Page 5 of Mayhem
“Hey,” Erin greeted around the toothbrush.
“Hey, I was just calling to see if you were awake. You were up pretty late.”
That was an understatement. Erin had been up until about six that morning. She had an idea for a tattoo design and made the mistake of telling herself she would just sketch a little of it; she would outline it and then go to bed. Just the outline had turned into a little detailing, and before long, she was drawing the entire thing in depth. By the time she’d finished and showered, the sun was about to start rising.
“Yeah, I got into drawing, and time sort of flew past me,” Erin responded. “But I just got up.”
“Okay, well, my lunch break is in an hour and a half. Do you want to meet somewhere, and we can have lunch together?” Chayse questioned.
“Sure, just text me the place, and I’ll see you there.”
“Alright.”
They hung up, and Erin finished brushing her teeth before going to her suitcase and pulling out clothes for the day. She decided on dark-washed skinny jeans, a pale-yellow thin sweater, and the yellow and blackAir Maxshe’d brought. Erin then pulled her hair into a bun on her head.
Grabbing her phone, she entered the living room and sat on the couch. She turned the television on but knew she would only use it for the background noise as she scrolled through her phone.
By the time a text came in from Chayse, Erin had bookmarked a few things that had interested her. She looked at the time and saw she had forty minutes before meeting Chayse for lunch. With the multiple times she’d been to Denver, she still wasn’t familiar with it unless she’d been to a place a couple of times before. She decided to head towards the restaurant now in case the GPS in her rental car led her astray.
Grabbing her purse and keys, she used the spare Chayse had given her to lock the door. Then, she texted Chayse and told her she’d left the house so that Chayse could engage the alarm.
Erin slid behind the wheel and keyed the restaurant name into the system once she’d started the car. According to the GPS, it was about twenty minutes away.
She exited the parking lot and followed the instructions to the restaurant, glad that she’d left a bit earlier than needed. The lunchtime traffic was thick, and it’d taken her an additional ten minutes to get there.
She pulled into a parking space that allowed her to see the front door and listened to the soft music playing over the radio while she waited for Chayse to arrive. She knew she wouldn’t have to wait long because the other woman was always a few minutes early to everything, and this time was no different.
A little over five minutes later, Erin saw her and exited her rental. She went to the front of the restaurant, where Chayse was scrolling through her phone.
“Hey,” Erin greeted, gaining Chayse’s attention.
“Hey, I was just about to call you.”
They went inside toward the hostess stand and were told it would be a ten-minute wait. Chayse and Erin sat down, and as they waited, Erin asked her how work was going so far. Chayse told her about a man callingGorgeous, demanding to be featured in the magazine because he hadn’t been yet. Erin could only scoff and shake her head.
When seated with their drink orders placed, Erin looked over her menu, trying to decide what she wanted.
“So, Nik’s birthday is today, and we’re going out for dinner,” Chayse told her. “You should come.”
Erin looked up from her menu. “Don’t you want to celebrate alone?”
“Oh, trust me. We’re going to,” Chayse responded with a smirk. “We’re going away for a few days which is why I went into work today to schedule all of my appointments for the first week of April back a bit. Tonight, however, we’re just having dinner.”
Erin thought about it for a moment. She didn’t want to intrude on their plans or be a third wheel, though she didn’t mind the latter too much.
“Besides, you’re flying out in the morning, and I want to see you at least tonight before you go,” Chayse told her.
“Okay,” Erin responded because she knew if she said no, Chayse would feel bad for having to choose to spend Nik’s birthday with him or see Erin before she left. Erin didn’t believe in putting her friends in situations like that, though she did like to playfully embarrass them on occasion.
Their server came over with their drinks and took their orders. Once they were gone again, Erin decided to tell Chayseher news. She’d put it off for the past couple of days, not wanting to step on the high she knew her friend was feeling from Nik asking her to move in with him.
“So, I’ve decided to move,” she said before sipping her drink.
“What brought this on?” Chayse questioned.
Erin shrugged. “There’s nothing for me in Florida.”
There wasn’t—nothing other than her tattoo career, and Erin could do that anywhere once she got her name out there. Her father was in Washington, her grandmother had decided to spend her golden years on sandy beaches, and her closest friends had moved one after the other.
