Status: Updating frequently :)
Beneath the Surface
Chapter One
January 4th, 2012
Wednesday
Rodney's Tattoo & Piercings Shop
9:05 P.M.
Carmen Agnoli leaned back in her chair trying to ignore the stinging pain moving across her foot. She watched Rodney carefully etch the colorful design across her foot. He leaned away and said
"All done," Carmen smiled happily, seeing the new tattoo across her foot. It was of three big colorful lily flowers. It was exactly how Carmen wanted it. It matched the tattoo that she had spread across her hips and lower back.
"It looks amazing Rod," she said, still admiring the new tattoo.
"Thanks," said Rodney. "It looks good with your other tattoo." Carmen lifted her shirt up past her hips so she could see the large tattoo spread from each of her hips and across her lower back. The tattoo stretched from one hip bone to the next. It was of large lilies that were all different colors and sizes. They were closely drawn together like the ones on her foot.
"I love it," she said. As Rodney patched up her foot to keep the tattoo clean Carmen looked through her purse for money. She pulled out two $50 dollar bills and tried to hand them to him.
"Half off," he said.
"No, no," she said. "You take it, I don't want special treatment."
"You don't have to pay me all of that." said Rodney. Carmen sighed in defeat and handed him one of the $50 dollar bills. Rodney smiled and said
"I could never charge you full price." Carmen rolled her eyes and said
"What hours do you want me to work the rest of this week?"
"The usual, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday." Carmen worked afternoons at the tattoo shop. She wasn't an artist but she worked at the desk, greeting customers and organizing all of Rodney's files and appointments.
"Well I should get going, Jenny will be wondering where I am."
"I'll see you later." said Rodney. She left the small roadside shop and went out into the cold night. Pulling her coat tightly around her, she hurried across the street to her car. She quickly got inside and turned it on, turning up the heat.
She let herself relax got a minute before she pulled out of her parking spot and headed down the street. She felt the soreness of her her new tattoo throb from inside her boot. Pushing away the pain she thought of the beauty the new tattoo had. She always loved lilies, they had been her mother's favorite. She remembered having them all over the house back in Maine. Those flowers were one of the main things that she remembered about her mother. They had been hung up in the windows, growing in large pots on a table in every room. Carmen remembered their sweet smell and the big soft petals. Everything in her childhood had been perfect. Despite the fact she had never had a father, life had been perfect with just her, her little brother Max, and her mom. Until the accident. Then everything had been taken away in an instant.
The car accident had happened on a snowy night. At the delicate age of five, Carmen's mother was killed in a car accident. It was one of her most clear memories. Her and her brother had been in the backseat in their car seats. She remembered the deafening sound of a truck horn before the truck hit their car. She didn't remember much after that. She and her brother had been taken to the hospital with minor injuries while her mother had been instantly killed.
After recovering, they were sent to live with her mother's close friend Angela. They didn't have any other family and only knew Angela from when she visited once a year in Christmas. Angela lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and had been the first to volunteer to take Carmen and her brother in. It was either her or a foster home. They were moved from their little rural home to a condo in the city. Angela was a successful but an unmarried lawyer. As nice as she was she wasn't around a lot, leaving Carmen and Max in the care of Angela's brother, Rodney Hillick.
Carmen liked Rodney from the moment she met him. He was a unique person. His quirky personality made him easy for Carmen and Max to get along with. His tattoos that covered his arms in sleeves captivated Carmen instantly. He came over early in the morning when Angela came back from work. He partially ran the shop with another artist. He worked in the afternoon while the other artist worked in the morning.
This was the life Carmen had until she went to college. Angela had grown as a guardian figure to Carmen but she could never see her as a mother. Rodney had been to young for Carmen to view him as a fatherly figure so Carmen saw him as someone she looked up to and an extremely close friend. He was now in his late 30s.
She was in her sophomore year of college at twenty-one years old. She went to the University of Pittsburgh for criminology because she wanted to become a police officer. Her and her close friend Jenny had decided to rent an apartment together their second year rather then stay on campus. Her brother was still in high school and was still living with Angela.
The apartment building she lived in looked like it had once been a big old house but had been turned into apartments. The building was in Sewickley, a town over from Pittsburgh. It was dark when she pulled into the small parking lot. She grabbed her purse and headed inside. She went up the elevator and into the hallway. There were four doors in the hallway and the one at the far end was hers. She could hear the blaring TV from inside before she opened the door. It was clearly Jenny watching TV. Carmen laughed and yelled out
"Turn down the TV, we don't want the old lady from downstairs to complain again."
