The Fire Walker (The Devil's Tattoo)

  "Sure," he smiled as I pulled on my favorite black leather biker jacket.

  "What?" I asked when he didn't stop smiling.

  "You looking fucking sexy in that jacket."

  Flipping my hair out from the back of it, I made a kissy face. "Good."

  "I'll see you soon."

  "I'll be waiting." Giving him another kiss, I scooped up my cell and pushed through the front door. Nothing could dampen my spirits today, not when I just left a hot naked Australian musician in my bed.

  I stopped in the stairwell and turned on my cell. I'd shut it off the day that someone at Galaxy had tried to call me on a blocked number. I didn't want to deal with that when I was with Dee. I'd quit, so whatever crisis Georgie had, they could just deal with it themselves.

  My cell sprung to life and instantly a barrage of messages lit up the screen.

  When I read the first few, my heart sputtered and almost died, my skin instantly prickling.

  I've missed you, J. Won't be long until we'll have all the time in the world together.

  I've never forgotten that night. I dream about it every time I close my eyes.

  I can't wait until you're mine again and I’ll finally get what I’ve always wanted.

  Fumbling with my cell, I jammed it into my pocket, refusing to read anymore. I knew exactly what they'd say.

  All those things I'd done in desperation were coming back to haunt me. I'd believed they'd finally gone away. I mean, it had been five years. Five years… today? Was it today? I began to break out in a cold sweat.

  I couldn't call the cops. Everything would fall apart if I did and he fucking knew it. I rested a hand against the banister to stop myself from falling down the stairs. Throwing up seemed like a normal response in these kinds of situations, but I drew in a few sharp breaths to calm myself down. Should I delete the messages? Maybe I should keep them as evidence just in case something happened.

  I looked back up the stairs to my apartment door and considered going back in and telling Dee. Nate wouldn't dare try anything, would he? He got off with a warning and a restraining order. His family had those big shot lawyers bury it and he still had his life with Ivy League Colleges and CEO jobs. What did he have to gain by harassing me?

  The word revenge flashed through my mind and I dismissed it as soon as it appeared.

  I took a deep breath and walked down the rest of the stairs to the tiny lobby. I couldn't be frightened of him. He had more to lose that I did. I'd been at rock bottom before and if it happened again, I knew I'd bounce back. This time I had Dee by my side. Dee would protect me. Nate had everything to lose.

  When I walked into Couch five minutes later, Ed was at the counter and yelled out as the door closed behind me with a thud.

  "So?" he asked, leaning over the bench top.

  "So what?" I asked with a grin, the tension bleeding from my limbs.

  "Did you get him, bella?"

  Grinning, I winked.

  "That's my girl," he beamed, grabbing my hands. "I never doubted it."

  "You're a sick romantic," I laughed.

  "Till the day I die. So, where is he?"

  "Naked in my bed."

  Ed stood to his full height and fanned himself. "Jessie, you can't say things like that to a gay man."

  Laughing at his reaction, I walked around the counter and gave him a hug. "Thank you for everything."

  "My pleasure. You work yourself ragged, the least I could do was give you a couple of days to chase after the love of your life. So romantic." He pulled back, his familiar brown eyes searching mine. "Do you love him?"

  Biting my lower lip, I nodded. "I think so."

  If I wasn't already in love with Dee, I was well and truly on my way.

  The door closed behind Jessie and I fell back into her bed with a sigh. I was obliterated in a good way. The sheets smelled like her, my skin reeked of sex and vanilla perfume. I could stay here for the rest of my life and be completely happy.

  Letting my thoughts wander I realized it had been a couple of days since I'd called Zoe. I knew she was probably dying for an update and since I'd turned off my phone again, I could imagine the messages that waited for me. Rolling over, I pulled it out of the pocket of my jeans and switched it on. As the screen came to life, so did the alert tone.

  So?

  Any progress?

  Love you, Dee Dee. Call me ASAP.

  Have you turned your phone off again or are you ignoring me deliberately?

  You suck balls, Dylan.

  Shaking my head with a chuckle, I dialed her number.

