Madison
The next few days flew by for Madison. She couldn't believe how busy she was at the tattoo shop. Lori ran a tight ship; everyone was expected to pull his or her own weight. That included flash design, troubleshooting jammed guns, and holding the nervous customer’s hand when needed. It was late May and things were extra busy. Lots of people came wanting to get new ink to flash in the warmer seasons.
Madison appreciated being this busy. It meant she didn't have time to dwell on the way things transpired with Link.
That night would always be both a special memory and a painful reminder for her. She knew enough not to try and let it be more than that. Link was a player with a capital P. And she knew to stay away from the type that attracted women like bees to honey. Hell, she’d seen enough tabloid gossip about him hanging out at places like Hell on Earth and the Empire Sin Club. Always surrounded by a bevy of women, groupies and celebrity stalkers Life with her mother had taught her to stay away from men that were too good looking, too smooth talking, and too much trouble. Eventually, Madison would find another guy like Robert, the man she'd broken up with before leaving London. He’d been older, stable, and divorced. He'd wanted to get more serious with her, and it had sent her running. But he was just the kind of guy she should be looking for. No drama, no groupies, and no way he could hurt her the way she saw her mother get hurt by men so many times before.
Maddie was just finishing the last section of shading on her current client, a young private on leave. It was a large piece done in American traditional style that went around his ribs and onto his back. The work had a lot of elements of traditionalism: eagles, flags, and the names of some of his fallen comrades from Afghanistan listed at the bottom. It was a challenging piece both artistically and emotionally. The client would sometimes get choked up talking about portions of the tattoo as she was inking him. He told her the stories behind some of the names, and she found herself getting teary eyed over his losses. The size of the tattoo had meant he’d come in twice already for two-hour sessions, and this was his final appointment. She wiped the finished tattoo down and slathered some gel over the angry skin before covering it all with a thick bandage. She handed the private a care sheet of instructions and went over them verbatim to make sure he understood. Lori took the health and safety part of her business very seriously and wanted each client to know proper aftercare and what to do if anything started to look suspicious.
She thanked him for trusting her to do such an involved and powerful tattoo.
"No, thank you Madison. You’ve no idea how much this means to me. It's absolutely beautiful," the young private explained quietly. He then surprised her by wrapping her in a big hug and kissing the side of her head.
It seemed to be an impulsive gesture, and it took her off guard. For perhaps the first time she understood how important body art could be to somebody; how it truly was more than just something inked. She broke free of the embrace as her boss came into the room. Madison froze in place seeing Link Jacks standing behind her new boss and scowling. The private slipped her his card and was forced to squeeze by Link, who stood with his arms crossed, practically blocking the door.
Lori interrupted the awkward silence. "Madison, you might know Link Jacks through your brother-in-law. He's been having a dragon done over the last couple of months, and I'm thinking you're the perfect person to do some of the scale work. I’ve seen you do some mythological pieces where the coloring is almost luminescent. That would be perfect for this piece. I've done all the lines and a good chunk of the fill but think if you wrapped up the scales it would be American Tats Magazine worthy," Lori stated in her no-nonsense way.
Crap, there's really no way to just say no, especially if Lori was thinking of putting the work on display. She had one more customer left for the day and was looking forward to a quiet night back at the apartment. She and Darling would probably just order pizza and watch a movie.
Maddie's befuddled brain flashed back to the spiel Lori had given her about no drama, and she braced herself for whatever this could mean. I just need to keep my focus on the work.
"Sure, as long as Link is comfortable with me doing the work. I’ve got one more customer tonight, but I'd be happy to make him an appointment," replied Madison.
Link’s icy expression slipped. He smiled at her and gave her a little wink, suggesting her stall tactic wasn't going to work.
"No need. I've switched your last appointment to someone else so that you could have time to work on this piece now," Lori smoothly added.
So much for putting this off until a later day. Lori walked away, leaving Link and Madison alone. Great, this would be a nightmare after what had transpired between them last week. She was already anxious around him, and now she’d be spending hours touching his half-naked body. How did Monet ever paint those incredible nudes with such beauty just within reach?
Madison busied herself getting out sterile gloves and new needles. She focused her head on how best to color in the scales that she recalled so clearly from running her hands up his chest and arms. His low voice startled her when he asked what to do.
