The Fear Of Faith [2]

4. Cal

'Yo, Cal!' Charlie's voice called from the back. 'Come check this out.'

I stood from the front desk and crouched through the archway to see him and Tori huddled at her station.

'What?' I asked.

'See this piece Tor has designed,' he told me.

I moved towards them and glanced down at her pad that she was still shading on. She had the smallest smile on her face; a little bit of smugness that she was trying to conceal but she was clearly flattered at Charlie's reaction.

It was an undeniably stunning piece of art; a beautifully designed elephant, shaded in the most lifelike of ways, surrounded by continuous patterns of intricate, flawless mandala artwork. I found myself nodding in approval and pulled my eyes away from the pad to see her watching my reaction.

'It's awesome, Tori,' I said, nodding quickly. 'Is that for a client?'

'Sure is,' she said. 'It's to cover her whole back and she already has all of her sessions booked in and paid for so I had to get cracking with it.'

'Man, were we lucky that you chose our shop to walz into and demand a job,' Charlie chuckled. 'Right, Cal?'

'Right,' I said, smiling politely but feeling a little awkward as Tori turned to me to hear my response. 'Great job, keep it up.'

'Will do, Boss,' she said.

I looked up to see the clock hitting six and with Tori now taking on a shitload of clients, we were back to our normal closing time.

'You guys should get home,' I told them. 'I'll lock up.'

'We're heading down the road for some beers,' Charlie said, as they both stood to their feet. 'You joining?'

'Nah, Bethan will be home,' I told him.

'Is that your girlfriend?' Tori asked and I nodded subtly.

'I'm sure Bethan won't mind, she's cool,' Charlie said, patting my arm.

'What does she do?' Tori asked, politely.

'She's a fucking Columbia student,' Charlie told her. 'Impressive, huh?'

'Wow, now that's surprising,' Tori giggled.

'What is?' I asked with a slight frown.

'You just don't seem the type to be dating an Ivy League college girl,' she said with a smirk. 'But each to their own I guess.'

'Nah, Bethan's nothing like those college losers,' Charlie told her. 'She's cool.'

'Then I'm sure she won't mind,' Tori said as she smiled at me.

'Yeah,' I said with a nod. 'Sure, let's go.'

It was only six and I was sure she had a ton of work to do anyway. I pulled out my phone to let her know I'd be home around eight and she replied with a heart. I smiled as I slid the phone back into my pocket before turning out the lights and stepping out onto the street, locking up the shop and turning to follow the other two.

We arrived at the shitty little empty bar a block away and placed ourselves at a table as Charlie went for the first round.

'So!' Tori spoke as she flashed her huge veneers at me. 'You got a picture of Bethan?'

'I do but I'm not about to show you,' I told her.

'Why?' she chuckled.

'Because it's fucking weird,' I said with a frown.