The Tavern was located in the heart of London meaning it was about a 15 minute walk from my flat so we decided to walk there. Of course it being England it started to rain on us when we were about half way there. And it didn't just sprinkle it down poured and we all only wearing sweaters; by the time we got to the rustic pub we were soaked.
"Look what the rain dragged in," we heard when we walked through the door. It was the barman and owner of the pub, John. He had a large grin on his face and reached down under the counter to grab a dry towel to toss to us. We each took turns rubbing the water out of hair before we took a seat at the bar.
"I was hoping to see you guys tonight…" he stated as he placed eight shot glasses on the bar and began to pour Crown Royal whiskey in them. He put the fancy looking bottle back and then turned to face us again. He lifted one of the glasses to us, "A shot for us and a shot for him…"
Looked over at Thomas and Alex and saw the sad smile appear on their faces before they too picked up one of the glasses. I looked down at the two of mine and took a deep breath before grabbing mine and lifting it to the air to mirror the actions of the others.
"Happy Birthday, Roth…" Thomas toasted. I clenched my jaw to keep the tears from spilling over and just clinked my glass with everyone else's before drowning the sharp tasting alcohol. I welcomed the burn of the whiskey traveling down my throat and didn't hesitate to down the second one.
"What are you fancying lass?" John asked me when the glasses were all empty. "Guinness, please," I answered. It felt right to drink Roth's usual; Thomas and Alex must have felt the same way because they ordered the same thing.
"On the house tonight…" John told us when he dropped off the drinks and moved away to attend a new customer.
"This was the right place to come…"Alex commented. Thomas and I just nodded our head in agreement. This was Roth's favorite place to hang out; he and John went way back. They hung out when they were teenagers and Roth even helped John come up with the name for his bar. If we couldn't get in touch with Roth then we knew right away where we could find him. I honestly believed that Roth loved this place a little more than he loved his ship.
That thought brought a chuckle through my lips. I glanced up and saw Thomas and Alex looking at me with curiosity. "I sometimes believed Roth loved this place more than his ship," I told them. Alex let out a smirk and Thomas laughed, "I wouldn't have been surprised," Thomas said.
Alex held up her glass for another toast, "To Roth…where ever he may be raging hell," she said. "Swooning the ladies," Thomas added as he lifted his. "And cursing Man U as they lose," I finished rising my glass.
We drank for the next hour in mostly silence; occasionally John would come over but it was fairly busy in the pub so he was mostly occupied with other customers.
I was lost in thought when I felt my arm get nudged. I turned my attention to Thomas, "So…any thoughts on the phone call you were telling me about a few weeks ago?"
I had almost completely forgotten about the saved message on my cell phone that I had gotten two weeks ago. I placed my third Guinness on the table, "I don't know…I am still twisted about whether to do it or not," I admitted.
"They are only asking about the artifacts right?" Alex asked. "Yeah…I mean they said that if I was interested they would go over what they were looking for and see if I wanted to go from there," I repeated what the message had said.
"A documentary? Sounds interesting," Thomas said. "It would be a great way to tell people of the new information and history that you discovered," he pointed out.
"I don't know if I'm ready," I said but that wasn't the real reason I was hesitating on calling back.
"There is a difference…" Thomas said.
"Pardon?"
"They want a documentary on the artifacts…so far their not asking you to go back to the island," Thomas commented. I looked away from him…he had read right through my lie.
"I don't see how talking about it is any different than going to the island," I muttered.
"Please…it's a major difference and you know it," Alex said.
"You just said that so far they are only asking about the artifacts and not about what happened so right there is a major difference. And speaking from personal experience I'd rather talk about the shit that happened in Iraq than go back there and relive the moments of watching my friends die so I'd assume it would be the same for you," Thomas logically pointed out.
"Lara…I still have a hard time talking about it but talking about it is a hundred times better than going back to that fucking island. I still think you're mad to be worrying about whether or not Amanda is going to be mad at you for doing a documentary rather than going back to the island," Alex said.
"Has she even asked you what happened on the island?" Thomas asked. I was about to take a sip of my beer when I froze. Thinking about it I realized that in the eight months from when I got off the rescue ship Amanda had not once asked me what had happened on the island or if I wanted to talk about it. She didn't mention anything about the island until a few months ago when she came out one night and asked me if I would go back to the island.
I remember that night clearly…I hadn't even thought about; I just answered with a flat out no. There was no way I going back to the place that took my friends…that took Roth. It was by that point that Amanda had stopped sleeping in the bed with me due to my nightmares keeping her up at night.
"You're kidding me right? She hasn't even asked you? What does she think of the nightmares?" Alex asked me in one breath.
"I don't know," I answered truthful. Amanda didn't say anything about them; she just changed her sleeping location.
"Bitch…" Alex muttered
"Stop," Thomas hissed at her before turning in his stool to face me fully. "The choice of the documentary is up to you…If you don't want to talk about what happened on the island then tell them that. Tell them you only want to talk about the artifacts but I think it is worth a try to call them and see what they are looking for," Thomas suggested.
