“Lyla, seriously, shut the fuck up you stupid whore! I’m a block away!” I screeched into the phone as I walked across the crosswalk, looking both ways.

“Kat! Just hurry up and get here, you have a customer waiting!” Lyla, my best friend of six years, yelled into the phone. Without saying goodbye I hung up on her and shoved my phone into my back pocket. I quickly picked up my pace as I weaved through the other pedestrians, and after five minutes I finally walked through the door of my tattoo shop.

“You stupid cunt! I’m here,” I said as I walked pass a group of guys and went to the back to set my bag down by my table.

“It’s the guy with the mop on his head,” Lyla told me as she through her red hair into a messy bun atop her head. Lyla is gorgeous; she’s got ginger red hair with piercing green eyes, not to mention she’s got legs for days and is the size of a straw. I walked back into the lobby and surveyed the room before laying my eyes on the group of five guys lounging on the couch.

“Hey mop head; what can I do you for?” I said as I walked over to the group and stood in front of the boy with brown curly hair, and green eyes. He looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on where I’ve seen him.

“Are you Katriona?” The boy said with a thick English accent, and it about blew me away.

“That would be me, britty, but please I’m begging you, call me Kat. Very few people call me by my full name and you aren’t one of them. Are you getting the tattoo?” I asked him and he nodded his head. “Right, well follow me and we’ll get started!” Him and the rest of his gang all stood up and followed me back to my table, where I pulled up a few extra chairs for his friend and signaled for him to sit on the table.

“So what is it you’re wanting?” I asked him as I sat down and looked at him.

“I want a butterfly,” he simply stated, and I looked at him as if he were dumb.

“Okay, do you have one already picked one out or do I need to do that for you?” I asked him as I pointed to my laptop next to me.

“Well, I was hoping you could draw one up and I’ll tell you if I like it?” He questioned and I, inwardly, groaned.

“Right, it’ll take me about fifteen minutes to draw, that cool, mophead?” I asked him and he nodded his head slowly.

“Sorry she’s so bitter this morning, I bet she hasn’t had her morning cup of kitty snuggles,” Lyla said as she walked over and handed me a cup of coffee.

“Hey, you don’t joke about my kitty snuggles. Malley is mad at you,” I told her, speaking of my calico male kitten at home.

“I’ll buy him some catnip,” Lyla said before walking away again. I was just doing the outline of the butterfly when one of his friends spoke up.

“So, Kat, do you plan on completing that sleeve on your left arm?” One asked, he has black hair and was the tannest of them all, and you could tell that was his natural skin complexion. He also had an English accent.

“Most definitely. I’ve been drawing up the rest of it, I just need to finish a few things here and there,” I told him with a smile on my face. I took a quick glance at his arm and saw he had the start of a half sleeve, with a really cool microphone tattoo. “What about you? Will you be allowing me to finish that pretty half sleeve you’ve got going?” I asked him and he chuckled.

“Ah, ‘fraid not. Not too sure what I want to add to it,” he answered and I nodded my head.

“So, Lyla said you guys heard about my tattooing skills. Mind if I ask from who? Because I don’t know anyone over in the UK,” I said as I began shading one of the wings on the butterfly.

“We asked a bunch of locals where the best place was to go, and here we are,” Mophead said as he looked over my shoulder.

“Please don’t look over my shoulder, it’s weird. And that’s cool, I didn’t think I was so popular,” I, smugly, said. I was just about to start asking if the drawing was looking okay and if he wanted anything change before I heard the bell above our door jingle.

“Hey, welcome to Klatonic Ink, how can I help y’all?” I heard Lyla greet the people that just walked in.

“Um, is it true One Direction is in here?” I heard a girl ask, and she sounded pretty young. I scrunched my eyebrows together as I heard the words One Direction, though, it sounded really familiar. I, then, took a second to thoroughly look over the five boys crowded around me, they were all suddenly tense, and then I put it together.

“Excuse me boys, I’ll be right back,” I told them as I set my pencil down and stood up, walking into the main part of the shop. I saw three girls crowded around Lyla with cameras in their hands. “How old are you all?” I asked, hands crossed over my chest.

“Sixteen and seventeen,” one girl answered, and I rolled my eyes.

“So you aren’t old enough to be in here without a guardian. I’m gonna have to ask you girls to get out,” I told them, pointing to the door.

“But we just want a picture with the boys,” another girl spoke up.

“And hell wants ice water. Get out, “ I, sternly, said.

“We can be in here if we want,” the first girl said and I rolled my eyes again.

“This is private property and I have to right to kick people off of it,” I told them and arched an eyebrow. “And I would hate to call the cops on you girls.” That took enough for them to scramble out of my shop and I took the time to walk over to the door and lock it before flipping the close sign over.

“Don’t let people in until these guys leave, Lyla,” I told her as I walked back to my table. The boys were waiting for me with expectant eyes. “They’re gone and I closed down shop until we’re done. Nice to meet you, One Direction.”

“Sorry, we didn’t want to be a bother,” mophead told me and I rolled my eyes.

