Cheers to New Beginnings

Epilogue: Five Years Later

Lilibeth

I closed the door to the salon with a smile. Haley and her family were on vacation, so that left me opening and closing. The girls that worked for us were great, and the guy we had was surprisingly not gay. I’d gone to community college, for cosmetology, along with Haley who went for business management. Her parents spotted us a loan, and Revamp Salon took off. For three years, this business and my family had been my life. Howard, Tammy, Sunni, and Rickie were amazing. I loved my brother in-law, niece, and nephew. I’d been on daily speaking terms with Tammy since she appeared at my high school graduation. But there was one other person I had kept up with, despite him not knowing it. The girls had been hounding me, and I knew deep down if I ever wanted that chance again, I had to take it now.

            I caught a cab to the other side of the city, and nearly missed my appointment time. I was walking through the painted glass doors, when the secretary called my last name. I quickly made my way to her, the smell of cleaning supplies and ink invading my senses. I paid the sixty dollars it was costing for my newest tattoo.

            “You know we could have gotten someone else to do the tattoo a lot quicker. This artist has a busy schedule,” the short black haired pixie said. I nodded with a slight smile.

            “He’s an old friend.” She rolled her eyes at me and continued printing everything out. I signed my release forms and held my breath as she led me to a private room. I steeled my shoulders as I walked in, closing the door behind me. Biting my lip, I waited for him to turn around.

Cadience:

            “Take a seat,” I said pulling the tattoo up on my computer screen. It was a simply quote in solid black. Why on earth I had the job was beyond me. I was a college graduate with an art degree and a tattooist license. Why would the shop put me with a five minute job? I printed the sticker off and gathered my gun and ink. The customer still hadn’t sat down, and I was growing impatient. “This is a wrist tattoo. I need you to sit down on the bench, please,” I said finally spinning around. I sat in shock at who I was seeing.

            Her style hadn’t changed much despite her being twenty-three years old. She had died blonde hair with pink streaks. Her make-up was done lightly, and her lip rings were evident. She still looked as amazing as ever.

            “Hi,” she said nervously, and I shook my head in surprise. I glanced back at the new tattoo quote. Life goes on… Go with it.

            “I never thought I’d see you again,” I said smirking, putting an emphases on you.

            “Yeah, well, have you noticed that your east side piercing business has quit coming in? It’s ‘cause we started doing some piercings in the salon.” I raised an eyebrow. Salon? “You aren’t the only college graduate around here.” I laughed and stood pulling her into a tight hug. Nothing had changed. In five years I had turned down so many dates because I knew no one was going to compare to her, so I poured myself into my art.

            “God, I’ve missed you, Lil,” I muttered against her hair.

            “Good, because you aren’t getting rid of me,” she promised gripping me back just as tightly. “Not this time.”

A/N: The End! I'm sorry for how scattered and quick chapter ten went, but for the life of me I could not think of how to break those events down in to multiple chapters! If you have any suggestions, I'd love to change that. I'm about to start editing, so if I have a sudden urge to change the way chapter ten played out, not by taking out events but by adding more detail I will let you know! Thanks for reading! -Vanessa