"I'll think about it," I said. Thomas grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze, "If you want to talk…you have us," he offered. I gave him a smile. He wasn't on the island but he had done three tours in Iraq and had seen his fair amount of shit.
"I know," I said and squeezed his hand back. I looked over his shoulder at Alex; she gave me a wink and held up her glass. Alex had been on the island…she was there when Roth was killed but for some reason I couldn't talk to her about it. I mean we talked a little but…I needed to be held in a different way; a way that Alex couldn't give me…a way that Alex got from Rebecca. I looked at the two soldiers in front of me and felt a little less lonely…they were my family.
"Alright…we got her pissed. Let's move onto the next part of the night…" Alex said breaking the emotional moment.
"Excuse me?" I gave them both a questioning look. Thomas smiled and Alex had a smirk on her face. "Oh…no. Whatever it is…it's no," I quickly said. Thomas got up after finishing off his beer; he placed twenty pounds on the bar. "John…we're heading out," he said. John came over and grabbed the twenty, "It's on the house," he repeated his earlier words.
"I know…that's the tip," Thomas said. Alex also finished her beer and got up; she came over to me and clapped my shoulder, "Finish up, Croft," she said.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"You're just going to have to wait and find out," she replied. "I don't know…John do you think I should trust them?" I asked the barman. The older man laughed, "Do you want the truth?" he joked. I rolled my eyes before draining my beer.
We waved to John and walked out of the bar. I had a slight buzz but was still steady on my feet and I was very happy to see that the rain had stopped.
We had walked for about ten minutes when Thomas told me to close my eyes. I looked at him, "You're joking right? I don't not trust you guys to lead me anywhere," to admitted to him.
"Just close them," he repeated. I glared at him for a few seconds before letting my eyes flutter shut, "Please don't let me walk into a pole," I said.
"Nah…I'll just let you walk into a pothole instead," I heard Alex say when she grabbed hold of my shoulders and started to push me forward.
I wasn't sure how long we walked for but I was kind of getting impatient and it really sucked not being able to see where you were going, "are we there yet?" I whined. I didn't get an answer but I felt Alex slow me down and turn me to the left. "Step your right foot up," she ordered. I did as I was told and followed it with my left. I could hear the jingle of a bell meaning that we were walking into a building.
"Can I open them now?"
"Not yet," Thomas's deep voice said. Alex pushed me down into a seat and I could hear muffled voice but I couldn't make out what they were saying.
"Alright Lara…open up," Alex said. I opened my eyes and let them adjust to the bright lite room. It took me a few seconds to notice the drawings on the walls and the large sliding poster with drawings on them hanging on the one side of the room.
"A tattoo parlor?" I asked. I moved my eyes over to Thomas and Alex and saw three people standing behind them. Two of them were males and the other was an attractive female. The males had a bunch of tattoos but I could only see three tattoos on the arm of the female.
"We had an idea," Alex started. "I got a picture of Roth's dog tags before you gave the tags to Reyes and I thought maybe we could get matching tattoos," Thomas finished. I smiled at them and didn't hesitate to nod my head; it was a perfect tattoo for me.
"Yay!" Alex exclaimed.
"Sounds good," the female said as she came up to me. "I'll be doing you…" she said. I couldn't help but blush at the words. My mine went completely into the gutter but I was pretty sure she was hoping for that judging by her smile.
"How are you guys getting yours done?" I asked.
"I'm gonna have mine look as if it is hanging from my skin on my right bicep," Alex said. "Mine is going to be tangled between the American and England flag," Thomas said.
"I'm not sure how I want mine," I confessed. The attractive female grabbed a large book and placed it on my lap, "Take a look and see if any ideas pop into your head," she said.
"We're gonna get started with ours," Alex said. "But don't worry we will all be in the same room so we will get to see you cry like a baby."
"Piss off," I said before looking down and flipping through the pages of the tattoo books. A lot of the tattoos were nice but I wanted to find something that showed me too. I was almost to the end of the page when something caught my eye; it was a knife with a carving in it. The part that caught my eyes was the knife…couldn't stop the flashbacks of Yamatai from coming. I was instantly brought back to the moment I used my fist weapon on Yamatai.
I closed the book and grabbed my phone. As I got up and walked to the female I clicked on the picture I wanted to show her. "Can you draw the tags wrapping those together?" I asked when I finally reached her. She grabbed my phone and stared at it for a few seconds, "do you only want one or a bunch?" she asked.
"Just one will do," I answered. Her blue eyes locked on mine, "Where do you want it?" I smirked at her, it was another loaded question. "On the right side of my ribs," I said.
It only took her a few minutes to draw up the picture and tweak it to my liking before we were heading into the room where Alex and Thomas were already getting theirs done.
"What are you getting?" Thomas asked when I walked in. "You will see when it finished," I replied.
"So secretive…" Alex mocked. The female, Sarah was her name, gestured to one of the tables. "I'm gonna need you to take your shirt off too," she instructed me.
I took a seat on the cool cushioned table and lifted my sweater and t-shirt over my head leaving me in my black sports bra.
