Page 11 of Brand
CHAPTER FIVE
Brand
I was sitting there at the front counter trying my best to concentrate on a piece for a guy that was coming in this weekend. I was over half-way done with it but my brain seemed to be spacing out when it came to finishing it. I couldn’t even tell you why that was.
My phone started to ring and I looked over to see who was calling. I swiped the video connect because that was what Reagan always wanted. I never complained because that meant I got to see little Madelyn and all her baby squishiness. Though most people called her by her full name, being the cool guy that I was, I called her Maddy.
“Hey,” I answered in a normal voice.
“Hey, B. How is everything going?” Reagan’s cheerful voice called out.
“Not too bad. How is that little cutie?” I asked and a smile overtook my face the moment Maddy’s face filled the screen. I could see her hand moving back and forth in front of the camera like she was trying to reach out and grab me.
“Say hi to Uncle Brand,” Reagan said, her focus more on the kid than me. Even though I wasn’t there to see it, I knew she was the best mom.
Maddy greeted me with some kind of high pitched squeal and then a bunch of bubbles pushed their way past her tiny lips. I laughed and waved at her.
“So, Chris found a house, right?” she asked as she shifted Maddy on her lap.
“Yeah, right on the beach. It’s amazing.” I answered though I figured she already knew all of this.
“Yeah. We were thinking of making a trip down there once he’s settled in. Also, Loch and I both wanted to get some work done. I’m also trying to convince Ellie to join us. She’s still on the fence, so, we’ll see. Anyway, the plan is to stay with Chris since he has the extra space and offered. I figured it would be a bit quieter than the compound.”
We chatted for a bit, nothing too deep. She explained to me a bit of what they wanted to get and I told her I’d work some stuff up. I made some funny faces at Maddy and then we hung up.
I dropped my phone down on the countertop beside me and got my head in the game. I was so lost in my sketch that I barely registered the bell on the front door jingle. I finished adding a few lines before I forgot what my plan was, then set the pencil down beside my sketchbook.
My head looked up and I was a little surprised to see what was in front of me, but I wasn’t sure why. We typically got all kinds in here, but to be honest, this was a bit of a sketchy area of town and not many girls likeherdared to come out this way.
I say that because she was screaming ‘rich.’ I don’t generally judge people, and I wasn’t saying anything negative about it, I was just stating a fact.
Her medium length hair just barely brushed her shoulders. The light blonde color was one that didn’t happen naturally, that wasn’t to say it looked bad. In fact, it seemed to look just right on her.
Her makeup was spot-on like she knew what she was doing. There was just enough there to brighten her features and lighten up her gray eyes. Steel gray eyes that almost had a faint lavender tint to them.
Fucking stunning.
I tore my eyes away quickly and scanned the rest of her body. Her shirt was loose and flowy and something that looked like it was made of some sort of soft, fancy material. Her jeans were tight and had those premade holes in odd places. Like, how would you get wear in your pants right below the pocket? I never understood that shit. And those shoes. Simple enough ballet flats, but by the gold buckle logo on the top, I would have bet they cost as much as I paid in rent on the shop building a month. The huge bag hanging off her arm was probably twice that.
The fact that I didn’t spot an ounce of ink on her told me that she was more than likely there to get her first one. And I would have put money on the fact that she would back out before I even got started.
I imagined that she wanted a butterfly and for a second, cursed the fact that Blade wasn’t around.
Maybe all of that made me an asshole, but the reality was, I’d seen it too many times before.
“Can I help you?” I asked and my tone might have been a bit dull.
“I’m here to talk to Brand.” Her voice was light and airy and I could detect a bit of nervousness there.
“Yeah,” I all but barked. People coming in and asking for me wasn’t anything new.
“Yo-you’re Brand?” And there was the nervousness coming out full force.
“Yes, that is me.” I sat up straighter, but didn’t lean back on the stool.
“Uhm,” she sputtered as she took a giant step forward and held out her hand. “I’m Cami, and I, well, I saw your work online, and there weren’t any pictures of you, so I had no idea it was you. Anyway, I noticed that you have most of it covered with what you guys can do here, the only thing that seems to be lacking is more realistic portraits and, like, landscapes and such…”
I shook her hand only out of politeness. I wasn’t that much of a dick. This girl kind of had a fangirl vibe going on and suddenly my interests were peaked. It was obvious that she’d done her homework before walking into the shop.