  "Dylan Cosgrove," she shrieked when she picked up.

  "Calm down, Hot Legs," I laughed.

  "Do you realize this has been the longest we've gone without speaking in our entire lives?"

  "Three days?"

  "I thought you were dead." I could hear the amusement in her voice.

  "Alive and kicking."

  "So, I take it all is well?"

  "I'm naked right now."

  "Dee," she cried.

  "Can't lie to you, Zo. I'm starkers."

  "Gag me now," she groaned.

  "What's that?" I heard Will in the background.

  "Dee's naked and the picture ain't pretty," I heard her answer. Then to me, "Now you've made Will sick, mofo."

  "Then my work here is done."

  "Seriously, is everything okay? You sound okay."

  "We worked it out," I said. "There's still some things we need to talk about, but things are better."

  "Fucking A," Zoe declared. "I knew it. Where you at?"

  "New York. I'm at Jessie's place."

  "You staying a while?"

  "For now," I replied. "I don't know what's going to happen next, but we'll work it out."

  "Good for you, Dee Dee. I'm happy for you."

  "Thanks, Zo." I looked across the room towards the front door and I already missed Jessie. "Look, Zo, I gotta go."

  "Hot date?" she asked suggestively.

  "Yeah. She's gone into the cafe to see her boss. I said I'd meet her there."

  "Then what the fuck are you talking to me for? Go. And put some clothes on for fuck's sake."

  "Love you, Zo," I laughed.

  "Love you more, doofus."

  Hanging up, I sunk back against the wall and sighed. God, Zoe pissed me off sometimes, but the day she decided to meddle in my shit, was the day I loved her more.

  Having a quick shower, I pulled my clothes back on from the day before, making a mental note to go down and get my bag from the car. As I went to walk out to go down to the cafe, I noticed her mail piled on the table by the front door. Scooping up the bills, I debated whether or not I should just go pay the bloody things. When I said I didn't care about the money, I really didn't care. As long as I could pay my own bills and feed myself, then I didn't need the rest. I'd paid my parents bills when they weren't looking, I'd do the same with Jessie's. What was the point of being well off if you couldn't use it to help the people you cared about? None in my book.

  I read the back of the electricity bill and saw that I could pay with a credit card at a post office, so I got on her laptop and looked up the closest one. A block back the other way. I'd go there first. Feeling rather pleased with myself, I jammed the bills into my back pocket and locked the front door behind me, thumping down the stairs and out onto the street.

  Looking at the rental car, I decided to sort that out tomorrow. It was still in one piece, the parking permit sitting on the dash. It had only been an hour and I was aching to see Jessie. That thing I'd felt back in LA was back with a vengeance, sinking its claws into my heart and I was happy to let it. All that time I'd spent fighting it and hurting, was useless. Some things you're just powerless to stop. Falling in love with Jessie Ware was inevitable.

  Following her directions, it wasn't long before I was pushing through the front door of Couch, the cafe where she worked. I had no idea what the place looked like, because the moment I walked in, my eyes found hers an
d never left.

  "Dee," she called, her voice hitting me like a ton of bricks.

  Pulling her into my arms, I pressed my lips to hers. "Missed you."

  "Already?" she asked, her eyes sparkling.

  "The moment you left."

  "You never said he was a soppy romantic, J," a male voice said.

  Looking up, I realized we had an audience. By the look of him, I figured this was her boss, Ed. Thick rimmed glasses, shaved head, impeccably dressed.

  "I'm the boss," he said. "Ed."

  "Hey mate, Dee," I replied.

  "Oh, J and his accent is delicious."

  Running a hand through my hair, I laughed.

  "I forgot to tell you he's a massive flirt," Jessie winked up at me.

  She introduced me around to the other staff members, all of them seemed friendly and genuinely interested.

  "I'm sticking around for a few hours, if that's cool," Jessie said, turning to face me. "They're a bit short today, so I said I'd help."

  "That's okay," I replied. Maybe it was a good thing to spend a little time apart this arvo. Otherwise I'd just take her back to her place and… well, you know.

