M A N I K

I was tired. My ears were tired and every fibre of my being was tired hearing the constant giggles coming out of her plump lips all along she lied on that hydraulic tattoo chair. God, why can't she just shut up and make this job easy for me, a bit?

"It's been 20 minutes. Are you done yet fixing your mind on what you gonna get tattooed?" I spat eyeing the design book which she kept turning pages for the hundredth time this night.

"Um.. they are all kinds of not my type, you know?" She stated grinning, her eyes still glued to the designs and I sighed for the nth time trying not to jab the needle right into her mouth.

"Exactly. That's the point!" She glanced at me. "This tattoo thing is not your type wholly. So why don't you just cut the crap and get done with whatever shit is there on your mind?" I glared trying to keep my volume low.

She lifted her back a little "I'm here for a tattoo. Genuinely." She made her eyes look innocent but I knew that innocence was only deceiving. "I just can't get my mind to fix anything." I tittered scornfully looking around.

"Of course, you can't." I repeated her, only with disgust on my lips.

"Wait." Her eyes lit up which snatched the peace out of me because I knew this lady can't be trusted. "Why don't you ink anything you like on me that you think would go with my personality?"

"What?" I squeaked narrowing my brows. Could she get any more unbelievable? "Have you even heard of the term tattoo regret?" She looked clueless hearing me. "And.. moreover no tattoo goes with your personality. In fact, you're a complete misfit with this place. So just leave." I shooed my hands. She stood up with annoyance in her eyes and I couldn't tell if this was for real.

"Listen you.." My eyes moved to the little index finger she placed between us pointing at me. "Overcoming a lot of anxiety and needle phobia I'm here after several hours of self pep-talk and if you think you're gonna ruin this thing for me with this arse of an attitude of yours, then let me tell you, I'm very much getting a tattoo done and that too by you, do you hear me? And it's definitely not my fault if you guys have all sorts of shitty designs over here, I mean.. who would want a shark or a child-eater devil right on her skin?" By the time she finished, she wasn't talking anymore rather yelling at me.

I thought maybe she genuinely wanted this and finding me here was a mere coincidence. I knew what sort of anxiety people had to overcome before pushing the door to this parlour open and I perceived her lunatic behaviour to be one of those stages, so.. I agreed.

15 minutes later.

"So, I think you should go with this one. It's small which means less of pain plus it kind of goes with your personality.." I sat by her chair where she was leaning back showing her a sketch I made.

I could tell she liked the shedding feather stencil sketch she held in her hands by the faint smile on her lips. I kept staring at her observing her reaction when she looked up at me nodding a yes, with a smile that wasn't a lie. I nodded getting up from my stool to get my kit of equipments whilst hearing her take several deep breaths.

"Where do you want to get it?" I asked opening the cap of the petroleum jelly to moisten her skin when she again seemed clueless. I doubted if this was again a genuine concept.

"Uh..where does it pain less?" She asked, scared.

"Excuse me?" I frowned. Is this just a joke?

"Um oh yes...here." She forwarded her right wrist to me tapping on the side with another hand.

I sat down on my stool grabbing her arm and rubbing the jelly on her skin professionally. With a tap on the switch near my hand, I lit up the huge surgical light over her head and she gaped up anxiously.

"Woah that's..quite intimidating." She mumbled which I ignored.

After disinfecting her part of skin, I didn't have to use razor because her white skin was already waxed neatly. Filling the ink caps, I showed her the fresh needle taking it out of a new cover and she gulped nervously as I sterilised. Usually, I say some stuffs to get my clients stress free for this makes my job easier and the experience bearable for them but then.. I didn't want to do any of that thing to her. Hell, no. I was doing her that tattoo and I feel that's already more that what I could tolerate with her. Putting needle inside the tattoo machine, I switched it on and felt my arm getting squeezed by her in fear. Looking down at my fingers which she held tightly and then at her, I found her to be gawking at me, worried.

"You can still get the hell out of here." I reminded her. I know that's probably the worst thing to be said to someone dealing with tattoo anxiety especially by the artist but with her it was different. Why I'll tell you, she  was here for some motive and that I could very much feel. So if she was that much daring to get her stubbornness satisfied, humiliating me then she deserved to undergo this fear. She gulped closing her eyes loosening her grip around my fingers.

