It had been four weeks since Catherine Halstead sadly passed away, and it had hit her youngest son, Jay, the most. Ex Army ranger turned PE teacher, Jay Halstead had been struggling. He had taken leave at the school he currently works at and that leave was finishing soon - he needed to get back to work and start getting his life back to normal. He was about to do something he had never dreamed of doing - getting a tattoo. He wanted a permanent reminder of the woman he loved so much, so after drinking a few too many beers and multiple shots of whiskey he went online and booked a tattoo at the shop which got the best reviews (especially in hygiene). Even drunk Jay still was a stickler for hygiene - one of his first google searches was 'very clean and hygienic tattoo shops in Chicago'. He had to laugh at that. When he read the email reminder the next morning, he was about to cancel. His tattoo idea was strange and he didn't know if he would be able to go through with it. However, sober Jay read up on the tattoo shop that he had chosen and was okay with the choice that drunk Jay had made. The tattoo artist, was very highly recommended and had won plenty of awards for her tattooing skills. He made the decision not to cancel the tattoo and go over his ideas for it in his head.
Today was the day he was getting the tattoo and he was nervous. He walked into the shop with his motorcycle helmet under his arm and he looked around and saw a woman who had to be the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was small, had dirty blonde hair and she had sleeve tattoos on both arms with various designs. She heard the bell above the door as he walked in and said, "I'll just be a minute." Jay just nodded and waited at the counter.
"So, you're Jay Halstead, right?" She asked as she walked over to him.
He nodded, "Yeah, I am."
"I'm Erin Lindsay, your tattoo artist. It's nice to meet you."
"You too," He replied, shaking her outstretched hand.
"Okay, you can leave your helmet and jacket over here and then do you want to come and sit over here with me so we can go over your design?" She asked pointing to the couch. He did as he said and followed her over to the couch where they both sat down. Erin had her iPad in her hand so she could sketch out any potential design, "Okay, so you didn't put any design into the notes, so I assume you don't know what you want?"
"Erm, actually, I have a couple of things… I'm not sure if you can do anything with them but I've seen some people with similar stuff," He said, nervously. He got two pieces of paper out of his pocket and handed them over to her. "So, the first piece is a letter in my mom's handwriting - I only want the 'you are my sunshine' line and the sun picture with the smiley face underneath. The second paper is an ECG of my mom's from last year. Is there any way you can copy my mom's handwriting and drawing exactly? Then put part of the ECG each side? I just want a permanent reminder."
"Yeah, of course. I've done quite a few of these before, I'll show you them while I draw up a sketch for your approval," She said, grabbing her portfolio and opening it up to the handwritten pages. "Feel free to have a flick through the whole thing, but those six pages are specifically full of these kinds of designs. Now, where do you want it to go?"
Jay rolled the sleeve of his shirt up over his elbow, "I'd like it here, please. Along the forearm. Not huge, but not tiny either."
"That can be done," She replied and carefully began tracing the handwriting and drawing on a piece of paper. She then traced over the ECG. Once traced, she uploaded it to a computer to make it larger. Then transferred it to the iPad, so she could put the design together.
As she went about designing the tattoo, Jay was flicking through her portfolio and it was one of the best things he had ever seen. Seeing all the different designs she had created over the years was mesmerising. He was pleased that drunk Jay had found this particular tattoo parlour, she seemed to really care about her work and if the tattoos in her portfolio were anything to go by, she was highly recommended for a reason.
"Did this guy really get the Chicago skyline right across his chest?" He asked, laughing at the tattoo. "I mean, it's a beautiful tattoo but it's quite… big?"
She chuckled, "Yeah, he was adamant that he wanted that design, it was his first tattoo too. I tried to tell him he might want to start out with a smaller one, just to get a feel for it but he denied and wanted that tattoo. It's a great piece, but I felt it was random. But hey ho, each to their own. He loved it and was so happy with it. I don't judge anyone's tattoos because I'm sure people think some of mine are rather questionable," She lifted up her sleeve and showed him a tattoo of a minion from Despicable Me. "I got this a few years ago. People think it's weird, but there's a story behind it. Actually, all of mine have a story behind them. Some people just get tattoos because they want them, but some people always have a story behind each and every one. I don't judge either way, but I do love hearing people's stories."
"I understand that, the only reason I'm getting this is because of the story behind it," He replied. "I don't think your minion tattoo is weird, it's actually pretty cool," He grinned.
She laughed, "Well, at least someone other than myself likes it. I'll have to tell my friend that!"
He continued flicking through the portfolio as she continued drawing his desired tattoo, "Wow, these designs are all incredible," He complimented, flicking through the portfolio once again.
She blushed at the compliment, "Thank you," She whispered, "I have loved drawing most of my life. Was always doodling on my books at school, always drawing on any piece of paper I could get my hands on. It's been my passion since I was a kid."
"That's impressive. This Lion King silhouette is absolutely incredible," He said, looking at the drawing where there was a circle with a sunset over the water, and a black and white image of Simba, Timone and Pumba walking across the fallen down tree.
