Riveted: Drawn Series Book 1 (3 page)

“Well I can say I have never had anyone tell me that
before! But yes, I’m Bleu,” I replied with a laugh. He smiled again.

“I’m Jack. Axel said you were going to be working with
us,” he said happily. Jack the other partner.  God he is sexy. Hold on
Bleu, reign in the hormones! Baseball, Barbie dolls, Joan Rivers.  Shakily
smiling, I noticed he was studying my face.

“Uh yeah. That’s what he told me too.”

“Well then little lady, let’s get you all set up,” he said
as he led me over to the front desk. Behind the counter, was list of prices for
various piercings. Next to it, a sign that stated that there was a fee charged
for drawing out a tattoo, as well as the hourly rate for a tattoo.  The
place was really clean.

“Nice place,” I remarked. Jack nodded. Nice place?
Seriously? That's conversation? What the hell was wrong with me?

“This is pretty much going to be your area. Set
appointments, cash out, and order supplies. That kind of stuff. For now you are
pretty much our shop mom. But no worries, the shop pretty much explains itself.
The bathroom is off to the left and the supply closet is next to it.” Nodding,
I took it all in.

“The garage is separate from the shop I take it?” I
asked.

“Yes. But sometimes if people have to wait, they will
just come in here. No worries, they don’t have a waiting room over there yet,
“he replied with a shrug. Then he looked at me and I guess he could tell I was
a bit overwhelmed. He put an arm around me, he smelled so good. Pathetic,
that’s me.

“Don’t worry. I don’t have any appointments today. I will
help you out. Axel is my bud, I got your back,” he replied.

“That’s all you better have!” shouted Axel, coming out of
one of the rooms. A skinny girl with auburn hair trotted out after him, batting
her eyes at him and smiling. Good Lord. He pulled off his black rubber gloves
and threw them out as he cleaned up his station. 

“Really? Axel, I am a big girl, I can handle myself,” I
retorted, trying not to pout. He shook his head.

“It’s not you that I am worried about, it’s the guys
here. They are all sex crazed perverts,” he said and then he slapped Jack on
the shoulder.

“Takes one to know one man,” responded Jack. I followed
him out to the front to get to work.

A few weeks later, it felt like I had been there forever.
In between appointments, Jack had showed me how to use the computer system and
then I went and changed it all on them. It was an organizational nightmare and
they had no record keeping system to speak of. I was not surprised.  At
night, or when it was slow, I did endless job searches.

“I think you got the hang of it,” said Jack as we sat in
the office. He was eating a bag of chips while I sat there eating some yogurt.

“Thanks for showing me the ropes. I appreciate it.”

“No problem. But I cannot really take credit for
anything. You totally reorganized everything…no you organized things. “He said
with a laugh.

“Don’t mention it,” I replied with a laugh.

“You know, your brother really helped me out when I got
out of prison. He is a good guy, even if he gets more tail than Hugh Heffner,”
he said. Prison? Axel had neglected to mention that little tidbit. Axel was
usually a gossipy little bitch, this was unlike him.

“Jail? Uh…do you mind me asking what for?”  He shook
his head and balled up his empty chip bag, tossing it in the trash.

“No, I don’t mind. It was for aggravated assault. I beat
the hell out of my mom’s boyfriend Angus. He took all her money, got my older
brother hooked on heroin. So I kidnapped my brother and locked him in my house
while he detoxed. I told mom that was what I had to do you know? She could not
afford to send him to rehab even if she does own her own business. He told me
he needed money, which stupidly, I gave him. He snuck out and hooked up with my
mom’s ex, giving him all the money because he wanted it to buy drugs. I found
out, and went to Angus’ house, beat the ever living shit out of him and took my
money back. It got me five years,” he replied.

“Is…is your brother alright?” I asked. He nodded.

“Yeah, he stayed clean and sober, went back to school and
is a math teacher at the high school. I am the one with the record though. Your
brother hired me here once I got out,” he replied. His eyes held a lot of pain and
more than a little bit of apprehension. He was afraid, actually afraid of what
I was going to say.

“I am glad your brother is okay,” I said softly. He let
out his breath slowly.

“Not want to talk to me anymore huh?” he asked. My head
shot up and I smiled.

“No. I am thinking of how I was just in jail for
something not so similar,” I said softly, with a laugh. His eyebrows raised and
he shook his head in disbelief.

“I thought for certain you were going to bolt out of this
office,” he remarked. I shook my head.

“I am the last person to judge someone for being in jail
or really anything, come to think of it. I am not here to judge anyone. People
in glass houses and all that,” I reassured him.

“Not to change the subject, but what did you do before
you came here? And why the hell would you come back here after living in
Philly?”

