Chapter Eleven
Luke
The day of the flash tattoo event arrived. It had come up fast, with a short timeline.
I drove to the shop early. It was a Saturday and we were tattooing from eight am to eight pm. It wasn’t even seven yet but if I knew Meredith, she would already be hard at work.
I stopped off at Oh, Beans! to grab coffee and snacks for the team. I knew Meredith would have stuff for the clients, but gotta feed the artists, too. Oh, Beans! was already busy, not a surprise since it was the most popular coffee place in the city. As I was waiting in line, I scanned my eyes over a community message board stuck to the wall and when I caught sight of a bright green piece of paper, I froze.
It was an advertisement for a flash tattoo event. The date on it was today. The address and shop name on it was not Think Ink.
Fucking fuck.
I grabbed the paper off the board and stormed out.
“Did you see this?” I yelled to no one in particular as I stepped into Think Ink.
Roxy popped her head up from where she was stocking tattoo stations with supplies. “See what?”
I shoved the paper towards her, and she let out a very inventive stream of curse words. “These fuckers are trying to capitalize on our event.”
Meredith came over to see what the fuss was about. Roxy handed her the paper, and her face went white. “Shit. The Tat Shack is closer to the main road, closer to where most people would park to shop in this area. People are going to see them first. We’ll lose half our business.”
“Well, you’re the one that was hired to get us out of this mess. What are you going to do?” I paced like an animal in a cage.
Meredith clenched her jaw. “I only found out seven seconds ago. Give me a minute to think.”
I continued my pacing, trying to burn off my anxious energy. I’d hated the idea of the event when it was first brought up. Between talking to Roxy and having creative control of the designs, I was feeling okay about it from an artistic standpoint. But what if it didn’t work? What if I lost this place, and with it, my creative outlet?
Franny said all I needed was a sketchbook, and maybe that was true. But this was a place not just to create art, but to celebrate it. People sought it out. I was around people who loved creativity as much as I did. Who understood what it meant to escape into creating something new.
This event had to work to save the shop. “Fuck, we need a plan.”
I half expected Meredith to punch me in the face. I deserved it,instead she put a hand on my shoulder. “I know how important this place is to you. Let’s figure this out.”
I slumped into a chair. “This is why I hate the business side of this, feeling like you need to slash your prices or parade yourself around like an overstocked commodity is just…fuck.”
“We need to get customers to see us. If they are just walking up the block, how can we draw their eye further than the first shop they come to?” Meredith asked reasonably.
“Loud music?” Roxy suggested. “Or I could go out front and rev my bike.”
“Might be a city bylaw against too much noise. Could get all the guys who posed for the calendar to come sell them out front. A pack of shirtless tough guys would draw the eye,” I said.
“It’s October, kind of cold for thirst traps.” Meredith nibbled her bottom lip. “I’ll think of something. You just do what you do best. Get ready for what is hopefully a rush of customers.”
Rush would be an overstatement, but even though it was eight am on a Saturday, customers started coming and we got to work.
We weren’t offering piercing services at this event, but just after we opened, Ivy came barreling through the door. “Tat Shack has a big sandwich board out front advertising the event.”
We all perked our heads up from where we were working and turned to Meredith.
Meredith pursed her lips. “On it.”
A mother and daughter came to my station, and I lost track of what Meredith was up to. I took my time, making both tattoos perfect before sending the pair to Dane at the front counter.
I glanced up to see that the next person in line was Franny with her friends Agnes, Bill and Henry. I stood up and gaveFranny a hug. “What are you doing here? Planning to get some ink?”
She laughed. “If I were, you would be the only one I would trust. Henry here wants a skull on his arm, and I just wanted to come by to support you.”
