Chloe was at work early on Monday morning, unpacking her tools from her black duffel bag and cleaning them for the day ahead. Her spirits were high as she thought of her latest, and also favourite piece of work. She'd already done much larger and more involved tattoos, but nothing could match the butterfly. It was designed and planned only with Max in mind. The shape and placement matched the curvature of the young girl's shoulder perfectly. Chloe had spent many hours studying the anatomy of the butterfly, capturing every intricacy. The delicate and perfectly proportioned legs and antennae. The fine detail around the head and eyes. Each vein on both hind and forewing, perfectly placed. The almost imperceptible little striations on along it's abdomen. They were all on Max's butterfly. Anatomically perfect and almost surreally vibrant. I could probably teach this shit now, she laughed to herself.
"Hey C." Hoss smiled as he entered the shop.
"Hey, big guy." Chloe called out, not looking up from her cleaning. "How was the weekend?"
"All good. Pretty quiet," the big man answered. "That's what happens when you get yourself a wife and kid, I guess," he added with a smile. "You?"
"Same. Just a weekend with the old lady," Chloe joked, making her best attempt at sounding mannish. "Actually, I think I did my best work on Saturday," she went on seriously. "Max let me ink her."
"No shit!" Hoss laughed. "What are you doing to that poor girl?"
"Exactly what she wants...hopefully," Chloe smirked. "Here's the sketch," she said, passing her open notebook to her business partner.
"Wow. You really went to town. I'm impressed," he said looking carefully at the detail she'd put into it. "I guess that solves one problem."
"Problem?" Chloe asked, surprised.
"Well yeah," Hoss grinned. "I read about this tattoo contest coming up next month. It's run by one of the tattoo mags and they're spotlighting new talent. I was gonna say that I thought you should enter anyway. You'll do well, man. And now it looks like you've got your piece sorted. Well..." Chloe smiled at the compliment. She thought about how she'd been the one to pressure Max to show her work to the world not so long ago. 'Bit of a hypocrite if you don't do it, Price' she warned herself.
Knowing not to cross Chloe Price, she conceded, "Shit. Why not, hey?"
"Glad to hear it!" Hoss beamed. "I'll email you a link to it. You'll just need to register, but there's plenty of time."
"Thanks man," an appreciative Chloe smiled. Hoss always seemed to have her back. More than that, she had his respect, both as an artist and a person.
"Also, I think you should start thinking about business cards. You'll need them when you get noticed." the big man smiled.
~oOo~
Chloe sat at the computer later on that night, reading about the competition. It was run by 'Inker's Art Magazine', one of the more popular magazines among the professional tattoo community. The 'Fresh Ink' competition was open to any tattoo artists in Oregon with less than a year of professional experience. First prize was a quarter page article in their state-by-state feature, as well as a booth at the 'Portland Tattoo Expo' in October. Chloe got up from the computer and turned to face Max on the couch, a sweet smile on her face. Max wasn't there. "Babe?" she called out.
"In here," Max yelled back from the bathroom.
"I didn't even hear you leave, Lupin." Chloe held her sweet grin in place as she joined the younger girl, who was once again admiring her new ink.
Max turned her head away from the mirror to face her. "Just wanted another look," she smiled. "Plus it's about time for you to rub some cream in for me, since I...you know...can't reach...or something." Max winked mischievously.
"That's the worst thing about tattoos, hey. Having to rub cream into them every day for the rest of your life," Chloe shot a wink of her own.
"I think I need a lot more tatts, hun." Max laughed as Chloe uncapped the tube of antiseptic.
"I've got your back, Max. Then your front. Arms. Legs," the older girl grinned as she started to softly rub the cream into her girlfriend's painted shoulder blade. "Now...I suppose this is as good a time as any. I need a favour, my sweet."
"Anything, babe. Obviously," Max said softly, eyes closed and enjoying the soft, cool touch on her skin.
"Well, here's the thing," Chloe contained her smile, which came when she thought of how Max would react so soon after promising her anything. "I pushed the shit out of you to get you to enter some competitions and stuff. Now...well, I want to enter one for myself."
"Oh Chloe, that's awesome! I'll do anything to help of course! What do you need?" Max asked enthusiastically, thrilled to see Chloe inspired and chasing her dreams. Chloe was struggling desperately not to burst out laughing. She felt tears welling in her eyes and her stomach muscles were clenched. 'There's only one way to do this, Price' came her inner monologue.
"Thank you, my love. That means a lot," the blue-haired girl said, but unable to stop herself from letting out a tiny snort. "Because I need you to get your clothes off in front of a room full of people."
"You...fucking what?!" Max coughed out in utter shock. Chloe erupted with laughter watching her friend spin quickly and ungracefully around to face her, her face hilariously aghast. She tried to speak but the moment, and her terrified, flustered friend had her in hysterics.
"Your...face," Chloe struggled through fits of laughter. "Priceless! Oh...oh my shit!" She breathed a few deep breaths, punctuated by giggles.
"Chloe!" Max demanded, trying very hard to stop herself from joining her partner's unabated laughter, but knowing it was entirely at her expense.
"Oh shit, I'm so sorry, angel," the older girl said as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "That was too much fun. What I need from you, my beautiful little flower, is for you to show your tatt to a few judges. Only if you want to, of course."
"You suck, Chloe!" Max punched Chloe's arm. "Of course I'll do it. You know I'd run through the damn show naked for you if you really needed me to. Shit."
"Well if you put it that way..." Chloe smirked.
"I said needed! Not wanted!" Max grinned back.
"You're the bomb." Chloe put her arms around her topless lover's waist and kissed her deeply.
~oOo~
Chloe was now playing the waiting game, much like Max, watching the dates pass by on the calender until the next competition. She found it agonising. She was always quite spontaneous and when she found something she wanted to do, she wanted to do it right away. Waiting idly wasn't her strong-point. A few weeks had passed since she entered herself into the competition and now it was less than a week away. She sat on the arm of the couch, drawing. No image deliberate, just a series of different sized curves and angles. Shapes. Little experiments here and there. "Awesome!" Max yelled at the computer monitor, smiling widely.
"It's that Nigerian Prince of yours, isn't it?" Chloe teased.
"I got second place in another contest! Not a very big one, but I won five hundred dollars," Max announced proudly as Chloe came over to give her a familiar kiss. She didn't get it.
"Thanks a lot, shithead," Chloe pouted.
"What the hell? Shit. Sorry?" Max was confused by the reaction.
"Three weeks. Three long weeks," the older girl said in a deliberately pained voice. "I'm fucking hanging for this competition to come around and here you are, all winning shit...and shit. Ugh Max, I'm so...so...so fucking proud of you!" She threw her arms around her lover's now healed shoulders and kissed her.
'There's the kiss,' Max smiled inwardly. "I already know how I'm going to spend it too," she said as they let go of each other again.
"How?" Chloe asked.
"Driving lessons and a license. So I can finally chauffeur you around once in a while," she smiled.
"Not before time, Miss Daisy," Chloe grinned.