"But the game's on." said Jenny. Carmen rolled her eyes when she walked in and saw a hockey game on.
"Are you even a real hockey fan or do you just like the players?"
"I'm a real fan," said Jenny.
"Sure," said Carmen sarcastically. Every once in awhile Jenny would turn on a hockey game and obsess over how hot the players were. Carmen had no interest and decided to go shower. She went into her room and took off her boot and made sure the bandage was still in place before going into the bathroom.
Sidney Crosby sat down on the bench, just getting off the ice after scoring a goal. His teammates patted him on the back in celebration as he squirted some water in his mouth from a bottle.
"We've got this," said Letang. The score was now 4-1, the Penguins beating the Capitals. Sidney couldn't help but smile. But he had to remember it was only ten minutes into the 2nd period and it was far from over.
The rest of the second period was scoreless and they went into the locker room for intermission. Sidney took off his helmet, liking the feel of fresh air in his hair. He sat down in the locker room and let out a sigh of relaxation as he waited for the coach to talk with them. He listened in on Jordan and Kris talking about going out tomorrow night. Jordan turned to him and said
"Wanna come Sid?" Sidney looked up at him as if he'd only just heard him.
"What?" he asked.
"Wanna come with me and Kris to that new bar tomorrow night?" It was s normal thing for some of the players to go out every week to a bar or club.
"No thanks," he said.
"Aww but you never cone out with us." said Jordan. Sidney had gone out with them on a few occasions. He didn't like it much. He would always get recognized and have a huge throng of girls throwing themselves at him.
"Not this week Jordan," he said. Jordan gave up in trying to convince him and turned back to Kris. Sidney liked going out and having fans approach him and make small talk but he didn't like going to clubs and feeling like a piece of meat, being felt up by every girl he walked by. He wasn't the type who liked to go out and party. He liked to lay low and relax at home. He wasn't flashy with his stardom in the NHL. He was a normal guy and wanted to live like that.
__________________________________________________
This is the new first chapter, I hope you all like it. Thanks for reading :) Please comment and tell me how you think I did.
Wednesday
Rodney's Tattoo & Piercings Shop
9:05 P.M.
Carmen Agnoli leaned back in her chair trying to ignore the stinging pain moving across her foot. She watched Rodney carefully etch the colorful design across her foot. He leaned away and said
"All done," Carmen smiled happily, seeing the new tattoo across her foot. It was of three big colorful lily flowers. It was exactly how Carmen wanted it. It matched the tattoo that she had spread across her hips and lower back.
"It looks amazing Rod," she said, still admiring the new tattoo.
"Thanks," said Rodney. "It looks good with your other tattoo." Carmen lifted her shirt up past her hips so she could see the large tattoo spread from each of her hips and across her lower back. The tattoo stretched from one hip bone to the next. It was of large lilies that were all different colors and sizes. They were closely drawn together like the ones on her foot.
"I love it," she said. As Rodney patched up her foot to keep the tattoo clean Carmen looked through her purse for money. She pulled out two $50 dollar bills and tried to hand them to him.
"Half off," he said.
"No, no," she said. "You take it, I don't want special treatment."
"You don't have to pay me all of that." said Rodney. Carmen sighed in defeat and handed him one of the $50 dollar bills. Rodney smiled and said
"I could never charge you full price." Carmen rolled her eyes and said
"What hours do you want me to work the rest of this week?"
"The usual, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday." Carmen worked afternoons at the tattoo shop. She wasn't an artist but she worked at the desk, greeting customers and organizing all of Rodney's files and appointments.
"Well I should get going, Jenny will be wondering where I am."
"I'll see you later." said Rodney. She left the small roadside shop and went out into the cold night. Pulling her coat tightly around her, she hurried across the street to her car. She quickly got inside and turned it on, turning up the heat.
She let herself relax got a minute before she pulled out of her parking spot and headed down the street. She felt the soreness of her her new tattoo throb from inside her boot. Pushing away the pain she thought of the beauty the new tattoo had. She always loved lilies, they had been her mother's favorite. She remembered having them all over the house back in Maine. Those flowers were one of the main things that she remembered about her mother. They had been hung up in the windows, growing in large pots on a table in every room. Carmen remembered their sweet smell and the big soft petals. Everything in her childhood had been perfect. Despite the fact she had never had a father, life had been perfect with just her, her little brother Max, and her mom. Until the accident. Then everything had been taken away in an instant.
