Ariel

 

I can’t help it, I die laughing at the expression on Dillon’s face when he learns that we do those type of piercings. “Of course we do, it’s good money and doesn’t take too long to do if we don’t have a client who is squeamish.” The look he gives me lets me know we’ll be having a conversation later on about this particular topic. Guess he never thought about what else I do here.

“What about you, Ariel?” Carson asks me, but his eyes are glued to Rainey as she walks around the breakroom making her coffee and getting extra supplies from the linen closet.

“Are you shadowing Ariel today?” Rainey asks him while staying busy.

“I’m not sure, it hasn’t been discussed yet,” Carson answers her question.

My head is ping-ponging back and forth watching the two of them converse. I nearly laugh out loud when I notice the sly looks they keep passing each other’s way when the other isn’t watching. Looks like I’ll need to keep an eye on these two at the work place, no hanky panky happens on company time. Although, I may could be persuaded to change my mind if a certain man of mine wanted to give my tattoo bench a go.

“Ariel, earth to Ariel, is anybody home?” Rainey brings me out of my musings by snapping her fingers at me.

“Yeah, biotch, I’m home was just thinking is all… what’s up?”

“I was asking if you wanted me to give Carson a tour of the shop or if you were going to do it.”

“I’ll do it since you have a client coming in here shortly. My first one doesn’t show up until three-fifteen.”

“Sounds like a plan, see you later, Carson,” Rainey says as she dashes out of the room. I watch as Carson’s eyes are glued to her back as she makes her way to her station.

“So…” I say getting his attention, “Are you ready to do this?”

“I am. I’m stoked you agreed to let me intern here, it means a lot to me. It’s always been a dream of mine to tattoo, thanks for makin’ it a reality for me.”

“You’re welcome, Carson, I had an advantage with my dad and uncle. Not everyone gets that so I’m happy that I’m able to extend that to you.”

“You have no idea how happy it made me when Wasp told me you were willing to give me a chance and show me the ropes.”

“I can imagine… Dillon, you want to come with us on the tour?” For some reason I want him by my side at all times.

“Sure, I haven’t had a chance to see everything yet.”

“Before we begin, I want to inform you of a few things. There are no drinks at the stations other than bottled water since it’s easily contained. You come in here to eat,” I say indicating the breakroom. “And you only eat in here unless you take off for lunch. I won’t have anything contaminating our materials. I have a table and a couple of benches set up out back in case you wanna take a break and relax outside for a bit. I also have a portable ashtray in case you’re a smoker. In between clients you need to make sure you get up and move around so you don’t stiffen up. We also have clay that we use and mold with our hands to keep them from stiffening up after working on clients for extended periods of time. This is optional not a rule. We have a refrigerator as you can see,” I say showing him with my hands. “You’re more than welcome to stock it with your favorite sodas and food. We have a microwave that’s underneath the cabinet of the sink. This allows us more counterspace for other items. If you drink coffee we have a Keurig machine, tell me what kind of coffee you like, and I’ll make sure to stock up on the pods when I get supplies for the upcoming month. Follow me and I’ll show you the stations and piercing room,” I say as I begin to walk out of the room with them following me. “The piercing room is kept sterile just like a hospital’s operating room. We don’t want our clients getting any type of infection from us. We all clean it as soon as the client walks out of the room. The cleaning supplies are kept in a cabinet in that room, we have gloves for cleaning, both latex and non-latex since Rainey is allergic.”

“I’m allergic to latex as well,” Carson tells us.

“Good to know, make sure you keep up with inventory, so I make sure we stay stocked up.” If he gets with Rainey she’s got a surprise heading her way…no condoms for him. Which makes me worry for his health, does he fool around with the club sluts? Maybe I should discourage any type of relationship between the two, I don’t want my sister catching anything because then I’ll be in jail for assault. I want to ask him about it, but it’s really none of my business—for now.

“Do you have an inventory sheet, or do I just verbally tell you?” Carson asks me.

“We don’t have a hand-written sheet, but we all have iPads that have the sheet in there and they’re all linked together. I will order yours today and it should be here by the end of the week and I’ll get you linked up with us. You will also have the availability to see our clients and the jobs they want done. This way you can shadow whichever one of us whose jobs appeals to you.”

“I’m not sure if I want to get into piercings,” he tells me.

“You don’t have to, it’s optional but remember that we have all types of clientele and you could make some quick good money doing those jobs.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.” As he says this I can see in his face that he won’t be learning to pierce.

