Page 43 of Forget Me Not

“How’s it going, Justin?” Asher asks.

Kade told me Justin is a regular in the shop, so the fact that Asher knows him doesn’t come as a surprise.

“It’s going really great, Ash. I am a big fan of bring your girlfriend to work day.” He winks over at me.

“Watch it,” Kade warns, still focusing on the tattoo. Justin and Asher just laugh.

Having time off from work felt weird at first. Work has always been the place I run to, the place that helps distract mefrom my own issues by throwing myself into helping others. I thought I would start to go crazy without it, but I haven’t, and it’s all because of Kade. We’ve practically spent every second together since he opened up to me four days ago. I’ve spent every night since then with him at his apartment.

I feel bad leaving Demi alone so much, I promised her I’d be home tonight, but she doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, she seems to be out a lot more too. I’m not sure whether she’s working more or if she’s finally seeing someone, but it’s on me for not asking. I’ve been a shitty friend, basically ditching her the past few days for her brother. I’ve never been this type of girl, wanting to spend every second with her boyfriend. But Kade makes me feel things I’ve never felt before and things I haven’t felt in a long time. He makes me feel things I was scared to feel, like happiness.

Just sitting here, watching him work, doing what he loves, I feel a calmness that’s been absent in my life for as far back as I can remember. He gets lost when he tattoos people, similar to how I get lost while watching him.

Since I’ve been spending so much time with him, I’ve started to notice small, new things every day. Things like the fact that he knows how to cook, and he actually seems to enjoy it, he hates watching TV, he is constantly inspired by things I find insignificant at first, which leads to him drawing masterpieces in his sketchbooks that proves me wrong. Oh, and he absolutely detests chocolate. We got into a huge argument over that one, considering it’s one of my four main food groups. I made a joke about him being a vanilla person after that and he then proceeded to show me exactly how not vanilla he is.

It feels weird learning new quirks about him every day, but also incredibly natural. What worries me most though, is that even the ones I hate, I love. It’s like I can’t find any fault in him. But everybody has faults, so the fact I haven’t found his has leftme with constant anxiety over when the other shoe’s going to drop. He’s a contradiction, making me feel safe and comfortable but also just as fearful as I am excited about a future with him.

“So, when are you going to let me tat that virgin skin of yours?” Asher pulls me out of my thoughts, still leaning against the doorframe.

“The only one touching her skin will be me,” Kade speaks before I have the chance. “I’m working on something. It’s not ready.”

“For real? You’re gonna let him ink you? Come on, Lo, I know he’s your boy and all, but I gotta tell you, I’m much, much better than him,” Asher jokes. The more I’m around him, the more I’ve realized that sarcasm is his default setting. “Fuck.”

I look up in time to see Kade’s water bottle smack Asher in the middle of the chest.

“Nice.” Justin chuckles, reaching out to fist-bump Kade. Kade bumps his knuckles with his, rolling his eyes at Asher before getting back to work.

“Help, doctor, I’m injured. I think I need a full-body exam.” Asher pouts at me, clutching his chest in fake pain.

“You better get out of here before he hits you with more than a water bottle.” I laugh at him.

“Aren’t you a medical professional? Isn’t it your job to prevent people from getting hurt? Are you condoning his violence against me?”

“Technically, my job is to fix people after they already got hurt. I promise if he actually messes you up, I won’t let you die.” I shrug.

“This is outrageous. I’m disappointed in you, Lo.” He shakes his head sarcastically before backing out of the room.

I go back to playing Candy Crush on my phone while Kade works, occasionally sneaking glances at him in his element. Who knew watching his muscles flex and the veins in his hands popout through his gloves around the tattoo gun would be such a turn-on. Kade finishes Justin and starts on his next client less than fifteen minutes later.

I’ve become pretty comfortable in the shop and have met almost all of the employees. I spend the day going back and forth between watching Kade and hanging out with Darla, the sweet older woman who works the front desk. According to Kade, she’s in her midsixties but refuses to ever slow down. She has two full sleeves of tattoos and a nose ring, making her look completely badass. I won’t lie and say she didn’t intimidate me at first, but then she opened her mouth and started shoving pictures of her grandkids in my face and we became fast friends.

Kade was supposed to have an hour break to grab lunch from the sub shop next door, but a walk-in came in requesting him, and I’ve learned he isn’t one to turn anyone down. So, I grabbed lunch with Asher instead. Asher is fun to hang out with. He’s a total manwhore who flirts with anything that has a pulse and speaks in complete sarcasm more times than not, but underneath it all, he’s a good guy. I can tell.

He asked about Kade and me, my work, and he tried his best to check in with me about the incident at work even though I could tell it made him uncomfortable. He even asked about Demi and how she was doing. It was the way he asked about her that intrigued me the most, like he was genuinely interested, desperate for any crumb I’d give him. I don’t think Asher would ever act on anything with Demi because of Kade, but something tells me that he wants to. I’m not entirely sure she wouldn’t want to as well.

I hang out at the shop until around nine at night, knowing Demi doesn’t get off until then anyway. Kade is still in the middle of an appointment, but I have my own car with me, so after saying good night to him, I drive myself home. I end up stillmaking it home before Demi, so I shower and change into sweats before plopping onto the couch to watch TV while I wait for her.

“Hey, stranger.” Demi walks in, not even ten minutes later, still in her waitress uniform. She’s smiling, although she looks completely exhausted.

“Long time no see, roomie.” I smile back at her, moving over on the couch to make room for her. She drops her purse onto the counter with an audible thump and then moves to plop down on the couch next to me.

“So, update me on your life. I feel like I’ve barely seen you. I know our schedules are always crazy with work, but it seems like we keep missing each other more than normal lately.” I turn my body sideways on the couch, so I’m facing her completely, crossing my feet under me to get comfortable.

“My life has been busy. I’ve been working extra shifts since we had two employees quit on us a few weeks ago and they still haven’t hired anyone new. It’s been pretty much work, eat, sleep, and repeat for me. That’s all.” She shifts, her eyes looking anywhere but at me. It’s how I know she’s hiding something from me.

Demi has always been a pretty shit liar, and most of the time, I let her get away with it, but I already feel distant from her the past few weeks, so I’m not in much of the mood to let this one go. I raise my eyebrow at her, letting her know that I’m fully aware she’s full of shit. She sighs, bringing her hands into her lap, anxiously wringing her fingers together.

“I’ve also been hanging out with Asher.” I open my mouth to ask her when the hell that happened, but she keeps going before I have a chance to cut in. “And before you overreact, it’s not like that. We’re just friends. I thought it could’ve been something more at first, but he’s loyal to my brother, he’s not going to go there, and it’s for the best that I don’t either. He’s just a goodlistener and fun to be around. I swear it’s nothing more than that. Plus, it’s your stupid fault.”

---