tattoos || c.h.

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴇɪɢʜᴛᴇᴇɴ

calum

my phone starts to ring as i'm doing a girl's back tattoo. i lift the pen up and look over to see it's mia calling me.

"ash!" i yell and he comes running over. "take this. i need to answer this call." he takes my place and i answer the call as soon as my phone's in reach. "hi."

"hi." mia's voice sounds tired. she probably just woke up. "ashton told me you and june were freaking out because i wasn't answering."

"so you answer his calls, but not mine or june's?" i walk inside my office. i only stay in my office when it comes down to actual business.

"he called me more times than you and june. him being nonstop woke me up." she explains how ashton woke her up. "sorry for worrying you."

"you're fine." i laugh. "i was just calling to see how you are because of our call last night." i admit why i was worried for her.

"like i told june, i'm fine." mia tells me and for some reason i don't believe her. i sit down in my office chair that lets out a quiet squeak.

"you're not bullshitting me right now, right?" questioning her she lets out a deep breath. "going to take that as you're bullshitting me."

"i'm stressed is all that there is. nothing more, nothing less." mia admits and though i feel sorry for how she's stressed, i feel a little bit of weight lift off my chest because nothing wrong has happened.

"why're you stressed?" i try to get her to open up even though we didn't meet that long ago. "as someone once told me, it's good to talk about it instead of keeping it to yourself."

mia giggles at my words and as she calms down she tells me, "thanks for remembering, but i don't think i'll take you up on that offer."

"are you one of those friends who keeps everything to herself, but lets her friends come to her about everything?" i question her role in friendships and life in general.

"nah, j knows everything." i'm guessing 'j' is june's nickname. "don't worry about it. what you need to worry about is how you answered my call when you were most likely working on someone's tattoo."

"ashton's got that." i don't hesitate to tell mia and a tired laugh leaves her mouth. "he works for me, i can tell him what to do when it comes to work."

"i'm just laughing at how i was right." she explains her reaction to my words. "and i'm pretty sure he only did that because he's the one who told me to call you guys back."

"so what you're telling me is that if you didn't call me, he wouldn't have took the person i was giving a tattoo?" i ask her and i have a feeling she's still smiling.

"it depends. who calls you when you're at work?" she questions my call log when i'm at work.

"julian's school. my friends know my schedule and my family is in a different time zone, besides my sister." i tell her everyone who calls me as i'm at work.

"if those are the only calls you get at work, then he'll gladly take the person. but we both know if it was another person, he wouldn't take it." i laugh at how correct she is even though she's barely knows me and my friend group.

"we need you out here." zayn pops his head into my office with an upset face. "i'm close to cutting this customer."

"i gotta go." i tell mia and we both say a quick 'see you later' before ending the call.

"are you the owner?" the guy who comes in here the most who adds or removes his tattoos each time.

"yes." i walk closer to him, him being a few inches smaller than me. "is there a problem?"

"yeah, there is. your shit people are horrible at giving and removing tattoos!" he raises his voice and though i hate when people raise their voice with me, i keep calm.

"can you give me an example on why you feel this way?" i ask for proof of why he's pissed off. i've seen people at other tattoo parlor do this shit and them get a free tattoo out of it.

"i don't have to show shit!" he spits as he talks.

"i'm going to need you to calm down and be quiet, as there are other people here." i say sternly and he seems to be getting more pissed off. "can you show me an example?"

"i'm not doing jack shit for you!" the man crosses his arms and stands straight up, probably trying to get at my height.

"sir, you've been coming here for months and leaving big tips on your way out and you've even told us how good we were at our jobs." i use his times on coming here so often against him. "please tell me what's changed. i want to work on this, but i need to see an example how we've messed up giving or removing your tattoos and know why you've suddenly disliked the few of us."

"fuck off!" the man yells and storms out of my tattoo parlor. god, i hate this dude now.

"i've never seen you so calm with someone who isn't julian." zayn tells me as i turn around and see ashton finish up the girls tattoo. "also, who were you talking to on the phone?"

"someone." i bluntly state while keeping the fact i was on the phone with mia away from him and ashton.

"he was talking to mia." ashton being the ass he is tells zayn as him and the woman walk to the desk and she pays him in cash, leaving a nice tip on the way out. "he was trying to get in touch with her this morning and she wasn't answering his and june's calls. after about a million rings, she picked my call up and told her to call back both of them."

"you're an ass, y'know that?" i question his knowledge on how he can be a huge ass sometimes.

"that's why he was so worried and not very focused this morning and why he rushed me over to finish that girls tattoo to pick his phone up and walk somewhere where no one would be able to hear their conversation." ashton continues and i'm contemplating on slapping him.

"y'know i can easily fire you, right? you work for me." i ask, yet tell him at the same time.