"Thank you," She replied, "I actually have that tattooed on my arm. I designed it and got one of my best friends, who I trust with my life, to actually tattoo it on me," She said, turning her arm so he could see the tattoo, "I did a lot of the colouring and added touches."
"Wow. It's incredible. I love the Lion King, it's one of my favourite Disney films."
"Mine too," She replied as she got back to adding the finishing touches to his tattoo. "Okay, so here you go. What do you think of this?" She asked, nervously. Knowing that the tattoo she had designed for him obviously meant a lot to him.
Jay looked at the design and felt himself get lost for a moment. There was just something about seeing his mom's handwriting in larger print, ready to be permanently inscribed onto his arm that was just beautiful. "It's perfect," He whispered when his voice cracked. He cleared his throat, "It really is perfect."
She smiled, "I'm glad you like it. Do you want to go and sit in the chair over there while I get everything set up?" She pointed to her tattoo chair and watched as he walked over. She quickly got to work printing the design so she could trace it onto the transfer paper. As she was tracing the design, she saw that Jay seemed nervous, "Are you okay?" She asked, seeing that his leg was bouncing and he was fidgeting in the chair.
"Yeah, just eager to get this started, I'm meeting my friend later on and I don't want to be late."
It was an obvious lie, but she didn't mention it and just got back to the tracing. There was definitely something on his mind, but she didn't want to push him to talk about it, so she just left him to it.
When the transfer paper was ready, she sat down on her stool next to him and instructed him to place his arm on the arm rest which she had positioned so she could access it easily. Jay did as she asked and she prepped his arm ready for the tattoo. She showed him the tattoo design one last time, "Are you sure that this is exactly how you want it?" She asked, wanting him to be 100% sure before he committed to the tattoo, knowing that regrets were common.
"Yes, that's great," He smiled.
He watched as she placed the design above his arm, "Is here okay?" She asked before committing to the transfer.
"Yeah, it's great," he replied, nervously. He had just caught sight of the needle she would be using and it made him feel a bit queasy.
Noticing his more obvious nervousness than before, and the fact he had gone as white as a sheet, she sat up and looked at him, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just a bit nervous. Needles aren't my favourite things... this is my first tattoo too so..." he trailed off, not knowing what to say.
"We can leave it here if you want. If you don't feel comfortable with it, I won't do the tattoo. So a guy who's afraid of needles is here, in my tattoo parlour alone? Usually people bring a friend or something."
He laughed, "No one knows I'm here. It was a drunken decision which sober Jay actually liked the idea of. I do want the tattoo. I'm not going to leave here without it."
"Okay, so how about I show you what I'm going to do, then when it comes to it, I can place a screen up so you can't see the needle? Or do you want to see?" She asked, wanting to make him more comfortable.
"No, it's fine. I'd rather see what was happening," he told her, knowing that not being able to see what was going on would just make him worse. His mind went back to being overseas when he was kidnapped by some guys in the enemies village. They had put a sack over his head and tortured him for information. Jay didn't know what was worse, the torture or the not physically being able to see what was coming. Thankfully his team found him before he was killed - if they had been a day later he probably wouldn't be here now. After that, he got a medical discharge as he had multiple broken bones and many internal injuries. Truth be told, he was glad, he knew he wouldn't survive anything like that again and it took him a long time to be okay. He was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't heard her ask him if he was okay. She reached out and put her hand on his arm gently, causing him to jump, "Oh, sorry. Just got lost in my head there a minute, what did you say?"
"I asked if you were okay?" She was concerned for him, she could tell that his mind had taken him to a dark place, she often found herself in similar day dreams, thinking of her past.
"Yeah, just got lost in a random memory. I'm fine. I really do want the tattoo."
"Alright, let's get started then," she smiled and began talking him through what she was going to do.
As she started the tattoo, there had been silence for a while. She didn't really know what to say to him because the tattoo seemed extremely personal, and sometimes when people wanted these kinds of tattoos she found it was easier to let them tell her as much as they wanted instead of prying into reasons behind it. So she settled on a subject away from the reason for the tattoo, work. "So, what do you do?" She asked.
"I'm a PE teacher at the local high school. I was in the army for 7 years after high school, got medically discharged and came home. I kind of didn't really know what to do with myself, I lost it for a little while but something inspired me to go into teaching. I wanted to help kids who were struggling and sports was always something that gave me the focus I needed at school. I went to university, finished my teaching degree and specialised in sports. I've been teaching for 3 years now," he smiled. "I love it. And my mom, she was so happy that I decided to stay in Chicago after coming home. My brother lives in New York where he is an attending at this big hotshot hospital and she missed him so much. But knowing that I was staying was the best thing for her."
"You and your mom, I take it you were close?"
He laughed, "Yeah, I was always a typical mommy's boy as a kid. I am - sorry, was her favourite. She called me her sunshine boy, that's where the 'you are my sunshine' comes from. I really wanted this tattoo to have her with me, always."
"That's really sweet. So how come you're getting the tattoo today? You off work or something?" She asked knowing that teachers weren't usually off on a Wednesday afternoon.
