Our Aquarium

39 ~ Wesley

Eliana holds onto me as we walk into my tattoo parlor. I only let one guy touch my body. He's a professional artist and I have to hit him up ahead of time so he can get his ass here. Lucky for me he was already here which means I wouldn't have to wait. The man continuously travels between California, New York and Europe. But I know him from our time in college. Well my time, he dropped out.

"Wesley Cross! Adding another tattoo to the collection?"

"Elijah," I laugh walking up to him and greeting him with a hug. "Long time no see."

He rolls his eyes and looks at me. "That's your fault we have a lot more free space to tattoo on you."

I hold my hand out for Eliana who immediately takes it and allows me to pull her into my side. "The true reason I'm here is because my girl wanted to get a few tattoos."

He looks Eliana up and down then smiles. "First timer!" Eliana laughs nervously and nods. "Well sweetheart I will treat your body with extreme care as long as you let me choose a location and design for one of your tattoos."

"No—"

"Okay."

I look at Eliana in a silent question asking if she's sure. She assures me with a quick kiss telling me to get my tattoo first since she is getting multiple ones. I nod and sit down putting my hand out for Elijah before telling him that we want a blue ombré dolphin. His smile brightens because I'm putting a bright color on me. He's been trying to put colors on me since I first started getting my tattoos.

He preps the area and draws out the tattoo. As he goes in with the needle we catch up about his trips and my life. I tell him about my parents and he just laughs. He knows about them and I've told him multiple times during tattoo sessions about my parents' disappointment. His parents were more accepting of him. Especially now that's he's making loads of money. My parents liked that I was making money, just not the way I was making it. I didn't mind getting paid to do something I probably would've done on a regular. Well I didn't mind until I met Eliana. Elijah found it crazy that Eliana was able to get me to settle down and leave the business. I told him she was a special girl.

When he finished up with my tattoo it was Eliana's turn. She stood up and pulled off her shirt to reveal a red lace bra that I did not remember her putting on this morning. She's about to sit on the chair when Elijah stops her and tells her to take off her shorts. She listens pulling off her shorts and passing them to me before laying down on the table. Elijah does the blue dolphin tattoo on her wrist. Then he wraps it and moves to the tiny sunflower Eliana wanted on her rib cage. He wraps the stem underneath her breast and finishes off the tiny details before doing the one down her spine. A beautiful poppy flower. Last he does a tattoo of his choice on her thigh. The whole time Eliana squeezed my hand and I distracted her. I told her she could take a break or stop anytime she wanted but she didn't want to. Now she's done with four new tattoos scattered across her body. Her attention shifts straight to the one Elijah chose.

"At first I was going to give you a tiny little tramp stamp, but then I noticed your flower theme and I knew what the perfect one was. So a red and white flower entwined is what I went with. I think it suits you."

"I love it, thank you."

I look at the flowers the red one going up and the white one going down. He just had to use color. But I love it as well. I can't deny that these tattoos are cute on her. Everything about her is cute.

I kiss her lips then wait by her side as Elijah applies the ointment then covers them with clear bandages. He tells Eliana the things I already know. He wants her to keep it on for a minimum of two hours. Then she will need to gently wash it with warm water and unscented liquid, antibacterial soap. Wash it at least twice a day and use ointment until it is fully healed.

I'll take care of my girl and her tattoos. Now I need to pay. I open up my wallet making Elijah laugh. "My best friend's girlfriend gets her's for free. As long as I'm invited to the wedding."

I pull out 5 hundreds and put them down on the table as Eliana gently pulls back on her clothes.

"You're invited to the wedding."

Eliana looks at me with a lifted brow and I just smile. She would've probably had a ring on her finger by now if she didn't take me to my fathers party. But I believe everything happens for a reason. We probably wouldn't have spent this amazing week together if it wasn't for that day. I'm enjoying it.

With another thank you to Elijah we agree to talk soon and Eliana and I leave going home to relax and eat dinner. Today was fun.