by Layne, Lyssa
We ended up going back to the kiosk to eat our breakfast. They both thanked me for the huge breakfast and warm coffee. Soon afterwards, people started pouring in through the doors. The organizer were expecting thousands of visitors and I wasn't entirely certain the guys were ready for such huge crowds.
Kyle was quickly set to work with a skull project for a guy’s calf and Levi was drawing a broken heart and angel for a mother who had lost her child. The lady sat in a chair at the front of our kiosk, while Levi drew a really nice piece. I think he could relate to her in some ways. He was a child who had lost his mother and this lady had lost her child. There was a haunting synchronicity to their mutual losses.
Levi had pure, unadulterated talent. The drawing was clean and skillful his lines were perfect and even though it was only an outline, I could see the emotions he’d drawn into the angel’s faces. He had captured every sign of grief, pain and love and incorporated it into the design. I couldn't wait to see the lady’s reaction. There was no way she wasn't going to like it.
"Levi, it's incredible. So beautiful."
He smiled with pride and glanced over at the lady who was patiently waiting. "I was inspired by it. I added a few flowers to it. I hope she won't mind." He got up and showed her his piece of art. No words were spoken as she stared at the drawing. Her lips were sealed, but her eyes were filled with tears which rolled down her cheeks. I offered her a tissue and she took it, then threw her arms around Levi. She cried for a few minutes and Levi patted her back softly. All I could hear was the woman saying thank you repeatedly. She loved it, and Levi had nailed it.
While he worked on her tattoo, I called Val and told her our good news. She screamed over the line and I begged her to stop. Happy couldn’t describe how delighted she was. Overjoyed was more like it.
"This is your moment, Nix, enjoy every second of it. Be happy because you deserve it. I love you, sister. I better be a bridesmaid!"
"You will, that’s for sure. I wouldn't do it without you."
"I'm sorry Nix, but I’ve gotta go, John is waiting for me. He’s taking me out." She sounded apologetic.
"No problem, I’ll call you soon with more details."
I missed her. She meant so much to me and it was hard to be so far away from her.
Apart from selling the merchandise and giving away business cards, I didn’t have much to do and I was bored. Kyle and Levi were busy and quiet, both concentrating on their work. I decided to walk around and see what the other artists were doing. There was a tattooist from one of the TV shows and he had at least thirty people standing around, watching him work. I saw King B. and Tommy talking with some other guys. They both nodded when I passed them. King B. reminded me of someone, maybe an actor, but I couldn't remember which movie it was.
Time passed and I was sent out by the guys to get more food. I brought them back burgers and French fries and Levi suggested I get out and have a look around while things were quiet. I headed outside the hotel and bought souvenirs for Bekka and Val. I took dozens of pictures and went shopping in some really cute boutiques and a few great t-shirts for Levi and a couple for myself. I enjoyed spoiling my man.
By the time I got back to the convention, it was an hour away from closing time. At the guys’ kiosk, Levi had just finished the tattoo on the lady who had lost her child, and it was breathtaking. The angel looked alive, her eyes realistic and the facial features were amazing. Her long hair was braided and resting on the side of her neck. The flowers looked natural, every petal looked as though you could reach out and touch it. The colours were amazing. I was speechless and wished the tattoo was on my body. I took a couple of pictures for Levi’s album. His talent was endless; he never ceased to amaze me. He had been tattooing for only a couple of years but his talent reflected many years of experience.
When she left, I could see the exhaustion in his eyes. He’d only done one tattoo but it was a hell of a tattoo. I knew he was ready to go back to our room and take a nap, but we stayed with Kyle. I showed Levi what I bought and he liked the t-shirts. He put one on right away and kissed me.
The more time I spent with Levi, the more I realized the life I’d had with my parents had cut me off from all the good and simple things in life. Val and Bekka had always done their best to keep me happy, but with Levi, I realized all I’d been missing. Mom had stolen part of my life that I wanted back. My angel was giving it back piece by piece.
