More Than Skin Deep.

When I awoke the next morning, I felt refreshed like a new person. The weight of everything was still there but being fueled by a new fire made it more bearable.
I went about my morning routine but decided to jazz myself up a little more than usual.
My hair was crimped loosely, much like the night Chris gave me the crane necklace. I opted to not smother my eyes in eye shadow like i normally did. Instead, I did a simple black line on my top lids with liquid eyeliner and did the normal black on my tear ducts and black mascara. Today since I did not over do my eyes, I decided to paint my full lips bright red. We were told to dress comfortably due to our flash challenge so I slipped into a pair of black, mid thigh shorts and a bright green spaghetti strap tank top. As usual, I added my black studded belt and boots. I tied a green bandanna around my wrist just in case I had to hold my hair back.
"Princess if you want to smoke you better hurry your fine ass up!" Clint yelled into my room, carefully blocking himself with my door just in case.
"Shut your face Clint, I was just heading out," I said with a smile.
We made our way to the back deck where Steve and Lalo were.
The four of us were quickly becoming friends. We didn't take each other's crap but respected their criticism.
"So Kay told everyone how you got right up in his face," Lalo told me.
Clint gave me a surprised look and Steve just high fived me.
"That little boy in there is going to learn that I am not a force to be reckoned with. Especially when this is a tattoo competition and all he has to throw at me is I fucked one of the judges," I said with a full blown laugh.
"I don't know what happened to you in that room but you are showing a better side of you. I hope this one stays," Steve said, giving me a hug.
Our small talk came to an end when the vans pulled up. Kay was the one to come get all of us and he was surprisingly very civil.
We made our way to a run down building site. All three judges were there waiting for us.
"Good morning artists. Today is your second flash challenge. The lesson you must incorporate today is ingenuity. You are all going to have to come up with a design that cleverly blends your art into it's surroundings. I would like to introduce you guys to your canvases today. Ladies come on out," Dave explained then hollered at our canvases.
Out walked a group of barely covered, fit, beautiful women. I looked over at Chris and noticed that his eyes were glued to these half nude women. What a pig, I thought to myself.
"You have randomly been paired with your models for this challenge. Remember you can place your model anywhere as long as you stay on site. Keep in mind this is a challenge testing your ingenuity. You have two hours to make your model disappear. Good luck artists," Dave said.
Without hesitation, I ran up to my canvas and pulled away from the pack. I found an area of the building that was still fairly intact where the bricks were but on the bottom half where the cement foundation came through, it had a gaping hole in it with some barely hanging on graffiti. I decided to sit my model down so the majority of her body was inside that hole. I wanted to show the layers of the cement breaking down on her skin. I raised both her arms so I could also show the red bricks.
I noticed that the majority of the group was heading up a ramp way to a side of the building where blue graffiti covered the bricks.
"Ya'll are going to get knocked down a peg for sticking together!" I yelled at the group.
None of them moved so apparently they didn't care.
An hour into the competition, the judges decided to do their walk.
They started with the blue group, all sharing the same sediments as I did. I was the last one to get the look over.
Chris stood right next to my model so I couldn't avoid acknowledging him.
"Oh, hey Chris," I said continuing to airbrush my model.
"Hey Laa, looks like everything is going pretty smoothly over here," he said to me.
He sounded a little taken back. Must have been expecting me to be an emotional wreck.
"Yup. She is sitting really well and being a super rock for me and my picky attentiveness to detail," I explained to him.
I had my hair restrained by my bandanna now.
I looked up at him and he stifled a laugh.
"What? Do I have something on my face?" I asked using the back of my wrist to wipe at my face.
"You just made it worse Zaylaa. Out of all the artists here we can see that you are the messiest," Dave cut in with a smile.
"Maybe everything is a canvas to me," I said with a cheeky smile.
They all just laughed and walked away to give each other their opinions on the challenge.

Just the judges:
"Man Kay went over the top with this challenge. He is using every element he can and he is coming out the strongest so far," Dave said.
"Hell yeah. The way he is using that tire and making his model's paint 3d is amazing," Oliver added to Dave's compliment.
Chris remained silent. His eyes were glued passed all the judges. He was staring at Zaylaa, completely oblivious to what was being said around him. Both Oliver and Dave noticed but let it be.

