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I’m just so pissed.”
     
    Jess flipped a page in her notebook, scrawling something down. “It’s OK. At least you care.”
     
    Mina nodded silently. She did care, which was more than Jess could possibly say about the woman she’d spent the first half of her life with: their mother, not to mention most of the foster parents she’d been stuck with for several years after that. The day Mina had turned eighteen had been the second best of her life. The very best had been when she’d obtained custody of Jess. She’d been twenty-one then. She hastily arranged the mutilated vegetables on a plate and sat it on the table beside Jess, along with a small dish of dipping sauce. “I’m going to take a break. Be back in a few minutes.”
     
    “’Kay.”
     
    Mina walked a few short steps, entered the bathroom and closed the door behind herself. Big enough to accommodate a wheelchair, the room was more generously sized than those in most of the apartment complex’s units. Sunlight filtered through a high window, tinted green by the leafy potted plants she’d placed there in lieu of a curtain. She stripped down to her panties (she’d foregone a bra, opting for a top with a soft built-in shelf bra for the sake of her tattoo), draping her cotton shirt and jeans over the shower rod before surveying her left side in the mirror.
     
    Her tattoo was still faintly red around the edges, though she didn’t seem to have bruised much. Squirting a small dollop of antibacterial soap into her palm, she ran her hand under warm water before pressing it to her ribs. Gently, she massaged her side, her soap-slickened fingers gliding easily over her skin. The curves and flourishes of the vines were raised, as were the flowers that blossomed on them. The design stood out vivid and textured against her smooth olive skin. It hadn’t begun to truly heal or even lose its scab yet, but it was already obvious that Eric had done a beautiful job.
     
    Did he think so too? Karen might not have even sent him a photo yet, but if she had, what had he thought when he’d seen it? She cupped a handful of warm water and let it stream over her side, washing away the soap. Taking a clean towel from the small bathroom closet, she patted her skin dry. She loved the tattoo. If only she didn’t suspect that she just might be able to feel the same way about the man who’d done it for her.
     
    ****
     
    “Karen? Is everything OK?” Mina held her phone as she twisted the top off her bottled water. Karen didn’t usually call her at work. Fortunately, she’d just clocked out for her lunch break.
     
    “Everything’s amazing. Guess what?”
     
    Her water bottle cap spun off the table and bounced onto the floor. She stooped to pick it up, and when she straightened in her seat, a peroxide-blond woman was eyeing her from across the room. Ashley. She glared down her button nose at Mina as if talking on her phone while being off the clock and in the small break room was a crime. Unfortunately, lunch wasn’t the only time of day Mina was forced to spend in Ashley’s presence. Ashley was the bank’s newest teller, which meant that Mina usually passed the entire day in the small area behind the counter with her. “What?”
     
    “Eric loved the pictures,” Karen said breathlessly.
     
    Mina’s heart fluttered, her senses spiking at the sudden mention of Eric. “Pictures? I thought you only sent him one.”
     
    Karen made a sound of dismissal. “There were at least a dozen shots that turned out great. I sent him the eight I thought were best.”
     
    “OK…” She resisted the urge to say something idiotic, like ‘what did he say’?
     
    “Have you checked your e-mail lately?”
     
    Mina shook her head before realizing that the gesture was useless. Ashley smirked at her from across the room, as if she’d noticed. She probably had. The nosy girl spent most of her time scrutinizing her co-workers – particularly Mina – watching for something to laugh