Page 48 of The Art of Deception

Henry pulls the car to a stop in front of Hope & Faith Ink. The closed sign is still turned around, but I can see Jana and her working inside. Nerves filter through me, my stomach twisting in on itself as I straighten out my tie and step out of the car. “Thanks, Henry, I’ll let you know when I’m ready.”

“Sure thing, sir,” he replies, driving off to find a park somewhere.

I take a breath, peeking inside the studio from the sidewalk. Tomi looks amazing, even if I can tell from here she’s lacking energy. Her hair’s up in her usual ponytail with that red bandana wrapped around her head, coupled with tight jeans and a flannel top. She has a style which is utterly perfect. Today, though, she’s wearing ballet flats instead of heels. She’s going for comfort instead of glamor, but she’s still flawless.

I make my way to the door. My palms are sweaty as I reach for the handle and turn it. As I step inside, Tomi and Jana spin to me. Tomi’s face is pale, but the redness under her eyes doesn’t get past me and shows me just how tired and hurt she actually is.

Her eyes widen while she takes in the sight of me in a suit for the first time, then they narrow, and her lip turns up in obvious disapproval. “So, this is therealyou?”

Nodding, I walk in further, picking up a broom to start sweeping the floor. “I’m still me, Tomi.”

Jana snorts but keeps pulling the pictures off the walls.

Tomi keeps working on dismantling the workstations as I sweep. “Just you have a different name, wear different clothes, and are as disguised as the devil himself. Yeah… still you,” she snaps.

I can’t help but feel happiness forming on my lips. “There’s my sassy gir—”

“I’mnotyour girl.”

I stop sweeping and place the broom carefully against the reception desk. “I’m sorry, Tomi. I know it came as a shock—”

“A.Shock?” She spins to face me, her cheeks bright red. “Shock? No. Actually, I don’t think the word shock covers it,Alex.”

“Stop saying my name like that, Tomi. I’m Xander to you. I’m no different—”

“Juststop! I told you if I saw you again, I’d call the police. I meant it,Alex.”

I grit my teeth, walk up to her, pull out the small pink and silver cherry blossom keyring, and hand it to her. She glances down at it, her breath catching for a moment, taking in the beauty before she stands tall, puffing out her chest like you see men do just before they’re about to get into a fight. She snatches the keyring from me, tossing it onto the desk with reckless abandon. “You think you can waltz in here and impress me with some cheap-ass keyring just because it has a cherry blossom on it?”

Shrugging, I tilt my head. “It’s actually Swarovski and has real diamonds in it, but that’s not the point. The point is—”

“The point is, you’re trying to hussle me,again, Alex!”

My girl is one tough woman.

Exhaling, I reach into my jacket pocket and pull out a piece of paper. Her eyes narrow on me. “Here. Just read this.”

She rolls her eyes. “Why the hell should I?”

Swallowing hard, I shrug. “If our time together meant anything to you, Tomi,please… just read it.”

She snaps the paper from my hand, then turns away from me, opening it to read it over. I inhale as I glance at Jana to see her watching us carefully.

Tomi’s head snaps back to face me.

I can’t read her.

Is she happy?

Is she angry?

Shit! I can’t tell.

“Is this supposed to be some sort of buy-off?”

My head snaps back. “What?”

She scrunches the paper in her hand and throws it at me. “You think you can take this place away from me,this placethat means every-fucking-thing, and replace it with a new one. And I’m supposed to believe that you,you…of all the lying, deceptive, manipulative scumbags in the world, are going to paymyrent?”

---