The Letdown [Noah Sebastian]

Chapter Two

"And I swear she is not like any other, no
Something much more than I could ask for"

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It was Friday, the start of a heavy weekend of working. The tattoo machine rumbled in Rose's hand as she pulled it across the fake skin in a flicking motion, red ink filling the empty petal of the rose she was concentrating on. She moved her foot from the pedal and leaned back in her seat, rolling her shoulders.

"Got work tonight?" Her mentor, Todd, asked her while he cleaned up the tattoo he had just finished.

She sighed. "Yeah, kind of dreading it to be honest, I hate Fridays."

"Yeah me too, I might pop in later for a drink." He leaned over her shoulder and looked at the piece she was working on. "Looks good man, you'll be on actual skin soon."

Rose grinned. "Thanks man!"

He just nodded and went back to his client. Todd wasn't the most talkative person but he had a lot of faith in Rose and was the best mentor she had ever had the pleasure of knowing. She cleaned up her station and packed her bag up.

"I'll see you later then." She said, leaning over the privacy wall of his station.

"Yeah, have a good shift, Rose."

The sun was still out when she strolled down the strip to the bar, sunglasses covering her emerald eyes. She was grateful that she decided to wear a tank top because it was boiling outside but that also meant that the bar would be too damn hot. Her phone buzzed in her pocket when she arrived at the bar.

Dan

I'm working late every day next week, just letting you know. Love you x

"Of course you are." She grumbled, shoving her phone back into the pocket of her black Dickies as she pushed the door open to the bar. The bar was packed wall to tall considering the weather outside and the fact that it was only seven in the evening. She pushed her way through the crowd and clambered underneath the bar, holding her hand to her chest to catch her breath.

"I'm so fucking glad you're here!" Donny shouted over Nine Inch Nails as she threw her bag into the store room. Their colleague Claire, a feisty six foot woman with hair the colour of a fire truck hollered in agreement, shovelling ice into a glass loudly.

Rose zoned into her surroundings, serving the closest customer as quick as she could to get the line down. They spent a solid hour working in tandem to get through the rush, stress levels high from the sheer quantity of customers in the small venue. Once the place seemed to chill out more, Donny poured them all a shot of Tito's which they threw back, slamming the shot glasses down on the back bar.

"Thank fuck you came in when you did, we were dying out there!" Claire sighed, patting Rose's back. Rose pulled a bottle of Modelo out of the fridge and cracked it open, taking a long swig.

"This is the busiest we've been in a while, damn." She scanned the room, customers sat on every surface and danced around the floor.

"Fucking good for business though, right?" Donny ruffled her hair and threw his other arm around Claire who was busy serving a customer.

"Fancy seeing you here." Rose looked up from her hands to see Noah standing at the bar. She couldn't help her grin as she admired him. He wore a white wife beater with some fitted trousers, sunglasses pushed on top of his head and she found herself blushing for some damn reason beyond her control.

"Who are you meeting dressed like that?" She jested, pouring them both a shot of tequila, pushing one across the bar to him.

"Whoa, can a man not dress up for his favourite bartender?" He chuckled and Rose felt her blush worsen, thank god for the low lighting in the bar. "I've just come back from a photoshoot."