11

I can't remember the last time I got dressed up to go out. I apply a red lip to the simple look and even curl my hair. I slip on a simple black knee length dress and some not so high heels. I'm not testing my luck today. 

The bar was a little crowded, but I get inside easy, quickly finding Rio though was the problem. I wander around the small area, and he is no where. That man can just disappear so easily. I keep looking around when I spot Beth. I make my way over to her knowing she is meeting Rio. So, eventually Rio will pop up. 

I gently nudge my way through the crowd to get to the table and almost fall over when I see who is sitting beside her. 

"Oh, you got to be kidding me." I laugh, sitting down across from the pair. 

"Citrine?" 

"Max." I answer.

"You know each other?" Beth asks. 

"I've been going to The Paper Porcupine for a while, Beth. I know Max." I explain. 

Beth shushes me, looking over my shoulder. I look to Rio who sits to my right, in front of Max. 

"What is this?" he asks, looking a Beth. 

"You wanted to meet my ink guy." Beth answers, looking to Max. 

Oh, you've got to be kidding me. 

I look to Rio, who looks to be trying not to laugh. 

"You want something?" he asks Max. 

"Sprit. No ice." Max orders. I'm already trying hard to not laugh, but this almost gets me. I don't care if he doesn't want to drink alcohol, but it was how he demands it. 

Rio leans over to a server, and orders the soda. He looks to me to see what I want "I'll have a strong cosmo, please." the woman nods before heading off. 

"So, you fly private or commercial?" Rio asks, sizing up Max. 

"Pardon?" 

"Oklahoma, right? Based on what you charge, I mean, I figure you must got, like a G6 or something." Rio leans on his palm, looking at Max. 

Oklahoma? 

"Well, I talked to Max here about your cost concerns." Beth explains. 

"Oh, yeah?" 

Oh, he ain't buying this shit.

"And I think he has a solution... to make it all go away." Beth continues.

"That right?" Rio asks, looking back to Max. 

Max is silent and before he can speak the drinks arrive to the table. Rio has his regular bourbon and he clinks his glass with Max's. I almost instantly chug mine, needing something to distract me from this interaction. I'm a proud light weight. 

Max is silent and Beth encourages him to speak. 

"I need to tell you something." Max starts. I look again to Rio who seems more amused than anything. 

"Okay." he nods.

"Just... give it to him straight." Beth says. 

What the actual fuck is this conversation right now? 

Rio glances from Beth to Max, waiting to hear something. 

"I've made a mistake." Max says, and I can't help but notice how fast Beth's head snapped towards him. "I shouldn't have tried to raise my prices on you." 

Rio stops leaning on his hand, "You almost lost a customer." 

Max apologizes and Rio seems to determine the conversation is over as he stands up. Beth stops him and looks too Max to confirm that is all he had to tell Rio. Max thanks him for the soda and Rio just brushes it off and says it's on the house before nudging me to follow. As soon as he isn't in ear-shot I snap my head at the pair, "Outside now." 

I follow them to alley beside the bar and instantly bark "What the hell was that?" 

"He's my ink guy." Beth stuttered. 

"No, he isn't. I'm not stupid Beth and neither is Rio. So what the hell were you trying to do?" 

"I was going to kill him." Max blurted. 

"Are you fucking stupid? Do you know what even talking about that could do to you? And you just planned to shoot him in a bar full of people and just walk out like nothing happened? Max, why would you think this is a good idea?" I practically shout. 

"She told me what happened to Lucy." he blames Beth. 

"Why would you tell him?" I shout. 

Beth shushed me again, whispering "He needed to know, to get the cops off our backs." 

"You couldn't have come up with something better? Or better yet, something that didn't include a plan to kill someone?" I snap. 

"He killed Lucy." Max states. 

"He made the order, and I'm sorry about Lucy. I really am, but this was all levels of stupid." 

"Are you going to tell him?" Beth asks. 

"I'm sure he already knows! You're acting sucks!" I say, storming back inside the bar to find Rio.

He was already waiting near the door for me. 

"That didn't look like following me." he says, motioning me to follow him again, this time I do. He leads me to a back office, where Mick is waiting in a corner. 

"How do you know him?" he asks, sitting down on a chair. 

"He was Lucy's boyfriend. I've seen him a few times at the shop." I answered honestly. 

"Not an ink guy, then." he concludes.

"...No." 

He turns the computer on and the screen shows the three of us outside in the alley. 

"Do those pick up audio too?" I ask. 

"mm-hmm." he nods his head. 

"What's going to happen now?" 

"Don't worry about it, Darlin'." he writes on a piece of paper, handing it to Mick, who takes it and leaves the room, shutting the door behind him.

"It hard to not worry when it comes to you." 

"He'll take care of it." He states.

Sarah and I were hanging out in the office, she's was watching some show on her phone while I made the schedule. Eric is no where to be found, I haven't seen him since the one day he came in. I was actually getting pretty concerned about him. I mean he works for Rio, so who knows what he does. 

