3. Katrinia
3
Katrinia
I stayed in bed almost all day yesterday. It’s not like I’m religious or anything but who am I to sacrifice a day of rest. I was so caught up in enjoying my last day of unemployed freedom that I devoured the latest Jescie Hall book in one sitting.
Willow might think I need to put myself out there, interact with real people and get my nose out of the books, but fiction is just so much better than reality. I’m happy to keep taking up residency in fictional worlds with fictional morally gray characters until something truly undeniable comes along.
However, the only sabbath on this frigid Monday morning is the band on my thrifted t-shirt. The first day instructions I got from Luna, my new manager, said the tattoo shop was casual but I still want to look somewhat cute on my first day so I paired my lucky Doc Marten combat boots with some black tights, a leather skirt and my distressed oversize Black Sabbath t-shirt that I knotted in the front. My version of cute and casual is edgier than most but I guess a tattoo shop is the perfect place for me then.
Running my straightener through the last section of my long dark hair, I look at myself in the mirror and think this is as good as it’s going to get.
I barely recognize the girl I used to be.
Sliding on my glasses I wonder a bit if maybe Willow is right. Am I hiding?
I shake the thought from my mind and toss on my cardigan. It’s still freezing and snowy as it’s January in New England, so I grab my wool jacket from the coat rack. Slipping my laptop into my travel case, I sling my purse over my shoulder. Making sure to boop Binx on the nose before I walk out the door, locking it behind me.
Music blares in my ears as I sip on my travel mug of herbal tea. I find myself grinning good morning to the dead as I pass one of the many cemeteries and continue walking the four blocks to the shop.
One of the things I love most about this town is the walkability. I hate driving. Despise is more like it. I don’t even own a car.
Willow says I’m scared, that I need to face my fears and maybe I do, but if I did that I would miss out on the scenery of our centuries old surroundings. It’s not like I don’t have a driver’s license but it’s really only good for when I get carded at bars. Especially since I’m five two and have a lightly freckled face that makes me look like I’m still in high school.
Rounding the corner the shop comes into view. A black storefront with a wooden sign hanging above the door displaying, La Trinia Tattoo . A siren is perched on the letter ‘a’ at the end of Trinia. Her long dark hair flows over her chest and her metallic painted tail shimmers as it reflects the morning light.
Maybe it’s fate that I found this job.
The shop is named after me after all.
Everyone calls me Kat these days but my full name is Katrinia Anastasiya Mikhaylov. It’s a mouthful and sounds a lot like a Russian coughing when said together out loud. So I shortened it to make everyone’s lives a little easier when I went away to university.
I used to go by Trinia but you can only be called a stripper so many times before you rethink the nickname.
Plus, I liked the freedom of being someone new on campus. No one knew me so I was able to become whoever I wanted. Kat was smart and quietly independent. She hid her broken heart behind a trained soft smile and a stack of books.
Just like now.
Today is another fresh start as life is nothing more than a series of new chapters.
Reaching for the knob I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and plaster on my rehearsed smile before opening the door and walking in.
The bell above the door chimes and when I open my eyes and look up there he is. A man resurrected from the dead.
Leaning against the counter, turning slowly his eyes lock on mine and his entire demeanor changes. His smile drops as his eyes go wide. Like he’s the one who’s just seen a ghost.
Feeling the blood rush from my face, my heart threatens to beat right out of my chest. It’s going to break free and shatter all over the floor. It’s beating so fast it’s painful as I reach up to clutch my sweater, reminding myself to breathe.
I haven’t seen Cooper Cabrera in eight years but here he is. Right here, right now. Standing in front of me big as a bull. Covered in tattoos with messily pulled back curls and I can’t breathe. I’m going to die.
Is this what a stroke feels like?
I slam my palm to my chest like that is going to stop my heart from escaping its marrow cage.
I always wondered what this day would be like. What I would do, what I would say if I ever saw him again. The scenarios I thought up in my head however, did not involve me clamming up like a coward and drowning in a wave of panic.
“Kat hi! Welcome, come on in.” The soft voice of a woman who’s around my age takes me out of my thoughts and brings my soul back into my body.
