Pictures And Some Memories

Forty Four: The Take Over, the Break's Over

"Good God, he is everywhere tonight!" Charlotte hissed into my ear, subtly peeking through her curls toward Larkin, his beady eyes fixed on me. Like a hawk waiting for his prey.

"Don't I know it," I grumbled.

I resisted the urge to shudder for the millionth time that evening and felt grateful that Zacky was already heading right back to me, Brian flanking him. They both carried drinks for the both of us, and I took mine with grace and briefly tipped my glass to his before taking a long sip.

"Easy tiger," he murmured softly. "Your welcoming speech is just moments away."

"Oh, God," Charlotte moaned, burying her face into Brian's shoulder. Muffled by his shirt, she continued. "Why ah-pff mff thrfff this?"

Larkin snaps his fingers and points at a server, his voice carrying over the crowd. "Because I want to show this motherfucker he's messed with the wrong girl."

Zack beams with pride then, and even Brian gave me a chuckle of approval. Charlotte removes herself from his shoulder but continues the dramatics, uttering another loud sigh for good measure. "Keep these coming, whatever they are," she gestures to Brian as she lead the way toward the podium.

"I don't actually know what it is. Something Erik concocted..." he trails off behind her.

"Oh no," I murmured, staring at my own half-empty glass.

Zack only grins. "Don't worry – yours is just a vodka soda. Hers is the Voltage Special."

"What exactly is the Voltage Special?" I asked, furrowing my brow.

"I saw gin at some point, and I know you hate gin after that rager we threw at your parent's house – the same night Brian and Jimmy broke the statue – so I made sure to steer clear."

"Huh," I mumbled, unable to muster anything else. I think I was just surprised he remembered something so small – I could drink gin again, but it took years before my body stopped involuntarily heaving at the smell of it.

Before I could get too carried away by that small little gesture, he took my hand in his and weaved us through the crowd toward the podium, where we stood in the wings while Erik gestured wildly.

"Ten years ago, I magically got a loan from a bank to finance my tattoo shop. I'd just finished my apprenticeship. I had no real experience in a shop, but I tattooed a bunch of my friends..." Erik says into the mic, addressing the sizeable crowd in our space with ease. "They weren't good tattoos either. But the lines were steady and I had a good crew of people supporting me. When you're that young, pairing that kind of loyalty with ambition... It was enough to carry us through those first couple of years of growing. But we grew into the space. And then we outgrew it! So we bought the Subway perched nextdoor to us when their lease ended. And then we bought the empty space above us and built a multi-story shop fit with a gallery of local artists we adored.

"And as you can tell tonight... Clearly, I outgrew the comforts of that shop and felt the need to open this place. I'm proud to announce tonight that High Voltage is moving permanently to the Warehouse after the new year – with it's own separate edition so we can still have the awesome rock shows and badass parties showing off the immense talent here in crisp and cool SoCal area."

I golf-clapped along with the crowd, feeling immense pride in Erik at that moment – he truly worked his ass off to make it where he stood currently.

"Oh, my God, how in the fuck am I going to follow that?!" Charlotte cried out under her breath, shooting me a look of pure fear. "C'mon, Andi. You knew he'd announce this tonight!"