"Uh, yeah. I took a leave of absence from work for about a month after she passed and I am going back on Monday. Like I said, drunk Jay thought it was a good idea," He told her. "I kind of like drunk Jay's thinking."
The grin on his face showed he was telling the truth, she smiled back at him, "Yeah, I think drunk Jay's thinking was good."
"You're just saying that cos I'm gonna give you money," he chuckled.
She shook her head,"No, well. Yes I'm getting paid but, I love doing these kinds of tattoos because I know that they mean something to the person. So you were her sunshine boy, what gave you that nickname?" She asked, trying to make him more at ease and trying to take his mind off the needle poking in and out of his arm.
"Well, she was told she couldn't have kids and she went through IVF for Will, my brother. Then about 16 months later along came me. It was a huge surprise but an extremely cute surprise if i do say so myself," He said, cockily and she laughed. "Apparently my smile reminded me of sunshine, so she called me he sunshine boy. She would always sing the song 'you are my sunshine' to me as a kid to get me to sleep," he said, suddenly getting lost in the memory. He felt his eyes begin to well up and he quickly wiped them. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It was a lovely story. I think it is nice," she replied. "It's nice hearing about people's relationships and personal stories. Okay, so we are almost done here, Just got the sun to do."
"Wow, it looks awesome. It's just what I had envisioned - both drunk and sober Jay," He replied, staring at the almost finished tattoo. She smiled at him as he carried on talking, "The sun is one of my favourite parts. She'd sign off all of her cards and letters with a drawing of a sun with a smiley face. It got me through some hard times overseas. I still have every letter she ever sent me."
"I can tell she meant a lot to you," She observed, as she listened to how Jay spoke about her. He nodded and she got back to finishing up the final touches. Jay watched as she worked, she looked cute when she was focused, her mouth was open a tad, and her tongue was stuck out the side of her mouth. He wondered if she even knew she was doing it? He definitely wasn't going to mention it - he thought that would be weird. Well, it would be weird.
"Well for a guy who claimed to be scared of needles, you certainly handled that very well," She said as she put the tattoo gun on the table next to them. "You're all done. What do you think?"
He smiled, looking at the tattoo, "It's perfect. Thank you so much."
"You're welcome. Now, I just need to apply some of this to it and then put a bandage over it," She said as she began working on the aftercare. "There are a few things you need to do to look after the tattoo during the healing process, I'll give you a leaflet at the desk which gives you specific instructions on how to look after it. Follow it all to the letter, and if you have any worries about it, call me or email me. If it looks infected, seek medical advice, you may need antibiotics. It's extremely rare, but can happen. If you follow the aftercare instructions to the letter, you should be okay."
"Don't worry, I'm a stickler for rules. I've already read up on everything I need to know about the aftercare and will do everything you've just told me and read your advice too," He laughed.
"That's good then, less likely to sue me if things do go wrong then," She teased and he laughed again. "Alright, if we are all done here, I'll take you over to the till and give you the receipt."
After he paid for his tattoo, he took the receipt out of her hands, "Thank you," He said, placing another $20 in the tip jar.
"No worries, I hope it's everything you wanted. You don't have to do that," She said, going to take the twenty out of the jar, but he stopped her.
"You're the first person I've talked about my mom to since her funeral. It was nice being able to tell you the reasons behind the tattoo. You didn't judge, well, I don't think you did anyway. You didn't just nod along and pretend to listen to my ramblings, so thank you. I really appreciate it," He saw that she was about to shrug it off and carried on, "You have helped me in some weird way. I don't know what it is, but you didn't just treat my like someone who was paying you for a tattoo. You took the time to listen to me. I promise you, it means more than you'll ever know."
She smiled at him, dimples appearing as she did so, "It really it nothing. I just like listening to the stories. Getting a little back story to all the tattoos I do, it makes it even more special. Your story is really sweet, and I enjoyed doing your tattoo."
Jay smiled, shyly, "I love it. Thank you. I've got to go now, I told my friend I would go and visit him but I'll maybe see you around some time?"
"I'm glad you like it, and yeah hopefully see you around," She replied, smiling at his shyness.
"Okay then, see ya," He said and she said goodbye just as he left the shop. As he left, she saw him put on his helmet and leather jacket before jumping on his bike before speeding off. She wondered if it had occurred to him that he hadn't actually given her his number or asked for hers. She was definitely intrigued by the mystery that was Jay Halstead. He was hot, that was obvious and nothing like her 'usual' type. But there was something about his sunshine smile (his mother was right about that one) and his personality that just made him incredibly attractive to her. Obviously she had barely known him two hours, but he gave off a certain vibe that made her want to see him again. She could only hope she would run into him sometime.
AN: Had this story planned and half written for ages! Finally finished the first chapter today :) Let me know what you thought! In full on isolation for the next 12 days because someone I come into contact with for work tested positive for the rona haha. So I have 12 days to work on my stories :) The boy next door will be updated next I think :D
P.s. I don't have tattoos and don't know the full ins and outs so some of the stuff I wrote may not be fully accurate (or at all accurate but oh well)