“Moving on,” I walk them through the stations and rooms and once we hit the front, I show him how to log in, sign people in… what forms need to be filled out and what all the process entails. We quickly go over how to check people out, work the credit card machine and how to find the inventory numbers to each item we sell separately. As soon as we finish, the bell over the door chimes and in walks the man I’m assuming is Rainey’s first client of the day.

“Can I help you?” I ask the newcomer.

“Yes, I have an appointment to get some ink done.” I look at the company schedule and ask, “Are you Zack?”

“I am,” he replies.

“I’ll let Rainey know you’re here if you’d just have a seat right over there.” I indicate the seating area, “Is this your first time with us?”

“It is.” Not very talkative, is he?

“Could you fill out these forms and give us your driver’s license, so we can make a copy and add it to your file please?” I ask, handing him the sheet of paper and getting his license from him. Carson takes it from me to make a copy while I go let Rainey know he’s here.

Once I’ve let Rainey know he’s here, I walk back up front and hear the bell chime over the door, I look up to see Emory entering with a dreamy look upon her face. “Good night?” I ask her.

“The best,” she says as she walks to the breakroom to put her things away and get ready to start her day. Guess I’ll have to pry information from her later when there aren’t so many ears around.

 

 

The rest of the day passes in a blur, we had so many walk-in’s we could barely keep up with the demand. Carson spent his day working the front counter while my sisters and I worked diligently to get through everyone as quickly and professionally as we possibly could. Dillon ended up getting called into the hospital, so his job is secure it seems. But I ended up with an extra babysitter who spent most of his time fawning at Rainey’s feet. Levi seems to have an infatuation with my sister just as much as his brother does. I see a love triangle in the making because my sister’s eyes went from one brother to the other throughout the day. You wouldn’t have known they were there for me except for the times that I left my station and went to break or walked around to stretch my legs…they were right on my ass then. It started to grate on my nerves until I was reminded by them each time I said something why they were there. I had to remind Carson several times that he wasn’t there to be my keeper, but to work and learn. To which he replied, “I can do both, I’m multi-talented that way.” I had no retort because I would’ve lost several clients with my sailor-like mouth.

Don’t get me wrong, I had several comebacks enter my brain, but I was attempting to do the adult thing and pretend to ignore him. As we finally closed up for the night I had a text message waiting for me.

 

Dillon: I will be working overnight, but either Carson or Levi will camp out on the couch until I get home. Home, that sounds good coming from him, I wonder if he realizes he called my place his home?

Me: fine if they must. He replies to me immediately.

Dillon: they must

 

With nothing left to say, we all leave, and I have Levi tailing me home. I already miss my independence and not having to tell someone where I’m going every second of the day, and it hasn’t even been a full twenty-four hours of this shit yet!

Once we make it back to my house I’m happy to see I have no presents or notes awaiting my arrival. I go about my nightly routine of letting Sassy girl out, getting Levi settled and showing him where everything is. I shower, shave, brush my teeth and crawl into bed. It isn’t long until sleep takes me over with my girl at my side.

 

 

I startle awake when I hear Sassy growling. My fight or flight instincts have kicked in and I grab the baseball bat that I keep next to my bed as I jump up ready to knock someone’s skull in.

“It’s just me, baby,” I hear Dillon say, causing my racing heart to settle some. I put the baseball bat back in its place and lean over to calm my girl down. Dillon walks over to the bed and sits next to me, meanwhile petting Sassy to let her know everything is alright.

“How was your night?” I ask him.

“Crazy busy, the reason I got called in was because there was a multi-car pileup on the interstate and it was too much for one doctor to take care of on his own. I didn’t think we’d ever get everyone taken care of, we even had to turn some down and send them to County,” he tells me with a yawn. I slide over and pull the blanket and sheets aside to get in.

“You going to take a shower, or do you want to go to sleep right away?”

“I had a shower in the doctor’s lounge, I just want to crawl in bed beside you and hold you while I fall asleep.” As he’s saying this he’s stripping out of his clothes. Next thing I know he’s down to his boxers and I’m salivating at his delicious body. I can’t wait to get my hands on him and explore every single inch of him.

“Later baby, I’m too tired tonight,” he says as he crawls into bed next to me pushing Sassy off. She’s not too happy about losing her spot, but she can be a dog for a few nights and sleep on her bed or the floor.

“Levi still here?” I ask with a yawn of my own.

“Nah, he left as soon as I walked in the door.” He wraps me in his arms we fall fast asleep with no other thoughts in our minds.