Temporary (Indelibly Marked #2) (23 page)

“I want to know where Shane is,” Gary Lipson said, stood and
pointed at them.

At least their side wasn’t the first to make a ruckus. Ivan
took that as a win.

“Why don’t you ask your cousin?” Billy pointed right back.

“What does my cousin have to do with anything?”

“He owns Twisted Tattoo in case you forgot. Why didn’t you
go there to get your damn tattoo? Is it because you know we’re better?” Billy
stood.

James, the other attorney, and Ms. McNeil all stood.

The kid’s attorney whispered something to him and got him to
sit, and James shoved Billy into his seat.

“I think it would be better if we all remain calm.” Happy
lady waved her hand over the table as if she could cast some sort of spell.
Once satisfied everyone had settled down, she sat and returned to her file.
“Mr. Lipson does have a good point. Where is Mr. Shane Elliott?”

Ivan raised his hand because it seemed appropriate.

“I’ll answer,” James whispered to him.

He put his hand down and tried to see Emily again. No luck.

“Mr. Elliott is on a personal leave with his wife. Ivan
Harlow has been given Power of Attorney.” James slid the famous paper over to
the woman.

“Very well.” She nodded. “Now for the summary.”

Apparently she wasn’t going to forget the recap. For the
next twenty minutes they all sat while she retold the stupid ass story. Her
voice was soft and mesmerizing. He relived every moment with her, not for all
the bad, but everything else. For each milestone she mentioned, he only saw the
ride he and Emily took to the valley, the night he and Emily went to the
museum, him carrying her up to his apartment, all the little flashes, the
meals, the laughs, the making love. What the hell had he lost?

Maybe just maybe he tried to wreck it by going against the
one thing she asked. The least he could have done was tell her and get her
blessing. When he messed around with his life, he messed around with hers. They
had a life together and he tossed it aside because he was a flipping pussy who
wouldn’t stand up to his best friend or the memory of his dead mother.

“Oh, my God.” The need to jump up and get down on his knees
to beg for forgiveness overtook him and he slapped his hand on the table.

Everyone in the room looked at him, except the one who
mattered.

“Did you have something to say, Mr. Harlow?” Lavender suit
lady asked.

Mediation, babies, the shop, none of it mattered if he
didn’t have Emily. They had to talk. He took a breath, she would be more than
pissed if he screwed the mediation up, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t speed
things up. “I think we know the story, let’s cut to the chase.”

“I have to agree.” The kid’s attorney laid out a few
documents in front of him. “Aside from the obvious remuneration of paying for
Mr. Lipson’s medical bills, we are demanding ten thousand dollars in pain and
suffering, and a public acknowledgment that Mr. Booker and Permanent Tattoo
used unsafe practices, and were negligent in their aftercare instructions.”

The freight train of the man’s words ran over Ivan, knocking
the wind out of him.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Billy bolted from his chair,
knocking it over. “We did nothing wrong, you know that!”

Everyone else in the room except Emily jumped to their feet.

Ivan moved swiftly. If Billy killed the kid, it definitely
wouldn’t bode well for any of them.

The opposing attorney crossed his arms. “Mr. Westland, if
you cannot control your clients, maybe we need to have separate sessions, or
take the matter to a court where the judge will do the job for you.”

Emily put her hand over her eyes while Ivan opened his mouth
to speak.

But James stopped him by holding his hand out. “Mr. Nelson,
I assure you that we are under control, but as you can see by the passion of
the situation, there is still much to discuss.”

Billy braced his hands on the table, his body heaving with
heavy breaths. There was no way they could continue like they were. They’d look
like criminals, even if they were in the right.

A shudder ran through Ivan and he glanced over at Emily. The
words she’d said time and again echoed through him, and he bent down to their
distraught artist. “Dude, we’re not thugs. Let James do his thing. Okay?”

Billy nodded. “Fine.”

He patted Billy on the back and returned to his seat, noticing
that Emily peeked up at him.

“I object to Mr. Lipson’s demands.” Ivan made an effort to
keep his tone calm.

