Chapter 35
Elias exited the florist shop with two bouquets.
He placed them in the backseat before getting back behind the wheel and pulling out onto the road.
He followed Eri’s instructions, and they pulled into the parking lot ten minutes later.
While she grabbed the flowers, he grabbed the picnic basket and blanket, then followed behind her until she stopped in front of a headstone.
“Mom, TJ, this is my boyfriend, Elias. Babe, this is my mom, Sharlette and my little brother Tony Jr.,” she introduced.
“It’s nice to finally meet you both,” he responded.
“I would tell you some more about him,” she started, replacing the wilted flowers with the fresh ones in the built-in vases. “But I think I’ve already told you everything.”
They spread the blanket, and while he removed the food from the basket, she took the wilted flowers to a nearby trashcan and disposed of them.
“Do you think this is weird?” she asked when she returned and sat beside him.
“What?”
“Having a picnic in a cemetery, and that I wanted to introduce you to two people who are no longer here?”
“No, because they are still here as long as you remember them. And I love you. Which means I want to meet everyone you love and care about.” He gave her a soft kiss. “So you’ve told them about me.”
“Mhm, mostly good things,” Eri teased.
“Mostly?” he questioned with a raised brow.
“Well, before we started dating, I might have told them how annoying you were because you continued to flirt with me.”
Elias chuckled. “Annoying, huh? I don’t think you ever thought I was annoying. You just enjoyed playing hard to get. Besides, you talking about me even proves it.”
“Maybe, but don’t act like you didn’t enjoy working for me.”
“Every day, Amate.”
They ate in silence for several minutes. The only sounds were the birds chirping and the wind rustling the leaves of nearby trees. It was a nice day.
“Are you going to fill them in on what’s been going on?” Elias asked, and he watched her think about it.
“I usually do, but I…” she trailed off.
“Go ahead. I’m sure they want to know.”
As they had their lunch, he listened to her fill her mom and brother in on everything from the past few weeks. From going into business for herself to her contract with Koa, her run-in with Keith, and everything in between.
They stayed for an hour, and when they were back in the car and pulling out of the parking space, Elias asked, “Do you want to stop by and see your dad while we’re here?”
Eri shook her head. “I don’t want you to be late for your appointment, and my dad is still at work. It’ll be a few hours before he gets off.”
“Do you want me to drop you off, and I can pick you up after my last appointment?”
“That’s an hour of extra driving.”
“That’s not what I asked,” he pointed out. “Do you want me to?”
“No, babe. It’s okay. I’ll come see him next weekend.”
He nodded and took a left out of the parking lot, heading back to Albuquerque.
“That’s sick, dude!” the client he was consulting with said as he looked at the finished design. “It’s going to look epic. And you’re sure it’ll cover this monstrosity?” he asked, pointing to his back.
He’d told Elias how he'd lost a bet at eighteen and gotten the tattoo. It was hideous, and it was clear it wasn’t done professionally. Now, he wanted it covered up.
“It will, but with as large as it is, we should do it in segments.”
“How many sessions am I looking at?”
“At least five. Two and a half for the line work and two and a half for the shading,” Elias replied.
“That doesn’t sound too bad. When can we get started?”
Elias looked at his schedule, already knowing how he would break the sessions up. He looked for the earliest appointment that would give him enough time to get the first segment done.
“We can do it in two weeks. Saturday at eleven.”
“That works. I’ll take that.”
Elias put the appointment in, adding the man’s number and email to send a reminder to both seventy-two hours before his appointment.
He was sitting at his station thirty minutes later, waiting for his next client to come in, when the door opened. He refrained from groaning at the person who’d walked in. Elias hadn’t seen her in a while. Not since the party Marco had thrown for him last year.
“Bianca,” he started when she approached his station. “What brings you here?”
“Last time I checked, it was a tattoo parlor, and I thought it was about time I got a new one. Do you have time?”
“I don’t. I have a client coming in soon. You’ll have to wait for Javier to finish or Nesiah to get back and see if they can fit you in.”
“That’s fine.” She took the seat closest to his station to wait.
“I ran into your aunt the other day. She told me you were dating now.” Elias didn’t need her to tell him which aunt.