"So, Nat tells me that you and this guy are really hitting it off." Sarah comments, not looking up from her screen. 

"Yeah, I guess so." I shrug, flipping through the availability sheets. 

"You like him, right?" she asks.  

"Yes, I do. But he's complicated." 

"Which means?" She presses. 

"Which means that he's got his own stuff to do and I have mine and we are very different people." I shrug again, trying not to get too deep into this. 

"I think you need to get out of your head and enjoy this. He's hot and you said you like him. I think you're overthinking this." 

Oh if only you knew. 

"Go find him." she blurts out. 

"What?" I turn around in the chair to face her. 

"Go find him and tell him how you feel. If you like him, but you're hesitating to commit then you need to talk whatever this is out with him. And not just letting it whirl around in your head." she explains. 

"Thank you for the concern, Sarah. Maybe I'll go and hunt the man down when I'm done with the schedule." I laugh, turning back to the screen. 

She sighs, returning to her show. 

A ping echos from my computer which a text message at the top right corner. Speak of the devil... 

Dinner at the bar @ 9

That doesn't sound like a invite as much as a command... 

Dinner at the bar?

Thanks so much for the invite...  

Watch it, mama.

I guess I will be seeing him after all... 

After I leave work I rush home to change really quick before heading over to the bar. It's empty, but there was a bartender. Is this place only open on the weekends? Mick is also there, sitting at the bar. He looks to me and guides me to a booth. I take a sit, facing away from the door and wait. 

He appears a couple minutes later and slides into the booth, right beside me, "Hi, mama." he smirks.

"Hi." I look down to my lap. 

"What's wrong?" he asks, placing a hand on my thigh. 

"Can I ask you a question?" I muster up the courage to look up to him. 

He gives me a single nod of his head. 

"Why do you keep bringing me around when you have 'business' stuff?" 

The smirk immediately returns when I use air quotes. 

"Gotta know what you're in for, Darlin'." he waves over the bartender, who brings two little sushi to-go trays over and what appears to be sake. He pops the lid off and breaks his chopsticks to start eating. 

"Would I have to do what you do?" my eyes going wide.

"Nah, you're too good for that." the smirk showing proudly on his face. He pours the sake in the little cups that were brought over, sliding one closer to me. 

I decide to just bite the bullet, "What are we, Rio?" 

He looks to me, "Whatchu think?"

"I honestly don't know." 

A small chuckle leaves his body with a nodding from his head before he responds, "You're mine."

"That sounds like a statement." 

"It is." he confirms. 

"But-"

He drops the chopsticks back on the tray, rising from his seat to place his knee on it. He leans closer to me, which makes me lean back until my back hit the wall. He hovers right above me, slowly moving some hair out of my face. 

"Wanna be mine, Darlin'?" 

"Yes." I mumble. 

He makes a real smile before returning to his original position at the table. He pops the top of the second tray, placing it right in front of me. I grab the other pair of chopsticks, snapping them and I begin eating, giving him quick glances as he struggles. Causing me to laugh. 

"Oh, like you can do it?" he jokes. 

I pick up the piece of sushi with ease, placing the bottom in the sauce before popping it in my mouth, smiling. I reach over picking up a piece of his sushi, giving it a little dunk and placing it in front of him. He looks at me, an eyebrow raised. 

I don't move, and he laughs a little before opening his mouth. I place the sushi in and pull the chopsticks away. He chews the piece while I take another piece of my own tray. 

His phone beeps and he quickly pulls it out to answer. His mood seems to instantly shift before typing what appeared to be two messages. 

"Elizabeth is coming." he states, trying again to eat his meal. 

"Why?" I groan. 

"She messed up the order." 

I spent the time mentally readying for her arrival. I don't what was going to happen. Sarah's voice popping up in my head 'I think you need to get out of your head and enjoy this.' I brush off my fear, as best as I could and try to enjoy Rio's company. 

I, somewhat, successfully taught him how to use the chopsticks, for the most part. He struggled with the ginger, but it was funny to watch it fall and him getting annoyed and just picking it up with his fingers. 

Eric walks in a sets a stack of cash on the table, giving me a quick glance before simply walking away. Well, at least he's alive. 

"What's wrong with it?" I ask. 

"It's not right." he shrugs, pulling apart a ginger piece. I had given him the rest of my trey and he seemed a little happier then when he got the text that changed his mood completely. 

"The amount isn't right?" I look to him, confused. 

He grabs a stack and pulls out a single bill from it, telling me to look closer. I flip the bill around, holding it up to the dim lighting, trying to spot whatever there is to see. It honestly, looked normal to me... just new. 

"Oh yeah, I see it now." I say. 

"Do you?" he smirks. 

"No, absolutely not." I shake my head, handing him back the bill. 

He lets out a short laugh, but it all goes away when the front door opened again.