Wildflowers |h.s|

one

Devon

Twenty Six. Another year gone and wasted with some boring guy who cares more about his finance job than his girlfriend. Another year spending this big day alone.

Granted, this weekend my friends are taking me out clubbing to celebrate, but honestly, I'd rather just spend the night doing a puzzle at home and watching some period piece romance that will set my expectations even higher when it comes to finding love. And tonight my family is coming over to my apartment to have dinner and cut a cake.

I'm going to do my best to make twenty six memorable, though. Starting today, I'm taking chances and doing things I've always wanted to do. No more chickening out, no more procrastinating. I'm just going to do things, no matter what. Maybe this is the year I finally skydive, though I somewhat doubt that. I'm not that brave.

So as a way to start off my twenty sixth year with somewhat of a bang, I scheduled a consultation about a tattoo I've always wanted to get. I did a lot of research going into this and found the best shop to go to in the city was Fine Lines Tattoo Parlor, but it's always booked so you need to have a consult with an artist. After reading the reviews, it sounds kind of like if you don't have a good enough design idea they kind of deny you, but I get it. They're busy and running a business and probably are way too talented to be doing little zodiac signs and quotes like 'breathe'. Based on the pictures on the website, they do detailed work.

I've always wanted a tattoo, especially the one I'm going to talk about today, but it's definitely something that I'm not too thrilled about. I hate pain and the idea of having to put myself through pain voluntarily always sounded completely insane to me. But I put myself through the pain of having to date Patrick for almost a year, so what's a tattoo right?

Pulling up to the place, it already seems really nice. I can tell through the windows that it's very clean and looks exactly like it does in the pictures. Hopefully this goes well and I actually get to book myself in for an appointment in the next few days. Anything longer than a week or two and I'd probably chicken out.

Once my car is parked in the lot next to the building, I pull out my phone, quickly sending a text to my best friend Arden to let her know that I'm here and about to go in. She's the one who encouraged me to get this tattoo, and to go to this place. She's been here once before and apparently they have a referral program where she'll get like 15% off her next tattoo for referring me if I sit for a session. She always goes to this guy Mitchell, so I figured I'd help her save a little money and do something I've been wanting.

Fine Lines. Isn't that what they call cocaine? Maybe they have some shady business going on, but maybe I'm just finding any excuse to chicken out.

Inside the tattoo shop, everything is white and red, with accents of black here and there. It just looks very sterile and clean honestly. Behind the front desk I could see maybe four tattooing stations, two of which are occupied. Each station is in their own room almost, but the walls are all glass and cool looking. Next to the front desk there's a little waiting area with modern, white couches and a tv mounted on the wall. But the only sound blasting through the building is some classic rock playlist.

The woman at the front desk has red hair, matching the vibe of the shop, and a few piercings scattered across her face, but they suit her. She's wearing long sleeves, but I'm sure she's pretty tatted up underneath them. She's definitely stunning and can pull this look off with ease. I'd look like a dork if I tried to look like her. She offers me a warm smile, looking up from the Mac desktop in front of her.

"Hi, do you have an appointment?"

"Um, yeah, I have a 3:30 consult with um, Style I think it is?" My brows furrow as I try to remember the name of the guy I'm meeting with. I remember looking at his work on the site and thinking it was similar to what I wanted.