Something About Us

Part Two

Enter: Holiday Boulstridge

       I didn’t see Ryan until a week passed from that beautiful night we spent in bed. I pleasured myself using that memory so many times that the memory became crystallized; it was almost like I could hold the moment in my hands. Everything occurred to me in startling clarity, the feelings Ryan coaxed out of me, the look in his eyes before he kissed me, the smell of his skin, and the sounds he made felt so real in my mind’s eye.
 
      I couldn’t mind it too much that I wasn’t Ryan’s boyfriend. At least I was in his life and it wouldn’t be long before I had a good grip on him. Before long we’d be together and enjoying this new side to our relationship.

      I never dreamed that Ryan and I would ever have gotten to this stage again. Way back in January of 2012 we had been as close as we ever had been. Then he had opened up to me like a flower. Shown me the centre of him, the hungry, passionate side. I had never seen that side of him again  – well until last week – and I had no idea what brought that out in him.

       I was at the tattoo parlour the Saturday before school was set to start (I wasn’t terribly excited for school as I had always disliked school and that was one facet that would never change about me even if I was getting good grades). Today I worked on an idiotic tattoo for an even sillier seventeen year old girl.

       This butterfly would be her first tattoo ever and she wanted to have it in a place where she knew her parents wouldn’t notice it. This location ensured the tattoo’s status as a tramp-stamp. She had told me she wanted butterflies and I knew that it was going to be one of those easy-going days, nothing complicated.

       A co-worker of mine, Marcello, he was the sort of tattoo artist who would have given the girl exactly what she wanted; butterflies with a little colour thrown in. Even though it was a mundane idea I wanted to take the girl’s idea and turn it into a piece of artwork. It took longer than I had told her, but it looked better than I had anticipated. I gave the butterflies a delicate backdrop. The colour was striking and the line work was flawless.

       “Good job,” Came Ryan’s voice from the doorway once I was wiping the tattoo down with an anti-septic solution. He smiled at me and my heart kicked its beat into overdrive. There was the voice that had blessed my ears and those were the lips that had anointed my body. He wore a black sleeveless shirt that bared his arms which weren’t as lanky as they used to be.

       “What are you doing here?” I asked, even though I felt overjoyed. The girl stood up and I handed her a mirror so she could admire her tattoo. The moment she looked at it she smiled.

      “I walked in and Gerry was like ‘Hey there, Holiday’s in room 4.’” Ryan leaned against the doorframe and bit one of his nails. I couldn’t understand what he was gnawing on as his nails were right down to the pink. “When do you get off?” He continued.

      “Thank you so much!” The girl cried. She hugged me tightly and walked out the room. Ryan’s eyes followed her out of the room and the slight smile on his lips made me realize he was checking her out, not glaring at her for having hugged me.

       These were the sorts of things I would have to get used to. Being with Ryan but not truly being with him. Sure, I could hold his body but I didn’t hold his heart. He had held out on giving it up to me for years, so he wouldn’t have trouble holding back his feelings.

       “That girl was my last customer,” I replied. I started to put the tools aside to be sterilized later. I cleaned my work station as Ryan watched. “So I’m free after this.”

       “I’ll wait outside,” he said.

       “Take my keys. I’ll meet you outside in twenty-minutes.” I reached into my pocket, grasped my keys and tossed them to Ryan. He caught them easily. He tucked them into his back pocket and then walked out of the room and down the hallway.