The car accident had happened on a snowy night. At the delicate age of five, Carmen's mother was killed in a car accident. It was one of her most clear memories. Her and her brother had been in the backseat in their car seats. She remembered the deafening sound of a truck horn before the truck hit their car. She didn't remember much after that. She and her brother had been taken to the hospital with minor injuries while her mother had been instantly killed.
After recovering, they were sent to live with her mother's close friend Angela. They didn't have any other family and only knew Angela from when she visited once a year in Christmas. Angela lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and had been the first to volunteer to take Carmen and her brother in. It was either her or a foster home. They were moved from their little rural home to a condo in the city. Angela was a successful but an unmarried lawyer. As nice as she was she wasn't around a lot, leaving Carmen and Max in the care of Angela's brother, Rodney Hillick.
Carmen liked Rodney from the moment she met him. He was a unique person. His quirky personality made him easy for Carmen and Max to get along with. His tattoos that covered his arms in sleeves captivated Carmen instantly. He came over early in the morning when Angela came back from work. He partially ran the shop with another artist. He worked in the afternoon while the other artist worked in the morning.
This was the life Carmen had until she went to college. Angela had grown as a guardian figure to Carmen but she could never see her as a mother. Rodney had been to young for Carmen to view him as a fatherly figure so Carmen saw him as someone she looked up to and an extremely close friend. He was now in his late 30s.
She was in her sophomore year of college at twenty-one years old. She went to the University of Pittsburgh for criminology because she wanted to become a police officer. Her and her close friend Jenny had decided to rent an apartment together their second year rather then stay on campus. Her brother was still in high school and was still living with Angela.
The apartment building she lived in looked like it had once been a big old house but had been turned into apartments. The building was in Sewickley, a town over from Pittsburgh. It was dark when she pulled into the small parking lot. She grabbed her purse and headed inside. She went up the elevator and into the hallway. There were four doors in the hallway and the one at the far end was hers. She could hear the blaring TV from inside before she opened the door. It was clearly Jenny watching TV. Carmen laughed and yelled out
"Turn down the TV, we don't want the old lady from downstairs to complain again."
"But the game's on." said Jenny. Carmen rolled her eyes when she walked in and saw a hockey game on.
"Are you even a real hockey fan or do you just like the players?"
"I'm a real fan," said Jenny.
"Sure," said Carmen sarcastically. Every once in awhile Jenny would turn on a hockey game and obsess over how hot the players were. Carmen had no interest and decided to go shower. She went into her room and took off her boot and made sure the bandage was still in place before going into the bathroom.
Sidney Crosby sat down on the bench, just getting off the ice after scoring a goal. His teammates patted him on the back in celebration as he squirted some water in his mouth from a bottle.
"We've got this," said Letang. The score was now 4-1, the Penguins beating the Capitals. Sidney couldn't help but smile. But he had to remember it was only ten minutes into the 2nd period and it was far from over.
The rest of the second period was scoreless and they went into the locker room for intermission. Sidney took off his helmet, liking the feel of fresh air in his hair. He sat down in the locker room and let out a sigh of relaxation as he waited for the coach to talk with them. He listened in on Jordan and Kris talking about going out tomorrow night. Jordan turned to him and said
"Wanna come Sid?" Sidney looked up at him as if he'd only just heard him.
"What?" he asked.
"Wanna come with me and Kris to that new bar tomorrow night?" It was s normal thing for some of the players to go out every week to a bar or club.
"No thanks," he said.
"Aww but you never cone out with us." said Jordan. Sidney had gone out with them on a few occasions. He didn't like it much. He would always get recognized and have a huge throng of girls throwing themselves at him.
"Not this week Jordan," he said. Jordan gave up in trying to convince him and turned back to Kris. Sidney liked going out and having fans approach him and make small talk but he didn't like going to clubs and feeling like a piece of meat, being felt up by every girl he walked by. He wasn't the type who liked to go out and party. He liked to lay low and relax at home. He wasn't flashy with his stardom in the NHL. He was a normal guy and wanted to live like that.
__________________________________________________
This is the new first chapter, I hope you all like it. Thanks for reading :) Please comment and tell me how you think I did.