Pins and Needles

I'm about to shit my pants

Brad

"You'd love Peru, man. Seriously, if I could quit this life and go travel around the world again, I would. Sucks that I'm broke now, though," Francis told me. He couldn't stop talking about his trip and it's all I heard from him the past month.

"Yeah, it'd be cool, I guess," I told my brother. To be fair, his pictures were out of this world and he had some amazing stories but after hearing all of them, I didn't feel the need to hear them all over again. Luckily, he had his clients to talk to.

"You guess? Du-" Francis stopped his argument the moment Jay walked through the door.

"Hey, I came early because I missed my darling," Jay said and proceeded to look around, "where is she? She needs to finish my tatt," he continued.

"What's he talking about?" Francis asked me.

"Gwen," I sighed. "Gwen doesn't work here anymore, Francis is back," I clarified.

I saw Jay's demeanor change for a second before he recovered. I knew they got along well and they must've bonded a lot that afternoon when Gwen was inking his entire back. "Then who's gonna finish my tatt?" he asked.

"Let's see what we're working with," Francis said as he gestured for Jay to take off his shirt. It revealed Gwen's intricate angel that had healed up beautifully. Although it wasn't finished, it was already a masterpiece.

"Damn, that's a lot of details," Francis commented as he looked closer.

"I'll finish it, I think I still have Gwen's sketches here somewhere," I offered. I knew for sure my brother would fuck it up. He was known for his big bold tattoos and little frilly details weren't his specialty.

Half an hour later, Jay was lying on the table, talking about his life, while I was prepping. "You know, even my wifey likes this one," he said while talking about his tattoo, "and she hates tattoos."

"Hey, I have feelings too! I inked your arms, don't I get a compliment?" I said playfully.

"Let's face it, your parlor needs a feminine touch," Jay suggested.

"Well, it's not my parlor," I muttered.

"So your brother got back and Gwen got kicked out? Harsh," Jay continued to say. I wish he'd drop the subject already.

"She was his replacement, that's how it works, old man," I replied, hoping that didn't sound too cruel.

"I'll miss that gal, she was feisty," he said, "and damn talented."

"She is," I told Jay.

"You can tell her that when you see her," Jay turned slightly so he could send me a wink.

"I haven't seen her since,"

"What? How's that possible?" Jay asked incredulously.

"What do you mean? She doesn't work here anymore," I said slightly defensive.

"I really misjudged you, Brad. I thought you had more balls than this," Jay sighed.

"Careful now, I'm stabbing your back with a needle," I fake threatened.

"I can't believe you let that one get away. You don't meet girls like Gwen every week," Jay told me and I could hear the disappointment in his voice.

"I didn't let her get away, we weren't-"

"Save it," he interrupted and our conversation ended like this. For the next half an hour, I worked in silence while my head was screaming all kinds of things.