Forget Yesterday

Alex was running late. So fucking late. Not only did his piece of shit car not start this morning (he knew he should’ve sold it to get extra rent), but he got squashed on the subway (which was late too) and he now probably smelt like that fat balding man’s armpit. Not nice. Not to mention he had no idea where he was going, thanks to him forgetting to print out directions, only writing the street name on the back of his hand.

Why was this such a problem? Because he actually had a job interview today. Yeah, Alex was trying to get a job, after 6 months of sitting in his apartment doing fuck all. He’d seen an advert in the paper for a piercing job at tattoo parlour across the city, and seeing as he did piercing work at a shop when he was with Danny, he figured that it couldn’t get better than this, right?

Well, it could’ve been perfect if Alex had made in on time. Now he was 20 minutes late and crumpled and tetchy. Stupid car. Stupid subway. Stupid smelly bald man. Stupid lack of directions. Stupid…

Alex was so caught up in his angry thoughts that he walked straight into someone. Fuck! Of all the luck! Managing not to fall over, Alex looked up into the dark eyes of a guy so hot that he almost melted on the inside. That wouldn’t have been pretty. But at least maybe he wouldn’t have looked like such an ass.

“I’m so sorry! Are you okay? I’m such an idiot!” Alex asked worriedly.

Fuck, why is he such a clumsy idiot?! And to someone so attractive?! Nice one, Alex.

“Yeah, I’m fine. My coffee didn’t spill so you’re safe,” the dark haired man reassured.

“Oh thank fuck,” Alex groaned.

Hey, maybe this guy knows where the tattoo parlour is!

“Um, do you know where VV Ink and Metal is? I have a job interview there and I haven’t had a job in 6 months let alone an interview in over 2 years and I’m running late and…”

“It’s next door,” the man interrupted, pointing behind himself.

Alex looked, and consequently blushed. Smooth. Again.

“Oh, wow, that’s embarrassing. Um, thank you,” Alex said.

“No problem. Good luck – the owner’s a little crazy but he’s a good guy,” the man smiled.

A little crazy? Well, a job is a job – Alex would be grateful for anything at this point.

“Thanks, um, maybe I’ll see you around?” Alex said hopefully.

No! Why did he say that?! So lame!

“Yeah, maybe,” the man nodded, smiling.

Oh. Okay. Maybe not so lame. Alex smiled back a little wider, before walking down to the shop the man had pointed to. Sure enough, it was VV Ink and Metal.

Alex took a deep breath and opened the front door, heading into the tattoo parlour. His hands shook slightly as he gazed around, taking in the space in front of him. There were large white and black chequered tiles on the walls, with brightly coloured artwork plastered in places too, as well as a shiny black floor. Along the back wall were four doors, three with the names ‘Vinny’, ‘Pete’ and ‘Brendon’ nameplated on and one blank. On the main floor were two large leather sofas with a table and catalogues in front of them, and on the left hand side was a reception area with a very bored-looking teenager sitting behind it. A very attractive teenager at that – brown hair just starting to curl under his chin, thin lips, dark deep eyes and perfect cheekbones – but still bored-looking.

But Alex knew he couldn’t afford to be any more late than he already was, so he cleared his throat, making the teenager look up from the book he was reading.

“Uh, hi? I’m here to see Vinny?” Alex offered.

“Have you got an appointment?” the boy asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I have an interview?” Alex said hesitantly.

The boy looked away from Alex to the computer in front of him, before clicking a few times and nodding.

“He’s put a note saying for you to just knock on his door,” the boy said simply.

Alex swallowed nervously but nodded.

“Thanks,” Alex said softly.

The boy went straight back to reading. Well here goes nothing. Alex strode across the room and knocked three times on the door that said ‘Vinny’, before taking a deep breath.

“Come in! But not if you’re Pete! You still owe me coffee, asshole!” a voice yelled.

Alex squeaked and opened the door. The first thing he noticed was the lime green walls and rock music playing loudly. The second thing was the heavily tattooed smiling man sitting at a drawing booth, his tattoo chair and equipment right next to him. Wow. This is an impressive set up.

“Alex, right?” the man asked.