After grabbing something to eat, Kyle joined us in our hotel room. He ate while watching a mixed martial arts match with Levi. Definitely too brutal for me, but I didn’t complain as the guys seemed to like it and they deserved the time off to relax after a long day of work. I was blessed to be a part of it. Sitting down to eat, I knew I’d added a few pounds since our arrival in Vegas, and my dinner wasn't going to help the situation any. I’d ordered a club sandwich, each section was at least three inches high and filled with plenty of greasy bacon and chicken breast. The restaurant had filled the remainder of the container with fries. Levi helped out by taking a piece of my sandwich, but gave me a forkful of his meatball spaghetti in return. I thanked God we were only here for the weekend. I couldn’t afford to keep eating like this.
"Do you guys feel like going downstairs and gambling a little?" Kyle asked when he’d finished eating.
"I don't know a thing about gambling," I said doubtfully.
"Don't worry, star, Kyle is good," Levi reassured me. “He can teach you."
"Okay, then. I don't have much money to spend, but I'm always up for a little fun."
"Follow the master." Kyle shuffled imaginary cards, acting like a hotshot poker player. Maybe he was, I didn't know the extent of his talent.
When we arrived in the casino, I expected Kyle to hit the slot machines, but he went directly across the room to a poker table. I honestly couldn’t tell if he was serious or not. This wasn't a playground, this was serious gambling and the discreet sign by the table he’d chosen suggested he could bet a lot of money and lose it just as quickly. Levi took my hand into his. Kyle sat at a table and exchanged cash with the croupier for a pile of gaming chips. He didn't look nervous about how much cash he’d handed over, in fact it was the complete opposite, he looked like he’d just entered a great party. This was playtime for the tattoo artist.
We watched Kyle play for an hour or so, and while I knew little about poker, Kyle seemed to know what he was doing. While the pile of chips in front of him grew bigger sometimes, and smaller at others, it never seemed to reduce greatly in size. We gave Kyle a quick wave before Levi and I went down to the main floor to spend twenty dollars in the slot machines.
I was really great at losing. Five minutes later I only had five bucks left, but Levi kept winning. He had managed to increase his winnings to a little over fifty dollars in the same amount of time it had taken me to lose fifteen. He was playing on a progressive slot machine which cost him triple the amount each game, but so far he’d won a whole lot more than I had. I stopped wasting my own cash and watched him play, trying to figure out the game. It seemed more complex than the one I’d been playing. Next thing I knew, the machine started to flash crazily and music was blaring out of it. Levi leaped up and down like a lunatic. I figured he’d won but I didn't have a clue how much.
"How much did you win?" I shrieked, trying to get an answer from him. "Angel... tell me!"
"We can officially say we got out of this trip to Vegas for free. I won five grand."
"What! Are you kidding me?" I laughed in disbelief. "You were playing for like five minutes!"
"Babe, I've been playing for almost an hour." I stared at him in surprise, I’d obviously lost track of time. I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and saw it was 12:35 am. We’d been here for more than two hours already.
A lady from the casino walked over and confirmed the win, then gave Levi a voucher he could use to redeem his winnings. Levi couldn't stop grinning. I couldn't believe we’d come in here with twenty bucks each and Levi left with five thousand
.
Levi draped his arm around my shoulder. "Come on, let’s go find Kyle."
The poker king was still sitting at the same table, his face utterly impassive. He had his poker face on and barely acknowledged our presence. I could see Levi was dying to tell Kyle how much he’d won, but the game seemed so serious, he stood behind me and circled my waist with his arms instead. We waited impatiently together for Kyle's game to end.
One by one, the other players left the table after losing a hand, but Ky remained until he was only facing off against two other guys now. I was suddenly nervous, judging by the size of the pile of chips in front of them, they were playing for huge amounts of cash.
"Nervous, little star? I can feel your body trembling," Levi whispered against my ear.
"I am. It feels like we’re stuck in the middle of a mafia movie. All these people dressed to impress, and here we are slobbing around in jeans and t-shirts." I had the feeling we were waiting for something major to happen and it made my stomach queasy.
Ten minutes later, Kyle looked up at Levi with a devilish smile and placed his cards on the table with a flourish. The only guy left playing with him threw his cards on the table and stormed away so quickly, his chair clattered on the floor. Kyle jumped out of his seat and grabbed us in his arms. I swear he lifted both of us off the ground in his excitement.
