Scars

Doing up the button of her suit jacket, Tonya looked over her appearance in the large mirror in her front hall. In her own mind she looked the part she was hoping to portray, a successful business woman who was more that capable to run her own salon by herself. However it wasn’t herself she had to convince. It was her bank manager. She had a meeting with him in an hour to discuss her getting a business loan so that she could buy Julia’s share of the business.

Taking a deep breath, she brushed her hands down her suit and grabbed her purse and car keys off the table and headed out of the front door.

Turning up at the bank half an hour early wasn’t the smartest move as it only gave nerves the opportunity to set in while she sat waiting in the lobby. She ran over everything she needed to say in her head, hoping that when she got into the office she would sound confident and like she knew what she was talking about.

“Ms Gibbs?” she looked up, taking another deep breath as the assistant behind the large desk opposite her called her name. “Mr Henderson will see you now.”

She nodded as she stood up, confidently walking towards his office, knocking lightly on the door before entering on hearing him beckon her in.

“Good afternoon Ms Gibbs, please take a seat. Tell me, what can I do for you today.” The middle aged man asked with a smile from behind his desk.

Tonya took a seat and began to explain to Mr Henderson her reason’s for being there, showing him the accounts for the salon for the past twelve months as well as her business plan for repaying her loan, speaking with confidence despite noticing the unimpressed look he wore in return.

“May I ask you a question Ms Gibbs?” he asked once she’d finished explaining.

“Of course.” Tonya replied with a smile.

“I’m curious to know where you got the money to buy your share of the business in the first instance, there’s no record of you having a loan before now.” he said raising his gaze from the paper work in front of him.

Tonya looked at him for a second, not sure why this information was relevant. “I actually used money that I had from my late husband’s life insurance.”

“Ah I see.” He said trailing off in thought. “Hmm, you’ve presented a good business plan Ms Gibbs, however,”

It was at the sound of that one word that Tonya stopped listening. She didn’t have to. Not that the words he was speaking were the words he meant or were thinking. It was written all over his face.

Fighting back her anger, Tonya politely thanked Mr Henderson before quickly leaving the office. She made her way hastily out of the building, slamming her car door shut behind her before gunning the engine into life.

She was still angry when she pulled up outside of Paradise, her heart pounding as she walked into the store.

Hearing the door to the store open, Stella looked up over the rim of her glasses from where she was lent against the counter inspecting some new merchandise.

“Hey Honey, how did it…oh” she said, trailing off noticing the look on her face.

“Sexist fucking pig!” she screamed, “If I had been a single man going in asking for a business loan he would have thrown the money at me!”

“Shit. Seriously?” Stella asked.

“Well he didn’t say so in so many words, but it was blatantly obvious that he wasn’t impressed by the fact that I’m a single mom and doesn’t want to risk his precious banks money on someone like me.” Tonya said, her voice calming slightly.

“Oh honey, I’m sorry. What are you going to do?” Stella asked, walking through into the back of the store to put the kettle on, Tonya following.

“There’s only two things I can do now. I can either sell my share but then god knows what I’ll do then, or I hope that the new buyer is willing to have me as a partner.” She replied.

“Shit.” Stella mumbled as she took two mugs from the side, spooning instant coffee into both.

“Exactly.” She muttered.

“Something will work out.” Stella told her with an assuring smile as she passed her a mug of steaming hot coffee. “Want to see something that may cheer you up?”

“New merch?” Tonya asked with a raised eyebrow, smiling as Stella nodded, walking back through to the front of the store.

“These arrived this morning. Remember the Rabbit I had imported from the UK?” she asked, Tonya nodding with a smirk.

“How could I forget?”

“Well, now they’ve made a toy from the best part, it just slips onto your finger and away you go.” She said taking the small purple toy out of the box and passing it to Tonya.

“Oh my.” She muttered, turning it on and holding it against the tip of her nose.

“Exactly.” She replied with a smirk.

“I’ll give you a customer review in the morning.” Tonya said with a wink, placing the toy into her purse.

Stella laughed, “Good, and according to the sales bumf they’ve sent with it, it’s good for pleasuring him too.”

“Well I can’t help you with that one sorry.” Tonya replied.

“No, cos you chicken out when extremely gorgeous men ask you for your number.” Stella said dryly gaining a glare from Tonya.