I blink, and when I open my eyes I notice Cooper is moving towards me and the sudden urge to run overtakes any other form of rational thought. I shake my head and mutter the words, “I have to go”, before I bolt out the door.
“Katrinia wait!” I hear a man’s deep gritty voice call out behind me and I know it’s him. His voice is rougher than it was before. Deeper and more strangled than I’ve ever heard him sound, but it’s him.
I don’t make it five feet before my numb limbs trip over themselves and I’m dropping the contents of my bag all over the cobblestones of the icy street outside.
“Katrinia, stop please.” Cooper bends down and puts a hand on my arm, immediately halting my frantic rush to grab my things and go. Go anywhere other than right here. To go as far away from him as possible.
I stop, but I can’t look at him. I close my eyes and take a breath and the smell of him hits me. Assaulting my senses is a scent that’s not only soothing but masculine. Like leather mixed with rain and I squeeze my eyes tighter before his finger glides across my face. Pushing back my fallen hair.
“It’s you.” He whispers and it breaks me. Splinters me like a fractured piece of driftwood. One that’s abandoned the sea of reason and washed up on the shore of my past.
I snap up and shove him before he jumps to his feet. “What are you doing here Cooper?!” I shout before hitting him again.
“Why?! Why are you here?” Now I’m screaming. Probably looking like a crazy person assaulting this massive man in the middle of the street on a Monday morning.
I wail on him. I can’t bring myself to stop. I just keep asking him why and hitting him over and over. Though he doesn’t break or bend. Not when my fists pound into his chest or my palms land across his face. He just takes it and that fuels my rage even more.
I have spent the past eight years feeling nothing because it was better than the pain. The pain of betrayal, the pain of losing him, the pain of loving him. One of my best friends and the love of my life. Nothing hurts like that, or at least I never gave myself the chance to find out.
And now? Now he is just standing here in front of me.
Why fate?
Why?
“Trinia!” I hear another familiar voice call before strong arms wrap around my waist and I’m being pulled back against a hard chest.
“Calm down.” He soothes as he sets me down, turning me away from the face that opened a floodgate of memories.
“Theo?” I look up at him and his big chocolate eyes meet mine. “Oh my god! Theo!” I throw my arms around him and he tightens his around me.
“What are you doing here, loca?” He asks, pulling back and taking a step to look at me.
“I was supposed to be the bookkeeper.” I mumble, looking away.
“I thought you were in North Carolina or some shit.” He continues, giving me the same crooked smile he’s always had.
“Yeah and I thought you were on parole back home, I guess things change.” I smile to let him know I’m just teasing.
He wraps me in a headlock and messes up my hair with his knuckles making me scream out a laugh. “Theo!” I push out of his hold and he lets me go. “You are two!” I point a finger at him as I try to fix my tousled hair.
“Ummm hi. I’m Luna, is everything alright?” Fuck that’s right, I was meeting my manager here this morning.
“Amor, this is Trinia. We grew up together. Apparently she is quitting.” He laughs, tossing an arm over her shoulder as Luna looks up at him before looking back to me.
“It’s just Kat,” I offer. “I’m sorry for the scene. I didn’t mean to cause a disturbance.”
“She’s not quitting.” Cooper grunts, as he drops my bag in front of me with all the contents from the sidewalk packed inside, and storms away.
“I’m going to go check on Coop. Good luck, amor.” He winks at her before giving her a kiss and smiling at me. “It’s nice to have you back, Trin.” Theo huffs a single laugh before jogging away after his brother.
“I’m not back!” I shout and he just waves a hand in the air above his head.
I let out a sigh as I bend down for my bag on the ground. “I am so sorry again. I wasn’t expecting… Well, this.” I gesture, waving a hand towards the shop, La Trinia Tattoo, not knowing what else to say.
God, I’m so stupid.
I shake my head, berating myself internally as I pick up my bag from the slushy wet ground.
“Why don’t we grab a coffee across the street and you can fill me in a little on what this is.” Luna giggles slightly, putting me at ease. Even if only a little.
I nod and follow her across the street.