elle following me.
I slid into the driver seat of my black Camaro with ease. My favorite part about being home and taking control of my independence was the fact that I got to drive my car again.
Violet opened the passenger side door, pulled the lever so the seat flipped over, and motioned for Elle to get into the back.
“Again,” Elle complained.
“Yes,” Violet laughed. “I pull rank around here.”
I laughed along with her as I started the engine. The car roared to life and shook the ground under it. It always made my heart speed up like I was coming to life with it. Violet climbed in and shut the door right before I reversed the car out of the garage and hit the gas.
We talked the entire drive into the city. The three of us had been getting along quite well since our return home. We were all excited about going out tonight and having some much needed fun.
The tattoo parlor wasn’t hard to find. Violet sat in the front seat with the GPS and helped me navigate the traffic. The place on the outside was nice, but the inside was something I wasn’t expecting.
Everything was extremely clean, bright, and inviting. The shiny white tile floor set the mood of the entire place as it brought together the red walls, white trim, and white ceilings. There were four medium sized black chandeliers hanging in the aisle between the tattoo stations. The rooms, which were more like cubicles, were lifted off the ground by six inches, and slate black tile adorned the floor. The cubicles were separated by three feet tall glass walls. I could see everything that was going on through the entire space. There were two rooms on the far back wall that had black sliding doors. My guess was that those rooms were reserved for more intimate tattoos and piercings.
“The nail salon is around the corner,” a purpled headed tattoo artist said as we walked up to the counter. By the way she looked at us, I could tell she didn’t think we belonged here.
“Actually,” I said, getting her full attention. “I have an appointment with Jasper.”
She rolled her eyes as she shut her artist book and turned toward the computer.
“Name?” she asked annoyed.
“Liliana Dapprima.”
Shock flooded her face, which made me feel like I had the upper hand. But it only lasted for a second. She looked me up and down, before standing from her chair and looking at me once over again.
“I’ll let him know you’re here,” she said with a smirk.
In that moment, I was starting to panic. What if I was on someone else’s territory? If that were the case, then using my last name was a big mistake.
I turned back toward the girls and directed my attention to Elle.
“Elle, when I said research, did you take into account other issues that might arise?”
She looked offended before recognition flashed across her face.
“This place came highly recommended by someone we can trust,” she said smiling. I could tell she was sure about this.
“He’s ready for you,” the woman said with the same harshness as she had before.
She needed to get an attitude adjustment quickly, and I was perfectly fine being the one to give it to her.
“Do you have a problem with me?” I asked pointedly. “Because if you do, say it to my face instead of treating me like you’re better than me.”
She cocked her head to the side and smirked. “He was right. You’re definitely feisty.”
“Excuse me?” I shot back.
“Lily,” Jasper said as he walked out of his cubicle. “I have everything ready, if you are?”
I nodded in response and took one last look at the woman. I had already made up my mind that I didn’t like her at all.
As I walked towards the cubicle Jasper had just come out of, I glanced in Violet and Elle’s direction. They looked as if they were about to try and talk me out of the tattoo one last time.
“I’m Jasper,” he said as he stuck out his large hand for me to shake. “And you must be the infamous Lily.”
“I don’t know about infamous, but yes, I’m Lily,” I said confused.
“It’s nice to finally meet you.” The way he said it, though, was different. He and the other artist acted as if they knew me. Maybe this was my father’s territory and they had heard about me through him. Leave it to my father to call me feisty.
“And you as well,” I said back, not knowing what else to say.
“Well, let’s take a look at my outline and you can let me know if this is what you had in mind or not.” Jasper turned slightly, just enough for me to be able to see the stencil lying on a small light up drawing table.
“It’s perfect,” I breathed out.
And it was.
When I had decided I was going to get a tattoo, there was no doubt in my mind what I was looking for. I wanted a memorial tattoo—something small and delicate. The design I was staring down at was exactly that. The infinity symbol with two hearts was four inches long and about an inch and a half high. The heart on the top left side had “Roman” scripted in the middle, and the one on the bottom right had “Papá.” Then in-between the right side loops were the words, “until we,” and the left side said, “meet again.”
It was everything I had imagined and more. I knew then that I wasn’t going to back out of this.
“Where are we going to be placing this beauty tonight?” he asked when I finally got settled on the chair moments later.
“Right here,” I said as I slid my one shoulder off and placed my hand over the left side of my chest, right above my heart.
***
It hadn’t taken long for Jasper to complete the tattoo once he got started, which for me was a good thing. It wasn’t the most unbearable pain as I had heard people complain about, but it wasn’t the most comfortable either.
When he was done, he handed me a handheld mirror. I was speechless the moment I saw it. Now I would have something that reminded me of the person who raised me and the friend I still longed to see each and every day.
After I was cleaned and bandaged up, Jasper instructed me on how to care for my new tattoo before we left the parlor and headed to dinner.
Violet and Elle kept the conversation flowing through dinner, and before we knew it, it was ten o’clock and we were making our way up to the front door of Insanity.
We got a few whistles and even a couple of sneers as we made our way past the velveteen rope and straight to the front. We said “hello” to the bouncers, who opened the door for us, before walking straight in.
It was definitely a perk to be known around here.
When Violet and Elle had suggested Insanity for the evening, I had been less than thrilled. The amount of memories associated with the place was more than I was willing to bargain with, but they convinced me anyway.
All the men were still out of town and wouldn’t be arriving until tomorrow, so I figured that it would be a good night to go without their cautious eyes watching us. Even though I wanted more independence, the safety net of the club I
knew so well was something the three of us couldn’t pass up.
After a drink, congratulations, and two happy birthdays, the three of us headed to the dance floor and stayed there for what seemed like hours. It was like everyone in the place knew who we were and circled the dance floor around us. Several guys had been brave enough to come up and ask us to dance as well.
Song after song, we danced and laughed. The DJ was spectacular, and it seemed as if he knew tonight was not the night to add any slow songs in.
Out on the dance floor, I didn’t have a care in the world. I didn’t think about Emilio, Lucas, Benito, or anything else that had happened over the past week. I finally felt at ease. I was acting how a normal twenty-three year old should, and it was liberating.
“Drinks?” I asked as one song was ending and another one was starting.
“Yes,” Violet said, and Elle nodded in agreement. “Meet you back at the table?”
“Yeah,” I said, before heading towards the bar.
Just like skipping the line outside of the club, all I had to do was go straight to the bar and the bartender, Erik, helped me instantly.
“What can I get you, Lily?” he asked.
“We’re in desperate need of some water.” I smiled.
“You got it.” He half smiled, before turning around and making his way to the cooler in the middle of the bar.
I didn’t know anyone was standing behind me until I heard them speak… him speak.
“Hello, Liliana,” he charmingly spoke.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up and chills ran down my spine. I was instantly terrified. I looked side-to-side for anyone that could help me, but no such luck. He cleared his throat before I saw him shift out of the corner of my right eye. I wanted to run. How did he even get in here?
Hello, Nikolas,” I said as I slowly turned around to face him. “Who’s your friend?” I asked.
The man standing behind Nikolas was glaring at me with the most piercing, eerily familiar blue eyes I had ever seen. Just one glimpse into them made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and chills run down my body. The person who Nikolas was with instantly terrified me to my core, and I could feel that he was dangerous—very dangerous.