“You don’t have to remind me thanks. And I’d love to stay and chat longer but I’ve got to pop over to Johnny’s before I go and pick up Jake.” She said with a smile. “You’re still coming over tomorrow for when the gremlins descend right?”

“Of course, got my Johnny box set and a big bag of popcorn ready.” she replied with a smile as Tonya walked out of the store.

Five minutes later, Tonya was pulling up outside Permanently Scarred, a tattoo studio run by her cousin Johnny and his best friend Jimmy. Taking a gift bag off the passenger seat, she stepped out of the car and made her way into the studio, the sound of tattoo guns filling her ears.

“T!” Jimmy yelled, looking up from where he was sat at his station tattooing a petite blonde, something he seemed to be doing every time she walked into the shop.

“Hey Jim, short shit around?” she asked with a smile.

“Yes I am cuz!” Johnny’s voice boomed from the back of the studio before he appeared carrying one of the many sketch books that were scattered around the store.

“Hey, just dropping this off for your mom.” She said holding up the gift bag.

“Cool, thanks, pop it behind the desk for me will ya.” He said with a smile. “How did it go at the bank?”

Tonya furrowed her eyebrows, “How did you…mom?”

“Of course. So did you get the loan?” he replied.

“Nope, apparently I need a set of balls to get a loan.” She said.

“What?” Jimmy and Johnny yelled together.

Tonya briefly explained about her meeting with the bank manager as well as explaining about her options as to what she was going to do.

“Yanno, you should talk to Baker’s girlfriend.” Johnny said.

“Baker?” Tonya asked shaking her head in confusion.

“Yeah Zack Baker, you remember him from school, runs his own clothes line.” Jimmy said.

“Zack Baker? Oh yeah, I know, but why should I talk to his girlfriend?” she asked.

“Well, she’s in a similar position as you. She owns a salon up in Long Beach, and she’s looking for a partner to run the beauty side of things but she wants someone she can trust and what not.” Johnny replied.

“Yeah? Maybe that’s something I could consider.” She replied with a thoughtful look.

“I’ll talk to Zack, pass on your info to Gena if you like?” Johnny said.

“That would be great thanks. I’ve gotta shoot off, but wish your mom a happy birthday for me.” she said leaning across to kiss his cheek. “By Jim.”

“By Sweetie!” Jimmy yelled as she headed out of the studio, blowing her a kiss.

Finding herself arriving at the club early, Tonya decided to head inside to wait for Jake hoping to see him practice, something she very rarely got to see him do. As she got to the practice hall though, it was relatively empty, just a few stragglers left so she decided to wait outside in the hallway.

“Hi, can I help you?” Tonya turned from where she was looking at the cabinet full of trophies and medals to find herself facing a short man she recognised as Jake’s instructor.

“No, I’m just waiting for Jake.” She replied with a polite smile.

“Jake Gibbs? Oh yeah of course, your brother is very talented.” He said with a grin.

Tonya bit her lip, trying her best not to allow the laughter in her head to escape her lips. Dan had tried the same line on her twice before, needless to say failing miserably in the process. “Thanks, he actually told me that you think he’s got a good chance of winning in the competition in a few weeks time.”

“Yeah he does, he’s a natural.” he replied his grin faltering, laughter behind them catching their attention.

“Hey mom.” Jake said as she turned, finding her face to face with someone who was the last person she was expecting to see.

“Mom?” Brian queried, Jake nodding.

“Hey kiddo. You ready to go?” she asked chancing a quick glance at Brian, wondering if he recognised her, their eyes meeting briefly, the small smile gracing her lips letting her know that he knew who she was.

“Yeah. See you guys later.” He said turning briefly to Dan and Brian. “Everything go okay at the bank?”

“Ugh, the less said about the better.” She said as they walked away.

“Well, I take it that’s what she meant by it’s complicated.” Brian muttered as he watched them walk away.

“What?” Dan asked confused.

“That’s Tonya dude.” Brian said as he pulled his gaze away from where she’d been.

“The chick from the bar? Seriously? Fuck dude, no wonder you haven’t got her out of your head yet.” Dan said giving Brian a friendly slap on the back. Brian sighed, allowing a small smile to flitter onto his lips before making his way out towards the parking lot.