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Am I nuts, or have not heard him utter one word since we arrived? When does he speak?
What's worse is it doesn't seem to bother anyone.
"ㅡI had a dog; he was my best friend. His name was Dewey; he meant the world to me. My parents divorced when I was in high school. I hated it; my dad took Dewey. I detested having to pretend everything was fine and being good old reliable Aurora. I had no one, not even my dog."
All this time, I thought Aurora was the merriest girl in the world. A former cheerleader and prom queen, daughter of a wealthy investor, shouldn't be in tears on a tattoo chair. I mean, this is therapy material.
As always, I'm the only person shocked Mephisto hasn't budged. If everyone spills the beans about their life here, I guess the guy is immune. I wonder who is taking care of the parlor while he's here. As for the guy named Søren, he is as quiet as before. The only thing which has changed is the intensity of his stare, I find myself fixing him, and his expression darkens.
At this point, I wouldn't want to see what his face gives off when he's angry.
Aurora carries on, and then I become her subject, "ㅡI hate when Inna brings all her fermented Korean foods and leaves it in the fridge to stink up the place. I hate when she folds the tail of the toilet paper into a triangle as if we lived in the frigging Waldorf Historia, and I despise the fact everyone loves heㅡ."
"You're done," says Mephisto in an urgent pitched tone.
Søren slides back his chair, takes off his gloves, which he chucks in a bin. His face shimmers in sweat; he gets up and walks towards the door, ready to leave without a word. The man doesn't even wait to hear Aurora's first impressions or explain the care procedures. He must be the ego inflated type; he glances back at me before leaving. I get the idea he doesn't like me much. I want to say the feeling is mutual.
I get up and go to Aurora's side, making abstraction of what she said about me; I smile, "Hey, are you okay?"
Her face is shine-free; waterproof makeup isn't a myth. Despite the tears, Aurora still looks like the perfect damsel; she makes the procedure seem painless.
"I'm fine, sorry aboutㅡ."
"It's okay, but you should tell me when you're annoyed instead of bottling everything up."
Aurora is absent; for a second. It's unexplainable she's psychically here, but her mind seems elsewhere. Then she sniffs and picks up the conversation, "I know, but I don't want to be mean."
"So, show me?"
Aurora stretches out her hand and shows me her inner wrists.
On her left wrist, she has an ornamented padlock, and on the other, she has a key. The details are unique, and Aurora stares at them, fascinated.
"Do you like them? I mean, he did two tats. You only wanted one."
"They're perfect, don't you see understand the symbolism?"
Honestly, I don't. Yeah, I'm the insensitive type who likes all things logical and, by definition, easy. I hope my nervous smile doesn't betray me and that the commotion is enough to make Aurora forget I am supposed to get one too, "okay, as long as you like them, let's get going."
It takes us less than a minute to get back to the parlor's lobby, to my surprise. Once again, the awkward sensation of being in a parallel world takes over me. The place is empty; everyone has disappeared. Where have all the appointments gone?
Mephisto is at the counter; his presence makes me blink in astonishment. I'm sure we left him cleaning the cabinet.
Aurora gets ready to pay, and again I look around. Nah, this is insane; the place was full.
The Søren guy is nowhere to be seen; it's Mephisto who finishes with us, "Okay, for the aftercare, don't let the tats dry; otherwise, they will scab. And you don't want that; you need to keep it moisturized. So use a balm or a cream. Here's a list of products you can get in the pharmacy, or you can buy our kit for 20 dollars."
Aurora takes a second to think, "how much for the tattoos?"
Mephisto smiles, giving a full view of his gold teeth, "seven hundred dollars."
YEEZUS, are these people serious? Did he ink her with gold?
Aurora slides her card on the pay pad without one comment while I blink like a robot on the brink of a breakdown.
"Goodbye, ladies, and see you soon."
"Don't count on it," I mumble as I take Aurora out while holding her by the shoulders.
"Never say fountain I will not drink your water," I hear Mephisto throw as we pass the door.
The door slams, and finally, I breathe freely as the feeling of oppression fades.
"Are you sure you're okay, bae? I mean, you just gave these obnoxious weirdos seven hundred dollars for a lock and a key," I say as we get in Aurora's red Chevrolet corvette.
"Yeah, why?" The candid smile she gives me triggers goosebumps.
The Aurora I know would have thrown a fit and called her father's lawyers to verify the price is legal. She isn't stingy, but Aurora isn't the girl to throw her money around like confetti.
It's impossible to explain, but the woman I leave Oblivion tattoos is another Aurora Davis.
