Scars

Placing the last few bit and pieces into the box, Tonya glanced around the office, her eyes landing on the photo that hung above the filing cabinet. With a deep sigh, she made her way over to the cabinet and reached up to take it down, a saddened smile gracing her lips as she thought back to the day it had been taken. It was a photo of her and Julia, stood outside the salon with a glass of champagne in their hands and large smiles on their faces the day they had officially opened the salon.

“Those were the days hey?” Tonya turned suddenly at Julia’s voice.

“I’m gonna miss you.” she said with a saddened smile as Julia walked over to her.

“I’m gonna miss you too.” she replied gently taking the frame out of Tonya’s hands to look at it.

“You all ready to head back to New Jersey?” she asked watching as her business partner of the past five years wiped a small tear away from her cheek.

“I’m all packed up and ready to go, yeah, but I don’t think I’m truly ready to leave Huntington just yet.” She replied with a slight shrug of her shoulders.

“Then stay! You shouldn’t have to leave.” Tonya pleaded.

“I can’t. I’ve got to think about Jessie. I can’t afford to stay her by myself. I’m only renting the house out though, so as soon as I’ve got back on my feet I’ll be back.” She replied with a half smile.

“You better. I could kill that cunt, I really could. It’s only for Jessie’s sake that I haven’t introduced him to my bat yanno.” She replied, Julia giving a light laugh.

“I love you T, and I know.”

“I love you too you sappy fool.” She replied hugging her again.

“So are you all packed up?” she asked, turning and walking over to the desk, placing the photo frame into the box that Tonya had packed.

“Yeah, I think so.” She said as she gave a sigh. “Let me know when you get to New Jersey okay?”

“Will do.” Julia replied exchanging another brief hug before Tonya picked up her box of belongings and left the office, saying goodbyes to the other girls before she left.

She placed the box onto the back seat of her car before she got in and drove off, a saddened smile on her face as she realised that she was leaving part of her life behind, and it was time to look forward to the next stage of her life. Her smile grew as she decided that coffee was needed for what she wanted to do next.

Thanking the waitress with a smile, Tonya slipped her sun glasses back over her eyes before taking the tray of coffees off the counter. She exited the small coffee shop, taking the short walk up the street towards the tattoo store.

She stopped abruptly outside the store next to the tattoo studio, her heart racing with anticipation. She took a few deep breaths as she counted to ten, telling herself over and over not to be stupid. She didn’t know what it was about Brian that made her act like this.

Ordinarily she was a strong, confident woman who refused to take shit from anyone and who was very rarely nervous about anything. But with Brian, a shyness she infrequently encountered took over.

With another deep breath she continued her walk towards the store, pushing the door open with a smile on her face, her covered eyes immediately glancing around the room in search of Brian.

She spotted him, sat as his station where he was tattooing a young brunette, her cheeks becoming heated as he looked up and caught her eye, a wide smile appearing.

“Long time no see, beautiful.” The cheeky voice of Jason Berry drew her gaze away from Brian.

“Miss me JB?” she queried with a smile.

“Always!” he yelled as he stepped around the desk to hug her. “Is one of these for me?” he gestured to the tray of coffees still in her hand.

“Would I turn up here with coffees without bringing you one? Here.” She said passing him one of the cups. He smiled, taking a cautious sip as he stepped back behind the desk, a throat clearing behind her.

“And there’s one each for you two idiots too. Decaf for you Jimmy.” she said, passing Johnny his coffee before passing the other to Jimmy who was pouting.

“Three sugars though.” She said, his pout immediately disappearing. “And I got you these too.” she added, reaching into her purse and throwing a small bag at him.

“Gummy bears! T, I love you!” he cheered quickly opening the bag and emptying half the pack into his open mouth.

“Love you too Jim.” She said with a smile, turning and walking over to Brian who seemed to be concentrating on the tattoo he was almost finished doing.

“Um, just a regular coffee okay with you?” she said timidly holding out another cup. Brian raised his head, setting down his tattoo gun on the counter top next to him.

“Thanks.” He said with a warm smile as he took it from her.

“It’s kind of…well, it’s kind of an apology coffee.” She said shyly, feeling colour and heat return to her cheeks as she lifted her sun glasses from her eyes and placed them on top of her head.

”Why do you need to apologise?” he asked gazing up at her briefly as he took a sip of the hot coffee before going back to work on the tattoo.

“Well, um, I wanted to apologise about yesterday. Jake shouldn’t have taken stuff out on you.” she told him quietly her eyes falling anywhere but on his.

“It was fine, really.” He told her with a sincere smile, glancing up at her.

“No. it wasn’t. He told me he tried hitting you. I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have to deal with my family problems.” She insisted.

“Tonya please, I promise, it wasn’t a problem. Just give me too minutes to dress this okay?” he told her as he cleaned the girls newly coloured skin. Tonya nodded and turned, taking a seat on the chez lounge opposite JB’s desk and taking a sip of her coffee.

“You like him then huh?” Jason whispered, Tonya looking up and nodding, feeling her cheeks flush red again. “He’s a good guy, I approve.”

Tonya chuckled and shook her head, “Thanks JB, I can sleep easier now.” she said as the woman Brian had been tattooing walked past them and through the door.

“I meant it you know.” Brian said as he sat down next to Tonya. “It wasn’t a problem.”

“He still shouldn’t have tried hitting you.” she muttered glancing up at him.

“Maybe not, but I can understand why he reacted that way. When my dad first got together with my step-mom I hated her, I didn’t want her around. So I know how hard it must be for him and I also understand if you don’t want anything more to happen between us, or if you want to take things slow. But I just want you to know that if you or Jake ever need to talk, I’ll be here for you.” he told her softly, placing a hand onto her knee and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“Thanks, that means a lot.” She replied returning his smile. “Now, now that that’s sorted I have a tattoo I want to discuss with my cousin.”

“You know I’m a tattooist as well right? A pretty good one too.” Brian said as Tonya stood from her seat.

“Yeah, I do, but, well um…” she began nervously nibbling her lower lip. “it’s just that I don’t know how comfortable I would be having you doing this particular tattoo, or how comfortable you’d feel doing it for that matter.”

“Tonya, I’m a professional. What’s the tattoo?” he pressed.

“It’s for Luke. A memorial tattoo.” She said quietly watching Brian’s expression carefully.

“Okay, but I’ll be more than happy to do that if you’re okay with it.” he said, sincerity clear in his voice.

“Really?” she asked with a small smile.

“Of course, unless you’d prefer Johnny because he knew Luke?” he replied.

“No, that’s fine.” She said with a smile.

“Do you have a design in mind?” Brian asked.

“Kinda yeah, it’s something I’ve been planning for a long time now.” she told him.

“Okay, so how about we discuss this more over the dinner we talked about yesterday.” He asked smiling.

“Um, I guess we could.” She replied feeling herself blush.

“Tonight?” he asked hopefully.

“I think I can do tonight.” She said watching as a beaming smile spread over Brian’s face.

“Cool, I’ll pick you up around seven-thirty?” he asked.

“That’ll be fine, I better go get ready. I’ll see you in a few hours.” She said returning his smile. “I’ll see all you guys soon.” she said waving at the other three guys before placing her sunglasses back over her eyes and stepping out of the shop.