“Well let's see..... I caught my fiancé having sex with
my boss in my bed when I came home from a work party. He blamed me for it and
then I kicked his ass and ended up in jail.  Now that I think about it, it
wasn’t a good fit. Then the next day, when I went in to request a leave of
absence, the company I worked for, let me go. My boss' daddy owns the company
and she told him what happened, I am guessing she left out the whole reverse
cowgirl situation I found her in though. So I came here, to the only person I
can trust. Axel.” He nodded. I guess my brother was kind of “base” in a crazy
game of “Tag” that we all seemed to be playing with Fate.

“You know, you can trust any of us here. We all love your
brother to death, we would do just about anything for him.” he said. I shot him
a smile.

“Thank you. You have all been really great.  It has
taken me a bit to warm up to you guys. A lot of bad stuff has happened to me
lately. But you guys have definitely earned my trust. And I really like working
here. It’s different to say the least!” He smiled.

“As for my employment, I worked for a software company
that designs video games and websites, stuff like that. I also write profiles and
do admin work for dating sites.”

“Seriously??!!” he asked with a laugh.

“Yes, seriously. Aside from working here, it pays the
bills.”

“Does it pay well?”

“The dating profile stuff? It can.  Especially on
some of the more risqué sites,” I replied. He raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

“Such as?”

“Really?”

“Uh yeah. I mean, tell me about these naughty sites you
work for,” he said, teasing me. I laughed.

“Ok, well the S&M sites, places like that, that’s
what I meant. There are some sites that are really just forums, places to use
as like a naughty Twitter. But other sites, need web design, admin set up, etc.
And their members have no idea how to write a profile that catches attention.
So the site will offer my services as a fee to their members.  It’s funny
how there are some people who are amazing public speakers, skilled
professionals, but they have no clue how to tell someone about themselves,” I
replied.

“Yeah that little white box can be intimidating,” he said
as if he totally understood.

“I take it you have experience with dating sites then?”

“Yeah. Well, I tried the whole online dating thing once.
It’s either skanks, who want dick, or women who are like tattoo shop groupies,
we call them tattoo tramps.  Or, once the women find out what I do and
about all of my ink, they think I am some homicidal biker who wants to cut them
up and bury them. And let’s not even go there when I tell them I was in prison
for five years. It’s hard to find” the one”, when people can’t see past your
outside,” he muttered. I nodded, and gave him a sympathetic smile.

“Hey Jack!!! Your appointment is here!” yelled
Axel.  Jack stood up and smiled. He walked out, and then stuck his head
back into the office. Axel, standing behind him, glared like an angry Peter
Pan, at him for being alone with me in the office no doubt.

“Thanks Bleu. You’re nice to talk to,” he said with a
breathtaking smile. Then he was gone. Axel looked at me with a death glare and
I stuck my tongue out at him. Axel stalked after him, his face tight with
anger. I threw away my trash and walked back out to my desk.

The door jingled as someone entered.
I rushed out of the office with the boxful of pens I had been looking for. The
blonde from the other night walked through the door. Great!  She looked at
me with a sneer. She was wearing an ivory colored linen suit and four inch
beige heels. Her hair fell over her shoulders and was perfectly blonde. She
looked like something out of a magazine. She was totally not in my brother's
league. She would chew him up and spit him out. Wait a minute. Pussy? Check.
Pulse? Check. Never mind, she was JUST the right kind of girl for him.

“Why look who it is!” she said with fake enthusiasm, her
smile not reaching her eyes. I smiled sweetly, opening the box and placing the
pens on the front desk in a cup.

“Well hello. Slumming it are we?” I retorted. She gave me
a dirty look.

“I have an appointment with Axel,” she spit out angrily.
She sat down with a huff and shot me a nasty look. I hoped he inked something
obscene on her forehead.

“Well let me go get him for you dear,” I shot back at
her.

 I walked out from behind the counter and went to
the back. Axel and Jack were at the drafting tables, drawing up some stuff and
talking. They looked up when they heard me approach.

“Axel, Blow Job Barbie is here for her “appointment”, “I
said nastily. Jack put his head down on the drafting table and made a valiant
attempt not to laugh too loud. Axel shot him a look and then looked back to me.
Gone was the happy look on his face from a few moments ago. He looked tense and
he did not look pleased. What the hell?

 “Everyone is afraid of that train wreck, we usually
just avoid her, but I love that you nicknamed her,” Jack said laughing. Axel
gave him another dirty look. He flipped all of us off. We all cracked up.

