Staccato (Magnum Opus #2) - E.M. Lindsey Page 0,24
and I have a lot,” he said, winking. He tongued his lip ring, then brushed two fingers over his eyebrow piercing. “The first time I ever got something done, the guy who was piercing my lip told me that the pain was the point.”
The mom looked nervous now, but Melanie looked intrigued. “Why?”
Adam crouched down in front of her. “Sometimes the pain or struggle makes the reward feel so much better. You’re brave, and you sit through it, and when it’s done, you have something beautiful you can show off to all your friends.”
“Like your tattoos?” she asked.
Adam laughed. “Yeah, but you need a few more years before you decide about that.”
“My sister has a lot,” Melanie said. She glanced over at her mom. “I’m ready.”
When Adam got the nod to go ahead, he walked her over to the corner where he had the piercing station set up. Her mom helped her into the chair, and he gathered the paperwork before setting up his supply tray, and he gave her the run-down as he got it all ready. The health and safety talk was dry and boring, but Melanie’s eyes were glued on the needle sitting beside his clamps.
He saw her swallow thickly, and he put his arm on the back of the chair and knelt down again. “You don’t have to do this. No one will ever think bad about you if you’re too nervous.”
She clutched Chuck harder. “I want to have the reward.”
Adam huffed a quiet laugh. “The brave ones get to choose from the gold pile.” He winked at her mom, then brought out the jewelry display and leaned in as Melanie poured over them. “Free upgrade. She looks really nervous, but I can tell she wants this.”
The mom sighed. “Thanks. She really does.” She gave him an appraising look, then smiled. “You’re good at this.”
Adam laughed again. “Yeah. I’ve been doing it a while. Usually it’s drunk college girls wanting a navel piercing, but occasionally I get the elementary school warrior.” He winked, then went back to Melanie to find her pointing at gold roses. “Beautiful choice,” he said. He fetched the sterile set from the cabinet, then prepared the rest of the tray.
It was always an easy road up to the actual piercing, and he’d had more people than he could count walk away after he centered the ink dot on their body. But although Melanie went pale when he slipped on a fresh pair of gloves and opened the needle packet, she simply clutched Chuck to her chest and closed her eyes.
“I’m going to count, okay? No surprises,” he told her.
“’Kay,” she whispered.
“One,” he began, not too fast, not too slow. “Two. Three.”
She flinched when the needle entered her skin, but she wasn’t a screamer. He got the earring in, then got his second needle for the other ear, and she was calmer by that one. It was over, it was done, and she stared into the mirror with a toothy grin as he began to clean up the station.
“So, the aftercare instructions are on that page,” he said, dropping the needles into the sharps container. “If there’s any out-of-the-ordinary swelling, you can call us, but we’ll almost always recommend you see a doctor for that. You can bring her back here in about four weeks for a check, and we do earring changes for free if you need us to.”
The mom slipped him an additional twenty with her payment, and he pocketed the cash with a grin as they headed for the shop entrance. Adam started to follow them out, but he came to a stuttered halt when he found Nik standing a few feet from the sofa, arms crossed, cane dangling from his arm. He was wearing a small grin on his face, and when Melanie and her mom were out of earshot, he laughed.
“That was something else,” he said.
Adam flushed. “She was a trooper.”
Nik laughed again. “I know. That’s what I meant. You kept her calm the entire time.”
Rubbing a hand down his face, Adam huffed and shrugged. “Yeah, well…some kids aren’t so easy.”
“Oh, I know. My brother was obsessed with getting his ear pierced when we were like eight. My mom took him to one of those kiosks here, and I’m pretty sure the entire mall heard him screaming.”
Adam snorted as he walked over to the desk to deposit the cash. “We get those in here too. Chuck helps though.” He waved the elephant by the arm toward Nik.