"Sure enough to know I want this," Gabe said, taking my hand in his. The pink girl took this in, her jaw growing tight. Me, I just looked at his hand, not sure what to think. Flea waited for some kind of indication I approved. I heard guys standing around the bench shift and grow impatient, now that the only tits on display were male. As the silence grew, Gabe's eyes also turned towards me.
"What about just initials?" I suggested. It wasn't what I wanted, I didn't really know what I wanted. We'd been hanging out for a month or so, I hadn't expected to be having a conversation about my name being tattooed on anyone's body quite yet. It was, evidently, the wrong answer. Flea shook his head slightly, turning to grab some transfer paper. Pink-haired girl slipped her arm around another burly guy and wandered off, taking at least half the audience with her. I sat down on a stool and tangled my fingers with Gabe's, but he'd turned his face away from me.
"Mate, I don't usually do names, except for kids and dead relatives," Flea said as he prepped the stencil. "I can do it as a favour, but maybe a symbol might be a better choice."
"Like what?" I said.
“Sometimes people get an image that relates to the loved one's name."
"My name's Ash. What's he going to get, a burnt tree?"
"Do the initials," Gabe said in a hoarse voice. "Let's get it done."
"Righto, mate," Flea said, showing him the stencil when it was done.
What am I fucking doing? I thought as the tattoo was inked. When his hand closed hard around mine, I didn’t think it was the pain. He was a seasoned veteran of the needle. If there was any pain that was causing him to flinch, it was caused by me.
I'd been equal parts annoyed and amused by Gabe's appearance in my life. He was so . . . different from other blokes who'd been in my life. His looks were obviously striking, but it went beyond that. He seemed a lot less complicated, played a lot less games which weirdly, made him more complicated for me. I was used to the 'will he, won't he' push and pull at the beginning of a relationship, where guys run a bit hot and cold and you have no idea what's going on. Instead, Gabe just seemed to run hot, relentlessly hot. But how do I run? I wat
ched the outline begin to appear on his skin. I didn't know.
“There you go, mate," Flea said. As Gabe got up and looked at the tattoo in the mirror, I could see his shaky smile reflected in the surface. Oh fuck, I put that there, I thought, feeling my chest tighten painfully. I walked over to him and slipped my arm around his waist, reaching across with the other to touch the artwork.
"It looks good on you, though everything seems to look good on you."
"It's too soon," he said. "I'm rushing things."
I sighed and rested my head against his shoulder, "Everything's moving fast, that's for sure. Maybe you've just got to give me some time to catch up to you."
He pulled me to him, taking me in his arms and laid a single kiss on my forehead. "I'll try."
"There you are, darling! This all looks very professional. How long did the renovations take? This will be a real selling point if you decide to rent out the other side of the shop. Shows what can be done with the old place with a little work.”
"Hello, Mum," I said. She swooped over and enfolded me in a cloud of expensive perfume as she kissed each cheek.
"They've done a solid job," Dad said, inspecting the nearest picture frame. "Nice mitred joints. Maybe I should get some ink myself."
“Bill, tattoos work as business casual for the young only," Mum said.
"Think I'm too old now for 'CeCe forever'?" Dad said, writing the words over his chest with his finger.
"Don't be ridiculous," Mum said. "Ah, Gabriel, how are you?" I turned to see him arrive with a beer and a white wine, passing them to my Mum and Dad. "Pinot Grigio? Lovely. Now, where's Therese? Neither of you has responded to my meeting invites to discuss the business. We need to work out a mutually beneficial time."
"Um, I'll go find her." Gabe looked at me in alarm as I disappeared into the crowd, but I saw the gleam in my mother’s eye as she launched into yet more questions for Gabe. No doubt, he'd be providing her with a business plan and profit/loss statement before the end of the night.
I found Tess sitting on one of the benches right at the back of the shop, nursing a drink. She was so still, just staring down at her drink. I should’ve been keeping more of an eye on what was going on with Merlin, I thought, she looks miserable. That didn't seem to be enough to deter the guy who was standing in front of her, carrying the one-sided conversation.
"Hey," I said slipping down beside her, "not what you want to hear right now, but Mum's here and she's got her diary out."
"Oh, the business meeting!" Tess said, slapping her forehead.
"Don't worry, I forgot as well. I think I got caught up dusting the cobwebs or something similarly stupid."
“Is she on the warpath?” Tess asked with a wince.
“Not yet, but we might not want to miss this meeting. Otherwise, we’ll get an impromptu one here.” We both considered the prospect of our mother appearing at the shop, particularly on a quiet day when there were no customers. It wasn’t pretty.
“I can sort out whoever’s troubling you ladies,” the guy said, leering down at us.