LOCATION ─ AENIMA TATTOOS.
WHEN ─ FEBRUARY, FRIDAY 18TH, 2022. AROUND 6.10PM.
CLOSED STARTER ─ MALIK YEBOAH.
It was always in the back of Lale’s mind if she was ever going to see Malik again ; memories flood in of the music festival they had met at. It was in the middle of July in Toronto. They were attached at the hip for three days and seeing as Lale didn’t know anybody in the city, it was easy to keep close to Malik and he never minded. The moment he learned Lale was by herself, the young man was determined to keep a watchful on her, and what surprised Lale the most was that he never wanted anything in return. Instead, Malik gave Lale his oversized jacket when they went to the beach, he showed her the local musicians he liked to listen to on Tuesday evening. He didn’t have to do any of that. He did anyway, out of pure concern for a stranger.
When the steps through the door of the tattoo shop, brunette scans the space with a cerulean eye with haste. A few moments poss when her sight lands on the back of Malik’s head who was sitting towards the back of the shop. She rushes to him and as soon as she’s close enough, Lale bends forward to wrap slender arms around broad shoulders, giving him an embrace. ❝ Merhaba, merhaba, merhaba ! ( hello, hello, hello!) ❞ Lale hangs on for a second longer before releasing her old friend, letting him stand. ❝ I can’t believe you’ve been in Paris for a full year and this is the first time we’ve been able to meet up. So, this is where you work, ey? ❞ She looks around the impressive shop, nodding. Lale has seen Aenima come up on her Instagram page before many times, but truthfully, when she learned that Malik was going to be an artist there, that’s when her interest truly peaked for a tattoo.
Turning back to face Mal, Lale gives him a small, closed-mouth smile, but she’s nonetheless happy. A lot has happened in the last few weeks and it’s starting to weigh her down. She can feel it in the middle of her chest. ❝ Okay. Um, ❞ With a quick movements and to ignore the small silence, Lale digs through her messy purse only to pull out an old receipt with a scribble of writing on it in gentle scripter. “Here’s what I would like, but I’ve changed it about twenty times since we last talked about it. ❞ Lale hands over the crumbled and thin piece of paper for Malik to take a look at.
Taking a look at Aenima’s schedule for all artists in the shop, Malik’s lips quirked in amusement after noticing the name of his next client. Being on the run, he told himself that he shouldn’t get attached to every person he meets. It felt impossible to form long term bonds, especially when he had no plans of staying permanently in one place. It was easy for him to keep others at arm's length, ghosting them without any sort of expectations to fulfil. However, when he had met Lale Senol their encounter was a whole other ball park. It was good music and good vibes that brought them together.
A summer music festival in Toronto where she was new to the city and they just happened to meet by chance. Because her vacation was only a couple of days, Malik made it his mission to pack everything that he could in those days. He refused to drag her to the tourist attractions and instead, he gave her a glimpse of his life like a true Torontonian. Once they had gone their separate ways, the two had kept in touch through social media, but other than that they hadn’t seen each other for a while. After learning that she was living in Paris, it was a no-brainer that they had to reconnect and when Lale proposed that she wanted a tattoo from him, the artist accepted the task wholeheartedly.
Glancing down at his Nixon watch, Malik timed the amount of free time he had and slipped on his jacket before leaving for Matamata Coffee Bar. He ordered them some tea and pastries just in case she needed some fuel during their session. He surely needed it on his end and when he arrived back at the shop, he headed to the back corner to set up his station. Once he was settled, Malik picked up his tablet and began working on some sketches. Being in the zone, he was definitely not aware of his surroundings until he felt slender arms wrap around him. “Allo.” he greeted with a smile while patting her hand. Getting up, Malik gave her a proper embrace and laughed in response to her comment, “Mhm. Wild, I know. Small world though and better late than never right? Uh yeah, this is the joint I work at. I don’t see myself leaving anytime soon, so you’ll definitely be able to find me here on a daily basis.”
Taking the crumpled paper, Malik shook his head and then met her gaze with a teasing grin, “Breathe Lale. Take a seat, get comfy. I got tea and pastries for you by the way. Let me transfer this on my tablet and we can go from there.” Sitting back down, Malik uncrumpled the paper and mimicked the script style that she had wanted. “Where do you plan on putting this? Is this size okay or did you want to make some adjustments?” He then took a good look at it and added, “Twenty revisions huh? It must MEAN something then?”
