The following day was steady - Ink. had had a steady flow of customers in all day, ranging from those just browsing, client consultations, and those actually getting tattoos done. Matt was sitting at the workbench, sketching a design for a client when he began assessing his shop.

Between Mark and himself, Matt thought they were doing a pretty decent job. The two of them had developed a reputation for their clean and detailed work, and word was getting around about the pieces coming out of Ink. This thrilled him.

He and Mark had been friends for over ten years, and working together for eight. Matt had officially made Mark a partner at Ink. just over four years ago, and it was one of the best decisions he had ever made. As long as he had known Mark, he'd been the closest thing Matt had had to a family in a long time, and he probably wouldn't be where he was today without him. And Karen, who offered so much of the wrong thing, could be a help to them depending on the day.

Karen. The self-proclaimed 'busty beauty' was an over-the-top tattoo enthusiast. Tight clothes were always accentuating her figure, the revealing nature of them showing all of her artwork, and her hair and makeup always just a little too much.  Though having a naturally flirty personality, he did notice she was far more forward towards him then anyone else, and whilst not only extremely unprofessional, it was extremely unwanted. He didn't think he cope with having to deal with someone as vain as she was.

His ex, whilst similar in appearance and personality, was also surprisingly smart. She had been the lead singer in band, and they had enjoyed each other's company. Whilst it was never serious, it was an exclusive deal, and Matt had appreciated having had a person there for him on an intimate level. However, there had reached a point where they had both realized that was not what they were looking for, and had split amicably. Matt hadn't even minded.

Matt was shaken out of his train of thought when Mark came out of his work station, fixed up a client, and came to sit opposite him at the table. "What's eating your goat?" he asked casually.

Mark and Matt were incredibly similar - a shared sense of dress style and the same tall, slightly toned build, with his arms, legs, torso and even his hairline was covered with tattoos. Where Matt had thick brown hair and blue eyes, Mark had grey eyes and sandy blonde hair, which was considerably shorter, and often tucked beneath a hat of some sorts. Today it was a baggy beanie.

Matt shrugged, "I'm pretty much done for the day. I'm just finishing up this design, and then I'll go take inventory for a supply run tomorrow. You done?"

Mark shook his head, "Not yet man. I've got that Chelsea chick coming in again. You know the one who got her guy's name done on her shoulder blade? Well they broke up, and she wants to try and get it fixed." He chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Some people never get it."

Just then, the door opened and the two men looked up; one in curiosity, one in anticipation. "Who is that?" Mark asked, frown on his face.

He was right to be confused. Genevieve didn't look like she belonged here at all. Once again dressed in her work attire, she looked more like a real estate soccer mum then someone who would be getting a tattoo, but that didn't stop her smiling and holding out a coffee to Karen at the desk.

"That's Genevieve," Matt nonchalantly said.

Mark turned back to him, eyebrow raised, "that's her?" He asked incredulously. He paused, looked at her and then turned back to him. "That is not what I expected. At all."

Matt frowned. "What were you expecting?"

Before he could answer, Genevieve walked up to the table and put down her tray of coffees. "Hi there," she said with a cautious smile.

Matt grinned again, and held out a hand. "Genevieve, this is my business partner Mark. Mark," he pointed at her, "This is Genevieve, the poor girl I accosted."

Genevieve blushed as Mark nodded in her direction, casually sizing her up. "Nice to meet you."

She gave him a small smile, and held out coffees to them both. "I thought you may be suffering from a three thirtyitis, so I got coffee." She paused, arm suspended halfway to Mark. "I wasn't sure if you drink coffee, so I just got it black."

Mark's face broke into a huge smile. "Perfect. That's exactly it." He took a gulp and sighed. "Thank gosh, I was dying."

Matt smiled at her as he took the one she held out to him. The two men had survived off coffee as long as he could remember, so he was pretty sure she had won Mark over with this small gesture. 

Genevieve pointed at a chair, "Do you mind if I sit down?"

Matt shook his head, "Not at all. We were just taking a break. How was work?"

She sighed as she pulled out her chair. "Terrible. I've been relegated to a glorified assistant."

Before Matt could respond, Mark asked, "What do you do?"

"Well, I'm supposed to be in charge of corporate donations at the St. Justin's Orphanage, you know, just down the street," she paused, thinking for a moment. "But they hired a new woman to head the fundraising division, and she's made me her errands boy. It's terrible. I don't actually do anything related to what I'm qualified for anymore," her face dropping.

Nodding in understanding, Mark asked "What are you qualified to do?"

"Social work," she said simply, before biting her lip in thought. "Well, I started off in social work, helping relocate children in unsafe living environments. I soon realized there wasn't near enough funding for helping all the kids we needed to, so I found this place and started there. It started off ok..." She trailed off.

Matt didn't say anything, just started playing with his pencil, when Mark, obviously quite interested, continued, "That's pretty amazing work your doing there. Did you like what you were doing?"

She smiled and nodded earnestly. "I loved it. Honestly, I found the social work really hard sometimes and would just go home and worry about all the poor kids, so I was a little happy to move to the office. I used to like that too. Now my work doesn't mean as much." She paused again, before smiling once more. "But I go to the actual orphanage a few nights a week to hang out with the kids, so I still have that, which is good."

Mark's eyes were opened wide in astonishment, but he noticed his friend's silence, and continued, "That's incredible. Most people wouldn't get involved with something like that."

She blushed and looked down, obviously uncomfortable with the compliment.  "How did you two come to work together?"

Mark looked at Matt expectantly, willing him silently to talk. Matt couldn't believe he'd lost his nerve all of a sudden.

"Well, uhhh, we both got into some trouble when we were kids," they both chuckled at the memory, and he ran his hands through his hair, a vice that usually relaxed him. "Our old boss, Big Tom, found me first and taught me everything he knew, then brought in Mark too.

Matt paused, face losing the remainder of his smile. "When he died, he left me the shop, and we took over. Been together since forever basically."

Genevieve scrunched up her face, "I'm sorry."

Mark nodded. "You should be. Hardest ten years of my life, putting up with this guy" he chuckled.

Genevieve giggled and Matt smiled. He enjoyed her company, and on some level, he was glad Mark did too. Mark was usually so abrasive that he didn't tend to give people the time of day.

Matt dropped his pencil and pushed away from the table. "How about I show you the secret life of a tattoo artist."

She looked up at him and softly smiled, and as she stood up, he saw her drop her eyes to her phone and frown. "Is everything ok?"

Genevieve, not looking up, began to gather her things "I'm not sure. Look, I have to go," She paused, but gave him a small smile. "But maybe I could come back sometime this week and you could show me?"

Matt nodded with a smile, hiding his disappointment. "Of course. I'll see you around."

She smiled at Mark. "It was lovely to meet you," she said, before giving Matt another smile, and hurrying out the door, phone pressed to her ear.

As the door closed, Mark turned around and let out a whistle. Matt shot around to look at him, "What?"

"She's not at all what I expected."

Matt raised an eyebrow. "I didn't even tell you I had someone stopping by. Why would you expect anything?"

Mark chuckled, fixing his beanie. "She's not your type at all."

Matt narrowed his eyes. If only Mark knew all her issues. "It's not like that, man."

Mark chuckled again. "Sure it's not." As he got up, he turned to look back over his shoulder, "Maybe I'll see if she's available then. God knows I need a woman like that in my life."

Matt threw his pencil at Mark, and it hit him square in the head. He ran a hand over his head as he heard Mark laughing in his room.

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