The Fear Of Faith [2]

20. Cal

'Fuck, it fucking hurts!' Julian groaned as I came to the final part of the tattoo I was inking on his chest.

'It's not meant to tickle, man,' I replied.

'Dude, you're covered in ink; why are you crying?' Charlie teased.

'This is the worst I've fucking had,' Julian replied. 'Why didn't you tell me the chest hurts this bad?'

'Because it doesn't,' I said.

'Yeah, I didn't find mine bad at all,' Charlie said.

'Me neither,' I chuckled.

'You're just a pussy, man,' Charlie said and let out a loud boom of laughter.

'Fuck you, Charlie,' Julian winced.

'I'm on the final piece of shading now; you're almost done,' I told him.

'Thank fuck for that,' he muttered.

'You want a tissue for those tears, Jules?' Charlie asked.

'Leave him be,' Tori chuckled as she paced into the back with a young girl. 'Just take a seat, sweetie.'

I gave the girl a friendly nod as she made herself comfortable in Tori's station and returned my eyes to Julian's chest. Tori and I still hadn't spoken properly since we'd argued over me dropping the walk-ins and the only time we did communicate was if we had no choice due to work reasons. She was pissing me off more and more by the day with her constant attitude and need to tell me how to run my business.

'Alright, Jules,' I said, sitting up and cracking my stiff back. 'Let's get that cleaned up.'

Julian sat up and I wiped down his new tattoo before he moved to the mirror to check it out. He'd gone for quite a large and bold inking of his daughter's name, Isobel, right in the centre of his chest.

'Fucking love it man,' he replied with a grin. 'Thanks so much.'

'My pleasure,' I said, approaching him with the film and taping his chest up. 'You know your aftercare, yeah?'

'Fuck that,' he said, waving his hand uncaringly.

'Good to know,' I laughed. 'Thanks again, man.'

Julian replaced his shirt and threw on his jacket before saying goodbye to everyone and I walked him out front to the door. When he left, I grabbed my salad that Bethan had made me that morning, a healthy option she had forced upon me, and moved back through to my station where Tori was placing her client's template and Charlie was drawing up some designs.

'Everything still good with you and Bethan?' Charlie asked me.

'Never better,' I said as I ate.

'Good to hear,' Charlie said. 'I can see you're a lot happier. Crazy how much a chick can affect your mood.'

'Yeah, don't I know it,' I said.

'My ex used to make me fucking insane,' Charlie chuckled. 'Like, everyday was another fucking argument and it just wore me down more and more until I snapped and left. Hardest thing I ever did with having my daughter, but I'm happier now.'

'You left a toxic relationship,' Tori said, joining in the conversation. 'You did the right thing.'

'Sometimes I wonder if I was selfish,' he said. 'Leaving my little girl behind like that.'

'You didn't leave her, man,' I told him. 'She knows her dad; you have her every week.'

'Yeah, it wasn't without a fight and a lot of fucking money to get that,' he said.