Alcohol, Friends, and Tattoos
I was sitting at work, bored out of my mind when a friend of mine sent me a writing prompt.
----You are showering one morning when you notice a tattoo on your body that you're quite sure you don't remember getting. What is it, how did you get it, and what does it mean? ----
Well, from that prompt came this story. While writing it, I could not think of a good name for my mystery man, so he doesn't have one! Make up your own, or better yet, email me some suggestions!
Please enjoy this short story! As always, remember this is a work of fiction. Nobody in the story is real!
*********************
I have to call her. Where did it come from? What happened last night?
Did I tell her? Does she know? She has to know.
She has to.
I wake up to the sound of my phone buzzing. What the hell? My head is killing me. I either need a glass of water and aspirin or I need a bloody drink to take away the sting.
Bzzzz, Bzzzzz, Bzzzz.
I reach for my phone and see it’s Him.
I try to gather my thoughts before I answer the phone.
What time is it? The clock reads 6:30 in the morning – way too early for Him to be awake. What does he need? Maybe something’s wrong?
Then I see I missed seven calls from him last night. Shit.
“Hello?” I answer as brightly as possible. I feel horrible I missed his calls last night.
“Hey, so um, I need a favor,” he whispered with a sense of urgency.
“Yeah, okay. What’s up?” I’m worried.
I’ve known Him since second grade. Now at twenty-two, I have a solid grasp on his moods. He rarely goes into urgent mode. Something horrible must have happened.
He blows a raspberry against the phone, “Reese, do you know what happened last night?”
It comes out so fast I have to have him repeat it a couple times.
“Reese, seriously. What happened last night?” He is desperate. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard him this upset.
“Dude, what’s going on? I was home all night last night babysitting the twins. Micah and Trisha went out last night for the first time since they were born, so I had them. Why?”
My brother, Micah, and his wife, Trisha, are new parents to two brilliant twin girls. The girls are five, since my brother and his wife adopted, but they are still new to Micah and Trisha. They hadn’t been on a romantic evening since they got the girls, four months ago. So I offered to watch them so they could remember how much they loved eachother.
He blew out another raspberry, “Reese, did I call you? Text you? Anything?”
“Yeah, I had a couple messages on my phone. I haven’t checked them since you woke me up with this lovely phone call,” as I said it, I rolled my eyes.
“I’ll be over in 10,” he practically shouted into the phone before he hung up on me.
Well, I guess I need to get dressed and listen to those messages.
*********************
9:04 pm
“Hey Reese, I wanted to let you know I am out with a few of the guys at Mickey’s bar. I will let you know where I am throughout the night incase I get kidnapped by beautiful vixens wanting me for my bod.”
9:59 pm
“We are now heading over to Billy’s. Mickey kicked the guys out after they picked a fight with his nephew.”
10:30 pm
“I’m heading to Garrett’s to get ready for Ultimate. He said he could get me in, so I’m going big time – suit and tie. Hello JT, I’m definitely bringing sexy back hahahahahahahahahahaaa.”
11:43 pm
“Hey beautiful, the boys and I are heading over to that tattoo parlor on 3rd. I don’t know what I’m going to get, but I’m sure it will be EPIC.”
1:57 am
“I love you.”
2:20 am
I don’t know if I’ve told you, but your eyes remind me of the richest, creamiest chocolate known to mankind. I could fall into them, never wanting to escape.”
3:51 am
“I’ve loved you since forever. Every part about you I love. When you see me next, ask me what it is.”
**********************
When he finally walks through the door, he finds me sitting on my sofa gaping like a bass out of water.
HOLY SHIT.
He said he loved me. He said I was beautiful. He drank waaaay too much last night.
How could I have ignored his messages? He was so drunk; he could have ended up on the side of the road somewhere – DEAD. I was so stupid for putting my phone away while the twins were over. He needed me and I failed him.
I wonder what tattoo he got? Maybe he didn’t go through with it? I bet, if he did, its manly and suits him perfectly.
Oh no. What am I going to tell him?
