Her Inked Heart

Chapter 1

Clara sat at the front desk in her work, looking through Facebook at the reviews of the shop. It was her break from doing any work, so she was going to enjoy it while she could.

"Princess, a regular of mine is coming in a few minutes," John says, her turning around to face him, "What do you have there?"

"My brother made a burger and fries for me," Clara says, taking a bite of the fries, "His pub is doing well, and business keeps going."

"Good for him," John says, before kissing Clara's forehead, "And when are you thinking of getting another tattoo?"

"In a few days," Clara says, "I just need to draw a design I want on my other shoulder. Of course, my favorite artist, Uncle, will be the artist."

"Sounds good, enjoy your food," John says, walking into his work station.

With the bell to the front door ringing, Clara takes a second, before looking up, her sister standing there.

"Hannah," Clara says in surprise, "You're not the regular customer here, are you?"

"No, I'm not," Hannah chuckled, "I wanted to see if you'd like to come over to Mom's house after work?"

"Yes, of course," Clara says, "Any special reasoning why?"

"No, Mom just wanted to see all three kids in the house again," Hannah says, "She won't even tell me why she wants all of us there."

"All right, let her know I'll be there at about 8:30 tonight," Clara says, "I have to get back to work, but come here."

Clara pulled Hannah into a tight hug, Hannah sneaking one of Clara's fries.

"You little shit," Clara joked with Hannah, Hannah running out the front door, laughing.

Clara shook her head, holding back her laughter. Hannah made her smile, which was a good part of her day.

"Excuse me?" Someone says, Clara looking up at the front door, a man standing there, "I have an appointment with John at 2?"

"Yes, could you please fill out this form?" Clara says, handing a clipboard with a piece of paper on it, giving a pen to the man, "When you're finished just hand the paper to me."

"Adam!" John says, stepping into the waiting room, a smile on his face, "Welcome back."

"Hey, John," The man says, "Is she new? I've never seen her before."

"No, she's been here for a few years," John says, "She's the little princess of the group. Clara, come here."

Clara stood up, walking towards John, him wrapping his arms around her.

"Can I see some of her work?" Adam asked, Clara shaking his hand, "Nice to meet you, by the way."

"Skyscraper! Get in here!" Clara loudly says, Michael walking into the front sitting room, "The tattoo I did on you last year, can you show Adam here?"

Michael turned around, Clara pulling down his shirt a bit, a detailed pirate ship on his shoulder.

"Was that one session?" Adam asks, astonished by the detail on it.

"Yes," Clara says, "It was when I was still an apprentice."

"John, I may just switch artists to her," Adam says, before giving the clipboard to Clara, "How come I haven't seen you until now?"

"Timing?" Clara said with inflection, "Or maybe you were here when I was taking my day off."

"All right, let's get this tattoo started," John says, taking Adam towards his work station.