Blade isn’t saying anything, he’s just standing next to me, as calm and tall as a wall.One Doogie could break his teeth against if he wanted to.He doesn’t seem to.
“Good, because you’re fired,” he says.“I already called some of your clients to let them know you won’t be working here anymore.They were not pleased.”
Rage is too soft a word for how I feel hearing that.
But the door opens and my 12.30 walks in… an exotic dancer named Holly whose back I am making into a beautiful and serene Japanese garden.All that’s left to do is the coloring of the cherry blossoms and then she’ll be done.
“Hey,” she says, but the smile on her face falls as she seems to sense the tension in the room.
“Should I wait outside?”she adds, eyeing Doogie, then me.
I smile at her and hold the thick black velvet curtain that separates the front room from the back open for her.“Not at all.I’m ready for you.”
“Do you mind if my boyfriend comes in with us?”I ask as she passes me.
Blade has a very shocked expression on his face and it takes me a few moments to realize why.I just called him my boyfriend.And it felt so good.So natural.I wish I could read his face well enough to know if it was the same for him.
Holly eyes him up and down, bites her lip and smiles at me.“Why not?The more the merrier.”
He’s not reacting to her obvious interest at all.In fact, he looks a little scared.Which is not something that’s easy to find in his eyes.
I continue holding the curtain open so he can follow Holly.She’s already stripped down to her waist, her back turned to us, the masterpiece I’ve been working on for the past three weeks in full view.
“Wow,” Blade says.“You did that?”
“Gorgeous, huh?”Holly says, looking at him over her shoulder and smiling.“Your girlfriend is the most talented artist in all of New York City.”
I see him get stuck on hearing the word girlfriend this time.But he nods bravely and barely misses a beat.“She’s got a lot of talent, no two ways about that.And gorgeous doesn’t even begin to describe it.”
He stands behind me as Holly lays down on her stomach on the chair.Good thing she’s not shy with her body, because I didn’t even remember that she’d have to be naked from the waist up for this before asking if Blade can sit in.
I prepare my tools and the colors, the familiar feeling of being watched—even admired—by him washing over me.I’m invincible under his gaze, safe and protected and wholly myself.
If anyone told me this is how the day would go when I woke up in the middle of the night, unable to fall back asleep, I’d call them insane.Yet here I am.Doing what I love best in the world, the man I love the most in the world beside me.
It feels like I never left him.And if that’s not a good enough sign that I’m finally on the right path in my life, then I don’t know what is.
5
Blade
I always knew Bella’s talent for art could get her far.She never believed me.Of course, I did have things like art shows and galleries in mind for her, but watching her needle the intricate, beautiful design into a person’s skin is somehow better.More intimate and visceral.She’ll have no shortage of work back in LA.Everyone and their grandma are getting inked out there lately.Hell, I’ll even let her paint something on me.
The thought gets stuck in my brain like an icepick and then I’m just sitting there, staring into the chasm that is the last ten years.It’s gaping wide between us.But somehow, being in the same room with her, finally after all this time, it seems like something we can jump just fine.But is it?
“All done,” Bella says, pulling me out of my dark thoughts like only her voice ever could.
“What do you think?”Holly asks, giving me a seductive smile over her shoulder.
I clear my throat.“Yes, very nice.”
Bella laughs and it’s a much harsher sound than I expected to come out of her mouth.She used to have the prettiest laugh.Like birds singing.
“Very nice?”Holly turns to Bella.“He’s one-hundred-percent the strong and silent type, isn’t he?Where’d you find him?”
Bella smiles at me.“We met a long time ago, he keeps me grounded.”
I did used to do that for her.And I want to do it again.Even if this feeling she’s evoking in my chest is very old and might not even apply anymore.
