Inked ~ Ziam [Coming Coon]

Prologue

Prologue

     Zayn grinned in delight as he finished off yet another successful job. He wiped his brow and leaned back in his chair as his customer lifted his arm to inspect the final product. The young man smirked as he lightly traced over the black lines freshly imprinted onto his skin.

     "It's beautiful," the man whispered, more so to himself. But Zayn caught the quiet sentence and smiled. It was always a joyous feeling to know when someone is satisfied with your accomplishments.

        Especially if you then get paid for them.

     Zayn beamed as he tucked the wad of cash into his back jeans to be deposited later into his vault back home. If you could call a one bedroom, one bathroom, kitchen combined with living space flat a home.

     To make matters worse, it was constantly cluttered by Zayn's tattoo sketches and various pads and paintings he'd created over the years. Louis swore it was a miracle Zayn didn't get lost in there every time he entered. But Louis couldn't really complain as the older lad's flat wasn't much to crow over either.

     Speaking of the cheeky boy, Louis' head popped out from behind the counter after setting down the shop's phone.

        "Oi Z!" He called out, and his Doncaster accent carried through the empty shop. The younger male looked up from where he was putting down one of the sample design books.

        "Yeah?" He replied, stretching his tired arms over his head and arching his back slightly. It'd been a fairly long day, one appointment overrunning his already hurried lunch break causing him to skip again [but not for the first or last time he knew].

        Louis spun around in his chair, his feathery auburn hair flopping over his glasses as he rifled through the mess of papers on the desk. Zayn rolled his eyes at his co-worker and best mate's scatterbrained nature.

        "A guy just rang up, sorry to spring this onya mate, but he's coming in five," Louis pulled an apologetic face. Zayn groaned. It was almost eleven already and he absolutely hated closers. But beggars couldn't be choosers, so Zayn resigned himself and slipped on a new pair of gloves as he took a swig of his almost empty Aqua Pura. Being a tattoo artist was very tiring work, and required unlimited patience and energy to deal with the wrastlers who came in.

       "So you doing anything tomorrow?" Louis asked his mate as he kicked his feet up. Zayn shrugged. The next day the shop was closed, the employees deciding they needed a well deserved day off. Business always boomed at that time of the year, every man and his dog wanted some ink to show off in their summer swimsuits.

     "Nah, just chillin' in my flat probably," Zayn picked out a fresh needle and attached it to the gun. "Why?"

        Louis grinned happily at his friend and clapped excitedly.

    "Ed's throwing this party tonight and you're coming with me!" Louis practically squealed with anticipation. Zayn had to stifle his laughter and nod.