  Smiling, she slid her hands over my hips and into the back pockets of my jeans. Her hands instantly came into contact with the letters I'd shoved in there and I shrugged. Pulling them out, she glared at me when she saw they were her bills. "I told you not to," she scolded, looking at the receipt stapled to the front.

  "Never tell me what I can't do, because I'll just go out and do it." My lip quirked when she slapped me in the chest.

  "Where can I get one?" her boss called out over the counter, making everyone laugh.

  Cupping her cheek, I leaned in for a kiss, sucking her bottom lip into my mouth. I wasn't usually one for public displays of affection, but Jessie had this thing about her that I couldn't keep my hands off.

  Letting out a contented sigh, she placed a hand on my chest and pushed me back. "You're way too tempting," she whispered so only I could hear.

  Grinning, I asked, "What time you off?"

  "Four."

  "Four hours to kill? Without you?" I exclaimed.

  "I'm sure you'll live."

  "Jessie."

  "I never said it'd be easy." She smiled up at me and it was just so easy between us, the awkwardness of the last week beginning to dissolve into nothing but a painful memory.

  "I'm sure I'll find something to entertain myself with," I said. "I'll be back at four."

  "It's a date."

  Extracting myself from her arms, I walked back out onto the street and waved at her through the front windows. Fuck, I already had trouble leaving her. I had to just walk out like that, like I was ripping of a band aid, or else I would sit in there all arvo watching her work. I didn't want to be the stalker boyfriend. Boyfriend. The notion kind of hit me all of a sudden. She was mine and I was hers.

  Walking down the footpath, I looked in shop fronts, browsed through a couple of second hand places, stopped for coffee. I just walked, checking out the neighborhood Jessie called home. It was rather hipster with it's vintage boutiques, coffee houses and record stores, but it was my kinda place.

  When I came across a tattoo parlor, I stopped, looking at my watch. I still had like two and a half hours or so until I had to be back to pick up Jessie. Peering in the window, I debated the idea of getting tattooed. I had the time and it had been ages since I'd gotten something new.

  Walking inside, I stopped by the counter, the sound of tattoo needles and some punk band blaring on the stereo assaulting my ears. Flipping through a portfolio on the counter, a heavily tattooed guy came up and said hey.

  "Looking to get a tattoo, mate, if you have time today."

  "Sure, what are you thinking of getting?"

  "Some script across my abdomen," I replied, thinking up something on the fly.

  "What do you want it to say?"

  I hadn't thought about it, but the words just appeared in my mind at the last second and it was bloody poetic and one hundred percent appropriate. "Fire walker." Totally described that thing Jessie and me went through down to a T. I felt like I'd walked over a pit of burning hot coals to get to this point. The point where I could begin to work out shit and just be with her.

  "Sweet," the tattooist said. "What kind of script? Just traditional? Or something different?"

  "Traditional. How long do you think that'll take?"

  "Something like that'll take about two hours max. If you wanna do it now, I can," the guy said. "I had a cancellation, so I'm wide open."

  It seemed like fate, so I agreed.

  "Gimme about fifteen to draw it up."

  "Sure."

  It wasn't long before the tattooist was shaving off my snail trail and the stencil was on my stomach. I was going to tattoo the last two weeks on my gut for eternity. Do or die. I was totally going to do.

  "Lie on your back for me, man, and we'll get cracking."

  Settling down, I readied myself for the familiar burn of the tattoo needle. I'd heard getting tattooed on your guts was pretty painful. Bloody symbolism.

  "What do you do?" the tattooist asked as he set up his machine, the buzz of the needle ringing in my ears.

  "I'm a musician."

  "Oh yeah?" The guy's eyes lit up. "Are you in a band?"

  "Yeah."

  "What you called?"

  "The Devil's Tattoo."

  "Sweet name," he grinned down at me. "Okay, ready?"

  "As I'll ever be."

  As he made the first line, I couldn't help grimacing. Yeah, this shit hurt a billion times worse than my elbow had.

  "Okay?"

  "Fucking hell, mate," I grimaced. "That shit stings, hey?"