Levi tried to wriggle out of Kyle’s arms, but he was holding us too tightly. "What the hell, man? How much did you win?"
"My first game, I won two and half thousand and this game, four grand." Kyle‘s face was filled with excitement and his body was running on pure adrenaline.
"Wow! Seems like tonight is the guys’ lucky night," I announced. Something else I had to tell the girls. How amazing was that? I tapped Levi’s shoulder and grinned at him.
"I won five grand." Levi announced with a wide smile.
"No shit!" Kyle high-fived his partner. “Do you want to play some more?"
"No, no, no way. I’m keeping the money. We’re heading back to the hotel and you should too."
Kyle rolled his eyes at Levi, probably for being more responsible than he was, but he agreed to follow us. We bought snacks and beers before heading up to Kyle’s room, which was a little bigger than ours. He had a big Jacuzzi, a beautiful view of Vegas and a large flat screen TV. I guessed it was at least over 50 inches. I didn't know hotels were that cool nowadays.
Kyle put on some music and we settled on the white leather couch. They were both tired, I could see it in their faces; from the half-lidded eyes to the furrows on their foreheads. I had no clue why we were here drinking beers, instead of heading back to our room to sleep.
"Did you guys set a date yet?" Kyle asked casually, sipping his beer.
Levi’s eyes turned to me like he had forgotten something major. "Shit! Was I supposed to have a date set?"
I laughed my ass off. "No... Absolutely not... It's something we’ll decide together. I was thinking about it today and maybe next summer would be a great time."
Kyle nodded in agreement. "Next summer, you’ll be done with school right?"
"Yeah!" I took a sip of the beer. "I think it would be perfect. Right, Angel?"
"Humm... yeah, absolutely. We could get our own place too." This conversation seemed to be making him nervous. We hadn't talked about our marriage beyond the proposal.
I snuggled closer to him and took his hand, like he would have done if the situation was reversed. "Relax, Angel, we’ll talk about this later, when we’re ready. Seriously, there’s no need to stress over it right now."
Levi shook his head, and offered me a wry grin. "I'm sorry, Rock Star. I want to marry you more than anything, but shit, I’m fucking nervous about the idea." All three of us laughed, the situation was hilarious. We hadn’t even set the date and he was already suffering from cold feet.
"Okay, enough talking about this now, I want to go back to our room and go to bed with my gorgeous fiancée" Levi said, standing up and placing his empty beer bottle on the table. I loved to hear him call me his fiancée - I was his, whether we were married or not, I was his.
"Oh man! I don't need to know that... Remember I'm alone here..." Kyle groaned.
"I'm sure there’s a porn channel available on that enormous TV," I replied and they both hooted with laughter.
We walked back to our room and as soon as the door was locked behind us, Levi rapidly undressed me and pushed me up against the wall. I loved it when he did that, so wild and hungry for me he was nearly crazed with lust. I undid his belt, intent on removing his jeans as quickly as possible.
"Wait... Star... wait..." Levi panted.
I stopped pulling down his jeans, leaving them hanging mid-thigh, wondering why he wanted to stop when he’d been so into it only three seconds ago. Levi stared down into my eyes, wrapping his hands in my hair. "I love you Phoenix. I really do. I want to marry you and I want to start our life together, buy a beautiful house and go grocery shopping together. I'll take care of the yard and you can decorate the house. I have this picture-perfect dream of having a family with you. It’s never happened to me before," he whispered. “I’ve never believed in any of this, until I met you."
I laid my forehead against his shoulder. "I want you, I want this life with you. This is us, Levi, us. We’re strong and our love is endless. Everything will happen in time. School, wedding, the house... maybe kids."
Levi shook his head, the movement definite. "Not maybe, Nix. I want kids with you. I want us to have a couple of kids."
"Really?" I asked.
"Yeah." He pulled me back against his chest, lifting me high enough to wrap my legs around his waist. “Let’s start practising now." Our lips met, each kiss becoming hotter and hungrier, our breathing erratic. I wanted him desperately, my entire body screaming for him.
