Fallen Grace

The Customer

I walked in through my front door and turned on the light to my sparse living room with its plain white walls and grey carpet. I walked over to my couch and sat down, finally getting to relax after working for over eight hours. I decided then that I should check my email. I reached over onto my coffee table and grabbed my laptop off of it. A couch and a coffee table. I guess I could call this a living room even though that is the only furniture that I have in here. I thought to myself. I looked over to the kitchen and remember my maple dining table and the two matching chairs that I had in there. Okay so there is at least eight pieces of furniture in my small one room apartment. Not too bad for an orphan. I lost my parents to a tragic car wreck three years ago a few monthes after my 18th birthday. So being a legal adult after losing them I didn't get much help when it came to trying and supporting myself. I miss them, but I also realize that they are in a better place now.

I opened up my laptop to see my reflection in the black screen. My bright green eyes looked back and my bright, red hair looked loose and wild framing my cream colored skin. You can defiantly tell I have been working all day. I clicked then on button for it and waited for it to completely turn on. I had only splurged on getting a laptop so that I could finish getting my college degree. I now work as a tattoo artist in the shop called Glorious Ink here in Hopewell, Virginia. Unlike a lot of tattoo artists out there I am not tatted up from head to toe. I only have one small tattoo on my right shoulder blade of a rosary with my parents' names and the day that the died.

My laptop finally booted up and I clicked on the email tab, opening that up. Once it loaded I saw that I had a message from my friend Lucas. I met Lucas a few months ago on an internet chatroom and we ended up bonding over the fact that we both had red hair. He on the other hand though was tall being over six foot tall and having blue eyes, where as I am short being only 5'3" and have green eyes. After we had bonded enough we began to go out and get coffee. It is now our thing to go out every Thursday to the Muave Java in town. I opened up the email and saw that a link within it and a small message that he had wrote out to me. It simply read, "Hey Eva. I saw this today and decided that you need to sign up for it. No one deserves a trip more than you do:)."

I smiled at this sweet gesture. I clicked on the link and was brought to a bright, colorful web page that had a picture of a cruise ship in the background. I went ahead and clicked on the different boxes throughout the page and filled out the information that was needed in each of them. After I had finished typing it all out I clicked on the blue submit button and then went back to my emails so that I could thank Lucas for this oppurtunity. I hit the reply button and wrote out a simple message saying thank you before closing out of my email and then shutting down my laptop.

I closed my laptop and set it back down on the coffee table before getting up and walking into my kitchen. I opened up one of my cabinets and pulled out a can of chicken noodle soup. I opened it up and put it in a bowl before shoving it in the microwave and then hit the correct time that it needs to cook. I got myself out a glass and poured some water into it, then grabbed my soup and sat down at the table and began to eat my dinner. I thought about how cool it would be if I actually won this contest and got to go on this cruise. I haven't been on any trip since my parents took my to Virginia Beach back when I was 16. We never had much money growing up so I didn't know about this big trips other kids talked about going on. Still I smiled at the memory of the one trip I did get to take and picked up my dishes and brought them to the sink. I washed them quickly before drying them and putting them away.

I walked down the hallway and went into the small bathroom and took a shower. After my shower I brushed out my hair, brushed my teeth, and walked into my room while towel drying my hair. I threw my towel in the hamper as I grabbed myself a sports bra and a pair of underware and put them on. I went to my small closet and picked out a pink oversized shirt that I had and put that on. I looked at my my room with its plain white walls and the mattress in the middle of the room that I considered my bed, and the nightstand that sat beside it. It really wasn't much but my parents didn't have many belongings that I could use. What I have is what I could take from them mainly. Anything else that I had gotten that didn't have sentimental value I had to sell so that I could help myself get through school, and any money I had inherited I have saved in an account for an emergency. One thing that I made sure I had kept no matter what was my mother's rosary. She was a Godly woman, a sunday school teacher, and she loved every moment of it. I am not as Godly as what she was but I make sure to do my prayers at least once a day.

I grabbed the rosary off of my nighttable and got down on my knees beside my bed. I began my Hail Marys and my prayers. After I had finished it all I set it back down and turned off my light and then climbed into bed. I gently fell asleep with dreams of blue oceans and a beautiful cruise ship.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I was finishing up my last tattoo for the day. It was a simple cross on a girl's wrist. I was wiping it down when the bell to the main door for the shop dinged. Hm I bet that's Lucas. I thought to myself. I looked at my work and smiled as she observed it in the mirror.

"There ya go honey. Now remember to keep it clean with the products I told you about." I told my customer as she handed me a $10 tip and left my station. When she left I began to go ahead and clean up my station. I had just put away my tattoo gun when I heard a voice.

"Pretty tattoo." The voice was deep. I knew he was talking about mine since I was wearing a strapless dress today and my hair up in a sloppy bun. I turned around to see where this voice had come from, only to see a man standing there observing the room. There wasn't too much in here but it was defiantly more than my apartment. There was a chair in the corner of the room that was used for tattoos as well as a table in the middle of the room. I had a silver rolling tray and a counter that were both against the back plum colored wall. On all of the walls I had different pictures of the artwork that I have done over my time. I looked at him trying to observe him. He had light blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and was very tall at least to me, probably over a foot taller than me. As I was looking at him he turned those eyes back on me.

"Thank you." I told him.

"I was wondering if I could have you do one for me. I'm willing to tip extra for it." He told me. I thought about it. I really would love just to get out of here and head on home, but I also needed the extra money for this month's rent. I sighed.

"Sure. What would you like to get?"

"I would like to get the quote, 'Like fire upon blood, woe is dim-lit, creeping over the horizon of our turbulent sleep.'"

"That's an interesting quote there." I said and he smiled at me. "Can you write it down for me while I get everything ready?" I said as I handed him a piece of paper and a pen.

He took the pen and paper and I went to the counter and began to pull out a pair of gloves, my prep supplies, my gun, and some ink. I turned back aroung to see him setting his shirt down onto the table. He handed me the piece of paper with a smirk and told me, "I would like to have it here on my chest." He set his hand onto the spot on his chest that is over his heart.

"Alright I can do that. You can go ahead and sit in the chair or lay on the table, your choice." I watched as he made his way to the chair and sit down on it relaxing into it. A look of discomfort came over his face and he adjusted himself in the chair and the look faded. I went over to him and began to prep the work area before grabbing my gun and dipping it in the black ink and beginning my work. I managed to finish it in 30 minutes. As I started to clean the tattoo I heard another ding from the door and a bright, cheery voice yell out through the shop, "Evangeline! It's time for you to go. It's Thursday and that means coffee day."

"Let me just finish cleaning this up."

Lucas appeared in the door of my station and I smiled at him as I put the finishing touches on and smiled at my customer who somehow didn't flinch throughout the whole process.

"You're all done." He sat up in the chair and looked straight at Lucas with a smile tugging at his lips.

"Thank you. Here is that tip I told you about."

Lucas tensed up at the sight of my customer, his smile fading quickly.

"Hello there Lucas." The stranger said.

"Wait, you guys know each other?" I asked them both.

"Yes. Old friends." Lucas said tightly.

My customer grinned and handed me a hundred dollar bill. My eyes widened at this and I began to shake my head at this too generous offer, but then he looked me straight in the eyes and a hazy feeling overcame me.

"You will accept this." He told me.

I nodded at him and took the money he gave me. He got up from the chair and grabbed his shirt off the table and pulled it on. He began to leave and just before he left the little room he stopped and looked right at Lucas with a smirk.

"Good job, friend." He said and with that he left.

"Come on Eva. Let's go get some coffee."