Chapter 2
“A little famous”
Dylan
It’s Saturday morning and from the looks of it, it’s going to pour down rain at any minute. Sill, the receptionist, is always the first one here in the mornings. So when I walk in the front door I smell the fresh scent of coffee and immediately I go straight towards the kitchen.
Past the front desk where Sill works at are all of the artist’s areas where they tattoo. About halfway down a long hallway on the left is my workstation where I do piercings, across the hall form me is the office and then further down the hall is the kitchen and storage room. When Shane and his sister had this place remodeled they did a great job of it, because everything was made to look industrial but feel comfortable and everyone loves it.
“That smells good.” I mumble out the best greeting I can. “Me or the coffee?” Sill jokes. “Umm, definitely the coffee.” I make clear and he laughs. Even though he knows no one else here is gay, he is very proud of being open about it and throughout the day he throws some funny one liners out there to make us laugh. Sometimes it will be a comment on someone’s clothes, or their hair, either way he loves to make his opinion known and for that he fits right in.
As I begin to make my cup I hear the doorbell chime from someone opening the front door. Sill looks at the security monitor. “It’s Jen and Maddox.” I pull out a chair at the small table and sit down as two of the four best tattoo artists around make their way back. Sill slides a box of doughnuts down to me. “Thanks man.” I grab one.
“Good morning all!” Jenny says with her bright red hair pulled back in a ponytail, a black A&I shirt on along with tight jeans, pretty much the standard dress code, as she walks past and goes over to get a cup. “Who brought doughnuts?” Maddox with his shaved head and clothes that match Jenny’s, minus the tight jeans, asks as he sees me take a bite of one. “I did.” Sill answers. “Awesome, what’s the occasion?” Maddox asks as he grabs one and sits down. “Can’t I just be nice and bring you bitches breakfast?” Sill answers with an eye roll causing Maddox to laugh. However I can’t help but notice that Jenny has a huge smile on her face as she sits down next to her husband, Maddox, and puts his steamy cup in front of him.
When the door chimes again we all look at the monitor, mostly habit I guess, and in comes Shane with a very gorgeous blonde haired woman walking in next to him. “EEK!” Jenny jumps up with a squeal then runs down the hall and is followed by Sill. I look at Maddox with a bit of confusion. “Lilly’s back, but I am not getting in the way of those two who are pretty much going to maul her.” Just as Maddox explains I hear the girls profess their happiness to one another from all the way down the hall. Plus I’m pretty sure Sill is just as loud as the girls are.
When Shane makes his way back he nods a silent greeting to us. “I see you made it past them unscathed.” Maddox says as Shane grabs a doughnut and opens an energy drink. “I kind of just pushed them into the office and walked around them.” We chuckle as the commotion dies down a bit.
Sill comes back first followed by Jenny but still no Lilly. Now I have to admit that my curiosity is peaked at this point because I have seen a few pictures of Shane and his sister when they were younger, but a woman now takes precedence over that image I had of her in my mind when everyone talks about her.
“You have a full day today?” Shane asks me and I nod. “Mostly. Why what’s up?” “Nothing really. Just trying to get a feel for the day, you know, see where everyone’s at.” I have known Shane for a while now and he has been overwhelmed here at work lately, that’s why we all gladly help him out around the shop to make things easier when we can. “I haven’t looked at the book yet though.” I add. “Me either, but mostly I just want to see if we are anticipating a late night because we might head over to Vinnie’s after work tonight for a drink if you aren’t busy.” He offers with a shrug and then finishes his drink. “Yeah man, I’ll come along.” I reply and he nods then turns as Lilly walks into the room.
Like a vacuum the oxygen gets sucked right out of the room as her eyes finally land on me and smile. I’ve never seen a more beautiful smile so powerful. Add that to her long wavy dark blonde hair, eyes that sparkle and body that makes those jeans she is wearing with little rips on the thighs leave very little to the imagination, well… maybe my imagination. Not to mention the tight black shirt she has on with an old Armed and Inked logo on the front of it. Fuck if it doesn’t hug her tits in a way that shows there is a nice handful under the fabric, along with a waist that I can easily fit my hands around. Even though she is dressed like the rest of us, she makes the outfit look way more presentable. Who knew that the little sister Shane always talked about as if she was still a teenager was a grown woman with looks that seem to interfere with the way my heart beats. Yes, she is that beautiful.
