Chapter 14
A Visitor
Mike
The noise of his machines humming in his ears was the one sound that never failed to calm him. No matter what was going on in or out of his head, that steady buzzing grounded him.
He was halfway through a large thigh tattoo on a forty year old woman who was sitting like a champ, despite it being a huge piece and her first one at that, when a gentle knock sounded on the open door to his room. A second later, Heather, their shop receptionist, popped her head in.
“Hey,” she smiled, all business, but friendly as always. “There’s a woman here to see you. Says she has an appointment.”
Mike frowned. He raised his machine and set it back onto the tray beside him. “That’s weird. I didn’t have anything booked, did I?”
Heather shrugged. “Nope. I checked the books. I thought I’d made a mistake since I didn’t have anything down. If you don’t know of anything either, I’ll ask her to come back later. Maybe around five since you’ll probably be done by then? If you want, I mean.”
“Sure, that would be great.”
Mike didn’t think anything else of his mystery appointment. He finished up his tattoo for his client. The second someone looked in the mirror and saw their brand new artwork, their smiles never failed to make his day. He was still riding high on that feeling when Heather popped back into the room.
“Okay, that lady I asked to come back around five… she’s here. I know you’re still cleaning up, but do you want me to send her back?”
“I guess so.” Mike wracked his brain trying to figure out who would say they had an appointment with him. He was damn sure that he couldn’t have just forgotten. He had a mind like a steel trap for that. He’d never missed or forgotten an appointment in his entire career.
The mystery surrounding the mysterious forgotten client was solved the second Christine walked into his room. She shut the door behind her, trapping him inside before he could do anything about it.
“I thought that if I gave my name, you wouldn’t agree to meet me.” She looked the same as she always did. She was beautiful, a natural blonde with large blue eyes. She had an attractive body too. Mike hadn’t been in a good place the first time he met Christine. She was clearly looking for more than just a tattoo and he was lonely and figured a few dates wouldn’t hurt. He hadn’t meant to lead Christine on, he really hadn’t. Hell, he’d tried to get out of the relationship before, just ghost, but she was rather… persistent. She wouldn’t give up on him and she sure wouldn’t let him ghost on her either.
“You’re right.” Mike evaluated his chances of getting around Christine and opening the door, but she was standing right in front of it. He’d have to literally push her out of the way and he just didn’t feel comfortable touching her or getting close at all. There was something in her eyes that he didn’t like. Some kind of weird light, a strange desperation that he’d seen before.
“I’ve been thinking about how we ended things. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.” Christine’s voice wavered, as though she was close to tears and Mike winced. The last thing he needed was a huge scene in his workplace with a woman he never should have got himself involved with. He’d actually been surprised that after the breakup he hadn’t heard from her.
“Okay… well, how about we talk about this later…”
“I just came for closure. Isn’t that something you think you owe me, Mike? We were together for six months.”
Not necessarily because I wanted to be. He didn’t say anything of the kind. He knew what kind of screaming match could ensue and he didn’t need other people’s clients hearing his drama. Desperate, he came up with the worst kind of solution.
“Why don’t we go out for dinner later? The two of us. Just to talk,” he added firmly. “I mean it, Christine. There is absolutely no chance that we would get back together. Ever. Do you understand?”
She nodded firmly, but that strange glow in her eyes intensified. Mike felt a little like a rabbit with the wolves circling in around him. His mouth dried out and his palms began to sweat.
“I know that,” she snapped quickly, too quickly. “I just… I didn’t mean for it to end badly. I didn’t want it to end up like that between us.”
“There isn’t a chance that we could be friends. I mean it, the breakup, that was the end. I’m not sure what kind of closure I can give you.”
Her eyes welled with tears and Mike knew he was heading down the wrong path. God, he couldn’t have it happen at the shop. He needed to get her out of there. Thankfully she gathered herself together and rattled off the name of some place close by.
“I’ll be waiting there,” she added, almost furiously before she opened the door and disappeared out of his booth.
Good lord. There were certain ghosts from his past that he wished would remain ghosts. He had no desire to see Christine again. He’d almost forgotten about her entirely. He certainly didn’t like the wild look in her eyes. She couldn’t hide the devastation on her face either. He knew she’d cared about him. Far too much. He hadn’t been fair to her. He’d been with her when he was still in love with Savannah. He’d given her absolutely nothing of himself and Christine had been kind in her own way. She’d tried to bring him out of his shell. One night, when they were both drunk, he’d accidentally told her about Savannah. That he’d loved her and she hurt him. Ever since then, he knew she hadn’t forgotten. When he’d finally broken up with her for good, she knew the reason.
After Mike was finished cleaning up his booth, he headed right over to the restaurant down the street that Christine had mentioned. His entire body was tied up in uncomfortable knots. He dreaded a confrontation. Christine was emotional and that didn’t make her rational very often when she was worked up.
He waited. And waited. Went through one water, then another and finally ordered a soda. He sipped at it, his anxiety growing with every passing moment. He didn’t know what he could possibly say to a woman he’d basically used at one of the lowest points in his life. He’d hurt her and for that he truly was sorry. He’d come, only because he wanted her to know.
The odd thing was, she never showed up. He waited two hours and then paid his bill and left. As he walked back to the shop and to his car, he was left with an unsettled feeling he didn’t like at all. He was haunted by the desperation in Christine’s eyes. He just hoped she’d changed her mind after she saw him at the shop, decided she was acting strangely and didn’t show up for the closure she said she needed.
He hoped that was the end of it. He’d once heard a saying before, something about never underestimating the wrath of a spurned woman. He had a bad feeling, it wasn’t the end at all.