Guided Love (Prick #1)

by Tracie Redmond

  Camaron stops and gets up from the bed. I hear the shower turn on. Damn, for just a moment, life was perfect. I get up, make the bed, and shuffle off to my empty room. I need to get ready for my first day of work. I really don’t know why it takes so long for me to decide what to wear, since I always wear dark jeans and a conservative top. Being a size fourteen, I’ve learned that I need to wear clothing that slims my curves.

  After picking out my dark, boot cut jeans, along with a white tunic top, I hear the shower shut off and shuffling at my door. The door opens and I turn to see Camaron standing in my doorway, wearing nothing but a towel. Damn, it’s hanging low.

  “Morning, Beautiful, I love the fact that I can actually say good morning to you rather than text it to you.” He grins at me with that perfect smile.

  “I know, right, it is pretty awesome,” I say, my face is not giving the emotions that I am feeling away.

  Dear Lord, I can’t take my eyes off him. His body has always been fit, but damn, he’s been working out. His pecks are delicious and he has a few more tattoos since I last saw him. He has a green dragon covering his left peck and, is that an anchor on his right? I stand up from my suitcase and position myself right in front of him because I need to see this up close.

  “So, Cam, what do we have here?” I point to his anchor. It is gorgeous. It takes up the whole right peck. It’s black and grey and has a banner that starts at the top and goes around the anchor it reads: My Constant, My Sam

  Holy Shit, he inked my name on him! I can feel him looking at me as I’m staring at his tattoo. I bring my hand up and trace the banner ever so gently. I look up and he is smiling at me.

  “When did you get this?”

  “I actually got that the week I moved here”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, I couldn't stand the fact that you weren't here with me—this way, you always were.” I’m speechless and I have tears in my eyes. “Enough of the sappy emotions, we have ten minutes to get to work”

  “Isn't work just down stairs?”

  “Yep, so hurry your beautiful ass up, babe.”

  I stand there for a moment, still shocked that Camaron has an anchor tattooed to his body and the best part is he has my name across it. I grab my makeup bag and head to the bathroom to finish getting ready for work. I look at myself in the mirror as I apply my face, which is only some powder and Chap Stick, and I can’t stop from smiling. I feel it deep down in my soul that this was the right move and Camaron and I’ll be living our dreams.

  We head downstairs to the already open shop. I realize it’s been open for the past hour and I feel absolutely horrible that I’m late. When we walk in, I see that the shop is gorgeous and packed for a Monday afternoon. To the right is the seating area. There are five people sitting on the black leather couches, some are filling out forms and the others are looking through, what I would assume are, the portfolio binders. Straight ahead is Carrie sitting behind the glass check out desk. She looks positively adorable. She is wearing a hot pink sundress that has black polka dots all over it, her brown hair is pulled into pigtails, and she has a black choker on with a huge pendant that reads AWESOME.

  She turns and lowers the music that is playing over the speakers and screams, “Hey, Pricks, our new Rice Cake is here!”

  I turn and look and hear all the guys and some of the clients, say, “Hi, Rice Cake!”

  I look at Carrie completely confused. “Rice Cake?” I ask her.

  She is smiling ear to ear. “Yeah, Sam, I gave you a new nickname, Rice Cake.”

  “Oh, okay . . . why Rice Cake?”

  She comes around the desk and wraps her arm around me. “Because they are so plain and healthy for you and, babe, you have no ink. Compared to all the junk food you’re surrounded by in here, with these pricks, you’re a breath of fresh air.” I can’t help but giggle at her explanation. She looks at Camaron and nods toward the seating area. “I’ll take Rice Cake to her office, you go get your station ready, your first appointment is already here, you prick.”

  Camaron just laughs her off. “Have a great day, beautiful. If you need anything just let me know,” he says as he walks off towards the back.

