It was hard enough to keep to myself that anything had happened between Julia and I; but now I’m supposed to act like I wasn’t falling for her?
That I’m not still, actively falling for her?
I don’t think I can do it.
Shaking my head, I pull my attention to the young woman standing in front of me. Not a drop of ink is on her skin or anything more than a nostril piercing that I can see, and she’s twirling a strand of hair around her finger as she inspects my jewelry display.
“How bad does a conch piercing hurt?” She asks, fluttering her lashes at me.
“It doesn’t feel good,” I chuckle, “but it looks awesome on just about everyone.”
She hums and haws, twirling that same piece of hair and moving her head side to side before finally saying, “What about a belly ring?”
“I get less complaints about navels than I do cartilage,” I tell her, “but either way, you’re looking at six months to a year for healing. So I’d go with whichever one you’ll like best.”
Poking out her lower lip in a pout, she says, “Oh. Well what if I wanna get in the pool, like, Monday? What will heal by then?”
A paper cut?I think.
Turning to my right, my eyes lock onto Julia again, and she pulls her lips into a tight smile. She’s wearing a too-big ribbon in her hair, tied into a bow, and the muted pink of it makes everything about her just looksoft.
The problem is that I know just how soft she is.
Her skin, her lips, her whimpers.
All of it is so soft.
“Maybe a—”
I cut off the young woman in front of me by offering her one of my business cards sandwiched between my index and middle fingers.
“Take some time to think about it before you commit,” I tell her with a smile. “If you’re ever in Miami, come on in and see me and we can get something sick done for you.”
With a sigh, I reach for my bottle of water and drop into the chair behind me, only lasting a few seconds before I stand and make my way to a small alcove near the restrooms.
I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my life. Truthfully, I’ve screwed up more times than I can count. In a lot of ways, I’m lucky to be standing where I am today, in spite of everything that I’ve gotten wrong.
I would say that sleeping with Julia was the biggest mistake I’d ever made, but that wasn’t a mistake.
Doing it behind Tripp’s back was the mistake.
The lie was the mistake.
“Are you okay?”
Scrubbing my hands down my face, I turn toward Julia. She’s keeping her distance, more than twice an arm’s length at least, and her hands are held behind her back. If I had to venture a guess, I’d say that her fingers were nervously fidgeting with each other.
“You need to get out of here,” I tell her, using my eyes to gesture toward the main convention hall.
“I— you looked upset, and I thought—” She sighs. “Never mind. Sorry. I guess it’s none of my business.”
The toe of her shoe taps against the floor, her head dipping for just a minute before she looks at me again. When she does, her eyes are rimmed with red, and guilt gnaws at my chest as she offers me a soft smile.
“I’m really sorry I made you lose your best friend,” she tells me quietly.
Before I can even think of something –anything- to say to her, she pivots and is on her way back into the main hall, hershort heels clicking against the flooring and her long, blonde curls bouncing behind her with every step.
I keep to myself when I make it back to my station, only letting myself care about the revolving door of clients sitting in my chair and the money that they’re bringing in for both me and the shop. I can only hope that some of them will be repeat clients when this convention is done.