He gave me everything I wanted and more. He pleased me until I fell apart, collapsed on the bed, out of breath and utterly sated. We cuddled, Levi held me close to him, and we fell wrapped around one another.
The following morning, the guys were already down at the convention centre by the time I woke up, ready for another crazy day. Levi sent a text at about 8 am, telling me I was in charge of organizing breakfast and coffee again. Kyle had requested pancakes, so I showered, dressed and headed across the road to the same diner, ordering a huge stack of food.
I showed my VIP pass to the security guard, who let me in to the centre. I handed the boys their breakfast and they settled down at the table to eat, while it was still nice and warm. My chair had gone missing since yesterday, and I glanced around at the nearby kiosks, catching sight of it at King B.’s kiosk. Levi offered to get the chair but as he was currently stuffing pancakes in his mouth as if he hadn’t eaten in a month, I assured him I could manage it myself.
I strolled across the aisle, casually studying King B. as I approached. Tattoos covered a huge amount of his skin, similar to many of the other guys working here. He was busy chatting with his partner, Pat, and a couple of other artists.
My body began to shake. My knees weakened and my heart was beating so hard, my entire ribcage ached.
We had spent the weekend next to each other and only now, I knew. The anchor tattoo, the hair color, the smile. The bits and pieces of his other tattoos which were revealed by his clothing. How could I have missed it up until now? There was a resemblance and as I stared at his face, I knew without a doubt.
My hands were sweaty and my breath was coming in quick pants. "Brian?" I called out. Both men turned and stared at me. "Brian Quinn?" I repeated.
He stared at me, his eyes identical to mine. I wasn't sure if he had guessed yet, but I knew for certain. I wasn’t sure if I was happy to see him, or hurt because he’d abandoned me so long ago. I wondered if I was going to pass out.
"Nix, are you okay?" Levi asked. He appeared beside me, gripping my arm.
I couldn't answer because I was too focused, staring into the baby blue eyes of this man, trying to sense any connection between us
. There was nothing tangible. I couldn't recall him from my past, but I knew with certainty that I wasn’t wrong about this.
King B. still stared at me, his eyes grazing across me from head to toe, as if he were trying to place me.
"Phoenix, you’re pale and shaking, baby. Are you okay? Maybe you should sit down," Levi ordered. He tried to pull me towards a chair, but I resisted his efforts.
"Do I know you?" Brian questioned quietly.
Answers ran through my head, but remained unvoiced. Yes, you should know me but you don't. You should have been here all along but you weren't. Where were you? Why did you abandon me?
It took a minute before I could say anything. "Dad..." I blurted out. "I'm your daughter, Phoenix."
Silence descended in the immediate area, as people around us stared and Brian stood motionless, staring at me in disbelief.
"Hold my hand," Levi muttered against my ear, intertwining his fingers with mine.
THE END-
SNEAK PEEK AT MUSIC, INK AND LOVE
I held Nix against me and let my hands caress her curves. In a moment like this, when she was in distress and I was thinking about her naked curves, I wanted to kick myself. I had to think of something else. Something that would replace my dirty thoughts. I sucked at this.
“Do you want to talk about it? What happened?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “When I woke up, I felt brave. I wanted to face him and ask him why. Why did he leave my mother? Why did he never try to find us? I had all those questions when I was walking back to the convention, but he caught me off guard. He was in the lobby and was waiting for me. We went outside on the Strip and we walked for some time. He enlisted in the army right after my mom told him about me. After his deployment, he went to my grandparents, but they had no idea where to find us. He did some research when I was approximately six years old. He found us and he saw my mom and Carlson drop me at school.” She paused and wiped the tears from her cheeks with the sleeve of her sweater. “Brian saw the picture perfect family. The image my mother wanted so badly to project so he backed away. He didn’t feel like he had a place in my life. Brian said he was ashamed of being the person he had been and thought I deserved more.” She looked at me, expecting me to see where she was going but I had no clue. “Life gave us a chance to meet. Life put you in my path. I fell in love with you like I never thought I would and you involuntary brought me to my father. All my life, my mom tried to keep me away from guys like you, to keep me away from him.”