Axel stood up and went out front, shaking his head. The
other artist Matt looked over his station wall and chuckled. He was tall and
skinny, with spiked blue hair, septum and lip piercings and the deepest brown
eyes I had ever seen. They reminded me of someone, but I could not put my
finger on it. He always had on a long sleeved Henley shirt, but I had seen his
forearms and he had impressive ink on those as well.

“Blow Job Barbie? Really?” Matt shook his head and
smiled, then laughed his deep, rough laugh. His voice was really deep and
scratchy. Jack looked at me, mirth and mischief in his eyes.

“I still think it was awesome. I am glad she works here,”
said Jack. Matt grinned and nodded.

“Talk to you later then,” Matt said with a slow, easy
smile. He walked back to his work station and folded his tall body back into
it. Good Lord, are all the guys who work here hot?

It was barely seven, and the shop was seriously hopping.
All of the rooms were filled and there were a few people waiting in the waiting
room. They were mostly waiting for work in the garage. I restocked copies of
Inked Magazine, when the door opened. In walked my best friend Abby and the
busy waiting room, mostly filled with men, got quiet. She was tall, with a
slender body and blonde hair down her to ass. She was wearing skinny jeans that
look like they were painted on, brown stilettos and a short sleeved white v
neck shirt. Her arms jangled with the oodles of gold bangle bracelets she had
on.  Half the guys in the waiting room drooled, and it made me
smile.  She flicked her long blonde hair over her shoulder and then ran
over to me and smiled wide, showcasing her perfect white teeth. Sighing, we
hugged tightly.

“Good lord Abs, you can’t run around here dressed like
that, I think half the guys in the waiting room just had heart attacks,” I
murmured, staring down at her impressive “twins”. She choked out a laugh and
smacked my arm. One of the guys sitting behind her nodded in agreement at my
comment. I laughed.

“Your aunt told me that you were back in town! Two
weeks???!! I cannot believe you did not freakin call me!” she exclaimed. Her
voice killed me; it made her sound like a chain smoker who pours Jack Daniels
in her cereal every morning, all husky and smoky. People apparently expected a
squeaky Valley girl type of voice. They were always thrown for a loop when she
opened her mouth and talked to them. Apparently it drove guy’s crazy, hell it
kind of turned me on too and I had known her since birth. Jack popped his head
out of the office and she waved, stuck out her tongue, and then turned her
attention back to me, rolling her eyes. Jack grinned and went back into the
office.

“Sorry Abs, I was just trying to get settled in before I
called you,” I said with a shrug. She frowned. We walked over to the desk and
away from prying eyes and ears. She leaned against the desk and a look of
determination crossed her pretty face.

“Want me to kick that bastard’s ass and cut off his
balls?” she asked, a little too loud for my liking. One of the guys that had
been ogling her turned pale and choked out a cough. She snickered and
shook her head.

“She told you huh?” I asked. She nodded.

“There is not too much that does not get talked about in
this town, you know that. Hell I think the post mistress knows what position I
tried out in the Kama Sutra last night. I am just surprised your uncle did not
haul ass to Philly and castrate him,” she remarked.

“He was threatened death by Aunt Almeida if he did. You
know how she can get when she is pregnant. He did say something about going to
New Orleans and a voodoo curse though,” I replied with a laugh.

“I could go kick his ass, your aunt doesn’t scare me,”
she said smiling and putting her arm around me.

“It’s okay. Karma is a bitch. Besides I don’t want you to
end up in jail. You would not make it in prison without product,” I said with a
shrug. She studied my face to see if I was really as okay as I said I was.
Satisfied, she nodded.

“Bleu, we need to go shopping,” she said after a moment,
clapping her hands in finality. I laughed. I should have known that this was
coming. I was just surprised she had waited this long to say anything.

“Really? You are here five minutes and you are already
picking at me? I will have you know that I happened to just grab this and went
out the door,” I replied, pointing to my well-worn cut off jean shorts and NIN
t shirt. 

“First of all, everyone can tell that you just grabbed
that before walking out the door. You did not have to broadcast it. Secondly,
you could never lie to me, even on your best day. No arguments. Besides, retail
therapy is better than drowning your sorrows in a bottle like a homeless whino.
I am giving you a week and then we are going to do some major retail therapy.
Just because you are the new shop mom at Insatiable does not mean you have to
dress like a down on your luck hooker,” she proclaimed. I snorted.  There
was no point in arguing with her, there never had been. Besides, she had said
no arguments. She picked up her bag and went into the back room. Probably to
talk to my brother. They were as tight as she and I were. We had all grown up
together. We had all been glued to one another since first grade, after she
beat the crap out of my brother for looking up her dress. I am surprised she
didn’t end up with him, but her response was she wasn’t into white guys and we
all left it at that.