Celia was the only one who liked to tell other people’s business.
“It’s such a pity that you and Marco are both now temporarily off the market, but I don’t mind waiting. ”
“I’m sure you don’t, since you’ve shown you’re adept at waiting for things that will never happen, and there’s nothing temporary about it. Or did you forget Marco is married?”
Bianca shrugged, ignoring his slight. “He might be, but you’re not, and divorces are pretty common these days.”
“Regardless, no one wants a hole that the entire city has had. So again, you’ll be waiting for something that will never happen.”
She glared at him briefly before rolling her eyes. “I’ve never met men who enjoyed playing hard to get as much as you and Marco. Vince was far easier.”
“Vince has no standards, and you have no self-respect. It was the perfect match,” Elias responded.
Bianca sucked her teeth. “Are you this rude to all your clients?”
“No, but then again, you aren’t my client.”
Before she could respond, the door opened again, and his client walked in. Elias had already set up for him, and after greeting one another, he got to work on the piece, ignoring Bianca.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Eri resized the design she was working on to take in the colors better.
They weren’t exactly what the client had asked for, but she’d had to tone them down from all the bright hues they’d chosen.
They’d clashed so much with the design and looked too busy.
She would bet money that if someone stared at it for too long, they’d get a headache.
She didn’t want that, nor did she want to be associated with something like that.
So, she’d softened the colors to make them more appealing to the eye.
She placed her watermark on it when she was satisfied with her inspection and sent it to the client for approval or revision.
It was her first submission to them, so they had three revisions.
But if they insisted on those blinding colors that wouldn’t even appeal to children, then she’d have to drop the project and wish them luck somewhere else.
She understood it was their vision and their money they were spending, but she didn’t always believe the customer was right.
Eri also refused to create something she knew wouldn’t do well, and then have them blame her when it turned out to be the case.
She checked her email to ensure there weren’t any more project requests or messages she needed to respond to before grabbing her phone and exiting her office, turning the light off as she went.
Eri settled on the couch and flipped through the channels before settling on a Lifetime movie. She was halfway through it when her phone vibrated. She checked the screen, her brow furrowing at the unknown number.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Guess who’s back in Albuquerque!”
“Romi?”
“The one and only,” the other woman responded.
Romi was a year ahead of her and had graduated the previous year. Then she took an internship overseas. They’d had several classes together for three years, since their majors had been the same. They kept up with each other on social media, but hadn’t spoken since Romi left.
“When did you get back?” Eri asked.
“Last night, and jet lag is still kicking my ass. But I wanted to reach out to my favorite underclassman and see if she wanted to have dinner with me tonight.”
“Let me know what she says.”
“Still as witty as ever, huh?” Romi asked sarcastically.
“It’s one of my finer qualities, but I don’t feel like going out, and I’ve already taken out something to cook. You can come over here. Will seven work?”
“Seven is perfect. Do you want me to bring anything?”
“A bottle of wine. I’ll text you my address.”
“Great. I’ll see you at seven.”
They ended the call, and Eri sent her address to Romi before saving her new number. She checked the time before putting her phone on the table. She’d finish the movie and then start cooking.
Eri had just turned the stove off when there was a knock at the door. She looked through the peephole before opening the door and inviting Romi in. They greeted each other with a hug, and she’d almost forgotten how tall the other woman was.
“It feels like I haven’t seen you in forever,” Romi said when they pulled apart. “It smells good in here,” she then complimented.
“It did seem like a long year, and thank you.”
“I brought wine as requested.” She held up the bottle. “Is there anything you need me to do?”
“Everything is ready, but if you’ll grab some glasses out of that cabinet, and the corkscrew from that drawer, I’ll make our plates.” She pointed out the areas.
A few minutes later, they were seated at the dining table across from one another.
“How was the internship?” Eri asked a few minutes into dinner.
“It was good. I learned a lot, and they offered me a job at the end of it. The position was open at a few different locations and remotely. I wanted to be home again, so I chose the remote option. What about you? Where did you land after graduation?”
“I went into business for myself. I’ve been freelancing, and I signed a contract with a content creator. I’ve only been doing it for about a month, but it’s been good so far.”