Back to the competition:
"Alright artists airbrushes down! It is time for us to walk around and judge your individual pieces," Dave announced.
Once again, I was the last to be judged. I had taken the bandanna off my head so my hair fell carelessly in loose waves around my paint splattered face. I knew Chris loved my hair like this and when I would wear green because it would make the green in my eyes shine even brighter, making them appear doe like.
I watched him walk up and take a moment to just stare intently at me. Taking in every physical quality he use to love so much. Not going to lie, it made me feel untouchable. In a game of love and hate, you had to play smarter, not harder.

"Chris, what do you think about Zaylaa's piece?" Dave asked, dragging Chris out of his thoughts.
"Uh, I..it's damn beautiful," he said still not looking at my piece.
"We know she is man but what about the artwork?" Oliver asked in a serious tone.
Chris shot Oliver a deadly look but started to examine my artwork.
"I don't think it is one of your strongest run in with an airbrush Laa but I do like how you showed the layers of the broken cement. You took a different approach and where it isn't your strongest, you do get the brownie points for your approach," he said not looking at me this time.
"Well thank you Chris, I thought you all would enjoy something other than blue graffiti," I said with a chuckle.
"Stop," Oliver said with a laugh, "don't even get us started."

"Artists, today you were asked to make your models disappear in their surroundings using ingenuity. Some of you did a very good job where as some of you took a too literal approach. Zaylaa, you did an effective job showing us the layers of the cement that engulfed your model. Steve, those cracks you painted on your model were spot on, kudos for you on that one. Only one artist can win though. We believe that Kay Kutta went above and beyond in this challenge and really made his model disappear from all angles. So with that said, Kay Kutta, you are this weeks flash challenge winner," Dave announced.
Kutta was already an over confident prick so this just fueled his fire even more.
"Head back to the loft. You will all be meeting your canvases within the hour," Oliver announced.
We all piled into the vans and headed back to the loft. The entire ride there, Kutta was making sure everyone understood just how big of a threat he was for winning the flash challenge. It turned into a lively argument between Steve and Kutta. Steve didn't think the flash challenges were as important than the actual tattooing challenges, Kutta felt differently...probably because he wasn't ever going to win one of the tattoo challenges.
We all made it to the loft and sat around the living room, just recuperating from the previous challenge. Tj however, had retreated to his room. I didn't know the man very well but could tell he was in pain so I decided to go check on him.
"Everything okay Tj?" I asked while taking a seat on his bed.
"I think I slipped another disc in my back during the flash challenge," he answered honestly.
By this time, Clint, Steve and Tray had joined us.
"You know we all respect you for everything you have done and for being a good artist. We all know you want to show the world what you are capable of but Tj if you aren't one hundred percent and can't preform that isn't fair to you or your client and you know that. If you can't continue we will all back you," I assured him by placing my hand on his back and rubbing small circles, trying to alleviate some of the pain.
When we made it back to the shop to meet our canvases, Tj made the announcement that he was resigning from the competition. I made sure to jump up and give him a hug, feeling like he didn't get the exit he deserved.
"Artists, you all are wondering why we had you do a flash challenge involving ingenuity, well today, you will all be designing a cover up tattoo for your clients," Dave announced.
A bunch of mumbled groans were heard through out the shop. I looked around and gave everyone a look.
"If ya'll want to be an Ink Master you are going to have to grow some balls," I said blandly. I wasn't impressed with most of the artist's bad attitudes about the ink challenges.
"It isn't that Zaylaa. When you do cover ups you have to be super attentive and it gets really tiring," Sarah whined.
"Then don't be a tattoo artist. Like I said, grow some balls," I repeated myself once more.
The judges laughed at my comment but Oliver moved quickly to simmer the tension out.
"Zaylaa even though I agree with your sediments you need to simmer down," he said with a smile.
"I completely agree with her. As artists, we should feel honored that someone chose us to cover up something that another artist who couldn't live up to the expectations did," Chris put his two cents in.
I gave him a small smile. Funny isn't it, when a woman turns the tables on the man, he tries harder.
Kay gave me a tough cookie of a cover up. The original tattoo was an incredibly dark, scarred up cross on the man's chest. It was roughly 4 inches long and completely blacked out.
"Alright Tony, let's hear what masterpiece you would like to hide that atrocity up with," I asked with a laugh.
He returned my humor. He wasn't a bad looking guy. Kind of reminded me of a slightly older and bigger Channing Tatum so flirting with him was fun.
"I am sure anything put on me by such a lovely lady will be a thousand times better than this crap," he said with a toothy smile.
I threw my head back in laughter. It was nice to be swooned over once in a while.
Chris must have picked up on the harmless back and forth that was going on between myself and Tony because he was quickly at my side.
"Got any ideas of how to cover that crap up?" Chris asked while staring down at me.
"Nope. We were just getting acquainted with each other. We should really start discussing it though, it is getting mighty late," I said with a small smile.
"Yeah we are all going out for dinner tonight as well so you have even less time than you probably think Laa," Chris explained to me.
I rolled my eyes at him, "then you should really let Tony and I get to work shouldn't you?" I asked him with a quirked eyebrow.
He gave me a silent protest but I didn't back down.
"Sorry about that hun but I do have a pretty kick ass idea if you are down for it. What if we did two skeletons, one bride, one groom in an embrace. The girl will have long, flowy black hair and the groom with a top hat. The hair will cover the majority of the cover up and the top hat will cover the rest," I explained while sketching.
He waited patiently for me to do a rough draft.
"Here is the jist of it darling," I exclaimed while handing him my sketch bad.
"That is bad ass Zaylaa. I love the zombie look you gave the flesh that is still hanging in there. I don't want some super girly shit on my chest you know?" He said with a loud laugh.
"Trust me, it won't be girly more like a manly reminder of what you expect when you get married," I returned with a laugh.
Tony and I got lost in conversation once again.
"Hey Zaylaa, we were taking you all out for dinner. You want to tag along or stay here?" Dave asked this time.
"Sorry Tony, I do have to cut this short. Maybe go out and get some brownie points with the judges," I explained while giving him a hug. The hug lingered a little longer than I expected but with Chris watching I was willing to play along.
"God I can't wait for tomorrow," Tony sighed while releasing me from his arms.
"In due time darling," I replied with a smile.
"How much time do I have until we leave?" I hollered at the judges.
"Twenty minutes. Go get your crazy ass ready!" Oliver yelled at me.
I ran back into the loft to change for dinner. I slipped into black mini dress that has tiny red sparrows all over it. The dress reached right above my knees and flowed out due to the black, ruffled lace that was underneath it. The dress had no straps so I decided to layer a few, short, red and black beaded necklaces. I left my hair down and fix my make up. Instead of heels, I picked out my thick black flip flops with studs on the material part.
"Clint!" I yelled in a whiny voice while exiting my room.
He was soon at my side with his arm linked into mine, "you rang princess?"
"Will you put my smokes in your pocket, along with my wallet? I don't do purses and shit and well this dress is pretty tight on my boobs sooo if I put them in there I would have square, lumpy boobs," I explained in one long breath.
"We wouldn't want that now would we?" He laughed but took my things.