  “Let’s go, Rice Cake. I’ll show you your office and then I’ll show you around the shop.” I follow Carrie down a hallway to the left. As we pass the first two rooms, she tells me that those are the piercing rooms and continues on. We pass another room on the right, which would appear to be the stock room, and come to the end where there are two rooms left: one on the right and one on the left. Carrie opens the right door and I see a desk, along with a brown and yellow couch. “Voila, here is your new office, the couch was Camaron’s idea. He said you would love it.”

  “Wow.” Yeah, that is all I can say—the couch is hideous. I don’t even think a homeless man would want to put this in his box. Yeah, it’s that bad. I hear Carrie laughing as she sees the scared expression I have while I am looking at this thing.

  “I know, right, he was adamant about putting the couch in here.”

  I just look up at her and smile. “It’s beautiful and I love it.” She keeps laughing.

  “How can you say that with a serious face? It is the ugliest couch I have ever seen. You keep telling yourself it’s beautiful. Okay, here is your desk and the computer and I went ahead and put the receipt files and purchase orders, as well as the passcodes to all the accounts right here next to your keyboard. Just make sure to hide them, not that anyone ever comes back here, for safety.”

  “Absolutely, I will.”

  “Cool beans, RC. I better head back out there before those pricks mess up my system.” She laughs as she leaves my office and heads back to the front.

  I open up my desk drawer and put my bag inside. I look around, it’s a cute space with two shelves and a nice brown desk to match my hideous couch. I turn on the computer and start looking through the files that Carrie left for me this morning. Damn, there is no real system here. I am looking at a file of receipts, they are all mixed together, and the purchase orders are the exact same way. I start to organize them by date when I hear a knock on the door. I look up to see Axel standing in the doorway.

  “Good Morning, Samantha. I hope you’re okay with the space.”

  “I am, thank you so much, Axel. I really do appreciate this opportunity.”

  “It's no problem. I’m very happy to have you on board—you truly are a life saver. As you can see, I’m not that great at keeping the books.” He chuckles as he motions to my desk that is already scattered with the receipts.

  “When you have time, I would love to sit down and talk about what you’d like my role to be here. I know I have to get the books in order, but if there is anything else that I should be responsible for, please let me know.”

  “Will do. Why don’t you settle in today and then we’ll sit down tomorrow and go over everything. I’ll let you be. I have an appointment who’s arriving any minute now. Have a good day, Samantha.”

  A while later, I hear another knock on my door and look up to see Camaron standing there. “Hey, beautiful, how is it going? You haven’t come out of here since we arrived this morning.” I look up from my computer and notice the time. I’ve been trying to organize receipts for the past four hours.

  “Wow, I didn't realize that I was back here for so long. I’m just trying to get the receipts in order.”

  Camaron comes in and lies on the couch. “So, what do you think?” he asks as he is sprawling out on that hideous couch.

  “I love it. Thank you, Cam. It definitely gives the office some . . . character”

  “Exactly! That’s what I said. I knew you would love it.” Oh, if he only knew, but he picked it out for me, so it really isn't that bad.

  “Well, beautiful, let’s head out for some lunch, and hit the store before my next appointment this evening”

  “Okay, let me just get my stuff put away and I’ll meet you out front.” I grab my bag and lock everything up.

 
; I start walking toward the front, when Axel catches my eye in one of the piercing rooms. I see that he is about to pierce someone’s nose. Oh no, I need to walk a little faster —needles and blood—yeah, I don’t do either. Funny, huh, as I am now working in a tattoo shop. As long as I stay in my office, all will be well and I won’t make a fool of myself by fainting.

  We head out the backdoor to the parking lot where I see Camaron’s truck. He opens the door and once again, my heart is melting for him. We travel to a local plaza when I see that next to the McDonalds is a supermarket. I need to launch an attack on it since we have nothing in the apartment.

  “If we have enough time, could I run into the market? I’d like to get some groceries for the apartment.”

  “Of course, beautiful, my next appointment isn't coming in until seven—we have plenty of time.”

