Vauseman One Shots

Tattoo Artist

"Done." Alex said plainly and not enthusiastically like how she did when I was finished. She put ointment on her tattoo and wrapped it up like how she did with mine.

I complemented Polly's tattoo. Polly thanked me and went to go take pictures of it in the bathroom because it had better lighting. So I started looking around her workspace as she cleaned up. I saw a board with pictures pinned on them and my eyes studied all of them.

"Is that you?" I asked, looking at the picture of a woman scuba diving, with a blue and yellow fish.

She smiled at me. "Yeah, it was during my old adventurous, rebel days." She said.

I smiled at her. The picture looked beautiful and she looked really happy, but I couldn't tell with the scuba mask if she was smiling or not. "I wish I could go someday." I said. "And I love those types of fishes." I touched the picture on the wall and rubbed my thumb against the fish.

Alex grinned. "I'm sure someone will take you one day." I nodded.

Polly and I went back to the front and paid for our tattoos. "Hey you have two tattoos and I only had one, how come yours cost less?" She asked as we walked in the car.

I was grinning ever since we walked out the door. "I don't know." I said shrugging.
•*•
The next day I took care of my tattoos and did my mourning routine. When I was eating cereal for breakfast because I was too lazy to cook, I was scrolling through Instagram. Then I saw the blue and yellow fish on my explorer timeline and stared at the picture for a while.

I wonder if she's on her shift. I ate my cereal really fast, brushed my teeth, and ran out the door. I drove to Reds Tattoo and Piercing shop and walked in, signing up once again to get another tattoo.

I saw Alex walk up towards me. "Hey!" She said enthusiastically. "Hey." I said smiling widely.

"You here for a piercing or another tattoo?" She asked.

"A tattoo." I said. She led me to the back. "What would it be?" She asked.

I pointed at the fish on her scuba diving picture. "That fish, on the back of my neck." I said. She smirked at me. "Why, you want a piece of me to remember?"

"Maybe." I said teasingly. I sat down on the chair. She chuckled. "Turn around." She said. I did what she said and rested my head on the chair's headrest. "Now that you know what a tattoo feels like, maybe this one won't be as painful?" She said.

"Maybe."

She started the machine and traced the blue and yellow fish on my neck. It didn't hurt mostly because I was prepared for the pain. Just like the other ones, it may be because my adrenaline was racing and it didn't cause me to feel that much pain than it actually should hurt.

I mean, if someone this hot came close to you like this, your whole system would be pumping too.
•*•
"Done" She said. She put ointment and put the plastic wrap on it but didn't wrap it around my neck, she put tape on the sides to hold it down.

I smiled and got up. "Thank you again, Alex." I said.

"You're welcome, Pipes." She said.

I looked at her confusingly. "Already on the nickname stage, eh Al?" I said jokingly. Now it's her turn to look at me confusingly.

"I heard your friend the other day call you Pipes." She said.

"My names, Piper. Pipes, is my nickname." I said giggling.

"Oh." She said blushing lightly, but it went away as quickly as it came. "Hey, this might be your last time getting a tattoo, or coming here, so I wanna ask you before I lose my chance. Wanna go out? Like for coffee... or something.." She asked awkwardly.

I smiled. "Yeah, sure!"

She beamed with joy, then cleared her throat. "Great." She smiled.

"Cool, when does your shift end?" I asked.

"An hour, come by then?"

"Yeah, I'll go home and change." I said.
•*•
I came back around an hour later and hopped out of my Jeep, into the shop. I looked around for Alex and found her coming from the back with a girl she probably just tattooed, that has short brown hair.

"You ready?" She asked me.

"For what!?" The girl snapped as she chimed in our conversation. I looked at her with shock at how blunt and rude she was being.

"Our date." Alex confirmed confidently. I blushed and smiled at the floor. I was pondering over the thought that it might just be a friendly get to know each other type of thing, so I'm happy Alex confirmed that it was a date.

The girl blushed a deep red out of anger. "What!? But I-"

"What?" Alex asked, running out of patients. "What is it, Sylvie."

"I saw you first..."

"Huh?"

"I mean.." Sylvie shook her head in embarrassment. "I wanted to ask you out first, I was going to ask you out now! I thought we were getting along great and plus you were flirting..."

"I'm sorry if I made you think that." Alex said sympathetically. Then Sylvie got mad and glared at me. She stuck her hand in her purse fetching for her money to pay for whatever she got and shoved it to Alex. Then she stomped towards me.

"Sleep with one eye, bitch!" Then walked away with a huff.

Alex put the money on the counter for the lady on her shift to deal with and turned to me. "Let's go?" She asked and I nodded.

We drove to Lorna's Cafe and it smelt like strawberries, roses, and coffee. It was like a heaven cafe. "Wow." Said Alex. "This place is really aesthetic."

"Yeah, I know the owner. You can tell that the design fits perfectly with her personality." I said.

Alex picked a seat and I grabbed the two coffees I ordered. I sat on the opposite side of Alex and handed her a cup. "Thank you." She said and sipped her cup.

"Piper?"

I looked at her. "Yeah?"

"I like you, I really like you. You're a stranger and I don't feel like this towards anyone, you're the first and I'm so shocked about this and confused. But I just want you to know that I really, really, like you." She confessed.

I choked on my coffee in shock. Then Alex's face looked like she regretted everything. "I'm sorry." She said quickly.

"It's okay! I just- it took me off guard. But I like you too. So let's get to know each other..." I said.

For the first time in my life, I've never been more happier that Polly dragged me somewhere I didn't want to be.