"Just get done with it as soon as you can, okay?" Her tone was harsh coupled with perturbation.

Nonchalant, I let go of her grip around my fingers and steadily grabbed her wrist causing her to flinch apprehensively. While outlining the design, I made sure to do it with utmost skill after all, she was a client at the end of the day. My eyes kept flickering in between her face, the expression on them and her wrist to make sure I wasn't going wrong anywhere. By the time, I finished though her face was red, yet she was murmuring to me something she found funny on her way to the studio and I paid no heed to them.

"Here, let me bandage it." I stated without any expression as I pulled my gloves out and she was happily staring at the new design on her reddened skin which oozed a little blood.

Bandaging it carefully, I explained the after care steps to her and she seemed engrossed in such details.

"Thanks M, I love it." She chirped dancing her bandaged wrist at me while I rolled my eyes packing my kit. I heaved a heavy breath knowing finally I was getting rid of her, Jesus.

Purposely, I took some time to get out of the studio immediately after she left to avoid any interaction with her, in case. It was some twenty minutes later when I stepped out of the studio holding my helmet in my hand, dancing the key of Enfield. It was little chilly outside thus bringing my jacket along wasn't absolutely a terrible decision. Hugging the leather gloves around my palms wrapping my legs around the bike, I put the helmet on pushing the mobile back in my pocket when suddenly I saw her kicking the tire of her car.

What the      hell

There was no time to waste cursing my fate since I already took it in the wrongest way it came and decided to quickly run away from the scene before she discovered me. But to my luck, as I kicked my bike start I felt her looking at my direction through my mirror, hairs messed all over her face under the breeze. Is there ever any running away from this mad woman?

"Someone's extremely professional, huh?" She commented and I exhaled in frustration. I could just get started and leave her the hell alone there in the dark of the night but not when she exactly stood right outside my studio.

I turned the key off letting the engine sleep knowing I was doomed. Doomed till eternity. I clenched my jaw feeling her walk closer to my bike while I still kept wearing my helmet; looking everywhere but at her approaching figure.

"Rude much?" She teased and I hated her shriek voice.

"No denying." I scowled at her, this time lifting the helmet off my head and pushing my hair back with my fingers.

"Well..." she smiled looking at the ground. "Oh God, this is so typical." She giggled. What a stupid woman!

"This is typical that the girl gets a flat tire and the guy is on a bike with a classic jacket on. She walks up to him and...."

"And he rejects right to her face." I completed her statement watching her playful smirk fall.

She showed me a finger gesturing to wait while she ran to her car to grab her key and jacket from there. I could easily leave the scene but for some reason I just kept sticking my ass to the place. Unbelievable.

"Only difference being, the girl never asked." Shrugging her shoulders, quickly, she got up on my bike behind leaving me absolutely startled. What is this girl?

"What the hell? Are you really so ill-mannered? Just get down, all right? I'm not dropping you anywhere." I yelled looking at her over my shoulder.

"Oh c'mon! I thought we could cut this cliche part off. It's so cold outside plus see..." she fiddled with her iPhone to get some crappy app open and flashed it before my face "there's going to be snowfall..there's a prediction. You can't leave a girl alone on the streets who you just tattooed with some horrible horrible needless. What if I die?" She screeched boiling the blood running in my veins.

"Die? What- it's a tattoo and not any heart ailment? Just get off my bike, do you hear me? I'm not taking you anywhere." I shouted. I wonder how were we looking screeching at each other sitting on the same bike!

"But what if there's an infection and that travels to my heart and kills me?" I huffed hearing her ramblings until I found Martha stepping out of the studio locking the door shut.

I fretted a little because with all my sincerity, I didn't want Martha out of all the people to witness me quarrelling with a client who I tattooed, as definitely it was gonna get negative repercussions which I tried avoid at my best and worst.

Lord knew what she was rambling but soon it turned into a quick squeal as she realised the bike started at a high speed and her arms quickly clasped the leather on my back.

~~

"You can really stop touching me, you know. I'm specifically riding at the lowest speed possible so that you don't hold me." My eyes rolled hearing her giggle as she took her hands off me. Girls and their meaningless giggles, I can never deal with them.