“That’s fine, but we are not in a trial.” The mediator
flashed one of those cardboard smiles in his direction. “Why don’t we talk
about what you would be willing to do?”

James cleared his throat. “Before we get to that, I would
like to state that it is impossible to tell if Mr. Lipson followed the
aftercare instructions, or whether he did indeed contract the infection from
Permanent Tattoo.”

“The timeline of the infection alone ensures that unsanitary
conditions at the studio were the cause of the infection,” the opposing
attorney countered.

“Timing or not, we are not sure what Mr. Lipson did to the
tattoo after he left the studio, nor are we certain that Mr. Lipson followed
sound medical advice after he was stricken ill.”

Ivan wanted to high five someone. It looked like James would
take them down without letting anything out of the bag.

The other attorney leaned over the table. “Lest we forget,
Permanent attempted to settle the first chance they got.”

Without skipping a beat James also moved forward. “Why did
Mr. Lipson go to Permanent in the first place when his cousin is the owner of a
tattoo shop, Twisted Tattoo? And why did he specifically request the artist who
fixed a botched tattoo from that Twisted Tattoo?”

The other attorney lifted his finger and opened his mouth.

“Mr. Nelson,” Miss Mediation interrupted. “Why don’t we hear
from Mr. Lipson?”

Ivan sat back. They would make the kid crack like crushed
potato chip.

Everyone focused on the boy.

He turned to his attorney and whispered something.

“Its okay simply tell the truth,” Mr. Nelson, slimy attorney
at law, cooed at him.

“I…I…” The kid swallowed and wiped his nose. “I, uh, went
there because of Shane. I wanted to see him and even though my cousin is a
tattoo artist, I always wanted to go to Permanent.”

Ivan glanced between the kid and the lady. Their mediator
seemed ready to cry with compassion. What happened to the avalanche of truth from
confronting the kid with what they knew in a round about way? The whole
break-in would be a waste and only resulted in Emily leaving him.

“You know that is a lie.” He balled his hand in a fist. “You
know it is and the truth will always come back to haunt you. Are you going to
live your life knowing you lied?”

“Ivan.” James’ tone sent out a warning. “Be calm.”

“How can we be calm when we know for a fact this little wimp
is lying!” Billy hit the table with the palm of his hand.

“I won’t stand for my client being called names.” Mr. Nelson
turned to the mediator.

Once again Gary the Kid stood. “I went to Permanent because
I wanted a tattoo from that shop. I was treated like I was a bother and no one
would even introduce me to Shane. I just wanted a tattoo.”

If he didn’t know the truth, he would have personally handed
the kid his checkbook and Jake’s phone number to tell him to run the story.
With no way to tell the facts they knew short of risking their own
circumstances, they were stuck.

Mr. Nelson made a huge deal of getting out of his seat and
helping Gary back into his chair.

“Mr. Westland, you never answered what Permanent is willing
to offer.” The mediator glanced at the boy as if she wanted to begin
breastfeeding him.

Something needed to be done, and for the time being he was
the person in charge of the shop. The shop couldn’t go down with his heart.
More than ever he had to make things right. He’d lost Emily, but nothing more
could be taken from him.

“Can we take a recess?” Ivan shoved James with his arm.

“We are still not in court.” James shook his head. “I need a
moment to discuss something with my client, please.”

“Of course.” The mediator nodded her approval.

They both stood and stepped out into the hallway.

“I will try to get the dollar amount lowered. We know he
wants to take you down and I see no point in trying to stop the publicity.”
James squeezed the bridge of his nose. “Sometimes we attract what we fear so
maybe it’s best to get it over with.”

“We attract what we fear?” Ivan paced up and down the
hallway. “We attract what we fear?” No truer words were ever spoken. He feared
loving Emily, terrified that something would happen to destroy them, yet the
worst happened and he caused it.

“It’s something my grandfather says.” James looked up at the
ceiling. “I never wanted to win a case more.”

“There’s no winning or losing in mediation.” He let out a
laugh. “But I think the whole thing is a crock and we need to win.”

“What do you mean?”

“Use the consents. We have to make him crack. Use them.” He
straightened up. “That’s what you have to do.”

