Just a quick note for the readers
I am not a tattoo artist any more than a Greek Mythologist. This is a work of fiction and any miss steps in the way things really work are because of these facts. None of the people in this piece are real; any reference to the real world is purely coincidental. Enjoy.
*
Estephan bolted upright in his bed. His place was quiet, too quiet. He swung his feet to the floor and hurried out to the living room. They were gone. Taking a closer look, it was more like they were never there in the first place. Dishes that Ducici had washed and put away were piled in the sink. Towels that had been soiled after sex still sat clean in the linen closet.
"It's part of the test?" he mumbled.
He turned on the bathroom light and checked the tub, just in case. He looked at himself in the mirror. No rippling muscles or thick penis. He was himself all over again. He shook his head walking to look out his front window. To his dismay, no SUV sat in his parking space. Not that he didn't care about the ladies and there where abouts. They were taken away and he would have to deal with it.
His immediate concern was how he was going to get to the parlor. "The Book!" he exclaimed. He ran back into the bed room. It was gone as well. He grabbed up some random cloths and darted out the back door. He stepped under the oak tree out back. "Ducici are you in there?" he asked. Can you hear me? Are you alright?"
The tree just stood there. He felt silly standing there trying to get the dryad to come out. Like it was that easy. It had taken him hours to work out the runes and symbols on Nikita's tattoo. 'Don't change to much, I have an idea.' He thought. He ran back in and gathered up his things and called a cab.
When he got to the parlor he was surprised that there were a dozen people out front waiting. He feared that with the ladies gone the customers would vanish too. He paid the cabbie and greeted people as he opened the parlor. He handed out broachers and put on coffee. He realized quickly he was going to need help. The ladies had taken to doing so many of these little things. He wasn't going to get anything done if he was taking care of all of it.
"You look like you could use a hand Estephan." Cindy said from beside him.
"When did you get here? I didn't see you come in." He said. "You know anyone that needs a job?"
"Yes, I do." She said.
"What? I thought you were going to manage the complex?" He asked as her checked her for earrings.
"You take care of them, we'll talk about that later." Cindy said.
She stepped behind the counter and opened his schedule book. He sighed but set his mind to the business at hand. Time seemed to drag on. He was cleaning the room for the fifth time, his stomach growled audibly. Stepping out of the room he found the parlor was empty save Cindy.
"What happened?" he asked.
"I closed us for dinner. An hour and a half to get food and talk." Cindy said.
"That sounds great. So what happened?" he asked.
"You did." She said.
"I don't understand." He said.
"Well I don't want real tattoos anymore." She said.
"Ok. Then what do you want? And what does this have to do with needing a job?" He asked.
"Dad told me he bribed you into talking me into it." She said with a smile. "I should be mad at you, but I'm not. More like turned on."
Estephan froze. He wasn't enhanced any more. She didn't seem to notice either way.
Knock, knock.
He about jumped out of his skin. She crossed to the door with money. After opening the door she turned and handed him a large pizza box with a bag siting on it. Once the door closed she gave him a quizzical look.
"You going to be ok?" she asked.
"Start from the top and I'll let you know." He said.
She talked as they ate. She ran down the conversation with her father. Some of the finer points of the real-estate stuff went over his head. In one evening she had laid out a business plan to convert all of her fathers' holdings into one self-sufficient Condominium complex. Whereas he would make money she would have a salary position and Estephan would get a nice condo on the third from the top floor.
"So what about the tattoos?" he asked. "Why would you still want to hold to your fathers bargain with me if what he wanted isn't going to happen?"
"I want to work on the vining tattoo. Without any flower blossoms so I could have you temp them for events and stuff. But they would not be as forever. Like real flowers. I wouldn't want to lose a great artist and hopefully friend to some other place where I would need to hunt for you."
"Do you know how stalker-ish that sounds?" He asked.
"Very, but you can live with it or not. So where did you friends go?" She asked.
"They had to head back home for a while." He hoped.
"I was hoping you might have Ducici's number. I can't stop thinking about her." Cindy said.
"They left me numbers, I think? There are the apartment thou." He lied.
"Oh, good can I have hers?" she asked.
"I don't see why not. You really like her don't you?" He asked.
"I keep having this dream about her..." She started but didn't finish, turning crimson red instead.
"What? You think cause I am a guy I don't know you women think about sex more than any guy out there. You girlie types are so crazy about sex it's scary." He said snidely.
"Knowing it and having some girl blurt out that she is having dreams about getting seduced by a girl-boy are two different things." She snapped back. Going white in fear of what she just said.
"I don't think Ducici is in to that kind of thing, sorry." He said.
"I guess not. She was all girl. No boy parts, but the dream was so real. I can still taste it." She said.
"I knew Ducici, no boy parts at all. And a bit more conservative when girl-girl stuff was implied by one of the others." He said thinking about her reaction to the succubus licking Joxifa.
"I, how to put this, don't like men. In that sense. But I like you. You are like a girlfriend. You even have me girl chatting with you and I don't feel stupid about it. You slept with Ducici so you're not gay. I want to sleep with her, am I gay?" She asked confusedly.
"I think you like men, but only real ones. And you want affection and pleasure, male or female not as important as feeling beautiful and desired." He said. "Not gay, just lonely."