Page 53 of Fox
At’s mouth falls open and his eyes go as wide as saucers. “No way,” he half laughs. “You fucked Tony’s daughter?” I lean over and whack him upside the head with one of the portfolio binders before telling him to shut the fuck up.
After a minute, he shrugs and rubs his head. “I mean, I guess it was bound to happen. You two have been living together.”
“Didn’t happen at my house,” I mutter while tapping out a text to Janie.
Me: I hope you’re doing alright. Maybe you and I should talk more about you revamping Hel’s.
“Where did it happen?” Atlas asks with sincere curiosity, and I give him a small smirk. “At Hel’s?” He asks, even though I cantell he’s growing concerned with what my answer will be. I give him a half, noncommittal shrug.
He groans, “Oh, come on, man. Wait, where in the shop?”
Slowly looking up from the phone, I see the look of fear, disgust, and betrayal on his face. I smirk and lean back in my chair. “It would appear you already know where.”
“You owe me a new fucking station!” He gags, and I can’t help but laugh as he mentions something about old nuts hitting his table.
An older male voice interrupts Atlas’ drama session. “Hey, there you boys are!” I look up to see a familiar man in his late sixties. He’s bald with a beard resting on his small gut and wearing a leather vest to show off his full sleeves that I'm sure he predates me.
“Arlo, hey, brother.” I smile as Atlas, and I stand to hug the old-timer. Arlo was one of Tony’s closest friends and initially helped Tony get Hel’s started.
“Where’s Janie? I heard she was helping run the shop now. I haven’t seen her since she was about this tall.” He says, holding his hand level with his stomach.
I chuckle while stuffing my hands in my jeans pocket. “Yeah, well, she hasn’t grown much. But she stayed back in California.”
Arlo lets out a wheezy laugh and pats my arm. “I wanted to apologize to her for missing her daddy’s funeral. I had a damn heart attack the day before, and the bastards at the ICU wouldn’t let me out.”
Atlas and I laugh as he shakes his head, and I can’t imagine how his kids handle this old man. Stubborn as a mule. I have no doubt he was raising ten kinds of hell trying to get out of the hospital to make it to the funeral.
Arlo sighs and looks at me. “So, is she doing the business side, or has she finally picked a machine up? I really would loveto see some of her new artwork.” Atlas and I exchange confused glances before I look back to Arlo.
“Artwork?” I repeat.
Arlo nods before his smile begins to fade. “Don’t tell me she gave it up? Oh, she was amazing!”
She told me she wanted to be the nextPierce Tattoo Artist,but her disorder stopped her. Of course, I wouldn’t talk about that as I still am not sure who from Tony’s past knows about it.
Arlo sighs and shakes his tattoo-covered bald head. “That girl came up with that drawing there when she was just ten years old.” I look at the logo on my shirt that he is pointing to. Our shop's logo of the goddess Hel was Janie's sketch? We had all just assumed that Tony was referring to himself when he said it was aPierce Original.
Pierce Originals. My stomach bottoms out as the memory of the folder full of artwork in Tony’s office hits my brain.Those are Janie’s, that’s why they’re so different from Tony’s.My thoughts go to the text with Atlas about Janie drawing for my client and then her note about her scratch work. Fuck.
Arlo and Atlas’ conversation is background noise when I feel my phone vibrate. Looking at the screen, I see it’s a message from Janie, and I nearly drop my phone trying to open it.
When I open the text, I see she sent me a photo of a white mug that says “World’s Best Boss” on it.
Torch: I’m going to buy it for you, but you need to send me $9.25
Me: Why would I send you $9.25 if YOU are buying it for me?
Torch: …BECAUSE, you insolent fool! Michael Scott bought his own best boss mug. Also, you aren’t my boss, so I can’t buy this for you as a gift. That’s like bowing before a fake king. You have no gold, no land. You’re not my king, Fox!
Torch requests payment of $9.25
“What’s got him grinning like an idiot?” Arlo’s voice breaks my little bubble, causing me to glance at the two men staring at me in confusion. A knowing grin creeps across Atlas’ face, and I feel a cold sensation wash over me.
“Oh,” Atlas chuckles. “Fox here has turned his back on our bro pack and gotten himself lovesick.”
It’s a shame, really, knowing that I’m going to have to murder my best friend. But Atlas is leaving me no choice. I silently threaten him with unimaginable pain as he continues to talk to Arlo.
“Yeah, he’s got this fiery little pistol back home.” He gives me a wink, and it’s at that moment I know that ripping his eyeballs out and shoving them into his oversized mouth is the first thing I’m doing.