When he spots me, he goes blanket white. I’m not the best at hiding my emotions, and the only one I’ve feeling right now is – SHIT!
I try to mask my face, “Hey!” Oops, that came out louder than I intended.
“Hey you. What did you get yourself into last night?” When he doesn’t answer, I continue. “I’m sorry I didn’t answer the phone. I was so occupied with the twins I didn’t even think to check my phone.”
When he finally makes eye contact, the look in his stony eyes tells me something big is happening.
“Reese, I need you to tell me what was on those messages. Please.” With those stony greys looking at me, I was powerless.
I handed over my phone. He knew the passcode. He needed to hear them himself. I couldn’t be the messenger this time.
While he listened to his messages, I took in his appearance.
He was wearing his work jeans, so they were peppered with paint and calking. On his strong chest was his “Sawdust is Man-Glitter” shirt I got him for congratulations when he was promoted to supervisor last year. He had thrown on his work boots, probably because they were right by the door. His short, black hair was pointing every which way since he probably didn’t think to shower.
When I finally reached his eyes, I saw the fear in them.
He doesn’t love me.
He thought I was someone else.
He loves someone else.
He’s going to break me.
I force a small smile, “So what did you get?” I had to steer away from the awful conversation he was going to force me into.
He didn’t smile. He looked at me for a couple seconds, working through something in his head. Then he walked over to me, lifted his shirt and peeled back a bandage the size of my hand.
After all this time?
Always, Reese, Always.
Holy shit.
What was breathing? Was it necessary? How do you do it? I can’t breath. I can’t think. I may be dead.
He got a tattoo of my favorite Harry Potter quote while he was drunk.
He told me he loved me while he was drunk.
He called me beautiful while he was drunk.
He said he loves every part of me while he was drunk.
So was this only drunk him? Or did drunk him say what sober him couldn’t after all these years?
Holy shit.
He slowly replaced the bandage, lowered his shirt, and backed away. His eyes never left mine. A lone tear slid down my face, and I quickly wiped it away. I will not cry right now. I will not be that girl.
As I’m counting to ten to calm down, I feel thick, rough fingers coaxing my face back to his. I try to fight it, but he has this power over me, I trust him.
When our eyes connect again, he starts, “I never meant to make you cry, beautiful. I’ve wanted to tell you since sixth grade. I have. But I didn’t want to lose you if you rejected me. I wouldn’t have been able to handle that.” He gives me a shy smile, and then continues. “Reese, baby, I have loved you for so long. It happened in sixth grade, when you brought that peanut butter and banana sandwich to school but forgot the peanut butter. You smiled, laughed it off, and ate the banana sandwich with pride. I knew right then I would love you forever.”
The tears are rolling down my face now. Holy shit!
“I was going to tell you once, our freshman year of college. I was going to tell you at that picnic we had underneath our tree. I was so ready to tell you. I knew you loved me too. I could feel it everyday. But then you can up to me, telling me you met someone.” He rolled his eyes, “David, he was the one you wanted. I couldn’t believe it. You had me, why did you need stupid David?” I chuckled.
David was my one and only boyfriend since I’ve known him. David was the senior boy I dated because he was older. David was really sweet, had a great sense of fashion, and listened to me. We dated for about a month before he realized he couldn’t be with me because he met the love of his life, Doug.
David and Doug have been married for three years now and are incredibly happy.
“When you guys broke up, I am so happy. But I had lost my grit. I wasn’t going to risk losing you again. I needed you in my life enough to hide my feelings.”
I shake my head. What an idiot.
“You are an idiot. I’ve loved you since we met in second grade! It’s always been you; I just couldn’t fathom how you could love me when you had girls throwing themselves at you. I mean, look at you! You are an Adonis! I couldn’t compete with the girls around you, so I didn’t try.”
We sat there, smiling at each other like loons for a while.
He and I.
Him and Me.
We are finally together. I was finally going to get what I wanted the most in life. The happily ever after with him I’ve been dreaming of since forever.
And that’s what we did. We loved each other for the rest of our lives.
*********************
age 22 8.2.2018
