Chapter 8
CHAPTER
EIGHT
Abyss
I should’ve known she’d get in before me, she usually does. Unfortunately, today she came in to an absolute disaster area.
“I hope you charged them extra,” she grumbles. “This is… this is bullshit, Abyss! They’re grown men and should’ve known better. Hell, we’ve got several trash cans that they could’ve tossed their empty stuff in!”
I bite back my grin because she has no clue how beautiful she looks when she’s fired up about something. Her eyes are sparkling, there’s a rosy hue to her cheeks and the fact that she’s so incensed on my behalf gets my motor running.
“It was horrible,” I admit. “There were ten of them, they all wanted flash art pieces, but had a hard time deciding what they wanted. Then they had to eat, so they did a DoorDash order, but they also got a double dash or something like that so they could have soft drinks, chips, and candy. I swear to Christ they were like a bunch of frat boys.”
“Were they wearing polo shirts?” she asks, grinning.
“Actually, several of them were, come to think of it. I know if Rio had popped in like he sometimes does, he’d have lost his shit and made them clean it up, but I was in my room for the majority of the time and didn’t see it until the last one was done and they were settling up.”
“Please tell me you charged them extra,” she says, holding her gloved hands together like she’s praying.
The chuckle that bursts out of me has her eyes widening.
“As a matter of fact, I got the sense that they were going to try to cheap out, so I bumped each tattoo up by fifty bucks. None of them tipped, but honestly, it’s not an expectation to me at all.
Still, since you’re helping me set this shit to rights, I’m giving you half of it. ”
“You don’t have to do that, Abyss,” she states. “I work here too and prefer it if things are neat and tidy.”
“But if we had a cleaning crew in, this would be a non-issue for both of us, so I’m going to do it and you’re going to let me. Don’t argue with me, Shelly, I’m the boss and you’ll lose.”
“Ugh, fine, whatever,” she grumbles. “Guess I’ll put it toward some new sketchpads or something useful.”
“I’ve seen some of the pictures in your room, do you do commission work?” I ask.
Right now, I’ll take any little thing she wants to share in an effort to get to know her. It’s almost an obsession at this point, although I’m nowhere near stalking her.
Yet.
It might happen, though, because I wanna know all there is to Shelly Adcock. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Granted, I know about the ugly and the bad, but she isn’t aware of that fact, and until she’s willing to share with me, my lips are sealed.
“Actually, yes, I do,” she says. “I’ve done portraits and I’m in the process of setting up a website with slides of some of the work I already have done that’s for sale.”
“Diversification, I like it,” I reply.
“I often sketch between clients,” she admits.
“Some of them will just stay in the pad, but others, I’ll take home and put them on a canvas.
I love that I can tattoo one of my designs on a person’s body since it’s permanent, but I started out doing caricatures at the local fairs, then animal portraits from pictures that their owners gave me, and I have even done a few with people in them. ”
“You’ll have to show me that portfolio one of these days.”
Something flashes across her face, and she grins at me before she says, “You wanna see my etchings, Abyss?”
Fuck. Me.
“Only the ones you wanna show me, Shelly,” I reply, smirking at her. “At your leisure, babe, I’m in no hurry.”
I watch her face flush, and my grin grows wider as I wonder if now would be a good time to ask her out. The moment passes when I hear Mack call out, “Where are y’all?”
“Out front, Uncle Mack,” Shelly says, turning back to what’s left of the trash.
“Who had the party and didn’t invite me?” Mack asks, chuckling as he looks around and sees three garbage bags full, with quite a bit left to clean up.
“The last group of clients I had last night. Seems they live in a cave or some shit, but I was so fucking tired of dealing with them last night that I figured I’d just clean it all up this morning. Except… Shelly got here before me and jumped right in.”
“Can’t risk a shitty inspection,” Shelly asserts. “I mean, we don’t know that we’re getting one today or anything like that, but we should always be prepared.”
“Why don’t you go down and grab us some coffees, your drink, and some pastries while me and Mack finish this up?” I ask, pulling out my wallet.
She waves me away. “I’ve got it. Y’all want your usual?” she questions.
“Make mine the biggest one they’ve got,” Mack states. “Those brothers of yours know how to make an old man feel a helluva lot older, that’s for sure.”
“You didn’t drive like that, did you?” Shelly queries.
“Fuck no, they poured me into a bed and when I got up this morning, I went home, got a shower, then headed in,” Mack emphatically states. “You know I’d never do that, Shelly. Ever.”
Her voice is quiet as she turns to head out the front door to go to the bakery. I know it’s because of what happened to her, but this is an ache I can’t help her with since she doesn’t know that I’m aware of her history.
“I swear to Christ I hate paperwork,” I grumble as I sort through invoices that need paying, along with a supply order that needs my signature so Shelly can get it processed.
Unfortunately, it’s a necessary evil, and Nerd has done what he can to ensure it’s as easy as can be for me.
Still, it takes me away from my latest focus which is Shelly.
If we’re not busy, we hang out in the front reception area, chatting, and while it’s mostly surface shit, I’m learning her expressions and what makes her tick.
“I think that’s the truest statement I’ve ever heard,” Mack says, walking into my office. “Definitely something I don’t miss,” he teases as he sits in one of the chairs in front of my desk.
“It’s a pain in the ass,” I admit. “I know it has to be done, but it feels like if I don’t look at it every day, it multiplies.”
“Like fucking rabbits,” Mack adds. “Did you see what Shelly put up on our Facebook page?”
“Haven’t looked today,” I reply. “Between cleaning the front then having that client, I’ve been slogging through the to-do list from hell.”
“She created a graphic featuring the sobriety tattoos. Put it up on Instagram too. Got a lot of positive comments, so I’m sure that’ll bring in more traffic.”
“May have to look for another artist if business keeps picking up,” I murmur.
“Couldn’t hurt, but we should see if we can handle it first before we do that. We seem to get along well enough, but adding another person to the mix might change the dynamic.”
“Yeah, I kind of like the vibe the shop has these days,” I tell him. “Seems like everyone who comes through the front door is in a good mood and that’s down to adding the two of you.”
“My girl is something,” he says, pride ringing in his tone. “Did she tell you she painted those pictures in her room?”
“I asked her about them this morning. She’s definitely talented as fuck, not just as a tattoo artist. The fact that she’s able to work in several different mediums is impressive, to be honest. Most focus on one art form and ignore the others, but she works with paint, acrylics, watercolors, charcoal, and plain old pencil. ”
“She picked up the gun because of me,” Mack admits. “She’s my girl, through and through, even though I had no part in creating her. That would be weird as fuck since she’s my niece, but I think you get what I’m saying.”
I grin and nod. “Absolutely. Hate the reason that y’all moved but love the fact that y’all have settled here. I see good things ahead for all of us.”