Paayal - His Scarred Butterfly ✅

26 - HER TATTOO

நான் பிறந்தது மறந்திட தோணுதே
உன் ஒரு முகம் உலகமாய் காணுதே!
(I feel like forgetting my existence.
Your face seems to be the world for me!) 

As the evening painted the sky with the hues of twilight, Pranav entered Paayal's room and found her doing her homeworks sincerely, sitting on her bed.

"Paayal," He called.

She dragged her eyes from her notebook to him.

He informed, "I am going to meet a friend. I will come back in an hour. Lock the door."

Paayal's eyes glittered immediately as she was waiting for Pranav's departure so that she could go and get a tattoo secretly. She immediately nodded her head with a smile, and accompanied him to the door.

As Pranav departed, Paayal locked the door inside and changed her dress to a yellow plain shirt with front buttons so that it will be easy to access her chest for doing tattoo and paired it with a flowing red long skirt. Then she retrieved some money from her pocket money and headed out of her home.

Navigating through the quiet streets, she arrived at the tattoo studio within ten minutes. There was no one in that studio except the female tattoo artist who was also the owner of the studio. The studio echoed with solitude, as it was just a budding business on those days. People were not visiting studios to get tattoos. Mostly the people used to get tattoos by the artists in public places.

On noticing a customer, the artist beamed with a smile and inquired, breaking the silence, "Welcome, how can I help you?"

"I want to get a tattoo on my chest," Paayal replied.

"Alright, Tell me the design you have in your mind," She prompted.

Paayal's reply held a simplicity with a great significance. "I don't need any designs. I just need a name with any calligraphy text. The name is Krishna," She replied with love and reverence in her voice.

The artist, sensing some story behind the name, teased with a grin, "Is that your boyfriend or Lord Krishna?"

"M...My love," she confessed, a subtle blush painting her cheeks.

The artist smiled teasingly on seeing her blush and said, "Okay Remove your shirt and lay down on the armchair."

In a trice, she gasped with an awkward expression, "What?! Should I remove my shirt completely?"

The artist laughed and tried to make her comfortable. "If you feel uncomfortable, at least unhook some buttons of your shirt and push it down to your shoulders," She suggested.

Paayal nodded and did the same and laid down on the armchair. The artist checked her skin type and took a moisturizer to apply on her skin.

"Akka, It should mask this nail mark," Paayal requested, pointing to the nail mark.

The artist glanced at the nail mark. As Paayal was fair skinned, she could clearly see the jagged nail mark. "How did you get the nail mark here? Did you scratch yourself when sleeping or bathing? The nail scratched deeply, it seems," She inquired with concern.

Forced to revisit those haunting memories, Paayal forced a smile, conceding her emotions, "Yes Akka, I scratched myself accidentally while bathing. It looks awkward. So hide it in the tattoo, Akka."

She nodded, applying the moisturizer, and took a needle to inscribe the name on her chest. The sight of the needle sent a chill of fear through Paayal. But she needed the tattoo to mask the nail mark and also the painful memories behind it. She needed to go through the pain that would mask her painful memories. She gathered all her courage, making herself ready for the pain.