Balance

Balance | Zahra Owens
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    “I HAVE a ten-thirty appointment with Nando.” Behind the counter the girl with the raven-black hair and studded dog collar didn’t even look at her appointment book. “Nando. He’s here!” she shouted indiscreetly, her wide-eyed gaze never leaving the stranger. Her smile was accommodating, though, as she continued in a slightly more subdued tone. “He’ll be right with you. Why don’t you have a seat over there and make yourself comfortable?” Nando looked at the new arrival from the shaded doorway he was hiding in and liked what he saw. One of the perks of being the welcome wagon for newbies at the club was that Nando got first look. Some of them were duds, but this one had potential. As the guy hesitated for a moment, Nando had some time to check out the pert ass encased in very tight jeans, the simple white T-shirt which also aided in showing off the man’s lean physique, and veined arms that made Nando’s leather pants grow tight. He liked men who took care of their bodies without looking like they spent time at the gym.
    Although this was a BDSM club, Nando didn’t look like your average Dom. He was too short and not impressive enough to dominate physically, but he more than made up for that in personality. He’d broken in his fair share of six-foot-two football players, but the physical type that did it for him personally was standing in the club lobby right now.

    Balance | Zahra Owens
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    As the guy turned around, Nando saw the lines in the man’s face, betraying that he’d left his thirties behind a few years ago, but the longish straight dark hair made him look younger than he possibly was. For a moment Nando thought he recognized the man, but he couldn’t place him until he stepped out of the shadows to introduce himself.
    “Hi, I’m Nando.”
    As the man firmly shook his hand, Nando mentally replaced the jeans-and-a-T with a bland off-the-rack suit, and it suddenly dawned on him. “And you’re my health and safety inspector!”
    “Didn’t expect you to be that Fernando,” the man answered in a soft, shy voice.
    “I guess we’re even, then,” Nando replied. “Never in a million years would I expect to see you in a place like this.” THAT morning Nando had needed to open his tattoo shop alone. The appointment book was full, but Paulina, his shop manager, had very apologetically called in sick, and since it was a weekday, he was the only artist there. On top of everything, his eye fell on a little post-it note telling him to expect a visit from a health and safety inspector today. They hadn’t been open that long, and he knew some paper-pusher would eventually come by and check on his little shop. Of all days, why did it have to be today?
    Right after his first client came in, another guy followed, looking just like Nando expected: cheap suit, raincoat, and a Balance | Zahra Owens
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    bunch of papers in a small briefcase. He really didn’t have the time, but there was nothing he could do, so he apologized to his client and turned to the inspector.
    “Cooper Miller,” the man introduced himself without shaking Nando’s hand or even seeking eye contact.
    “California Health and Safety,” he added superfluously while he took a clipboard out of his overstuffed briefcase. “I’d like to take a look at your electrical system, your emergency exits, and your autoclave, among other things.” Nando sighed. The man had definitely left his sense of humor at home, and that was never a good thing. He’d been careful to keep to all the regulations, but he knew there were so many he’d never pass on the first go. He tried to be accommodating, showing the man the papers he got from the fire chief who’d inspected the property earlier, explaining their strict hygiene measures, and allowing him to inspect the still-pristine-looking workbenches. He knew how busy they’d been lately, so he silently thanked Paulina for doing a good job cleaning up the place the night before.
    The inspector didn’t seem too pleased with anything, though. He simply nodded stiffly when Nando showed him all the things they’d already done to accommodate for the regulations and seemed to be overly occupied with minute details like the correct way to mark emergency exits or the fact that there was no notification that the front door needed to be kept unlocked during business hours. He even managed to find one loose electrical wire and didn’t like the fact that a garbage can