"I'm good to keep going."
Without responding, she goes back to her phone. I start up again and try to drown out the high-pitched whining of the girl in Arlo's chair. She's not in pain. They actually haven't even started. No, she's just psychingherself out. Arlo's trying their best to calm her, but she's really nervous.
Another hour passes. Arlo's client is long gone, having only spent ten minutes in Arlo's chair to get a small heart tattooed on her wrist. I glance up to check on B and notice that her phone is now lying on her chest, her hands placed gently over top of it, and her eyes shut.
Is she sleeping?
I know she wants this, but something feels wrong about tattooing a girl who's passed out in my chair. I take this opportunity to get up, stretch my legs, and grab a drink of water.
By the time I get back, she's back on her phone, her nap clearly over.
"You know they say that if a person can fall asleep during a tattoo session, they're a little bit crazy, right?"
"Traumatized."
"Sorry?"
She looks up at me, that permanent smirk still on her face. "The thing they say is that you'retraumatizedif you can fall asleep while getting stabbed with needles repeatedly."
"Same thing."
She sticks her tongue out at me. Like, actually just stuck her tongue out at me.
This little brat is just begging to be spanked.
No, stop that! Knock it off, Kass. She's a fucking client, not your plaything.
But I'd like her to be.
An hour later, I'm doing the final touches on her piece. I lean back to get a good look at it, trying to see if there's anything I missed. I have to say that it's one of my best pieces in this style. The eyes look so life-like, you can feelthem staring at you as the flames dance around them. Which is exactly what she asked for.
"Alright, you ready to take a look?"
"Hells yeah!" She sits up and walks over to the mirror. "Holy shit. This is so fucking cool."
"Anything missing?"
"No. It's perfect." Her smile spans from ear to ear, and I can't help but notice how beautiful she looks when she's this happy.
"I'm glad you like it."
I start wrapping her freshly inked skin.
"Thank you. For real. This is exactly what I was envisioning. It's like you took the image right out of my brain and slapped it on my skin. Actually, it's better than that. I was considering drawing it myself, but I'm so glad I didn't."
"You draw?"
"Paint mostly. I'm decently artistic, but this is way better than anything I could have drawn up. I can't wait to show Daniel."
My stomach sinks a bit. Does she have a boyfriend? Her social media didn't give any hints of one. And she was definitely flirting with me today, right? Or am I just that delusional?
The wrap is placed, so I roll my chair back, away from her nearly naked torso. "I'm sure your boyfriend will love it. Just tell him to take it easy on you until it heals."
She bursts out laughing. "He's going to die when I tell him you said that. He's my boss, not my boyfriend."
"Oh." I can feel my cheeks start to heat up. I should have just kept my mouth shut. It's seriously none of my business anyway.
"Don't worry, I'm available."
