If You Miss It

36. ink

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX

INK

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"I have to tell you something."

Guard instantly going up behind Tariq's eyes, he glanced at Dmitri, before saying, "That doesn't sound good."

Dmitri just let out a laugh, taking a seat on one of the wooden chairs in the tattoo parlour and huffing. "Sorry, I shouldn't have started with that. It's good, I promise."

Raising his eyebrows, Tariq looked up from the design he was currently drawing, setting his pen down and letting a small smile grace his lips.

He always did that— focus his attention on one thing only. If he was doing something else, and if Dmitri wanted to talk to him, he would simply cast aside whatever he was doing, and listen to Dmitri.

It was nice. Having people who listened.

"Yeah?" he asked, resting his chin on the palm of his hand as he waited for Dmitri to continue.

So, he did by saying, "I got a job."

Tariq just stared at him for a moment, just kept staring until he slowly said, "Dmitri. You have a job."

Another laugh escaped his mouth as he shook his head, eyes involuntarily moving from Tariq's eyes to his lips to his everything, because after his birthday, he hadn't been able to do much of anything around Tariq without the urge to kiss him.

"As in, I got a new job," he explained, the small frown that appeared on Tariq's face enough to make him smile, too. "As a teacher. I got a job as a teacher again."

At once, the frown on Tariq's lips morphed into a giant smile, one that stretched for days. Fuck. Oh my god. Still grinning from ear to ear, he let out a laugh and said, "Are you serious? That's so fucking great, what the fuck? I'm so happy for you, Dmitri. What the fuck? When did this even happen? You didn't tell me shit."

That was completely intended. He had made sure not to tell anyone until he was sure that he had actually gotten the job and that it wasn't just going to be a temporary thing.

Even Eden didn't know yet, and she knew practically everything there was to know about him.

"My bad," he laughed out, the exhilaration from finally telling someone about it enough to make him let out another laugh. But more than exhilaration, it was the realness. It was finally real.

For the first time in almost three months, he had a job that he actually liked.

He liked this job, too. The coffee shop had become so familiar to him over the past few months, and he would be lying if he said that he didn't like the job.

But he also knew that he would be lying if he said that it was a satisfying job.

"So... The previous principal got fired, I think the school board realised that he was a piece of shit." Shrugging, he glanced at Tariq who looked to be listening intently, a tiny smile on his face. He always seemed to have a smile on his face nowadays. "A new principal came in and for some reason, the history teacher quit her job. I got called back, because I'm a fuckin' gem of a teacher. So yeah. I only start after the school's summer vacation, but... It's something."

Tariq grinned. "Fuck yeah, it is. Look at you making big moves," he said as he picked the pen up from the table and continued to draw. "You'll still drop by here each morning, right?"

He was always so attractive when he did his art related shit.

Well, when he did anything, but he was especially attractive when he drew, because his eyes got this faraway look as he imagined up the next thing that he would put to paper, his hands worked so swiftly, and so meticulously, and his tongue automatically stuck out of his mouth when he concentrated on something, and—