“Three balls for five dollars. Knock down all three bottles three times, win a grand prize,” the attendant said. “You want to give it a try?”
“Sure,” Elias responded, handing the man a five. “You want to go?” he asked, holding a ball out to her.
Eri shook her head. “It would be a waste of a ball. It’s better off in your hands,” she replied.
She shouldn’t have been surprised when Elias knocked down all the targets all three times. It was uncanny how good he was at everything he tried. He chose a large, orange stuffed bear and handed it to her. Eri took it with a smile, and they moved on to another game.
After several games, more vendors, and a stop at her car to put her prizes inside, they were headed back to the tent when Elias stopped to look at a vendor who painted custom designs on shoes. Eri took that moment to excuse herself to the bathroom.
“Hey, Eri, right?” Caught her attention a few minutes later, and she turned to find Koa.
“Koa, hey, yeah.”
“Sorry, I know you’re probably trying to enjoy the festivities, but I wanted to see if we could exchange numbers. I’m looking to get designs created for some merch I want to launch, and I like the banners you designed. I added you on social media, but I know how message requests can get lost in the fray.”
Eri had to stop herself from fan-girling. She’d been watching Koa’s animations for years, and her wanting Eri to possibly design merchandise for her felt a little surreal.
“Yeah, of course,” Eri responded. They exchanged contact information, and Eri slipped her phone back into her pocket.
“Thanks. I’ll be in touch soon.” Koa looked past Eri, and she turned over her shoulder to see Elias approaching them. “Hey,” she greeted.
“Hey. I didn’t think you’d be able to make it,” Elias responded, slipping an arm around Eri’s waist.
“I finished next week’s episode early and thought I’d drop by for a little while. I suspect you’ll be getting a few calls. I had several people ask me where I got my motorcycle from.” She looked over her shoulder. “Speaking of which, I should probably get back to it before my sister tries to take it for a spin. See you later.”
“Did you set that up?” Eri asked when they were alone.
“No, I’d never underestimate you or your talent by doing something like that. So, I need you to stop doing it.” He kissed her temple. “I knew she wanted merch made and figured all itwould take was seeing some of your designs. Now, let’s go. I have a client coming in half an hour.”
Since they were hosting the event, instead of canceling clients or not taking any that day, they simply had them come there. But they were also taking a few walk-ins. Eri nodded as they headed back to the tent.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
“That one is a definite no,” Nesiah stated, as they looked at another photo submission.
Elias had to agree with her. The artist had dug so far into the client’s skin that he would be surprised if they hadn’t been bleeding the entire session. On top of that, the linework was all over the place.
They continued going through the rest of the photo submissions. First, narrowing it down to eleven, and then making the harder decision of narrowing it down to five. Once they had, Marco went to the other tents to let those five know they’d be competing in two and a half hours.
Since he had no more clients for the day, and he could turn down a walk-in, he sent a text to Eri, who’d gone off to watch some performances with Avian when his last client had arrived, and asked if she wanted to get ice cream.
Eri:Yeah. We can. I’m on my way back.
Elias scrolled through social media while he waited for her.
“Hey.”
He looked up from his phone, and it took him a second to recognize the woman who had just walked into the tent. It was the same one who had been flirting with him several weeks ago. He couldn’t remember her name.
“Hey.”
“I’m glad I found your tent. I was about to settle for someone else. Do you have time to do a small finger tattoo?”
“I’m getting ready to—”
“Please? It’ll only take a few minutes,” she cut him off.
“It’s fine, baby,” Eri stated, stepping into the tent. “It won’t take long, and the vendor won’t disappear.”