“Yeah, that’s me. I’m so sorry I’m late – everything just went wrong this morning. You’re Vinny?” Alex asked hopefully.

“Vinny Petrocelli, owner of this fine establishment and one of three tattoo artists. And don’t worry about being late this once, it happens to everyone,” the man beamed.

Alex tried to smile, but he knew it just came out nervously, making the man…Vinny laugh.

“Sit down, sit down! Nice hand and neck tats by the way – it’s a good start! I hope Ryan didn’t scare you too much?” Vinny smiled.

“The kid reading Palahniuk with the bored expression?” Alex asked.

“You know Palahniuk? Fuck, you’re going to be his new best friend. But yeah, that’s Ryan. He only works here because his boyfriend Brendon is a tattoo artist here and apparently Ryan wrote way too much dark freaky poetry when they didn’t spend time together, and since Ryan dropped out of high school 9 months ago and his dad kicked him out because he’s been looking for an excuse to do so since Ryan turned 14 and announced he was gay and in love with an 18 year old boy – which was Brendon, by the way. So I gave him a job, which is totally legal now he’s 18, and he now lives with Brendon so everyone’s happy!”

Alex’s eyes just widened. What? Information overload much?

“Shit, sorry, Jack always tells me I tend to ramble and I need to grow a filter or something. And you don’t know who Jack is! He’s my best friend and…well, I’m going to stop right there or I’ll just be chatting shit here all day,” Vinny grinned.

Alex just stayed silent. He really wasn’t used to all this…talking.

“Um, I have my resume?” Alex offered.

“Right, yeah, the interview! Well you already know that you’re interviewing for the piercing position and that’s because our last piercer Sisky decided to get married to his boyfriend Butcher, neither of which are their real names, which leaves us a vacancy…

Marriage. Heh. Danny and Ian are getting married.

“…are you okay there?” Vinny asked, snapping Alex out of his thoughts.

“Yeah, just thinking about something,” Alex said awkwardly.

“You’re not homophobic, are you?” Vinny frowned, “because that just isn’t going to fly around here,”

“Woah, no, I-I’m gay. Just ex problems, that’s all,” Alex stammered.

“Oh! Well he’s a shit for letting someone as beautiful as you go, no matter what happened. And no, I’m not hitting on you, I’m seeing a wonderful man myself,” Vinny sighed happily.

Alex blushed slightly. He hadn’t been called beautiful in a while, so what?

“Before I make this more awkward than it already is, let’s have a look at your resume!” Vinny laughed.

Alex handed it over and sat back in his chair, watching the strange man in front of him read it. This tattoo parlour was unlike any he’d ever been in before, that’s for sure. And if the other workers were as odd as Vinny and Ryan, then it could only get stranger.

Eventually Vinny looked up from the papers.

“Well, your resume is absolutely great, but before I contemplate hiring you I need to ask a few questions,” Vinny told him.

“Sure,” Alex nodded, trying to be as calm as he could.

“I see you did piercings in a tattoo shop across town a while back?” Vinny started.

“Yeah, for two years,” Alex nodded.

“Why did you quit?” Vinny asked.

Ah.

“I, uh…things ended badly with my ex-boyfriend, and his brother owned the shop I worked in so it was awkward,” Alex said hesitantly.

“And since then?” Vinny asked.

“I haven’t had a job for 6 months since then,” Alex admitted with a wince.

“Are you committed to holding this job?” Vinny asked seriously.

“Yeah I am,” Alex said firmly, “I turned over a new leaf and I’m ready to get the old Alex back,”

Vinny looked down at the resume before looking up and smiling.

“Well in that case welcome to VV Ink and Metal,” he said cheerfully.

“For real?” Alex grinned.

“For real. You can start on Monday,” Vinny laughed.

“Thank you so much! I won’t let you down, I promise!”

“I’ll hold you to that. Now get out of here and get a drink – you look like you could use one,” Vinny teased.

Alex blushed slightly but stood up, shaking Vinny’s hand before leaving the shop. Holy shit. He did it. He had a job! Maybe he could finally turn things around for himself. Maybe the old Alex would be able to come back after all.