Page 2 of Under My Skin

Chapter Two

EVERETT

Another loud bang vibrates through the ceiling, and one of the artists near the front of the shop stops their line work to glance up. From here, it looks like he and the snake head on his neck are both curious about the noise.

“They won’t fall through, Alex,” I say from my station, and I’m at least eighty percent sure I’m right.

He chuckles and gets back to adding white highlights to a blue butterfly on a woman’s foot. “You sure about that?”

Even she looks up at the ceiling now, like she isn’t sure this tattoo is worth putting her life on the line.

“Mostly sure,” I mutter before pulling out my phone to check the time. My next appointment isn’t for another twenty minutes. Do I want to babysit the contractors I hired on my down time?

No.

Should I?

With another clank that sounds like he’s literally throwing a wrench against the wall, my shoulders drop in defeat.

Maybe.

“I’ll be back,” I groan, and all three artists laugh and say things like “Good luck” and “God speed. ”

I flip them off half-heartedly. They know I don’t really give a shit. I’ve worked with Alex and Troy since the shop opened two years ago. Toni is our newest addition, but she’s still been here long enough to know I rarely get mad.

Stressed? Sure.

Panicked? Maybe.

But mad? Who has the fucking time?

I pause before heading up the narrow staircase.

From here, I get my favorite view of the studio.

It isn’t much. There are four artist spaces, two on each side.

The front is all windows, letting in plenty of natural light.

You can hardly see the white paint under all the framed artwork we’ve collected over the years.

Troy even has a taxidermy owl perched on top of his shelves.

I’m afraid to ask him where he got it, but to be fair, I’m afraid to ask Troy a lot of things.

My moment of appreciation ends with another loud clang, and I curse under my breath as I head up the stairs.

When I bought this place, it felt like endless possibilities.

It felt like I had all the time in the world to turn this space into what I wanted, but buying something with an unfinished apartment means that one day, you have to actually finish it.

Renting an apartment outside of the shop was starting to be a monthly drain, especially when I have a perfectly almost usable space here. So, the remodel began. I had to dip into my emergency savings, but I can’t wait to live here.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” I rush forward as soon as I see my contractor tearing the fucking pipes out of the wall. “What the hell are you doing?”

“You’ve got galvanized pipes,” he answers gruffly as he tosses another piece onto the floor, and I wince at the sound. He adjusts his backward hat and wipes the sweat from his brow.

“So?” My voice spikes with panic. I don’t even know what galvanized pipes are. Gesturing to the open wall, I say, “What if I want galvanized pipes? ”

Hal huffs a laugh. “It doesn’t matter what you want. If it isn’t up to code, you can’t keep it.”

Dropping my arm, I nod more than I probably need to. “Right. So, new pipes.”

“New pipes,” he confirms.

I hope he can’t see the math I’m trying and failing to do in my head. “How much will it be to replumb this place?”

Hal shrugs like the thought had never occurred to him. “Ah, should only be a couple grand. Maybe more.”

Jesus Christ.

I rub a hand over my face, but he breaks through with another chuckle.

Clapping a hand on my shoulder, he says, “Don’t worry. We’ll get it done. The water is off. My guy will be back later with supplies, so we can get you up and running.”

I rub a hand over my forehead. “The water’s off,” I repeat for no real reason.

I’m running a tattoo studio downstairs, and the water is off.

To be fair, we use sterile water for almost everything, but I don’t want to waste that on washing our hands.

We need a working sink. “How long is this going to take?”

Hal looks around the place again. “Luckily, we found the issue this morning, so I’d say end of day tomorrow. There isn’t much to this place.”

“Yeah. Thanks.” My eyes track around the space the same way his just did. I’m starting to wonder if I should bother with finishing this apartment at all, or if I should have paid rent until I died. It wouldn’t have taken long. The cost of both places was slowly killing me anyway.

But as crazy as it sounds, I can see my life here.

When I decided it was finally time to finish the upstairs, I got the same undeniable feeling in my chest that drove me to buy this place a few years ago.

And every time I stand in what will be my bathroom and imagine staring at myself in what will be a mirror, I imagine a new version of myself staring back at me.

Sure, I’ll still have the same dark hair growing slightly over my ears because I’m too busy to get it cut on time.

