“Nah, that’s our little brother’s. He doesn’t work here anymore.”
Theo.
She could’ve said Theo. It wasn’t like I hadn’t met him before. Had he mentioned me leaving and ghosting him after that night together? Was this her way of saying he didn’t want to see me again? That wasn’t going to happen.
I hadn’t talked to him enough to know he was an artist, but that didn’t mean I didn’t know him. At least physically, I did. It was my first time going home with someone I hadn’t dated for eons, and what did I do? I bailed on him before so much as saying goodbye. Maybe I deserved to never see him again, but now that the possibility was dangling in front of me, I couldn’t let it slip by.
“Nope, that’s the one I want.”
“Okay, I’ll call him and see. He’ll probably say no.”
She left with her phone in hand. Did she expect him to yell at her over having me at the shop? If so, I’d deserve it. She came back pretty much right away.
“He’ll be here in an hour.”
An hour in the waiting room of the dentist was an eternity. An hour to decide if I should run away and pretend I never put the token in the slot? That might as well be a second. The heaviness of the decision weighed on me when only a few minutes earlier, I was demanding he be the one to tattoo me.
What was wrong with me?
The reality was, there was no decision. I was staying. It was fear and nerves and panic that gave me pause, but not enough to change my mind.
The number of times I wanted to ask my bestie how his brother-in-law was doing or to accidentally on purpose mention him in front of Greta and Xavier? Dozens. Out of all of them, Greta would’ve been the easiest to get info out of. I wouldn’t have needed more than to mention his name, and she’d start talking. Would it have come with a heavy dose of teasing or possibly grumbling? Yeah, but then at least I’d know something.
It was the not knowing that was driving me bonkers. Xavier and Greta were hunched over a book, possibly one with appointments, whispering to each other. Alton was with Sothea and their little one, also speaking in hushed tones. That left me all alone in a room filled with others.
Not completely alone. Bunny Foo-Foo was there to keep me company like the fabulous cat she was.
As the minutes ticked by, no amount of cat cuteness or snuggles could distract me from Theo’s arrival.
“This is your fault.” I scratched under the left side of her chin, the way she loved. “If you didn’t have me pick a mystery ball, none of this would have happened.”
It wasn’t her fault. She was a cat. She didn’t make me do any of this. Just because I was chilling with her when I made the decision didn’t make that any less true.
Telling myself that if he got here, took a look at me, and said, “Nah, peace out,” helped calm me down. I wouldn’t like it, but I’d have my answer instead of playing the what-if game with myself.
The number of times I replayed that morning from the moment I opened my eyes all content and warm until getting in the car and having him drive away…it was embarrassing. Even more so, the varied endings I concocted for us.
I’d wake up and he’d kiss me and tell me I was his and not to leave.
Or I’d wake up to the house smelling like bacon and a burnt omelet because he tried to spoil me despite not being able to cook.
Or we’d take a shower together and then spend the day exploring the woods behind his house, finding morel treasure.
At the end of the day, that night had been just a little too intense. I liked him far more than I should for some random person I met, and I panicked. No amount of creative imagination could change that.
“Whatever comes to be, will be, Bunny Foo-Foo.” I kissed the top of her head. “I know you’ll still love me. I love you too.”
Chapter Three
Theo
I’ve fucked all of this up. Royally. Monumentally. All of the above.
The night Brent and I spent together was life-changing. Magical.
But when I woke up, he was gone. My bed was cold. He’d fled. Left me heartbroken.
We didn’t exchange numbers that night, but I could’ve made it happen if I wanted to. He was my brother-in-law’s best friend and always at the tattoo shop.