“Doesn’t bother me any, I don’t like dealing with people anyways,” I said as I went back to drawing up his tattoo. We sat in silence for another five minutes until I finally finished drawing it up. “Okay, mophead, how does this look?” I asked him, holding up the piece of paper.

“Wow, it looks really good,” he said as he moved in to get a closer look and caused the table to tip over and him to fall on the ground. His cheeks, instantly, got red as he scrambled to get up and fix the table as his friends buckled over with laughter. I also couldn’t help but let a chuckle escape.

“Alright, so where do you want this?” I asked him after I transferred the drawing over to the appropriate paper and ink.

“Abdomen,” he said and I nodded my head as I gathered a few more supplies.

“Go ahead and just take your shirt off and lay down on the table for me. Try not to tip it over again,” I told him and he took his white V-neck off and placed it next to him. This kid was in pretty good shape for a popstar. I snapped out of my trance and transferred the sketch to his abdomen.

“That look good?” I asked him while holding a mirror up so he could look. He nodded his head and I continued with the process of getting my gun ready with a sterile needle. “Did you just want it in black ink?”

“Yes, please,” he said as he fumbled with his phone. I nodded my head while I got a few, small, cups of black ink ready and prepared my gun.

“Ready?” I asked him as I positioned the gun at the bottom of the butterfly.

“As I’ll ever be,” he told me and I quickly went to work on his tattoo. I was about a quarter of the way through the tattoo when the silence surrounding me was bothering me and making me anxious.

“So, what brings you guys to Austin, Texas?” I asked, to no one in particular. I just wanted to fill the silence.

“We’re on tour and were just passing through when Harry decided he wanted a tattoo,” the one with blonde hair said, he had an Irish accent.

“Ah, well you picked a great city to stop in. I love it here.”

“Yeah, it’s got a lot of spirit about it,” the same blonde answered.

“What are y’all’s names? I need to put some names to your accents and faces,” I said as I dipped the needle in some more ink and waited for them to respond.

“I’m Harry,” mophead said and I took note of that.

“Niall,” Irish said.

“Zayn.”

“Liam.”

“And I’m Louis!” The bubbly one with a big ass answered.

“Well you all know I’m Katriona, but I go by Kat,” I told them as I worked on one of the wings.

“What’s your name mean?” Harry asked as he looked at me.

“It means pure in Greek,” I told him and he nodded his head.

“It’s pretty,” he said and I saw a blush forming on his cheeks. This kid is weird.

“Thanks, I hate it.”

“How come?” Zayn asked as he stood beside me.

“I’m not pure, as you can obviously see by my tattoos,” I told him and he snorted. I was a little over half way done with the tattoo when I noticed Harry wasn’t breathing a lot. “Are you breathing?” I bluntly asked him.

“No. Can I?” He asked and I rolled my eyes.

“Yes, I’d prefer that you do so thousands of girls don’t chase me with pitchforks blaming me for your death.”

“I’ve got the lungs of a singer, I’ll be fine,” he, cockily, said and it caused me to roll my eyes.

“Right,” I said before going back to his tattoo.

About thirty minutes later I was just adding the finishing touches to his tattoo when Lyla joined us.

“Jimmy just called, he wanted to know if you were in,” Lyla asked and I took a second to glance at her.

“For him? I’m never in,” I told her with distaste.

“I figured, so that’s what I told him,” Lyla responded as she took a seat next to me. “Looks good. I think I want another tattoo today.”

“Alright, I’ll do yours after they leave,” I told her, shading in a part on the body of the butterfly.

“Hey Kat, what’s your favorite tattoo?” Niall asked and I smiled, already thinking of my favorite.

“The one on my ass,” I, simply, stated and I heard Harry cough. “You okay, mophead?” He nodded his head.

“What’s it of?” Niall asked and I saw Lyla shake her head.

“Lyla’s lips,” I smirked and heard Niall chuckle.

“Why’d you get that?” He countered.

“I was drunk and apparently I want her to kiss my ass a lot,” I said as I set the tattoo gun down, having finished Harry’s tattoo. I rubbed some ointment over the fresh tattoo and handed him a mirror so he could look at it properly. “What do you think?”

“Wow, it’s really good. The shading is phenomenal,” he said as he handed me the mirror and I set it down. I grabbed the ceran wrap and quickly placed it over the tattoo and used medical tape to hold it in place.

“Alright, so judging by all your tattoos I assume you know how to take care of them, but I’m going to remind you anyways. Leave the plastic on for a few hours and when you get a chance take a nice warm shower. Don’t rub it, just dab it gently. You can use unscented lotion, apply as frequent as possible, and don’t scratch it,” I told him as we walked back to the front of the shop.

“Of course,” he said as he joined me at the counter.

“Did Lyla already have you fill the paper out?” I asked him and he nodded his head.

“Sweet, one less thing for me to do. Based off the size and the detailing of the tattoo it’s going to be $280, cash,” I told him and watched as he fished out his wallet and handed me three hundred dollars total.

“Keep the extra as a tip,” he told me and I smiled at him.

