Chapter 28
The event was in full swing, and Eri had known the number of vendors beforehand, but the crowd turnout took her by surprise.
She’d been sure they would have good attendance, but there were hundreds, if not close to a thousand people already, and it had only started a couple of hours ago.
She knew as the day went on that the number would only grow.
Eri had arrived early with the others to make sure all the vendors went to their correct areas, and to help the four tattoo artists set up where they would be. She’d hung out there for a while until Elias’ first appointment arrived.
She’d been excited to see the standing banners throughout the area with her designs on them. In exchange for two free vendor spots, one of the vendors made the banners and printed the site maps and brochures that Eri designed.
At the bottom of all her designs, her name and social media handles were printed. Avian had been adamant that it go on everything, when Eri had been fine with it being on only the banners because people would likely pay more attention to those. Her friend had not been having it.
She’d stopped at a few different vendors, only buying a painting from an artist that she thought would go great in her office.
She’d bought all the essential pieces for it, but had no decor that wasn’t also functional.
The artist had been kind enough to wrap it for her, and she’d taken it to her car before continuing to take in the event.
Eri’s stomach reminded her she hadn’t eaten that morning, and she found a food truck serving curly fries.
She got two orders of loaded fries and two drinks before heading back towards what she’d dubbed the tattoo corner.
All the shops that were there and had people competing in the contest later in the day were in one section.
She stepped under the tent and found Elias, Marco, and Javier doing tattoos. She knew Avian was likely with some students from her dance class. There was an area they’d designated for them to put on dances and have the few local talents that signed up perform.
“Hey,” Eri greeted, taking one of the extra chairs near Nesiah and unpacking her food.
“Something smells good. What’d you get?” Nesiah asked.
“Loaded fries. What are you working on?”
Nesiah held the tablet up for her to look at. It was an intricacy of lines that, upon closer inspection, created two linked fingers with forever in calligraphy underneath it.
“I have a client coming in an hour and a half and was putting the finishing touches on it.”
“I like it. It’s pretty, delicate.” She then turned her attention to Elias. “Baby, I brought you food.”
“Thanks, Amate,” he responded, at the same time Nesiah said. “Ah, you shouldn’t have.”
Marco snorted while Javier and the three men in the chairs chuckled.
“Do you want some?” Eri asked, holding her container out to the other woman.
“Nah, Javi and I are going to get something when he finishes.”
When Elias finished the tattoo several minutes later and his area was sanitized, he joined her.
“What have you been doing for the last hour and a half?” he asked.
“I checked out some vendors. I found a painting to go in my office. It’s gorgeous. The artist is really talented. I didn’t check out too much, though. I wanted us to go together whenever you got time.”
“Marco and I are holding down the fort while Nesiah and Javier go get food, but when they come back, we can go for a bit,” he replied.
Nesiah and Javier left a few minutes later, then Avian arrived with food as Marco finished the tattoo he’d been working on. The four hung out until the other couple returned, and Eri pulled Elias from the tent.
They checked out a few vendors before going to where some games were set up.
Whenever she went to a carnival, Eri only played certain games because she was a firm believer that the rest of them were rigged somehow.
She could get pretty competitive and waste far too much money trying to win.
So, instead, she steered clear. The current game they stopped at was one she didn’t play, where you had to knock down the three milk jars.
Eri was sure that at least one jar was heavier than the others, making it harder to knock down.
“Three balls for five dollars. Knock down all three bottles three times, win a grand prize,” the attendant said. “You want to give it a try?”
“Sure,” Elias responded, handing the man a five. “You want to go?” he asked, holding a ball out to her.
Eri shook her head. “It would be a waste of a ball. It’s better off in your hands,” she replied.
She shouldn’t have been surprised when Elias knocked down all the targets all three times. It was uncanny how good he was at everything he tried. He chose a large, orange stuffed bear and handed it to her. Eri took it with a smile, and they moved on to another game.
After several games, more vendors, and a stop at her car to put her prizes inside, they were headed back to the tent when Elias stopped to look at a vendor who painted custom designs on shoes. Eri took that moment to excuse herself to the bathroom.
“Hey, Eri, right?” Caught her attention a few minutes later, and she turned to find Koa.
“Koa, hey, yeah.”
“Sorry, I know you’re probably trying to enjoy the festivities, but I wanted to see if we could exchange numbers.
I’m looking to get designs created for some merch I want to launch, and I like the banners you designed.
I added you on social media, but I know how message requests can get lost in the fray. ”
Eri had to stop herself from fan-girling. She’d been watching Koa’s animations for years, and her wanting Eri to possibly design merchandise for her felt a little surreal.
“Yeah, of course,” Eri responded. They exchanged contact information, and Eri slipped her phone back into her pocket.
“Thanks. I’ll be in touch soon.” Koa looked past Eri, and she turned over her shoulder to see Elias approaching them. “Hey,” she greeted.
“Hey. I didn’t think you’d be able to make it,” Elias responded, slipping an arm around Eri’s waist.
“I finished next week’s episode early and thought I’d drop by for a little while.
I suspect you’ll be getting a few calls.
I had several people ask me where I got my motorcycle from.
” She looked over her shoulder. “Speaking of which, I should probably get back to it before my sister tries to take it for a spin. See you later.”
