The Consequences Of Being Alone

~Two~

The sun was blinding as it rose and brightened the room. Gently waking Nadia from her deep sleep. She slowly blinked her eyes open and rolled onto her back to stare at the ceiling. Her mind still empty from awaking recently. As she sighed, her phone buzzed and she groaned as she reached over to unplug the charger and looked at her phone.

Elijah
Hey, your drawing is ready for you.
9:00am

Nadia smiled thinking about her future tattoo.

Nadia
Awesome! I'll be omw to you soon
9:01am

Nadia's smile never left as she tore the blankets off of her body and hopped out of bed. She made her way into the bathroom and took a quick bathroom break before hopping into the shower. The warm steam surrounded her and clouded the shower's glass, the window and the mirror.

She turned the water off and squeezed the water out of her hair before reaching for her towels on the rack. After wrapping her and her hair in towels, she stepped out onto the soft mat that rested outside of the shower. She looked toward the window and realized she didn't open it so the steam wouldn't linger. After rolling her eyes at herself, she opened the window and headed for the bathroom sink to brush her teeth.

Nadia reached for her toothbrush in the cup on the counter and looked into the mirror. Her eyebrow raised as she examined the mirror. Realizing that there was a small smiley face written in the condensation. Her eyes widened as she looked around the bathroom. After noticing that no one was there, she called out.

"Gwen?" She turned her face toward the closed bathroom door.

"Gwen, this isn't funny!" When she got no response, she changed route.

"Elijah?" She paused. "Elijah is that you?"

Still no response. Nadia wasn't one for believing in the supernatural, there was no visible evidence. How could she?

Nadia decided to open the bathroom door and search the house. Still, there was nobody around. She went back into the bathroom and resumed brushing her teeth. As she was, she tried to rationalize with herself. Things like...

Must've been the previous owners.
Maybe they forgot to clean the bathroom mirror.

Maybe Gwen snuck in here and left quickly.
Reminding me why I shouldn't always be alone.
That I should be scared.

When she was dressed and ready she grabbed her keys off the hook by the front door and stepped outside. Remembering to lock the door and went to her truck. She hopped in, started her playlist and headed for Elijah's tattoo shop.

~~~

When Nadia arrived and was through the front doors, she was quickly greeted by Elijah's apprentice.

"Hey, Nadia! Looking for Elijah?" The young man smiled and wiggled his eyebrows.

Nadia scoffed, "Yes, Jake. I'm here for my new tattoo."

"I've seen it, it looks great. You're going to love it," Jake clapped his hands together and walked away to find Elijah.

Nadia walked behind the front desk and made her way into Elijah's tattooing room and found his chair and sat down. Spinning, as she was waiting for him.

"Hey there pretty lady, you're in my chair," Elijah walked in from the back room.

Nadia looked at him, noticing his black shirt that he had rolled up. Showing his tatted arms and bulging muscles. She kept herself from looking any lower and looked back to his face.

"I think I like this one better," she said as she rubbed her hands along the arm rests.

He smiled and used his hand to motion upward, telling her to get up. She complied and laid on the other chair that was prepped for her.

"Okay, so... here it is," Elijah grabbed his sketchbook from the desk behind him and showed Nadia his drawing.

She scanned her eyes over the paper. It was of a classic sheet ghost holding up a jack-o-lantern. Her favorite holiday had always been halloween, and what better way to express that, than a tattoo?

"It's perfect!" Nadia's eyes glimmered looking at his artwork.

"It is, isn't it?" Elijah stuck his tongue out playfully.

"Let's get started," He spoke at he put on the latex gloves and got his gun and ink prepped.

Nadia watched him in silence, waiting patiently and excitedly for her new tattoo.

"Alright, where's she going?" Elijah held up his stencil.

Nadia pointed to her jean covered thigh and looked up at him.

Elijah smirked, "Well, those jeans are going to have to come off then."

Nadia blushed as she stood up and made eye contact with him. She kept eye contact as she began to un-button and pull her pants down to reveal her black lace thong. Elijah's eyes never left hers and she began to lay back down.

"You ready?" Elijah moved closer in his chair and got to her upper thigh.

Nadia nodded, "Yep."

"Alright, no going back now," Elijah smiled as he turned the tattoo gun on.

~~~

Halfway through the tattoo, Nadia noticed the silence. Neither of them had spoke a word this whole time. It was growing more and more uncomfortable. So, she spoke.

"How's it going down there?" She forced a quick laugh.

Elijah smirked, "Well, this isn't what I imagined it would be like when you took your pants off. But, it's going well."

Nadia's eyes widened, "Oh, well, I- uh..."

Elijah just laughed and continued working on her tattoo.

Internally, Nadia was screaming. Wondering what to say and how her losing her words was embarrassing. Trying to think of something to say next. But, all the time she spent thinking about it was more than she expected.

"All done," Elijah set the tattoo gun down onto his tray. "What do you think?"

Nadia was shocked and looked down at her leg, "I love it! Thank you so much, Elijah."

"Anytime," Elijah smiled at her as he began to take his gloves off.

"How much?" Nadia say up and reached for her purse.

He scoffed, "Nothing, you know you're my favorite client."

"Elijah, please," She dug through her purse.

"No, Nadia, I'm serious," Elijah looked at her, "It was my pleasure.

Nadia nodded and began to put her pants back on and made her way to the front where Jake was sitting, "Hey, Jake, give this to Elijah would you?"

Nadia handed him $100 and smiled. She reached for a pen and a sticky note and wrote 'For my favorite artist,' and handed it to Jake.

"Of course!" Jake winked at her.

Nadia just laughed and made her way to her truck to head home.