Page 11 of Fox
fox
Years ago, I read something about how time spent in hell moves differently. A day on earth is decades there or some shit. I never really thought much about it… until now. I’m standing in the supply closet, listening to Janie drone on and on to one of her “sponsors” over the phone about her weekly numbers after she so casually told me she canceledmyink order, and I realize I genuinely am in hell.
“Absolutely!” Janie’s annoying, higher-than-normal voice chimes as she continues to make small talk with her sponsor. I’m three seconds from screaming and running out of the building.
“Right, I know my numbers are a little lower than usual, but I assure you, I’m working on a collab with another influencer, and we’ll get the numbers where they need to be, babe! Alright! Kisses!”
Two weeks. That’s all it’s been. I’m sure I’ve aged ten years in this time. The brat fights me at every turn. Every. Goddamn. Turn. Every suggestion I make, she has an opposing opinion. I want to move merchandise to the left side, and she says right. I suggest turning the thermostat to sixty-eight degrees, and she, well, initially, she suggested sixty-nine, but after Atlas and the guys started in with the jokes that you would expect from agroup of immature men, she decided that sixty-seven was the preferred temperature and proceeded to wear extra layers.
“Goddamn it, Torch,” I yell from the supply closet as I hear her mocking me to Atlas over my ink. “I only use that brand of ink! Why in the fuck would you cancel my order?”
I storm out to the main floor with the last bottle of my preferred black ink, clutching it like it’s the last snack cake known to man. Janie’s on her perch out front behind the front counter, resembling the harpy that she is.
I watch as she rolls her head toward the ceiling before sighing loudly. Wait, issheexasperated with me? “I already told you!” she growls. “The brand I ordered is trending right now in the tattoo world. It’s cost-effective, highly pigmented, and vegan!” My deadpan glare doesn’t seem to faze her as she continues to smile that stupid fucking shit-eating grin.
“I don’t care about the cost,” I bark out. “It’s worked into my hourly rate. No brand is as pigmented as the one I use; you have no idea about the tattoo world or what istrendingin it. And a girl who just ate a chicken burrito that was easily as massive as her big-ass head can’t talk to me about vegan versus non-vegan products.” I smirk when I see her neck and chest turning pink, her tell that she’s pissed.
“I’ll have you know I’m very knowledgeable on what’s trending! And considering trendsetting celebrities are a large portion of our clients—Oh! Hello!” I watch Janie’s demeanor change as a customer walks. The fact that Janie keeps things professional when clients or customers are in the shop is probably the only thing I can truly appreciate about her. I sit in my chair, watching the interaction between Janie and the guy. He looks like every other snobby California douchebag that wants to get some generic tattoo on the side of his calf so he can feel like a badass on casual Fridays at work.
Almost instantly, I can see he’s put off by having to talk to Janie. I will give her credit there, too. This is a male-dominated industry. Most of the artists, vendors, and clients are male or prefer to deal with men. I know that would become grating on me after a while, but so far Janie has taken the looks and remarks rather well, much better than I probably would, in all honesty.
“Yeah,” The man is looking anywhere but at Janie as he speaks. “I need to talk to someone about getting my girlfriend’s name on my arm.” I inwardly roll my eyes and glance at Atlas, who is working on a sketch at his station, laughing silently. We don’t do couple’s names. There’s a sign in the window as you walk in stating that you’ll be turned away. It’s on our website, and there is a large sign above Janie’s massively irritating head saying it as well. In fact, it’s the sign that the idiot is staring at to avoid Janie’s face.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Janie’s voice is kind and patient as she speaks to him. She’s still much more professional about it than I would be. “We actually don’t tattoo names for couples. If it were for your kid or something, we would, but it just ends badly too often for my artists to feel comfortable offering those services. But maybe you could do something else for her? Her birth flower or—”
“I didn’t ask your opinion.” The man snaps, and instantly, I stiffen. “I said I needed to talk to someone about getting a tattoo. If your artist won’t do my girlfriend’s name, that’s fine. I’ll get my daughter’s. Now, I would appreciate it if you could make yourself useful and scurry back there to get one of the men who actually do the work.”
I stand, ready to go up front and tell him to fuck off. Janie may not be my favorite person or even my tenth favorite person, but no man should talk to a woman like that,especiallyTony’sdaughter. Janie’s voice stops me from rounding the counter, grabbing the douchebag, and slamming my fist into his face.
“Okay, great!” I notice the slight quiver in her voice as she tries to sound confident, and I decide I’m not too fond of it. No one should be making Torch feel uncomfortable here. “Well, I’ll grab one of the artists for you. I just need to know your daughter’s name and see the birth certificate so we can verify—”
“Girl, shut your fucking mouth. Are you stupid? I said go get your boss.”
“Hey!” I bark, walking up behind Janie. An overwhelming sense of protectiveness fills my body to an uncomfortable level. Now that I’m this close, I notice Janie’s entire body is trembling, and it’s causing me to see red.
“Excuse me,” she whispers in a weak voice that doesn’t belong to her before pushing past me to walk to the back of the shop.
“Finally.” The guy sighs before smiling at me. “Okay, so, I kind of fucked up on my business trip and my girl…”
I wave my hand in front of him and shake my head in disbelief. “I’m sorry. Are you under the impression you will receive a tattoo from me or anyone else here today?”
The man blinks and then lets out a laugh. “Well, yeah… I’m a paying customer.”
“No, actually, you’re not.” I stare him down. It would be so easy.So fucking easy.One hit and this dickless fuck would be down. How dare he disrespect Janie… I mean the shop.
Rolling my shoulders, I am becoming more uncomfortable with my brain’s betrayal. Hel’s is number one. I’m only upset over Torch because she’s Tony’s daughter.
Right. Just keep riding that horse to freedom, Fox.
“Here’s the problem, bud,” I state, trying to end this without bloodshed. “You just waltzed in here, disrespected the shop’s policies, and did so to my boss.”
He blanches as he looks behind me to where Janie had run off to and then back at me. “Your boss? The girl?”
I nod. “Yeah, so if I were you, I would fuck off.” I hear something crash to the ground, followed by Janie letting out a string of curse words.Fuck, what now?
“I won’t repeat myself,” I growl as I nod my head toward the door.
Walking back into the tattoo area, I see Janie on her hands and knees with Atlas, who is frantically trying to calm her down. Janie is completely red and nearly in convulsions as she tries to clean up—son of a bitch.