Shane catches our stare and looks from her to me and that’s when my bastard of a conscious kicks in and reminds me she is his sister and is very much off limits. Well fuck. I let out a discrete sigh.
“Dylan, this is Lilly, my sister. Lilly, meet Dylan, our piercer.” Our introduction is out there as she comes over and shakes my hand. “Nice you meet you Dylan.” Her hand is stuck in mine like a magnet as her eyes look me over in return causing me to grin at the dirty thoughts playing in my mind. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Lilly.” I reply. “Oh, I’m sure you have, but only listen to the good stuff.” She says with a flirty smile. “So Lil, tell us about your summer in Maine!” Jenny demands as all eyes wait for a response and she lets go of my hand. Is it weird that I want more time with our introduction?
So Lilly pulls out a chair then sits down next to me and I catch a quick scent of fabric softener. “It was fun, but we mostly spent time by the pool.” She replies and now I’m intrigued. I know she was with a friend but I wonder if anyone else was there too. “I’m surprised Everly wasn’t dragging you to every party bar in town.” Shane adds with disgust and Lilly rolls her eyes while Sill chuckles discreetly. “Everly calmed down a lot over the last year.” Lilly throws back at him. “She’s your friend from school right?” I find myself asking. Lilly’s eyes find mine to answer. “Yep, we met at the beginning of school because she was my roommate. So we have been friends for a few years now and she offered me two months in Maine after graduation at her parent’s house before she had to start work. Like a little down time, and Shane told me to take the opportunity and relax, even though I was ready to come back home and work.” She finishes her explanation with exhaustion, almost like they have been over this a few times before. “That was before I found out Everly likes to have a little too much fun in bars where bad things could happen.” Shane said then stood up to throw his empty can in the garbage so apparently whatever happen was bad enough to still have him mad to this day. “That was one time and you know it.” Lilly barks back before the door chime goes off again. “Well Ladies, as interesting as this is, we have work to do.” Sill breaks up the banter and heads down the hall to his desk with Shane on his heels.
Jenny walked back with Lilly to her office and Maddox shoved a whole doughnut in his mouth before standing up, putting his cup in the sink and walking out to the front.
Leaving me sitting here all by myself alone with thoughts and the notion of Lilly’s presents in the building. She just seems like the kind of person people tend to gravitate towards and I for one will like to sit back and see the new dynamics play out.
I guess there are some interesting stories to be heard from college life. Now I don’t know if Lilly was the partying type, she doesn’t seem like it to me but who knows. I’d never known of that kind of experience and I didn’t care to really, I was too busy making money. Plus I have no siblings to speak of, or parents that matter. I mean mine aren’t dead, as far as I know, but they were out of my life twenty years ago when I was only ten. So living with my uncle who is an attorney and an aunt who ran a bakery was great, but at 19 I joined the military and spent the next several years in places that are very different from a dorm room.
Thanks to a friend of mine that worked in a tattoo shop while I was in high school, he taught me how to do the basics with piercing people. It was fun, but I still felt the need to do more. Then I decided to go be a hero for a while, and now that I’m back home, this place makes a nice adjustment in my attempt to live a normal semi-quiet life these days. Needless to say the urge I had to save the world has been filled, so I can finally just be me again. A more improved and smarter version of course.
Lilly
Jenny had to go back out to get ready for an appointment of hers that was coming in and aside of the way Shane acts when my friend, Everly, is brought up I’d say that it feels so good to be back. The smells of the shop and the people in it are my home. First it was me and Shane, and then Jenny and Maddox came in, then Sill and now Dylan. Plus another new artist that starts next week, apparently he is going to be a great addition to the shop. So we will see how that goes.
Still, Dylan is by far the most interesting one this morning. While Jen has her long red hair and Maddox and Shane both have their own bad ass personas going on …there is Dylan. He just has this look about him, he could easily be passed off as the strong silent type no doubt, but still there is just something else. Standing at about 6 foot or so, with deep blue eyes, short dark hair that’s a little wild but styled, he is neatly put together but with a bad boy edge. Hence the tattoos up his neck and the ones that go all the way down to the back of his hands. He comes off as confident with a mix of mysterious and I have to admit…I like it. What got me first was his wicked grin when he shook my hand, followed by him actually engaging in conversation. Not exactly a sign of someone who is shy, hell even our handshake lasted a lot longer than a normal handshake should, but I’m not complaining.
