Devin's day started out shitty but that wasn't anything new for him. His life was a complete shit show if we're being honest here. First the hot water tank blew in his apartment so cold shower for him this morning. Yeah it blew in the middle of his morning shower, just barely having enough hot left to get the shampoo out of his hair before the cold ran him out.
Emergency maintenance told him over the phone they would get to it when they got to it. This of course made him late for work, the fourth time this month he was late and it was only the fifteenth.
He put his cigarette out on the bottom of his Doc Marten matte black boots before flicking the bud into the trash can next to the front door of the tattoo shop he worked at. Tainted Flesh was the local shop that everyone flocked to. The artists were great at what they did, the prices they charged were fair, and the atmosphere was one of a kind.
Currently Devin pretty much manned the front end, taking all the calls, checking appointments, making sure everything was ordered, stocked, and cleaned for the day ahead.
What he really wanted was to apprentice under one of the artists but hasn't ballsed up and asked yet. Devin has drawn all of his life. It was his one escape from the world around him. Most people didn't know that he could even sketch let alone draw something that was actually good. He wanted to combine his talent with ink and skin and make a living out of if.
Manning a shop wasn't anywhere near his dream job, but he looked at it as a stepping stone to where he wanted to be. That's if he got over the fear of people seeing and judging his work. Being judged for what he made and did, didn't sit well with him.
"Shut the fuck up. I'm here." Devin spoke walking into the shop getting a darting looking from Rodney Smith, everyone calls him Smith, owner of the fine establishment.
Smith opened this shop up two years ago with money he had been saving up from doing tattoos in his basement. It was his baby, pride and joy, the one thing that came first in his life besides tattooing itself.
Smith's main style is black and grey gothic but can do just about anything you can think of.
Ashley or Ash as most have come to know her started as soon as the doors open being a longtime friend of Smith's she is the new school queen in these parts.
Davey is the traditional guy, which Devin personally finds a little funny cause he looks a hell of a lot like Olive Peck the God of traditional work just Davey is about a foot and three inches taller.
Lastly there's Johnny Boy he's the go to for Japanese and fine line work. There's a fifth chair in the shop but Smith has yet to find a suitable artist to fill it. There have been a few others but none have worked out.
Smith is a very straightforward kind of guy who doesn't take shit or disrespect from anyone. So he tends to rub people the wrong way when they can't get on board with him.
As for the look of the shop its overall simple but has its own flare. The front desk is in the center of the building verse up at the front door, it's all matte black with the words Tainted Flesh painted on by hand by Smith in silver. Two stations to the left and two to the right, L shaped walls breaking up each section and gave privacy to the clients.
Smith has his own spot off in the back behind the front desk so he can see everything that goes on. The going joke is that he set it up that way so he could look over the land and people he owns like a king.
To the right a small bathroom and to the left the piercing room where you'll find Sunshine most days, yes that's her real name, parents were hippies. It suits her too cause she's nothing but bubbly and happy all the time.
Smith kept the color scheme simple, matte black, red, and white, with hints of silver. The walls behind each station had framed worked from each artist along with a hand drawing done by the artist themselves of their name.
The seating area up front had two black leather sofas that were now worn and seen better days but no one was complaining. A gothic century coffee table with matching side table, a TV that ran images of past tattoos the shop produced, unless there was a hockey game on and Smith was around.
"I'm telling you, I plan on firing you one of these days." Stated Smith from the back.
Devin clocked in at the computer at the front desk, answering the phone as it rang, "Tainted Flesh Ink." pause, "Yes looks like it was set up for two pm today, but he has an opening the Wednesday after next at four if that's better for you?"
Pause, "Okay, he'll see you then."
Devin hung up the phone, "Smith your two o'clock just rescheduled. And that day will never come. You need me too much."
Smith knew that Devin was just one of those people that was always late no matter what. It was like his personal clock was set fifteen minutes behind everyone else in the world. Smith met Devin a while back going on ten years actually, quickly becoming good friends after his older brother got locked up.
Smith kind of took place of Dustin in Devin's life, taking over the role of big brother and it hasn't changed since. It worked for both of them because Smith lost his younger brother to cancer just before meeting Devin. Smith said he reminded him a lot of Scotty and it was nice to have a piece of something good around him.
"That fucker is never going to get his piece done at the rate he's coming in." Chimed Davey looking up for the first time from the calf piece he was working on.
"It's his back not mine that's walking around half done." Spoke Smith wiping down his finished work on the girl, one last time before wrapping it up.
Smith tended to get a lot of young women his way. Devin found it quite annoying really. One he wasn't interested in any of them well no more than beyond the point of sleeping with them.
He was a pretty good looking guy over all, the tall dark handsome type with a whole lot of bad ass. About eighty percent of his body was covered in ink, even up to his neck and sides of his head. Though currently he had his hair grown out covering it. It was safe to say that he was a bit of a local celebrity here, making a pretty good name for himself so when the girls find out he's single they're all over him. Once she made her way to the front desk to pay Devin stood up from his chair being polite like always.
"Could you give this to Smith for me?" She spoke, biting the corner of her bottom lip.
She handed Devin a slip of paper that had her number, leaning over so she could get another glimpse of Smith before she sighed and left.
"What does this one make like two hundred and something?" Stated Devin as he handed Smith the slip.
Smith just looked at it shaking his head before tossing it into the top draw at his station. The draw that contained all the numbers he's gotten since he opened the place. Personally he never called any of them, well maybe a few pulling out a number at random.
Kind of his own way of playing Russian roulette with women. He finished cleaning up his station before joining Devin behind the desk, sitting across from him propping his Chucks up on the counter top relaxing back now that his afternoon was freed up.
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