Page 15 of London Inked Boys: The Complete Trilogy
I laugh. “Which question do you want me to answer first?”
“Any of them. No, the first one. How are you?”
“I’m okay. It’s strange being here, but I think I made the right decision. I don’t know… it’s early days yet.”
“What’s the building like you inherited? As fancy as you’d thought it was going to be?”
I laugh again, and it feels good. “No, the complete opposite! There’s a tattoo shop downstairs, and the apartment upstairs was a complete dump when I first got here. I had to get the guys from the tattoo shop to come up and help me clean.”
“They must have loved you for that.”
“Well, it was their mess. Two of the men didn’t mind, but the one who runs the business wasn’t too happy.”
“I bet he wasn’t,” she says, though I can hear the delight in my friend’s voice. “What’s he like?”
I try not to think about him fucking me from behind on the staircase right below where I’m standing, and pushing me against the wall and shoving his face between my thighs.
I realise Laura has spoken again. “Oh, sorry?”
“I asked what he was like.”
“What you’d expect—big, tattooed, a bit sullen.”
“Sounds like a laugh a minute.”
“Yeah, he’s a bit like that.”
On the other end of the line, Laura falls silent and then says, “Hey, we went to visit Brett the other day. It didn’t feel right, now you’re not around.”
An unexpected lump chokes my throat. “Thanks, Laura. Give him my love.”
“I will, Tess. It’s weird you not being here anymore. This town is too quiet.”
“I had to go though, I had no choice.”
“I know, sweetie. We miss you, that’s all. Everyone keeps asking how you’re getting on.”
“That’s one of the reasons I had to get away.”
A silence falls between us, and then Laura speaks, “Hey, look, I have to get to work.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot it’s first thing in the morning for you.”
“Stay in touch though, okay. We love you, and miss you.”
“Miss you, too.”
I hang up, blinking back tears. I know I can’t go back to my old town—I left that part of my life behind me now—but that doesn’t mean I don’t miss it. But living there had been an emotional struggle every single day, and it hasn’t gotten any easier. I needed this move, even if it brought its own challenges.
The day outside is unusually bright. I need to get out of this apartment and go and see some of the city. I’d hunkered down here, trying to acclimatise to all the changes in my life, but at some point I’m going to have to start actually living. I have money coming in from my inheritance, but I can’t just rely on that. I need to work, if only for my own sanity, though I have no idea what I’d be any good at. Everything that happened back home meant I’d never focused on my future or a career, but I’m going to have to start somewhere.
I’m in one of the best cities in the world, but I’ve barely seen any of it.
Making up my mind, I gather my jacket and purse, and slip my feet into a comfortable pair of sneakers. The warm spring weather makes me cast off my usual jeans in favour of a small summer dress, to which I add a soft grey cardigan to keep off the chill. The tattoo shop downstairs is open and in the full swing of business. Music blares and voices drift up to me. I’ll sneak out the back, so I won’t need to speak to anyone. Not that I’m trying to avoid anyone in particular, I lie to myself.
I move slowly and carefully down the stairs, like a teenager sneaking out in the middle of the night. The door dividing the studio and my staircase is closed. Another door leading out to the small courtyard out the back stands ajar. I hold my breathand slip out of the backdoor. I look over my shoulder toward the tattoo studio door, ready to bolt if it opens.
“Hey, watch it!”
