Jax's POV
I had to try to keep myself from yawning as I listen to Dayton talk to someone about a consultation.
Ryder had a nightmare last night and ended up going numb for a while before any of us knew. Liam ended up having to pee in the middle of the night and luckily noticed. After we were able to get him back, he pretty much refused to go back to sleep so we all stayed up with him until he finally dozed off at about 5, which only left me and Callum with an extra hour of sleep.
I was supposed to be taking notes on how Dayton did consultations along with how he charges so I could know what was reasonable for my own tattoos but I pretty much falling asleep standing up at this point.
I still managed to get down a few notes though, just in case Dayton asked me about them later.
"Well if this all sounds good to you then you can follow Jax up to the front and he can get you an appointment," Dayton said loudly, probably just to wake me up.
I put on a smile as I stand up and resist the urge to rub the sleep out of my eyes.
"So Dayton said it was going to take about 3 hours," I say as I get logged into the computer. "Do you want to do it all in one go or do you want to split it up over several days?"
"I think all at once," the girl said as she pulled her phone out to check her calendar. "When is his closest time for that long?"
"That would be next Monday, which would be July 20th, at 1-3. Does that work for you?"
"Yea that works. Do I need to put a deposit down to save my spot or anything like that?"
"There is $25 deposit but you will get that back when you come in. It's pretty much just to give you a reason other than your tattoo to come back."
That was pretty much it for her. She paid and told me how excited she was and then left but the second she was out the door my smile fell and I was finally rubbing my eyes.
"You seem pretty tried," Dayton noted as he came up to the counter.
"Just a little bit," I admit as I look up at him. "Ryder had a nightmare so none of us really slept." Dayton only hummed as he looked around the shop for a second.
"Do you think you handle things for a few minutes? We're the only two working today and I don't have appointments for an hour so you only have to worry about walk ins. You remember how to do walk ins right?"
"Yea I can handle it. How long are you going to be gone though?"
"No more than 20 minutes," he said as he started walking to the door. "Work on some basic designs while I'm gone. Something about how 'not all those who wander are lost'."
"Isn't that what the girl who just left wanted?"
"Yep. If it looks good, I'll use your design."
"Does that mean I can do her tattoo when she comes in?" I ask purely to annoy him.
Dayton's laugh boomed around the room as he opened the door.
"No."
And with that, I was left alone.
I can't help but groan to myself when I go to get the sketchbook that I left in Dayton's station. I had just gotten comfortable when the bell on the door chimed, letting me know someone had walked in.
I force another smile on my face as I walk back up to the counter.
"What can I do for you," I asked the man when I get logged into the system again.
"I need a touch up," the guy said rudely. "Kate should be here today. I want her to do it." My eyes trailed over to the fading tattoo of an eagle holding a machine gun with the rebel flag as a background that laid on his bare bicep.
"Unfortunately, Kate isn't here today. She had a wedding to go to but she will be back tomorrow. I can get you an appointment set up."
"I need it done today though. You aren't doing anything. You do it."
"I'm not certified and I've never even touched a tattoo gun before so I can't. If you want Kate, I can still make your appointment."
"Then why are you even here if you can't do anything," he said in a rather annoyed voice as he backed away from the counter with a scowl and mumbling something about how no one wants to actually earn a pay check these days as he paced back and forth.
"So do you want me to set the appointment or not?"
"No, I'm waiting for Dayton. I want him to know that his worker isn't willing to do his job." I can't help but sigh as I sit in the office chair and open the sketchbook. If he didn't need me to do anything then I wasn't going worry with him.
The design I ended up coming up with would be water colored map with the words going through the center of it. I had no idea if Dayton would actually like it but I did use colors like she asked, and a map like she was hinting at but didn't actually say.
I had just started to think of other ideas, because Dayton said you should always come up with at least three designs just in case they don't like any of them, when the door chimed again.
"Hey Carl, you here for that touch up with Kate?" Dayton asked as he walked in holding two bags from two different food places. "Because you missed her. She's at a wedding."
"Yea that's what your boy told me right before he refused me service." I scowl at that without meaning to.
"What do you mean he refused service," Dayton said with a frown of his own.
"He said he wouldn't touch up my tattoo even though he wasn't doing anything."
"Well he's not allowed to touch the gun so that's probably a good thing. Have you smoked at all today? You're looking a bit stressed?" Carl only frowned with a sigh as he wiped his face.
"I've been trying to quit ad it's not really working."
"It can be hard but you don't get to take it out on other people. Kate comes back tomorrow, if you want her to do it, go ahead and get an appointment set up because she's booked for most of the day but she might be able to squeeze you in," Dayton said as he shooed me out from behind the desk.
In the end Carl set up an appointment, which sadly meant I was going to have to deal with him tomorrow but he was luckily gone for the day on a few minutes later.
"Here," Dayton said as he reached into one of the bags and pulled out a drink carrier. "You seem like a black coffee kind of guy."
Carter was up front in a second as he eagerly took the cup as sat down in the floor.
"This is a pretty good one," he noted as he looked over my design while pulling food out of the second bag.
"Thanks but it's not mine," Carter said with a small shrug before taking a long sip of the coffee.
Dayton frowned as he took in Carter, obviously not really noting the change at first before it finally clicked.
"Well it still looks good," he said as he started taking food out of the second bag. "Here, eat this. It tastes like heaven in your mouth," he said as he threw some tortilla wrap at Carter, who of course caught it easily.
"So, does Jax want to learn how to use the gun after this?"
Liam's POV
'No one was there. No one was behind me. You're just stressed. Go home and see everyone and you'll see that no one was following you.'
I had been saying that mantra to myself over and over as I walked home for work.
I still find myself looking over my shoulder every few seconds just to make sure but every time I look, faces get blurred together and I can't pick out any suspicious people in the crowd.
So I force myself to turn back around and to pick up my pace little by little until I'm finally back to the apartment building. Just being inside the building makes me feel better but the second I step into our apartment, everything melts away as if it never even happened.
"Sound off, who's here," I ask as I take off my shoes.
"Just Ryder," he said as he peaked around the corner with a smile. "Callum should be back soon though."
"Soon like an hour or soon like we have just enough time to put a movie in?"
"Enough to put a movie in. Was that a hint or something," he asked as he came up and wrapped his arms around my stomach.
"A little bit. I kind of want to watch Rocky." Ryder only hummed as he unwound himself from me before taking my hand and leading me into the living room before pushing me onto the couch.
Soon enough the movie was playing and Ryder was leaning into my side as the previews started to play.
"It's funny how we've seen all of these movies a thousand times and after years of asking for cable, we finally have it but we almost never use it," Ryder points out with a small sigh as he pulls a blanket over the two of us.
"I've always liked movies more, especially on cable. You just start watching a show in the middle and hope you can figure it out. It's kinda pointless but id we ever got like a box set of something I'd watch a show." Ryder only hummed.
I can't help but smile a bit as I pull Ryder closer.
After weeks of everything seeming out of tune, this finally felt normal.
In this moment we were back at camp. Callum and Jax we off on a date, leaving me and Ryder to have a date of our own. We would have school tomorrow so we couldn't stay up too late but by the way Ryder's eyes keep falling closed I would say that we wouldn't have to worry about that.
But all it took was Callum coming in with food bags to break that.
We weren't at camp anymore. We had work in the morning not school. And things weren't normal because I was seeing people that weren't even there.
None of this was normal and it was physically killing me.
Last updated June 24, 2021
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