Emma Pillsboury has a tattoo.
Everyone thinks she's the "good girl" and that she would never have anything as dangerous and daring as a tattoo.
Even her co-worker and best friend thinks this about her. Sometimes, she almost believes she isn't. Gosh , she's s in love with a married man. But he does, he does believe her to be the good girl.
If only he knew. If only they all knew. Okay, yes, maybe she is mostly harmless and innocent. Maybe she is mostly the good girl. Mostly. But she does have one. A tattoo.
Emma Pillsbury has a tattoo.
How uncharacteristic of her! It just...well, it goes against her mind. It flies right in the face of what is deemed prim and proper, professional. It goes against her madness and her ossessions. It doesn't go with the pencil skirts with their matching designer heels and tasteful jewelry accents. It doesn't quite fit with the look she has crafted for herself.
Emma Pillsbury. A tattoo? Who would have thought?
Emma Pillsbury has a tattoo.
She wonders what they all would think of her if they knew she had it.
Some of them, she suspects, would think she had gone off the deep end.
They'd maybe think that's just an influence. And maybe it is, but not a bad one. (At least she hope it...)
Others would possibly snicker behind their hand at her. Laugh in derision and roll their eyes.
Who does she think she is? They'd ask. Who is she trying to fool? Or is she the fool? Silly Ms Pillsbury... It's so sad to see someone trying so desperately to prove themselves, to be something they aren't and can never be.
And they'd shake their heads in condescension at poor, pitiful guidance counselor. In over her head and indelibly marked for life.
Still others might be baffled by it, wonder how she had come to have it and why and what it truly meant to her.
She can't help but wonder what he would think of it. What would he think if he knew about her tattoo? Would he think less of her? More? Would he be intrigued? Repulsed? Would the thought of it make her seem like a kindred spirit, or would she seem suddenly and completely foreign to him?
Emma Pillsbury has a tattoo.
Occasionally, she thinks a few people, like Glee's kids or Sue, might have begun to suspect. They don't know, of course. Not for sure. And she's not about to confirm it, not even if they ask her outright. She would deny it if they asked. It's not that she's ashamed of it, or better, she is, a little. (He has a wife and a baby that's coming) But actually... It's just that...some things are private. This is one of those things.
She has never told a soul. Not a single, living soul. Under the right circumstances, though, Emma knows she could be persuaded to tell just one person about it. Just one. But it would have to be the right person, and there is only one of those in existence. And unfortunately at the same time he is even the only one she can't tell anything about it. How stressful.Emma Pillsbury has a tattoo.
No one can see it, though.
That's a real shame, too, because it is absolutely beautiful. Exquisite. Breathtaking, really. The workmanship is unparalleled. The lettering, the scrollwork is intricate. The interlocking patterns, colours both delicate and bold, they are like nothing anyone has ever seen before. Stunning.
Emma Pillsbury has a tattoo.
No one has ever seen it, though. No one will ever see it. No one can. Emma herself can't even see it.
Not even the man who put it there can see it. Hell, he doesn't even know he put it there. Probably not.
Emma Pillsbury has a tattoo.
Yes, she does. It's a tattoo that no one will ever see.
It is the name of her very best friend, the man she loves. It is tattooed on her heart; it is written with invisible ink that can never fade.