Please, with a Cherry on top? | 18+

2 | Cerise

After her interview, El gave her a quick tour of the shop.

Cerise followed behind him like a duckling when he started the tour by pointing out the public bathroom to her, seeing as that was where she was looking last before her interview began.

He then showed her the sectioned-off areas where the artists worked on their clients and followed that up with the room where piercings were done.

"What's this room?" she asked while looking toward the room adjacent to the piercing room.

It was a black door with a simple white outline of a diamond, and if she had to guess she would assume it was some sort of storage room for extra jewelry.

"Ah, that's Novak's gem room," El said, shrugging a shoulder, "He's away currently, but you'll meet him eventually."

Cerise nodded unsurely. She still felt like she didn't know what was behind the door, or what service was given, but it seemed like Elliot wasn't going to expand any further as he walked away back to the center of the parlor.

"As I'm sure you've noticed, there isn't any other soul here except for us. We are closed to the public on Sundays. Stock count and other business stuff are done instead. Luckily for me, it's my day. Like it is pretty much every Sunday," he cheered sarcastically, causing Cerise to giggle.

He continued the tour by guiding her through the door next to the reception area and showing her the break room and staff bathrooms. As they left the break room she noticed the door directly across to which El gestured with a head nod.

"Novak's office. Couple rules about it," he said and turned to face her, "One, if the door is shut, do not disturb. If cracked open, knock first. Two, if he's not here, don't go in there unless he permits you. Once he meets you he might expand on the rules more, but those are the need-to-know."

Cerise bobbed her head in understanding, attempting to connect the dots mentally, "Is Novak the... manager? I had assumed you were..."

El gave her a small smile and shook his head, "Sorta, he owns this place."

After concluding the tour, they sat and discussed her availability. Soon after, Cerise was headed out the door with a smile and a direct deposit form tucked into her bag, off to have a celebratory lunch with her friends.

***

"Thanks, here's this back. You can take a seat and Elliot will be out for your consult shortly."

Cerise smiled while handing the client back their I.D. and grabbing the clipboard he was holding out to her. Sitting back down, she began scanning the paperwork and updating the client's digital file.

Cerise was happy to say that she had settled into her new job well. It had been three weeks since she started and she had since met Noah, Chiaki, and Alex.

After introductions, she discovered that Noah and Alex specialized in tattoos while Chiaki was mainly a body piercer. El seemed to do both piercings and tattoos.

Everyone had been genuinely welcoming to her, and they all seemed to like her as well. Cerise felt as though they would all become dear friends the longer she worked alongside them.

The only people she hadn't met yet were the owner, Novak, whom El had mentioned a few weeks back, and someone named Izaiah she had overheard the others talking about.

She didn't even know what they looked like. Their business cards weren't amongst the others that were placed on the receptionist's desk, nor were there any pictures around of any of the staff.