"Should I take my shirt off now and lie down, or just stand here feeling stupid?” Link questioned.
"Sorry, go ahead and lie down, and you know, take off your clothes. I mean shirt," Maddie blurted out awkwardly. She finished assembling her things on the tray and turned around in time to see him pull his tight black shirt up over his head, exposing a broad, well-muscled chest that her fingers ached to touch. It was going to be torture to put needle to skin, to have her hands running over his washboard abs and strong arms, yet the full sensation would be blocked by the latex of her gloves. She studied the work already done on the tattoo. It was a masterpiece in the making. She’d never seen such a large, detailed mythological piece and couldn’t stop herself from tracing the line of the dragon's tail from the waistband of his jeans up and across his chest and over his shoulder to where it ended on his back. The dragon's head looked across his shoulders, its eyes done so realistically you felt like the beast was watching you. She could see the mix of colors and shading she’d need to complete the work. The artist in her was clamoring to get started, but the woman was afraid to keep touching him lest she lose her head again. She looked up from his skin to notice his eyes had been watching her with an expression of longing. His hand was clenched tightly against the arm of the chair, and she noticed the telltale bulge in his pants. Memories of him pulsing in her sent a wave of moisture to her core.
She needed to put aside the tantalizing images flashing through her head. He was just a man who could only hurt her if she let him. Isabel had shared stories about Link’s escapades with women while on tour. It seemed everyone in the band but Link had settled down, so they all laughed at his adventures. Now that Madison had been one of his conquests, she hated every other woman who had ever looked at him, and she hated herself even more for feeling that way.
"Okay, I’ll get started, but as you probably know, work around the ribs and other bony areas can get pretty painful, so let me know when you need a break. Any questions?" Maddie was proud of how calm her voice was despite the rolling pit of emotions swirling around her belly.
“No questions. Baby, I'm ready for whatever you want to do to my body; bring it on," Link answered with a cocky smile.
Damn him, he had to make this extra difficult. She'd made a mistake in what she did with him; she’d just been too curious a cat and she'd gotten her heart involved. But there was no way she would put that tail out there again for him to play with. Maddie had seen what heartbreak did to her mother, and she knew better than to get involved with anyone who could do that kind of damage to her. Besides, if Isabel ever found out what she’d been up to with Link, she'd probably lecture her to death. And Thomas would probably kill Link; after all he had become quite the protective big brother to her after he and Isabel met.
Madison needed to focus on the task at hand and stop ogling him like…well, like some kind of groupie. She prepped a gun and tested the foot pedal, and then dipped her color, steadied her hand, and pressed needle to skin. The gentle vibration of the gun hummed to her as she worked a lower portion of the design over his right ribcage. She peaked across his chest, noticed another tattoo under his heart, and jabbed the needle in too hard.
"Fuck, Maddie!" Link exclaimed.
"Whoops, sorry." Maddie unscrewed the gun’s needle cylinder, cursing herself for her clumsiness. She glanced again across his chest to the neatly scrolled script just under his heart that had caused her to so angrily work the gun. In beautiful calligraphy the words “Caroline Forever” were tattooed. In that moment she hated herself. She’d been a fool a thousand times over for ever crushing on a man like Link.
"Must've been a defective needle. I’ll switch it out with a replacement and we’ll continue," Maddie responded, changing out her needle and hoping he'd fall for it. She worked quickly, trying to focus only on the shading at hand. He hummed a quiet tune as she worked, something that must be all his own since she couldn't place it. The melody was eerie and pretty at the same time.
"So who's Caroline?" Maddie groaned inwardly at herself. Why are you asking? You don't really want to know. Link adjusted his left arm and used it to prop his head up a bit and tilted toward her.
"Madison, are you wondering about my other lady loves? The girl who practically ran away from me the other night?” Link asked with a leer.
"Ha, as if! I know your type. The only one you love is yourself." Maddie tossed the words back at him and resumed shading in another scale.
"Damn, girl. Is that what you really think of me?" Link paused and studied her face, but she refused to look up at him. Maddie knew she'd overstepped and had been deliberately rude. He released a long sigh and continued, "Actually I deserve that, and I certainly have spent time with enough women without much of a commitment. I could see why you might think you know all about me just by the gossip. But people aren't always what you think.” He stopped talking and let his head fall back against the table. He closed his eyes before continuing. “Caroline was my baby sister. She died in a car accident when she was six, and she's the one that started calling me Link. She just couldn’t pronounce Lionel when she was a toddler so the nickname stuck."