  “Oh, well, I don’t want to take that much time. I mean it’s only my first day and I don’t want anyone getting upset that I took too long of a lunch.”

  Cam just shakes his head laughing. “Babe, understand something, I own half of the shop and I say it’s fine. It’s not normal business hours, babe. There will be times we are so busy, you won’t be able to leave the office, and there will be days that you can get your work done within a few hours. Relax, everyone will be fine and they won’t be angry with you.”

  I just smile and agree. After our lunch, I head into the market and grab a large cart. I am a woman on a mission and one who loves food, this order will be large. I am just thankful that I saved all of the money given to me when I graduated, because not only are we in need of food, we also need plates and silverware and a few other small items to make this apartment a home. Cam and I attack each aisle, we add fresh fruits and vegetables and a ton of steaks and chicken; we also get a ton of cereals and snack bars. I noticed that Cam is big on eating take out and I plan on changing that. We return to the apartment and bring the bags from the truck. Camaron heads back down to the shop, while I start to unpack all the groceries and dishes we bought. I feel bad that my lunch took well over an hour but I really needed to get this apartment stocked. I wash and dry all the dishes as well as put all the groceries away. I notice that the kitchen walls are starting to peel. This kitchen is in need of some new paint and a little TLC. I wonder if Camaron would mind if I paint—note to self, make sure to ask him. After I get everything put away, I grab all the dirty clothes that are lying on the floor in the hallway, put them in the washer, and head back to Pricks.

  I continue working on organizing the receipts and invoices. Tomorrow I’ll be able to put all of this information in the computer and then start my daily checks on supplies and come up with a plan to increase the sales numbers. The shop is doing well, it’s actually doing very well, but I think that if I could come up with a few more promotions I could get this shop on a much higher production level, but one thing at a time.

  “It's your first day, babe, how in the hell is your desk covered in papers already?” I look up and see Camaron again standing in my doorway. I offer him to come in and keep me company, but he tells me that he forgot he had important plans and needs to head out. “I feel horrible that I am leaving you, I forgot that I had a made these plans. I’ll cancel, it’s no big deal. I mean, really, it’s only your second day in the city.”

  “No worries, go if you have important plans I don’t want to stop you. I have a ton of paperwork to get through and I want to learn how to lock up. Go. I’ll be fine.”

  “Are you sure? You have your key, right? Carrie and Paul are the two closing up tonight. If you need anything just ask them, okay?”

  “Got it, go have fun and I’ll see you later tonight.” He comes around my desk, bends down, and kisses my head.

  “Thanks, babe, I’ll see you soon.” Camaron then heads out.

  Two hours later, I look up and see it’s close to ten. I put all the folders away and head into the shop. I haven’t been out here all day. I hope they didn’t forget about me and closed up already. Wow, that would suck, but the shop is still open and all is well. I’m amazed to see that there are actually a few people waiting in the seating area at this hour, and that Axel and Paul, as well as Carrie, are still here. I come up to the counter and am greeted with, “Rice Cake, babe, how the hell have you been? I thought you were dead in there. You must have drowned in all that paperwork I left for you this morning.” She laughs at herself and I can’t help but laugh right along with her.

  “So, chica, when do you all close?” Carrie explains that their normal closing time is at nine during the week and Friday and Saturday, they are open until midnight. If there are clients who want to come in after nine, you check with the artist to see if the client could be scheduled.

  After watching how Carrie handles the front desk, giving all the clients the aftercare instructions, and how she scans and files the client’s information, I help her shut off the open signs and the front lights. The lights are still all on behind us while Axel and Paul clean up their stations. I help with emptying the trash, taking it to the back and putting it in the dumpster. I see that there is a checklist that was obviously created by Carrie hanging up on the back wall, of all the tasks that need to be completed each night along with each prick that is responsible for it.

  “Oh, I see that you have found my task chart,” she says from behind me.

  “Yeah, I just came in from taking out the garbage and noticed it. I totally love this idea. I am, absolutely, a list and chart person.” She has rolls of paper towels in her hands and hands me a few of them before they all drop.

