Page 52 of Fox
I raise a brow and lean back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest. “What does that mean?”
“It means,” Derek interjects as he drops a black folder in my lap. “Had we all not brushed Janie off so quickly with her social media help, maybe we would’ve been prepared.”
Looking at the folder skeptically, I root around in my bag for my glasses before opening the folder and rolling my eyes. “This is the shit she showed us over a month ago.” As I go to close the folder, Derek’s wolf’s head hand tattoo covers the page, and he stops me.
“Did you actually read her proposition, though?” he asks. I look from him to Ash and Atlas. Am I being ganged up on?
Taking my glasses off, I look back at Derek. “I thought we all agreed that changing how we run the shop is a bad idea.”
“Dude,” Atlas shakes his head as if he is getting frustrated with me. I just watched him get yelled at for calling a girl Christine, whose name is actually Katherine, but sure,Iam the frustrating one. “There are seventy-year-old artists here who are more put together than us.” He again motions his hands to the old-timers milling around. “We look like amateurs right now! When I went and got our drinks, someone came up to me and asked for my QR code so he could see my portfolio. I don’t even know what that is! But you know who does? Fucking Janie.” Atlas makes his point by taking the folder and flipping the pages to show a box you scan with your phone, and whatever you want will appear.
Okay, that could've been convenient.
“Also,” Derek says, flipping through the folder. What the fuck? Were they all studying this over while I napped on the plane? I thought they were looking for strip clubs.
“If you look over this page, you will see that Janie actually made different sample itineraries for us for this convention. She had different ideas for merchandise and giveaways and had everything organized, down to us raffling off a tattoo. None of which was put into action because we never took her seriously. We stopped listening to her when she mentioned social media.”
I hate how true Derek’s words were. I remember how excited she was to talk to us that day. And then how hurt she was when we,when I,brushed her off. Thumbing through the last papers, I stop on a piece of notebook paper with Janie’s handwriting on it.
Ideas to run by Fox:
- New Line of shirts depicting different female goddesses.
- Convention Exclusive shirts that guys design themselves.
- Explain idea for updated logo. Have Fox sketch it out so it looks better than my scratch work.
Scratch work?
Had she drawn something that she was too embarrassed to show? I stare at her penmanship and wince. It wasn’t smooth, you could see where the tremors were worse in some areas.
You can’t be a tattoo artist if you can’t tattoo a fucking straight-line Fox!
Flinching at the memory of Janie screaming that at me, I close the folder and sigh, something uneasy filling my gut. “Yeah, I guess I kind of fucked up on that one.”
After a silent minute, Ash and Derek decide to go off to look at other vendors since our table is completely dead. I look at Atlas, who keeps staring at me.
“Dude, I’m going to fucking hit you,” I warn after catching him looking for the hundredth time.
Atlas looks me over and squints his eyes suspiciously. “Something is going on. You keep checking your phone. You’re all mopey, and Janie has gone silent. Did you two fight?”
God, he's fucking irritating. “No, Sherlock, we didn’t fight. One would have to be speaking to fight.” I mutter the last part, but Atlas and his big ass ears hear me.
Atlas groans dramatically as he slumps back in his chair. “Fox!” He whines. “Come on, man! I really like Janie!”
“Wanna try that again?” I warn under my breath while glaring at him. I don’t know why what he said puts me into alpha-possessive caveman mode, but it does, and I’m suddenlyfilled with the urge to beat his fucking face in for daring toreally likemy girl.
My girl?Fucking hell…
Atlas holds up his hands in mock defense. “As a friend or sister, dude.” I watch as a grin spreads across his face, and I know I’ve stepped right into it. “You have a thing for Red, don’t you, Fox.” His eyes fucking twinkle with glee.
I run my hand through my hair as I exhale harshly through my nose. I need some scotch.
“Atlas…” I caution him through clenched teeth as the heat creeps into my cheeks.
His grin just keeps widening as he points his finger at me. “Oh no, no, no…I’m not scared of you, old man. Spill it. Did you tell her you liked her, and she turned you down? Is she not into thedaddything?”
I can’t help the laugh that escapes me as I lean back, feeling a littletoosmug. “Oh, she’s into thedaddy thing,”Goddammit, why can’t I keep my mouth shut?
