TIT 4 TAT

Chapter 2

•Halle’s POV•

“Hello….” The man spoke at the other end of the phone.

“Uh good morning, I’m the tattoo artist you requested for and I’m ready to take your offer.” I nervously muttered.

He paused a bit before putting the call on hold.

“Your first appointment is tomorrow, be on time.” He finally spoke as relief washed over me.

“Thank you, sir,” I said as the call ended.

I turned to Bonny who was eavesdropping on the call.

“That's big news Halle, you’ll need to rest for your big day tomorrow.” Bonny chirped.

“Oh no, how will I pick Amanda up from daycare.” I blurted realizing my appointment will collide with closing time.

“I’ll handle that Halle, you take care of yourself and you can come take her when you’re back, Dave would love to have her around,” Bonny reassured

“Ohh Bonny you’re a real friend, our mamas are probably proud of how far our friendship has come.” I gave her a tight hug.

“Uh, Halle…Halle sweetie I need air.” Bonny voiced as she patted my back lightly as we both chuckled.

I finished up a few more projects before going to pick Mandy and heading home.

I prepared mashed potatoes and turkey for dinner as I jabbered the night away with my toddler.

“Mummy when I turn seven I want a visit to Disney land.” Mandy spoke as she bit on her turkey.

“You want to see Disney princesses?” I chuckled.

“Yes, I want to be a princess when I grow up.” She innocently said.

“Now who said you had to wait till you’re all grown, your highness.” I said as I gestured a little bow movement making her chuckle.

We settled in for bed after dinner, but tonight Amanda slept in my room.

I snuggled up in my baby’s embrace, she was very perfect, I observed her while she slept and it brought peace to me, gaining custody of her was all I wanted, the thought of her being with jeromy who doesn’t have the capability of taking care of her made me ill, he only wanted her custody to satisfy his ego.

I was going to use the offer I got to hire a very good lawyer, I gazed at her features which reminded me of my young self, she was my exact replica, her round face and cute button nose, her brown eyes which were closed. It will all be fine someday, so I decided to go to bed for my big day tomorrow.

I outpaced my alarm clock by waking up earlier, it felt delightful.

I got Mandy out of bed and prepared her for daycare while I prepared for work. I didn't want to appear too urgent, so I slipped on a black flared sweatshirt and a black fitted tee.

I hurriedly made sandwiches for breakfast and plated them for Mandy to eat.

“Bébé, Aunt Bonny will come pick you up today, Mama will be really occupied today, okay?” I took a large bite of the sandwich.

“Okay mama… but daddy came to pick me yesterday, I didn’t want to go cause it might upset you but he insisted.” She blurted innocently as my blood ran cold.

“Where did he take you, and what did I say about following strangers?!.” I yelled, but then remembered that stranger was her daddy.

“I’m sorry baby…for prying you into all this,” I muttered as tears threatened to fall.

“It’s okay mommy, I’m sorry for upsetting you.” She voiced as she came over to hug me.

“I won’t follow daddy anymore, now stop cyring.” She said mispronouncing the crying, i chuckled as I gave her a bear hug and proceeded to finish my breakfast. Jeromy worked at a law firm and was well known in the industry, which gave him more favours in this custody battle.

I got to the studio thirty minutes before my appointment, I stalled with Bonny until we heard the front bell ring, it was the man who made the appointment.

“Good morning sir.” I greeted him as he approached the front desk.

“You came early?, well that's a first for me.” He stated while on his phone.

He then signaled me to follow him outside and we got into a black rover.

“I’m sure I’ve briefed you on the requirements of the journey.” The man confirmed.

I nodded as someone put a blindfold on me. The drive was hushed and we drove for close to an hour or what felt like hours.

“We’ve arrived.” The man notified as my blindfold was taken off and to my awe we were upfront in a huge mansion, or a castle perhaps.

We wandered in and I kept glancing around in amazement.

We headed into a room on the top floor and I waited there for the mysterious client.

The room looked like a museum, humongous paintings hung on the wall and art pieces were in showcases, a majestic chair sat in the middle of the room giving it an eerie feel.

I roamed around the room while absorbing the artifacts, and the more I observed the paintings, the more I realized they all had weapons in them, those art pieces in showcases were multiple kinds of eroded guns or marred ones, a chill ran down my spine as I noticed a presence monitoring me, I quickly turned around to find a man staring at me with an expressionless face, he was hovering, his hair almost covered his noir eye, his jawline was well defined, his shirt clutched to his muscles, a gasp escaped my lips as I beheld this being.

“Don’t you speak?” He raised a brow.

“Uhm I’m Halle,” I murmured nervously.

“I’m a tattoo artist and I was just waiting for my client to come.” I noted to clear the thought that I came to steal.

“Well then let’s proceed.” He calmly sat down on the chair and took off his shirt, I strolled over and laid out my tools, he handed me an image to recreate, the image was creatively disturbing, it was a skull latched to multiple strings and a gun attached to its mouth, it isn’t the first time a client had given me an awkward inspo to recreate. I proceeded to start on his forearm but I couldn’t shake off the feeling of his eyes on me.

I wrapped up the image and cleaned his arm, then passed him a mirror to critique it.

“Impressive.” He nodded.

“Thank you,” I whispered while packing my tools up.

“Gobert will take you back home, your next appointment will be a week from now.” He said.

I received a generous tip then Mr Gobert, the man I encountered first, drove me back to the studio, blindfolded yet again.

The evening had crawled in already so I headed over to Bonny’s place to pick Amanda and tell them the good news. I stopped at a*****e and got some groceries before going.

“For real?!!.” Bonny squealed as she held my hand while jumping.

“I’m serious.” I cried.

“We’re looking for a lawyer tomorrow, I’m so happy for you Halle.” She chirped as she hugged me and we both started sobbing.

“Ladies it’s a celebration we’re not mourning anyone, come on cheer up.” Dave, Bonny’s husband added as he beelined out of the kitchen.

“He’s right, now wipe your tears.” Bonny frantically wiped her eyes.

“Let’s celebrate over turkey dinner, since it’s thanksgiving.” Dave stated as he plated dinner.

We all ate and had a good time before I took Mandy home for bedtime. I was excited for tomorrow, I’ll finally get a good lawyer to handle the case.