“Did you set that up?” Eri asked when they were alone.
“No, I’d never underestimate you or your talent by doing something like that. So, I need you to stop doing it.” He kissed her temple. “I knew she wanted merch made and figured all it would take was seeing some of your designs. Now, let’s go. I have a client coming in half an hour.”
Since they were hosting the event, instead of canceling clients or not taking any that day, they simply had them come there. But they were also taking a few walk-ins. Eri nodded as they headed back to the tent.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
“That one is a definite no,” Nesiah stated, as they looked at another photo submission.
Elias had to agree with her. The artist had dug so far into the client’s skin that he would be surprised if they hadn’t been bleeding the entire session. On top of that, the linework was all over the place.
They continued going through the rest of the photo submissions. First, narrowing it down to eleven, and then making the harder decision of narrowing it down to five. Once they had, Marco went to the other tents to let those five know they’d be competing in two and a half hours.
Since he had no more clients for the day, and he could turn down a walk-in, he sent a text to Eri, who’d gone off to watch some performances with Avian when his last client had arrived, and asked if she wanted to get ice cream.
Eri: Yeah. We can. I’m on my way back.
Elias scrolled through social media while he waited for her.
“Hey.”
He looked up from his phone, and it took him a second to recognize the woman who had just walked into the tent. It was the same one who had been flirting with him several weeks ago. He couldn’t remember her name.
“Hey.”
“I’m glad I found your tent. I was about to settle for someone else. Do you have time to do a small finger tattoo?”
“I’m getting ready to—”
“Please? It’ll only take a few minutes,” she cut him off.
“It’s fine, baby,” Eri stated, stepping into the tent. “It won’t take long, and the vendor won’t disappear.”
“Are you sure, Amate?”
“Yeah, I don’t mind waiting.”
He still contemplated saying no, but figured it wouldn’t take long, and she knew he was in a relationship, so he wouldn’t have to deal with her making a pass at him. Elias gestured for her to take a seat.
“What are you getting and where do you want it?” he asked.
“On the side of my middle finger. A butterfly taking flight with a little spiral in its wake in black.”
That would be easy enough and wouldn’t take him but a few minutes.
“You can freehand it if you want. I trust you,” she added after a second.
They discussed the price as he put on some gloves, disinfected the area of her finger and got down to work. He was halfway finished when the woman spoke again.
“So, you’re the girlfriend. No wonder he turned me down. I’m Mel. It’s nice to meet you.”
Elias paused in what he was doing and glanced at his girlfriend.
“And you’re the girl paying for my ice cream. Same.”
He refrained from chuckling, but Nesiah did not contain her laugh.
He assumed she wouldn’t flirt with him, and he was correct, but it seemed she was still trying to start shit, as if she thought he hadn’t told Eri about it initially.
His first thought was to leave the tattoo unfinished, but it seemed his girlfriend read his mind.
“You’re almost finished, right, babe?”
“I am, baby,” he responded.
He finished the tattoo and sprayed it before disposing of the needle and removing his gloves. She pulled some money from her pocket and handed it to him before bidding the tent goodbye and leaving.
“She’s persistent,” Eri said, getting up and taking the folded money from him. She opened it, and inside was a small slip of paper with her phone number on it. His girlfriend balled it up before handing him the money back.
“She’s wasting her time,” he replied.
“You should have called her out on the spot,” Nesiah said.
“I thought about it, but she looks like the type that might play victim and cause a scene. I’m not about to be the reason something negative happened at the shop’s first event. I’m also not worried about that girl.”
She had absolutely no reason to be, because he hadn’t been kidding when he’d inadvertently told her he was putty in her hands. Elias disinfected his area, and the two headed to get ice cream.
Elias double-checked that he had repacked everything he’d brought.
The event was winding down with less than an hour left, and most of the vendors had packed up.
Many of the people in attendance had trickled out after the tattoo competition, where a newer artist won, to the upset of two others who had been tattooing for two decades.
“I’ve gotten three hundred new followers today alone,” Eri said, showing him her phone.
Elias wasn’t surprised. She was great at what she did. He saw it, and so did everyone else. He wasn’t just gassing her up when he’d told her she’d take over the world with her designs. It was because he knew she would, because she was as talented as she was.
“And that’s only the beginning, Amate.”
“Hey, I’m glad you’re still here. I wanted to say goodbye.”
Everyone in the tent turned their attention to the entrance.
“You have got to be fucking kidding,” Nesiah stated under her breath.
“I’m glad you’re still here, too,” Eri responded.
Elias watched her remove something from her pocket and hand it to Mel.
It took him only a second to recognize the paper she’d balled up earlier.
“I was going to throw it in the trash on our way out, but you can have it back, and if you pull that shit again. I won’t be as nice. ”
Mel shrugged. “It never hurts to try.”
“Try it again, and find out,” Eri responded with a smile.
“I…don’t think I will,” Mel replied.
“Great choice,” Eri agreed, and they watched Mel slink out of the tent.
Elias wrapped an arm around Eri’s waist and whispered in her ear. “You’re cute when you’re possessive.”
She playfully glared at him over her shoulder, and he couldn’t help but kiss her before returning to ensure he had everything. All in all, it turned out to be a good first event. Whether they would do it again was yet to be seen.