“It’s risky and could net us nothing.”

“Or it could be the boulder we need.” He bowed and opened
the door.

“All right.” James walked past him and they returned to the
table.

As Ivan sat his phone vibrated. With everyone who ever
called him in the room except for one, he put his hand over his pocket.

“I have a few questions before we make our counter offer.”
James opened a file. “First, did Mr. Booker dress the tattoo after he
finished?”

“I don’t see where this is relevant.” Mr. Nelson turned to
the mediator but pointed to James.

“We aren’t in a trial.” James shrugged. “I’m simply trying
to see where the disconnect occurred, considering the fact that Permanent has
never had an issue like this before. Mr. Booker is a new artist there, maybe
something went awry.”

“This is a safe place for discussion. As long as everyone
stays in their chairs we can continue in this vein.” The mediator motioned for
him to go on.

“So I ask again, did Mr. Booker dress the tattoo after he
finished?”

Gary nodded.

“That doesn’t mean the dressing was clean.” Mr. Nelson
tapped his pen on the table.

“I didn’t ask that. I don’t think anyone here could even
know the answer.”

Ivan could have sworn that one corner of James’ mouth curled
up, fighting a smile.

“So, he dressed the wound, and told you how to take care of
it?”

Rather than a nod Gary narrowed his eyes.

“You don’t know?” James made a
tsking
sound. “Surely
you signed consent forms that outlined not only the tattoo procedure, but the aftercare
instructions as well. I have copy of such consent forms here.” He lifted the
pages.

Ivan moved to the edge of his seat. The anticipation was
better than the moment before a roller coaster took off. His phone vibrated
again. At the same time, a flash of pink moved into is peripheral vision and
Emily lifted her purse. Oh no, double texts? It could only be one person, for
one reason. Unsure what to do, he held his breath.

“I never signed papers.” Gary glanced between the mediator,
his attorney and James.

“No? No papers?” James turned first to Billy, and then to
the kid. “Strange since it is part of the policy that everyone signs the
consent forms.”

“I never signed anything. He just started in on my tattoo.”
Gary pressed his lips together.

“Not that it matters.” Mr. Nelson shook his head. “If there
is negligence the consent is null and void.”

His phone went off again, and Emily leaned forward to catch
his attention.

Holy hell! Ivan managed to slide his phone out of his
pocket.

“We are all aware of that. Actually I believe I am making
the case for you. If the standard procedure is to sign consents and no consents
from Mr. Lipson exist, then it is quite possible there was negligence on the
part of Permanent.”

The room became silent.

Ivan glanced down at his phone.

Baby time…get to the hospital NOW!

He grabbed the edge of the table and caught Emily’s gaze.
Damn him, they should be jumping around and celebrating. He held up one finger
trying to tell her to wait.

She bit her lip and shifted her focus to the consent forms
and back to him.

“What is your point, Mr. Westland?” the other attorney
asked.

Ivan and Emily stared at each other and tears glossed in her
eyes. He’d betrayed her one last time and there would be no getting her back,
but at least she would know he did everything possible to save the shop.

James rubbed his chin, but finally slid the papers to the
middle of the table. “Because if Mr. Lipson didn’t sign any consents, can you
please tell me how we have the signed consents?”

“No! I took those!” The kid shot out of his chair.

Ivan gave in and high fived the air.

Emily put her hand over her mouth.

“What?” Nancy mediator hit the table. “You took what?”

With his mouth hanging open, the boy stared at her.

“You took the consents?” James stood and braced himself on
the table. “The consents you didn’t sign? The ones you didn’t see?”

“You don’t understand.” The kid squeezed his eyes shut.

“Enlighten me.” James’ tone took on one of complete
authority. The man was an amazing attorney.

“Permanent gets everything, the press, the people. My cousin
has nothing. He couldn’t even take me on as an apprentice. All I wanted was to
be an apprentice.” He turned away.

If he still had Emily, the second they saved Permanent would
have been one of the best moments of his life. Instead, it fell flat. Nothing,
not Shane, not the shop, not even the Elliotts mattered without the one Elliott
who mattered most to Ivan.