The Doctor's Wife (A Sequel) (COMPLETED)

Chapter 23- Connecting the Dots

XANDER'S POV

After a few more minutes of driving, I finally arrived at The Tats Machine downtown. The shop is crowded today. There's a tattooed man mopping the floor, another one repainting the wall, and a lot of customers sitting impatiently in the lobby.

I walk past the front desk and directly set out to the billiards room where Jace usually stays whenever he is not working. The room is currently empty, and I cannot see him anywhere. I have ready sent him a message informing him that I'm already here.

I go back to the front desk to inquire and patiently waited for like three minutes for the black woman with cool dreadlocks and star tattoos on her nape to finish her payment.

"Hey Lizzie, where's Jace?" I ask their full-time receptionist when dreadlocks girl has finally left.

"Oh, I thought you'd never ask. He's in his working station." Lizzie replies with a phone squeezed between her ear and shoulder.

Dammit. I thought he has reserved his time for me today.

"Working?" I ask again.

She just nods her head, as she is busy talking to customers on the phone.

I then meander my way towards Jace's workstation at the end of the hall and didn't bother knocking on the door.

He is currently talking to a customer who is still on the tattoo chair; a very tall, robust guy in a leather jacket with a glittery design at the back. He has this dirty blonde beard that can be mistaken as a bird's nest that I just have to stop myself from buying an egg from the store across the street and put it on his beard so that birds will start flying in here.

Jace stands up from the stool and turns to me. He raises a hand and gives me the signal to wait.

With folded arms in front of me, I lean on the wall on my side and observe him. He is wearing a black, tight-fitted tank and dark blue skinny jeans today. He has this habit of wearing revealing clothes, especially at work. The first reason is that it perfectly works as a magnet for women who like it rough in bed. Well, that is partly based on statistics and mostly on his experience. The other one is to show off his awesome tattoos on his neck and arms, aside from his well-built and rippled body. It's a smart move for a tattoo artist actually, and another way of proudly promoting their craft. His detail and shading work is just fucking cool I have the sudden urge to have a new ink today, but I've got urgent things to do.

My eyes shift to the customer and check out for his tattoo. His left leg is bent, and there's a rounded figure on his left calf.

The two finally gets up and shakes each other's hand.

"What was that design you worked on him?" I curiously ask Jace as soon as the man has exited his room.

With a very serious expression, he answers me,

"A potato, Dude."

"A...what?" I have to confirm what he had just said.

"A fucking potato. None of our artists agreed to do it on him, and he spent almost an hour throwing tantrums around my shop. I didn't have a choice but to sacrifice my precious time for him."

I have to stop myself from laughing, most especially when Jace told me the reason why that guy chose a potato. Just because he likes the shape of it and nothing else.