The Fear Of Faith [2]

18. Cal

'Feeling sorry for yourself?' Tori's voice interrupted my thoughts as I was sat hiding out the back of the shop having a smoke.

'No,' I replied, before taking another drag.

'So, the making up plan didn't work,' she sighed. 'What happened?'

'She didn't want to,' I said, apathetically.

'Geez, she sure likes to hold onto a grudge,' Tori scoffed.

'I've done all I can,' I said. 'I ain't trying anymore.'

'Of course,' she said. 'You've done all you can; you've apologised more than once. What more does she expect?'

'I don't know,' I sighed. 'Maybe she just doesn't want this anymore.'

'Well, then don't you think you should just ask her that?' she suggested.

'She's away this weekend,' I told her, taking a final drag and flicking the butt away. 'When she's back I'll be sure to.'

I jumped to my feet and passed by Tori, heading back inside and resuming my place at my station where I was sketching out some new ideas in my pad.

'Dude, I'm so glad you're working today,' Charlie said as I sat down; he was currently in the middle of inking a client's chest. 'Saturdays are usually busy but today is just chaotic. I'm actually pissed that I chose to end my week off a day early and come in to help out.'

He chuckled and I gave him the finger.

'Yeah, seriously though,' he continued. 'It's a good job I did; it's been crazy today.'

'Yeah, my next client should be here any minute,' Tori said as she joined us inside.

'The phone's never stopped and we're up every five minutes knocking back walk-ins,' Charlie told his client as he nodded along.

'Yeah, I mean the walk-ins are constant, like everyday,' Tori said.

'You guys are literally turning away money then,' Charlie's client said.

'Well, not really, we're constantly fully booked,' Charlie told him. 'We don't have the space for them. I wasn't even meant to be here today but I've been away all week and I'm way behind on everything.'

'It's such a shame because people are always saying on Instagram that they can never get booked in because of the wait period,' Tori said as she glanced out front for a sign of her client.

'Really?' I asked quietly. I never spent much time managing the social media pages; I'd left that job to Tori. 'What else is being said?'

'Nothing really,' she said. 'People just wish we had more availability for bookings or even for people to just be able to come in and get tatted then and there. It would be cool if we could slot out a certain time where people could just do that, right, but we're just so full everyday, we can't even give an hour spare to a walk-in.'

'Actually,' I said, as her words moved through my mind. 'That's a great idea, Tori.'

'What is?' she asked.

'People are struggling to get booked in,' I said. 'If we could dedicate one day a week to taking no bookings and just allowing walk-ins it gives people a little more opportunity to get in.'

'We're full everyday for the next four weeks,' she told me.

'Except Sundays,' I told her.

'Because we're closed,' she reminded me.

'So, let's open up and make Sunday a walk-in day,' I said. 'No bookings allowed.'

'You want us to work seven days a week now, Jesus!' Charlie said, jokingly.