“Thanks, and here’s my card in case you have any questions about the tattoo or want to come back for more. Or if you want to advertise my skills, that’d be sweet too,” I told him as I dug a card out of the drawer and handed it to him. “By the way, if it ever needs to be touched up, just come back here and I’ll do it for free.”

“Thanks so much, for everything,” Harry said as he nodded his head towards the close sign. “It’s been a pleasure,” he said sticking his hand out which I shook.

“No problem, I hate crowds in my shop,” I told him as I walked them over to the door.

“Kat, do you someplace we can grab something to eat?” Niall asked before they walked out.

“There’s a taco shop just down the street called Torchy’s Tacos, it has really good pork fajitas, get guac on it if you go,” I told him as I unlocked the door and fixed the open sign.

“Nice boots by the way,” Harry said as he shook my hand again. I looked down at my shoes and saw that I was in fact wearing my black boots, I didn’t even know considering I got dressed while I was half asleep and my room was pitch black. They all shook my hand and bid me farewell before going in the direction of Torchy’s.

“They were hot,” Lyla said from her spot in front of the TV on the couch. I walked over to join her, throwing myself down.

“They were okay, Zayn seemed pretty cool.”

“Yeah, Harry was really hot,” she said as she flipped through channels.

“I guess, he had a nice body,” I told her, pulling my phone out to check my messages.

“He kept staring at you throughout the entire tattoo,” she, mindlessly, said and I rolled my eyes.

“Yeah, probably thinking I was a lesbian,” I joked.

“How many times do I have to tell you? You don’t look like a lesbian! You’re really pretty,” Lyla said she punched my arm.

“Whatever, figure out what tattoo you want! I’m gonna go call my Todd,” I told her as I stood up and walked out behind the shop. I sat down at the iron table we had out back there and pulled my phone out, along with my pack of cigarettes. As the phone rang I lit my cigarette and took two drags before my brother, Todd, picked up. Todd is my brother, who is older than me by three years and owns a bar on Sixth Street, here in Austin. He’s also like my best friend.

“What’s up, kitty kat?” Todd answered and I instantly smiled.

“Not much, totem pole. What about you?” I asked him as I flicked the ashes off my cigarette.

“Just getting the bar ready for this Friday night, it’s supposed to be crazy tonight,” he said and I could hear some shuffling coming from his end.

“When isn’t it crazy?” I, rhetorically, asked him.

“Never. So why are you calling me this early? Something up?” He asked and I smiled, because Todd always knew when something was bothering me.

“Just finished doing a tattoo on a celebrity and Jimmy won’t leave me alone,” I exasperated as I took a drag of my cigarette.

“Which celebrity? And what does that fucker want now?”

“Some kid from One Direction. He claims he wants to get back together with me, probably for the free tattoos though,” I told him as I watched an ant crawl around on the table.

“Never heard of them. Anyways, ignore Jimmy he’s a douche. He broke up with you because he thought you were a lesbian just because you wouldn’t put out after dating for four months,” Todd said and I could tell he was annoyed, because Jimmy always annoyed him. By the way, Jimmy is my ex-boyfriend who I dated for about 4 months until he broke up with me because I wouldn’t do anything sexual with him. I may have a lot of tattoos, and be a bit of a bad ass, but I have more self-respect when it comes to my sex life.

“Yeah I know. He’s just an annoying pest who really knows how to cram his way back in,” I told him as I crushed my finished cigarette in the ashtray sitting atop the table.

“What are you doing tonight?” Todd asked after a few moments of silence.

“I don’t know, might close down shop early depending on business. Why?”

“Come down to the bar tonight, drinks on me. I haven’t hung out with you in a few days and I miss my baby sister,” he said and I turned the idea over in my head a little bit.

“Yeah alright, I’ll come. Can Lyla accompany me too?” I asked him, already knowing the answer.

“I’m sorry, I meant to say I miss my baby sister and my baby sister by friendship, Lyla. Yeah she can come, she just better not throw up on the bar like last time,” Todd, sternly, told me and I could imagine he was pointing his finger at absolutely nothing, while ‘scolding’ me.

“I’ll take good care of her,” I told him and we talked for about 15 more minutes until Lyla came and told me I had another customer.

“We’re going to the bar tonight,” I told her as we walked back inside.

“Yes! I’ve been waiting for a night out with you again!” Lyla exclaimed as she got a photocopy of the customer’s driver licenses.

“But Todd says no throwing up on the bar,” I told her with a smirk on my face.

“Fine, I’ll make it to the toilet this time,” she, smartly, said and I couldn’t help but laugh. I was just about to walk back to my table when I saw the same group of five popstars walk by my shop, and Harry was looking through the windows with a smile on his face, he had dimples, man that boy has some good genes. Harry saw me staring back at him and he did a stealthy wink, which caused all my thoughts of his dimples to wash away from my brain and resulted in me rolling my eyes.

“Cocky prick,” I muttered to myself before tending to my customer.

I can’t wait for tonight.

Notes

New story! Tell me what you think!!

Kat's Outfit