Link stared in stony silence at the ceiling. Maddie wondered if he would hop off the table and leave. She’d never felt so low or rotten and cursed her smart mouth.
"I'm sorry. Link, I am so sorry. That was so out of line for me to say and I can't believe I…" Maddie paused, tears of shame filling her eyes and choking off her words.
Link reached over and grabbed the hand that clutched her tattoo gun. "Be careful with that thing; you might hurt me." He winked at her and gave her a half smile. "It's okay. It was a long time ago. She was a great kid, and it really wasn't anyone's fault. A two-car collision on icy roads. The whole family had been coming back from a recital when a Buick slid into our car and hit Caroline’s side. We were lucky that any of us survived the crash. Another few inches and you would have one fewer customers tonight." He smiled to take the tension out of his words and let go of her hand.
"I'm such a butthead sometimes." Maddie resumed her work, and the heaviness in the room finally fluttered away. “I always wanted a big brother. Isabel was too serious all the time.” She talked about how motherly her older sister had been, even when she’d been off at school. After that they were able to just talk about everything and nothing while she worked.
He occasionally gritted his teeth in pain over a particularly sensitive area and she’d stop for a second or two. Maddie was shocked to discover that Link was quite interested in various types of art and had even started purchasing a few pieces. They both liked a lot of the same painters. They talked about music, with Link telling some naughty stories about different groups Becket had toured with over the years. But it was when Link started doing impressions of Thomas getting all worked up and his accent going from “stuffy Brit” to “who the hell knew what the man was saying” that Maddie started laughing so hard she had to stop, afraid she'd mess up.
"Stop, I’m trying to work here." She giggled. "But I know what you mean, when Thomas gets wound up he just starts talking total nonsense. I don’t think Isabel even knows what he’s saying. And I can't believe he's been calling me a “Wee Moppet.” I mean, he's known me since I was seventeen; it's not like I was four or something. Damn, I was old enough to be Isabel's maid of honor. I have to get Thomas for this." Maddie paused, shaking her head.
"Well, I sure wish I'd seen you at the wedding," Link said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
"Oh, you saw me. We were introduced, but you looked right through me," Maddie explained with a shrug.
"How could I not remember a girl as beautiful as you?"
"Ha! It might've been because you had two bimbo dates with you that day, and I was a skinny, knobby-kneed seventeen-year-old with braces and really badly dyed blonde hair." Madison watched his face carefully, waiting to see if that sparked a memory, and chuckled when she saw that it did. His eyes opened up wider and he studied her face intently before looking at her rounded curves.
"Guess you were a late bloomer, like me," Link answered.
Normally Maddie would give him what-for over a comment like that, but she was getting tired. She’d been leaning over his stomach and chest for the last two hours working and needed to take a break. “I can take a five-minute break and probably do another hour on the scales, but beyond that I think the work would suffer. I estimate we have about three more hours to really get this perfect. Would you rather call it a night and come back?" Maddie left the offer hanging in the air.
"How about we both take a break and get a pizza from Harry's?” Link suggested and then added in a lower voice, “And don’t worry, I’ll come back and let you color all over my body whenever you want."
"Link, I'm not sure a pizza date is really a good idea for us," Maddie said with a shrug as she dropped her equipment into the “to be autoclaved” box.
"It doesn't have to be a date. It could just be two friends getting a pizza and talking some more about whatever you want to talk about, classical music, fine art, the fact that I have the most incredible Xbox and game selections ever made," Link offered.
His playful nature was quickly winning her over. She knew it was a bad idea and that she was just letting herself get sucked in for more trouble than she wanted her guarded heart exposed to. But in the end, her stomach spoke for her, letting out a very unladylike growl of hunger.
Link took immediate advantage of the sound. "See, your body knows I'm right. We'll take a cab over to Harry's, get an extra meat-lover’s special, split a pitcher of beer, and talk video games."
She placed a bandage over where she had been working and pressed a little harder than necessary. "We’ll get the vegetable lover’s pizza, and I get to pick the beer. Deal?" Maddie countered, expecting him to complain.
"Sold," Link agreed, grabbing his shirt and pulling it over his broad shoulders.