The same brown eyes and shadow of stubble on my chin.

The same tattoos on my arms and back when I get dressed for work every day.

I’ll still be me, but I’ll be another step ahead. One less thing to stress about. One more building block cemented into place to solidify my future.

I can see it all so clearly. I can perfectly imagine the small kitchen that will be on the left when you first walk in, and the living space just beyond that.

I’ll have my TV against the back wall, and my couch will sit past the two kitchen barstools I’ll hopefully have room for.

On the right, there will be a bathroom the size of a broom closet and a divider wall to shield most of my bedroom from open view.

And the best part? I’ll be here. I’ll get to wake up every morning, drink my coffee, and walk down to the studio to prep for the day. This place is more than just my livelihood, it’s my life. I’ve poured everything I’ve got into this business, and renovating this apartment is taking the last of it.

Another metal pipe hits the unfinished floors, and I jump.

Everything in here echoes. Another thing I probably should have considered before starting a construction project above a functioning business.

My arms instinctively go up when he tosses another piece behind him, like I’ll somehow have the power to stop it mid-air.

It crashes with another loud bang, and I wince.

“Can we just try to keep the noise to a minimum?” Hal looks over his shoulder at me, and I back away toward the door.

“You know, people in pain, steady hands?”

Hal just laughs. “We’ll do our best.”

Once I make it back downstairs, Toni stands at the sink near the back of the shop. “Uh . . . I think there’s something wrong with the water.”

Running my hand through my hair, I grip it a little at the roots. “Yeah, I know.” I glance toward the front door just in time to see her client walking out with a new tiger face staring at me from the back of his arm. Even through the wrap, the thing still looks menacing. “Nice work.”

She follows my gaze. “Thanks,” she says, her voice lifting at the compliment. “He said he let his daughters decide which animal. I think they made a solid choice.”

The guy throws us a casual wave before the door closes behind him, and I nod in return. Without looking back at Toni, I say, “We need to reschedule our clients for the rest of the day, but we should be back up and running at some point tomorrow.”

“ At some point?”

I grimace at her tone. Sometimes I wish she were the one running this place. It sure as hell would make my life easier. Toni would have convinced Hal to leave the galvanized pipes.

With a groan, I rub both hands over my face. “Yeah.”

She stares at me, and I swear I can feel her eyes focusing like tiny, dark brown lasers.

I finally look at her, only to be met with the terrifying sight I was trying to avoid. Toni may be petite, but underneath that long, jet-black hair and pink bangs cut straight across are two eyes that might as well be shooting daggers at my head.

“That’s what the guy said!” I hiss back in defense as I gesture toward the staircase behind me. “What am I supposed to do?”

She gives me a dubious look that tells me she knows exactly what I’m supposed to do, and whatever it is, I haven’t done it.

As soon as I raise my eyebrows for a little help, she gently pushes past me. Her careful, steady steps up to the unfinished apartment manage to still sound ominous on the old wooden floors. Craning my head back, I try to listen, but she keeps her voice low as she talks to Hal.

Whatever she says, Hal doesn’t answer right away.

It isn’t until I hear him start with “Well, sweetheart,” that I suck in air through my teeth and stop trying to eavesdrop.

Toni doesn’t take well to anyone calling her pet names.

I saw that wrath unleashed when she first started working here and Troy made the mistake of calling her “baby.”

I catch sight of the large digital clock on the wall and curse under my breath.

My next client is due any minute, and I need to reschedule their appointment.

Pulling out my phone, I ignore the new text from Simon and quickly check my schedule before shooting my client a text explaining the situation.

By the time I’m done, the sound of slightly happier footsteps greets me from down the stairs.

“He’ll be done by tomorrow morning.”

My mouth falls open, and I glance back at the staircase behind her. “How did you—What did you . . .”

She raises a sharp brow. “I reminded him that we’re running a business, and if he wants to keep his, he needs to get us up and running by tomorrow morning.”

She pushes past me, and I follow her onto the floor. “I mean, that’s what I did. More or less.” The look she gives me over her shoulder tells me she isn’t buying it, so I add, “Thank you.”

Toni grins before stopping at her station to pack up for the day, and I make my way to the front to tell the other guys we’re closing early.