Sarah looked over at me when I lay down and I saw her trail her eyes over my torso and arms. I became a little self-conscious since my scars were still very visible but I quickly realized that she wasn't looking at my scars. "Love a chick with abs," she whispered as she took a seat in the chair in front of me. I blushed once again and turned my gaze to Alex who winked at me.
"Alright…this might hurt a bit but your best bet is to let out steady breaths. If it is too much let me know," Sarah informed me. I heard her turn the needle on and I closed my eyes. I was expecting this enormous amount of pain but I barely felt anything. I wasn't sure if it was because of the alcohol or because pain had become a second nature to me but the only feeling I got was an occasional pinch here and there.
I kept my eyes closed until I heard Alex and Thomas come over and take a seat next to me. "Shit…that looks good," Alex commented. "I like the idea," Thomas muttered.
I wanted to look down but I decided against it; I'd rather see the finish product. "Let me see yours," I said to the two siblings. Thomas stood up first and lifted his shirt before turning around. I could see the tattoo through the see through plastic that was wrapped over it. It was of both the American and England flag tangled together in the middle by the chain of Roth's dog tags and hanging further down were the actually tags.
Thomas put his shirt back on and Alex stood up and just lifted the sleeve of her short sleeve shirt to reveal her tattoo. She only had the dog tag and chain but the chain looked as if it was hanging from her skin since you could only see the sides of the chain and not the top.
"We really have to get more tattoos on you…" Alex said as she took her seat again, "you're completely bare."
"I think one is enough for now," I told her.
"Almost done…just a few more minutes," Sarah informed. I was thankful…my left arm had started to cramp up from being in the same position for so long and plus I was really anxious to see the tattoo.
I watched Sarah turn the needle off and place it on her tray before she took a paper towel and wiped my skin. She applied some ointment and stood up to reach for the mirror, "All set, love," she said as she held the mirror up for me. I sat up and stood; I turned my side towards the mirror and was taken aback by what I saw. It was far better than I expected; she had kept every detail of the bow from the picture I showed her.
I felt the tears form in my eyes as I stared at the tattoo. The first weapon I acquired on the island was the bow and it had gotten me through so much on that island; it felt right to connect it with Roth. I had her tattoo the bow and arrow tangled together at the curve of the bow by the chain of the dog tags with the tags hanging between them. The tattoo was pretty big. The tip of the bow was lined up right at the top of my breast under my armpit while the bottom of it was right at my hip bone. The curve of the bow where the arrow and tags were was more on my ribs and on the edge of my torso while the string of the bow was closer to my back. It was big enough to show all the details of the bow, the arrow and the tags but not big enough to be obnoxious. Also I didn't get color I stuck with black and white with shadowing; I was honestly blow away by it.
"It's…its beautiful. Thank you," I said to Sarah. She smiled at me, "It was my pleasure," she replied.
She put the mirror down and wrapped my tattoo while Alex and Thomas went to pay; they refused to let me pay for mine. I was putting my shirt on when Sarah came up to me and handed me a folded paper, "you probably have a girlfriend but here's my number in the case you don't have one or if you just want to hang out," she said shyly. I took the paper and smiled at her, "Thank you."
Our hands were still touching when we were interrupted by Alex, "Lara com-…Oh shit," she said but the moment was ruined and as much as I would have loved to hang with her I probably wasn't going to because the truth is I did have a girlfriend.
"We all set?" I asked Alex. She nodded her head. I grabbed my sweatshirt and walked past Sarah but not before telling her it was nice to meet her and placing her number in my pocket.
"Don't even…" I said to Alex when we left the building. "She was hot and totally into you," Alex pointed out. "I have a girlfriend," I reminded her.
"That's unfortunate…you could have probably gotten laid tonight," Alex added in.
Thomas pushed Alex forward, "Shut up you," he said. Alex turned around and got into a kung Fu stance, "I'll take you," she threaten. I just laughed at their antics; it was nearly 1 in the morning and I was starting to feel the exhaustion hitting me.
"I'm going home," I said.
Awww…party pooper," Alex said before nearly tripping over a crack in the pavement.
"I think that is a great idea. We'll walk you home and hitch a cab from there," Thomas said as he rolled his eyes at his sister.
We managed to get back to my flat fairly quickly since the tattoo parlor was only a few blocks away. I stayed downstairs with Alex and Thomas until their cab arrived.
"Thank you guys…" I said to them. Alex grabbed me from the shoulders and gave me a hug, "It was a good night and it's nice to know you're not a chicken when it comes to tattoos," she said. She released me and I moved into Thomas's arms, "It was good to see you tonight," I told him.
"You too. Now get some sleep and take it easy with that tattoo," he told me in his big brotherly tone.
"I will…goodnight guys." They got into the back of the cab and I turned to walk up the stairs to my flat. I stuck my key into the lock but didn't turn it; I really didn't want to walk into an empty flat. But I had to suck it up so I took a deep breath and turned the key. I opened the door and walked into the dark apartment; I wasn't surprised to see it empty but I was a little disheartened.
I threw my keys and wallet on the table by the door and made my way to the bedroom. I jumped out of my skin when the sitting room lamp was turned on and a figure stood up from the couch. "I was wondering when you'd be home," she said when she faced me.
"Amanda."