The Bet

5

“You guys were fucking awesome,” Andrea slurs. She presses the automatic unlock switch on her key chain as we approach the Mustang. “Your not driving,” I say. She is trashed.

“Bullshit, this is my car.” She falls in the drivers seat. I walk to the door and grab her keys. “Your car in a police auction for reckless driving if you don’t move the fuck out of the way.”

She looks at me with wide eyes and moves over. “Thats what I thought,” I say.

I put the keys in the ignition and look up. Monica is standing by the door holding a wad of money. “Here,” she says and hands it to me.

“What the hell is this Monica?” My face is twisted and I am confused. 

“Two thousand dollars,” she says. Now I am getting aggravated. “No shit sherlock. Why are you giving it to me?” 

“Its your down payment. If you win, I give you three thousand more. If you lose, you keep it. Its incredibly fair. I only ask that you make some kind of an effort to woo this woman.”

Fucking relentless people. They make no sense whatsoever. You tell them no, they just come back for more. 

I never understood Monica too much either. She was one of the greatest people in the whole world, but sometimes she did things completely strange. Like this bet, for instance. Why in the hell does she care? I know we have been best friends since grade school, but this was absurd.

“I really don’t want your money.”

She is looking at me with her big brown eyes. She is so pretty. Why doesn’t she date?

“You know what? Whatever, fine,” I say. Even if I think it is ridiculous, I’m not stupid enough to pass up two grand. Monica winks at me and kisses my cheek before walking away.

“See you at home,” she says. I watch her walk over to her brand new Camaro. I am jealous.

“Monica, can I ask you something?” She turns around and smiles. “Yeah.” 

“Why is this so important to you?” 

“I don’t know... My whole life I have seen women all over you. You have never devoted yourself to one female. I have never seen you in love, but I’ve seen tons of girls proclaim their love to you. So, I guess I would like to see you for once be infatuated with one woman. Chasing her around the way some of the girls do you.”

I nod my head at this. 

What a waste of money.

6

“Hey, Jerry, grab me another marker.” Jerry nods and begins running to the back. I continue to doodle on a pad of paper, procrastinating on doing paperwork. It was incredibly boring.

Jerry comes back and hands me a black marker He is a younger guy, good at what he does. He helps me run my uncles shop. I do all the tattooing and he specializes in body piercing.

I can feel Jerry’s eyes down on me. His gaze is upon the paper I have been doodling on.

“You should start making your own designs Rachel. You could make some pretty sweet ones.” I begin to laugh at this flattery. 

“People bring me a design, I tattoo it. I don’t make them.” I reply. I pull up a chair by my desk and begin going over today’s sales. It was not such a bad day.

“Go on home. I just got a little bit of paperwork to do, then I’m out of here.” Jerry shrugs his shoulders and grabs his coat. “See you tomorrow Rachel,” he says. I wave and smile.

I plop my head down on the desk, not wanting to do this crap. After eleven hours of working, the last thing you want is stare at numbers, and then even more.

Suddenly, I hear the front door open. We have been closed for twenty minutes. The door is usually locked, so I assume Jerry must have forgot to lock it back up when he left.

Okay, I’ll just walk out there and tell them, we’re closed. Its almost nine thirty. Anybody with a brain knows a tattoo parlor closes at nine o’clock at the latest.

I walk out front and avert my gaze upward. I am making direct eye contact with those green seductive eyes.

It’s the girl with the hot legs. The one that Monica so persistently wants me to “seduce.” Of all the damn places to walk into, my tattoo parlor had to be it. What a fucking coincidence.

“Um, we are actually closed right now,” I say. She is looking up at me like she already knows that. “Actually, I just needed to ask Tony something about my tattoo.” She says.

“Actually, Tony retired a while back. Im am his niece, and the owner now.” I smile warmly, letting her know I’m in charge of the place. If she has a question, she needs to ask me.

“Well, I guess then you’ll have to help me. I got a tattoo in like ninety- eight, and it is really starting to fade. I wanted to make an appointment to get it filled in, or darkened. Whatever you call it.” I nod my head with a smile, slightly chuckling.

I am staring at the cleavage in her shirt again. Oh god. 

What am I thinking? Monica has me all riled up now. All I keep saying to myself is, “I have the perfect opportunity here to make an impression. Go for it.” 

What am I saying? This woman is not gay, and this crap is a waste of my time. I will not succumb to this idiotic, ridiculous bet. 

“Well, what day is good for you? I could probably do Thursday, or, I could do it tomorrow after four. If neither of those are good for you, we could schedule an appointment in a few weeks.”

“I could come by tomorrow around seven. Is that okay, or is it too late?”

“No, thats fine. Just make sure your wearing something that is going to allow me to easily access the area. Plus, be sure that you have time to sit here a while. Can I see the tattoo? I can have the colors ready and give you a time range if I have an idea.”

She has a embarrassed look on her face. Oh god. Please tell me this tattoo is in an appropriate area.

“Well, I could I guess, if you want to see it. Its on my chest.” Her face is flushed. 

So is mine.

“Oh,” I say while chuckling. “We will just take care of it tomorrow.”

I am going to get paid to touch her...

7

“No, im not shitting you Monica. She wants me to touch up her tattoo. Its fading.” I move around a little bit, allowing the cell phone to get a better reception. Damn sprint to hell.

I hear laughter on the other line.

“You just may be the luckiest bitch I know.” I can’t help but to laugh violently.

“What are we having for dinner?” I ask. Monica is still cracking up.

“Nice way to change the subject EVERY time you don’t feel absolutely secure.”