Lethal

Chapter Five.

I made my way to the tattoo shop, ready to find out more about Jibri and I knew exactly where I would start; though I wasn't sure how he would respond. From our exchange the day before, I was sure that he could keep up with me; guys tended to be intimidated by the combination of my blunt nature and how unmoved I was by their "charm". I'd never encountered any man who could make me weak in the knees or shy, because I never fell for the games and tired lines that they tried to use on me. I preferred to go for guys who thought the same way that I did, it made it much easier to coexist with someone who kept it as real as I did.

The lights in the building were off when I got there, I texted Jibri to let him know that I'd arrived and waited for him to let me in. Almost as soon as the message was sent, lights began to flicker on as he made his way through the building and unlocked the front door. Jibri's tall frame loomed over me, his mouth set in a devilish grin as he greeted me.

"Hey, I'm glad you came." Jibri said as he gave me a quick hug and let me in.

I winked at him, purposely brushing him as I walked through the door, "I'm glad you got me to come."

He laughed but said nothing, locking the front door again and then taking my hand.

"Come on, we're going to my office." Jibri said as he led me further into the building.

I whistled, impressed. "You have your own office?"

"Yeah, I own this shop Zana." He explained, my cheeks got hot as I teetered on the brink of embarrassment but quickly recovered.

"Impressive." Was all that I said as we walked into his office, it was a chill room with the usual furniture of an office with the addition of a plush couch, art-covered walls and multi-colored lights.

The two of us got comfortable on the couch, observing each other as the lights continued to change color around us.

"So, are you in a relationship?" I asked him bluntly, regretting not asking the question before I traveled to his location.

A loud guffaw left his mouth, it appeared as though my question had completely taken him off guard. "Nah, I'm not in a relationship right now." Jibri made eye contact with me as he said the words.

"I feel like that was a very strategic answer." I chuckled, "Is anyone in a relationship with you?"

Jibri laughed again, "Damn, nah though. No kids, no girlfriend; just work." Our hands were still clasped together while we were talking. "What about you girl? No man who's gonna try to fight me, right?"

"Nope, I haven't found anyone who could keep up with me." I explained, "Boys don't ever know what to do with me."

Jibri's jaw ticked, "Yo, you're something else; everything you say got a slick double meaning." He called me out, which I loved; usually men would either try to play along or they would sweat under the pressure.

"I'm glad that you noticed." I chuckled, "Tell me about yourself though, when did you get into tattooing?" I switched gears because I wasn't sure of the direction that I wanted to take our exchange; it would probably best to try different approaches until I knew what I wanted to do with him.

Jibri drew circles around the palm of my hand as he spoke, "I always liked to draw and shit, on top of that it seemed like everyone that I ever looked up to had tattoos." He chuckled, "I actually got my first tattoo in a basement when I was thirteen and after that I was hooked; I started practicing on myself, then my friends and it kept going like that until I felt like I was good enough to work in a shop. This place only been up and running for a year and a half, my old boss told me I wasn't ready to be out on my own but that only made me want to do it more."