Art & Ink //Zauren?

•five

Lauren opened the record store the next morning. She was drugged up on pain killers and wasn't in a good mood after the phone call she had with her sister before she came into work. She only calls Lauren on holidays to invite her to their grandparents house for supper and on her birthday to ask if she wanted to lay flowers on their parent's gravestones. How depressing. Of course, just like every year, she said no. She wasn't ready to revisit that dreadful graveyard. Not yet.

"Well, Hello, Mrs. Picasso." A voice came from the front door of the store.

She came in early, knowing no one would be here and the open sign wasn't up yet. Lauren whipped around on alert with a stack of records in her hands. It was one of the men from last night. The hazel eyed one. What did Tina say his name was again?

"We aren't open yet." She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat.

"I know," He said. A few buttons on his shirt were undone, exposing more tattoos.

"A-And Tina isn't here yet." Lauren assumed that's who he was looking for. She placed the records down on a shelve and his eyes examined her from where he stood.

"I know that too." He smirked. She wasn't quite sure if he had an accent until now. It was faint last night.

She became even more annoyed than she was before. "Then what do you want?"

He leaned against the glass window with a smug grin.

"I just want to get to know you."

Lauren couldn't deny the heat building in the pit of her stomach. There's just something about his voice that got her hot and bothered.

"Well, now isn't a good time. I've got records to organize and I'm sure you have tattoos to do."

He raised a brow. "Is it that obvious?"

Lauren glanced at him over her shoulder.

"Tina told me your brother did her tattoo so I'm guessing you do them as well," she explained.

He began to stroll down an aisle of vinyls and Lauren watched him carefully.

"We own a shop a few minutes away from here. You got any ink?" He asked.

He stood next to her as she was down on her knees organizing the records with shaky hands. Her green eyes met his hazel ones. His dark hair really brought out his eyes. Then, she realized how provocative this position looked and stood from her spot on the floor.

"Just this one." Hesitantly, she pulled her hair onto one shoulder and gave him a full view of the dragonfly on the back of her neck. When she felt his fingertips trace the ink, she pulled away.

"It's cute. Simple."

"I like things simple." She said defensively.

"You never told me your name. Thats a simple task, isn't it?" He mocked her.

Who does he think he is? Lauren pursed her lips and rolled her eyes.

"Lauren," she finally said.

He wet his lips. "I'm Zayn."

Right, Zayn. That's what his name was. She had far too many drinks last night to remember his name and even her own.

"Well, Zayn, I'll get in trouble if my manager sees you in here before we're open." Lauren stared at his lips. They looked so kissable right then.

His large hand landed on the dip of her waist and her breath caught. Oh God, she could have melted right then and there. The hairs on the back of her neck raised up and her lips parted as she let out a breath.

"What time do you get off work?"

"You're extremely forward, aren't you?" There was something about him that made her want to drop to her knees and obey his every order. He had this certain demeanor that was mean yet extremely sexy.

"A little." Zayn shrugged. She moved his hand away.

It would be nice to get her mind off of tomorrow. Ugh, tomorrow. Aka: her birthday. Aka: the worst day of her life. She could use a distraction.

"I get off at 8."

"I'll come get you at 8 then. We can go see a movie or something," he suggested.

Only Lord knows what or something entails. Lauren chewed on her bottom lip and they locked eyes.

"Sure," she agreed. The distance between them was equivalent to a thin hair. The air grew thick and several things ran through Zayn's mind. Dark things. She could almost see a fire in his eyes.

"Good. I'll see you then, green eyes." Zayn backed away from her and strolled out of the store.

Lauren watched through the clear glass as he walked away.

*~*

Later that day, Tina walked in a few minutes late wearing sweatpants and a tired face.

"You look like hell," Lauren said as soon as she walked through the door.

"I feel like hell. Hangovers are the devil. Where's Jeff?" Her voice was rugged and raspy. Lauren started to wonder what happened between her and that guy last night.

"You're in luck, he's not here yet. He said he'd fire you if you were late again."

"Oh please, he can't afford to fire me," That's true. Tina sat her coffee down behind the front counter, along with her purse.

Lauren began unboxing vinyls and stacking them in their appropriate spots.

"What happened to you last night? I was looking everywhere for you."

"I got sick and got a ride home. Thanks for last night, by the way. I had fun." She left Carlos out of it. He wanted to keep his balls.

"Good, I'm glad you had fun."

"What happened between you and that guy? Anything juicy?" Lauren asked, in desperate need of gossip.

"Not at all. The guy is a total prude. We went back to his place and all we did was talk. Can you believe it!? I made the first move and he turned me down."

Lauren winced, feeling the secondhand embarrassment.

"Sorry, T."

Tina groan, sitting on the counter, letting her long legs dangle. "I haven't gotten laid in weeks. I don't know how I'm still sane."

Tell me about it, her inner monologue griped. It's been so long since she's gotten any action. Her right hand was getting tired of doing all the work. She'd kill for a good fûcking. Truthfully, the longer she went without sex, the more she thought about walking over to Carlos's apartment in the middle of the night and making his dreams come true by riding him into the sunset. Maybe she'd get lucky tonight. Or maybe Zayn is a prude. Hopefully not.

A/n *IMPORTANT*
My updates won't be as quick as usual for now on because I'm finally going back to school. (I got kicked out a while back heheh I was a bad child) I'll probably update about 2 to 3 times a week. Love ya!