  “Come help me put a new roll at each of the stations, and tomorrow, believe me, I’ll happily add you to the task list. I think I just fell in love with you more, the less work I have to do the more I love you. DAMN!”

  Carrie yells this at the top of her lungs. I was so not expecting that and I jumped, falling over a rolling chair. All anyone can hear is a loud “UMPH” come from me and see all the paper towels sprawled out around me. I look up, Carrie is bending over holding her stomach and laughing. Axel and Paul turn and look over at the commotion and see me sprawled out on the floor and Carrie laughing with tears flowing down her face.

  “Are you okay?” she gets out, as she is still laughing at me.

  “Wow, you scared the crap out of me. What the heck was that for?”

  She isn’t laughing that hard anymore and the tears have stopped, but she still has a smile from ear to ear as she comes over and tries to help me up. “I just noticed that Camaron, the fucking Prick, has left without completing his task. He is such a douche and he always does this. He is the main reason on why I created the task list.” I look up and see Paul walking into Allan’s station, the station where I am now getting up off the floor.

  “Are you okay, Sam? What happened? Someone not complete their task?”

  “Yeah, I am, thanks, Paul”

  I see Carrie putting more supplies in the cabinet for Allen as she shakes her head back and forth, mumbling to herself. “She gets like this every night. She loves that task list and we all try to get everything done so she doesn't have a meltdown, isn't that right, sweetheart,” Paul starts chuckling and heads back to his station.

  “What was Camaron’s task? Whatever it is I’ll make sure it’s done no worries, Carrie.”

  “You don’t have to do that, Rice Cake, I’ll just kick his ass in the morning.” I laugh and shake my head. “He had very important plans and had to get out early or he wouldn't have made it. So, I’ll make sure I take care of his task.”

  “I absolutely love you, RC! You are my new BFF.”

  I head back to the task list and look it over. Camaron was supposed to clean the public and private restrooms. I enter the private restroom and get that cleaned up in no time, but when I head out front to the clients restroom, I want to cry. It takes me a good fifteen minutes to get that one cleaned. Someone must have had a nervous stomach and now I get to clean that all up, no wonder Camaron skipped out on this task. He is d
efinitely going to owe me one. When I finish, I check off the list and my stomach growls loudly. “We are done here, RC, Let’s go to Kester's for a drink and some bar food. Come with me and I’ll show you how to lock up the front.”

  We walk into Kester's and I follow Carrie to the same table as last night, I guess it’s kind of the Pricks’ table. The bar isn't as crowded and there is no band, just a jukebox playing. Allen and Jay are at the table and have a round of beers already waiting for us. I take a seat and Allen hands me a cold one.

  “So, Rice Cake, how was your first day? You looked swamped when I came back to say hello, so I didn't bother.”

  I smile up at him. “It was a bit overwhelming with all the paperwork that's for sure, but I have all of that under control now, so all is well. Next time, make sure to pop your head in and say hello—I would love to take a breather.”

  “Will do, Rice Cake, will do.”

  I sit back and watch how this gang interacts. They are like a family. I can’t help but laugh at all the banter between them. I look over and see Axel, who hasn’t really talked much, sitting back and observing too. He chuckles here and there but other than that, you would never know he is here.

  I was starving, so when Gina came over with another round, I had to place an order of a basket of wings, cheese sticks, and a chicken strips with fries. I finally put back the small menu and noticed that all of the pricks and Carrie are staring at me.

  “Wow, RC, what the hell are you planning to do? Feed a small country?”

  They all start to laugh at Carrie’s comment as I could feel myself turn red.

  “I was planning on sharing.” Yeah, there you go—I was planning on sharing that will make sense, what else am I going to say? Look at me, can’t you tell I love food.

  “Now you are talking, I love the fact that there is another food lover,” Jay says.

  “You’re right! I haven't found a food that I don’t like. Seriously, not one.”