  "Stomach is a sore one," he laughed. "What's it about? Why fire walker?"

  Suddenly, I felt like I was on LA Ink or one of those tattoo story shows.

  When I didn't reply straight off the bat, he said, "Is it about a girl?"

  Between lines, I got out, "Something like that."

  "Sounds like she put you through hell, man."

  "Lava pits of it."

  "She must be something else, if you're getting a reminder tattooed on you."

  "Out of the fucking galaxy."

  "You're Australian, right? So, does she live here, or…"

  "She lives here."

  "And you?"

  "I live in Australia."

  "How's that work? You guys do the distance thing?"

  "No," I grimaced as he tattooed a particularly long line. "We've only just got together."

  "Would you move here?"

  "I dunno," I replied. Last thing I excepted was a deep and meaningful with a tattoo artist. This shit was painful enough. "I mean, I can't relocate here. The band is based in Australia."

  "What does she want?"

  As the needle came down again, I tensed. When he lifted and wiped the section he'd just done, I said, "We haven't talked about it."

  "Maybe she wants to go to Australia with you."

  Truthfully, the thought had never crossed my mind. Back in LA, I would have said there was no way it would work out, but now she'd quit Galaxy. She still had her job at the cafe and her apartment, but I didn't think I had it in me to ask her to leave it all behind. Typical Dee fashion was to think about all the things I could sacrifice for her. It hadn't occurred to me that she would want to sacrifice things for me. She'd said she'd wanted to visit Australia, maybe she would want to move there some day.

  I was getting way ahead of myself. I still had two and a bit months left on my visa. I'd stay with her until I had to go home. Besides, we still had a lot of things to talk through. Chickens before eggs and all that.

  When that tattoo was finally done, paid for and wrapped up, I thanked the guy and walked back outside onto the street. It was almost time to go pick up Jessie and she was probably gunna flip when she'd seen what I'd filled my afternoon with. My stomach was sore like nothing else, but that wouldn't stop me from peeling off her
clothes and making her come all night again. The adrenalin overload and the though of her naked body made me begin to harden and I strode down the footpath, on a beeline back to the cafe.

  I'd take her to the supermarket, make her a bloody brilliant meal, we'd talk and bury ourselves in each other. Then we'd do it all again tomorrow. And the day after and the day after that. Rinse, repeat until we died.

  Four hours wasn't a lot of time in the grand scheme of things, but it felt like forever. I was kept busy with customers, chatting with some of the regulars who asked where I'd been and if I'd enjoyed my time in LA. Thinking back over it, it seemed like years had passed since I arrived there with Georgie. Poor Georgie, who was probably humiliating my replacement right now.

  It felt strange not having to go into the office or have my cell ring every five seconds with another ludicrous order from Queen Bee herself, and I did feel a little sad at the fact that I wasn't in a position at Galaxy anymore, but I would give it all up again in a heartbeat. Dee was worth it ten times over. Happiness never came easy.

  "He's a dreamboat," Ana winked at me as she brushed past with a customer's order.

  Smiling, I called out, "Hands off."

  "How'd it go down with Galaxy?" she asked on her way back. Ana and I had this thing where she listened to my bitching about Georgie and Galaxy and I listened to her bitching about her auditions. She was trying to get a permanent gig in a Broadway show and was always telling the most outrageous stories about the crazies that turned up to every open call that was advertised in the Voice. She had a head of bright red hair and a overpowering personality, but that girl knew how to listen.

  When Zoe had come to see me last week, I'd practically ran off to plead with Georgie to give me the time off. I never made it back to the cafe to fill the guys in.

  "No dice," I shrugged.

  "What, they fired you?"

  "No, I quit."

  "Jessie," she shrieked. "Why are you only telling me this now?"

  "I'm too smitten to care," I laughed.

  "Don't tell me I'm going to have to put up with your lovey dovey bull for months."

  "Consider this your warning."

  "Oh, man," she feigned annoyance.

  "Any auditions while I was gone?"

  "No," she rolled her eyes. "Not even a commercial. There's absolutely nothing worthwhile on at all."