At dinner, I ended up sitting across from Chris, next to Oliver and Clint. I couldn't help but feel like that was a little set up.
"So princess, your client seemed a little sad that you decided to ditch him for us," Clint started instigating.
I gave him a "shut the fuck up" look.
He chuckled but continued, "he handed me this after asking me if you and are were an item." He handed me a small folded up napkin.
I was trying not to choke on my beer pattered shrimp but Clint was not helping. I slowly took the napkin and unfolded it.
"Play along. It's all bullshit that I am making up to get back at Chris for being a deusche to me."
I gave him a small nod.
"Well, what does he expect me to do? Call him and schedule a date in between trying to kick your ass at this competition?" I asked Clint with a smile.
"Oh sweetheart, don't get cute with me. I don't know what you are supposed to do. This dude was seriously all about getting to know his extremely, drop dead, gorgeous, wet dream of a tattoo artist," Clint continued.
I gave him a look of utter disgust.
"Baby, let's face it. To men like me, you would make a pretty fine wet dream," he admitted with a straight face.

"Next time some dude tells you to give me something, you tell them that we are an item, that I am the object of your wet dreams, sound good?" I said, taking a peak at Chris.

Oliver was talking to him but he wasn't paying attention. He was calculating in his head how he can handle this situation without looking like the over jealous ex boyfriend. I could see his knuckles turning white and his jaw line trembling.
"Baby, I would tell them you were my wife, baby momma, queen of all my lands, everything if I knew you would be okay with it," Clint answered, stealing his own glimpse at Chris.

"Babe, I am more than okay with it," I answered, staring Chris right in the eyes and being over zealous with licking cream off of my spoon.

That man has no idea what is in store for his fucking pride.