"I hope you don't need to know my address." She laughed and my mind played back the memory of last night when I crashed her party. Well to put it right, I now regretted not causing a scene.

The more her idiotic questions kept coming my way with unwelcome, tougher the ride was getting as I dug my nails deeper into the handlebars perforating the leather in between to stretch my tolerance level which I knew would soon give up.

"What if my wrist itches in the middle of the night?"

"What if I want to send a picture of my very first tattoo to my bestie tonight itself?

"When do I want to get this bandage off?"

"Does a tattoo give you craving?"

"Do I need to come sometime again in case some advice is left to be given?"

"Get down." I hauled the bike in the middle of the road turning the key off.

"My ears are just playing because I heard you asking me to get down." She chuckled nervously.

"I actually did. Get off." My voice was a command itself.

"Your sense of humour sucks." She laughed, nervous again.

Without wasting another word on her, I grabbed her hand and drew her off my bike. Shock would be an understatement to define her expression as she stood wide eyed at me like I slapped her with some bricks. In the worst of my dreams even I wouldn't have given her that lift had Martha been not standing there and I didn't even care how far the road was from her home but I guess I was done with her bullshit.

"You're kidding, aren't you?" She questioned. Oh little one, you wish.

"I'm actually leaving you here and trust me when I say I don't care if you die." I mouthed pressing my lips and meaning every word I uttered. I turned the key on while she seemed too taken aback to speak anything out.

"Get your shit together, Doctor unless you want me to lose mine." Closing the shutter of my helmet, I sped my vehicle leaving a thick smoke behind abandoning her alone on the dusty street to deal alone. I hoped this would help her learn her lesson and cut that poky nose short.

N A N D I N I

I sighed kicking a stone near my foot. Honestly, I knew this was going to get this much difficult when I agreed to his best friend, Noelle. I just couldn't predict now only how more difficult things were going to get in future.

I looked up at the night sky and exhaled clutching my elbows tighter. Usually, those cases are easy to be dealt with where the insane mind shushes its sanity and dominates therehow but in Manik's case, things were just the opposite. His sane mind was somewhere present along with his insanity and the silence between them was deafening and distance...suffocating.

I jumped at my place hearing the large honks of a car which blinded my vision immediately because of its harsh headlights. Snapping my tongue against my cheek walls, I walked towards the car and helped myself opening the door until I sat comfortably inside the warmth the car offered me. God, I didn't even realise how I was freezing outside.

"What a douche!" Perrie commented while I turned the radio on.

She was following us all along since the studio as per my instruction since I knew that man was going to do something of the sort he did.

"It's gonna be so difficult." I shook my head.

"You chose it, love." She mouthed pushing the gear as our car travelled against the wind.

"I still can't believe I had to get a permanent tattoo on my body just for the sake of this one patient. I mean, seriously?" I shrugged.

"Trust when they say, everything comes with a price but heyyy..." she took my bandaged wrist in her grip. "But at least you got one." She grinned.

"And that too by a douche?" I laughed mimicking her and we both bursted into laughter.

"Honestly, I couldn't believe when you said you're going to deal with this psycho... I mean, it's risky. What if he kills you or something?" She stated.

"Hey, don't call him that." I hit her arm and there she gave me a suspicious wiggle with her eyes.

"I know that look on your face, bitch but least you can call him a tattooist." I bit my lower lip.

"And that too a sinfully handsome one, mind you." She added increasing my chortle.

"But don't worry I kind of have this feeling, he won't kill me in the process." I uttered.

"What if you end up killing him in the process?" Her question gave certain jitters to me which I chose to look over with a faint gulp.

"God, I'm tired. Heading home, aren't we?" I questioned.

"Shut up." She glanced over me, irritated. "You just now got your first tattoo and it'd be a sin to not celebrate it, all right? It's a big thing." I could see there no point in stopping her plus I wanted to give in.

She kept driving and arguing with me over which bar to go whilst I buzzed her fiancé and couple of our other close friends for a quick catchup.

She kept driving, talking to someone over phone while I looked outside through the window wondering if that gave him peace throwing me out of his bike that way. Wondering if he saw Kiara in every girl he came across. Wondering if he saw Kiara in me...

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