A knock on the door way leads me to looking up from the organized chaos of stacked paperwork on my desk that I have no idea what it is yet. As Dylan fills the doorway almost shoulder to shoulder I take in the look of a well-disciplined man who is standing before me smiling. It’s almost intimidating. “Hey.” Is practically all I can say, because my brain isn’t functioning at the moment. “Hey, I just wanted to let you know that sometimes it gets a little noisy across the hall so I am just apologizing in advance.” His voice is dark and deep with a raspy edge and it sends chills down my skin. “It’s…ummm…it’s okay I understand.” My attempt at a sentence was a total fail as I try and snap myself out of this apparent trance I’m in where I look like a fool. I’m never like this, and now I feel the heat fire up on my face as he can obviously see me checking him out. “Well, I just wanted to warn you that people tend to scream from time to time so don’t be worried. Plus if it gets to loud you can always close the door.” He offers. “Okay, thank you. I’ll be sure to not come running in thinking someone is dying or something.” I say to lighten myself up a bit. He chuckles and takes a step in further towards my desk and I feel my heart begin to pick up the pace. “You can always come in and watch if you want. In certain cases I like to have another person in there with me anyway.” I’m pretty sure I get what he is saying. Certain piercings are in certain areas where I could see the person feeling a little awkward. “I get it; it’s nice to have a buffer in there to make it feel less… intimate.” I finally begin to relax a bit the more we talk. “Yes, usually Sill comes back if I need him, but since you’re right across the hall I might not have to wait an hour for him to come back.” We laugh because well… Sill is just Sill; he would do anything for anyone, as long as its convenient timing. “Sure, you can use me anytime, just give me a yell.” Holy shit did I just say he could use me? Yes…Yes I did, and my comment gets me a grin from that mouth of his, which in turn gives me the funny feeling in my stomach. I’m so embarrassed.
“Dylan, your first appointment is here.” Sill pops his head in the doorway and announces. “Ok, send them back.” Dylan answers but doesn’t take his eyes off of me, and when Sill leaves Dylan takes one more step towards me which puts him right next to my desk. “It’s nice to finally meet you Lilly.” Of course I can’t help but smile, seriously though, where did he come from and why is it that I can’t resist being affected by his presents. “Nice to meet you too Dylan.” I genuinely return the pleasantries, and with that being said and his smile still not wavering, he turns to leave.
When I feel the crazy energy leave the room I take in a deep breath and let it go. It’s been a while since I have even paid attention to the detail of another man since my break up with Brandon 8 months ago. Even though I know Dylan and I have to work together and nothing could ever happen, it doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a good looking man every once in a while. Or, maybe it just means that I’m ready to get back out there and date again. I’m sure there is someone out there who would treat me better than Brandon did and still look as sexy as Dylan. That thought makes me laugh a little bit as I begin to organize this mess that is my office.
See, Brandon wasn’t bad looking or anything in fact he was cute, in a preppy frat boy kind of way. He came from money and he flaunted it. With his expensive cars and frivolous spending, there was really no self-control involved when it came to him one upping someone else. Not my type actually but all of that came after I met him at college orientation and he seemed nice, so I had no idea there was that side of him at first. He listened when I told him what happened to my parents and the first few months together he actually pretended to care. It was nice. That is until he met Shane and then decided that I was beneath him by having a brother who looks the way my brother does. After that he began to cheat on me and lie about it while turning into this prick that had his nose in the air. He even came up with a stupid nickname for me and I absolutely hated it. I hated him actually. So I ended things and he would always guilt me into taking him back. Every time. He’d say that he would change and be nicer to me and the people around him. Then with me being so hopeful I’d give it another chance since I wanted him to learn how to not be so judgmental. Until 8 months ago I finally decided that I am better without him, and that he was toxic, not only to me but everyone he was around. Not a day that went by in the following months after the split that I didn’t feel so much better without him. Like a whole new woman. Brandon on the other hand still to this day texts me and tries to get me to come back. But hell would have to have central air first.