If you weren’t looking for it you’d miss it.
Of course, you’re looking for it. You sought them out not the other way around.
It is a hole in the wall, a speck amongst the sprawling skyline, and hustle and bustle of Lower Manhattan. The cobblestone “street” it called home gave it more of a back alley feel rather than the distinction of a formal address. All the shops and establishments along the cobblestone passage knew they were holes in the wall; the entire area felt as if you had been led behind the facade, behind the curtain and into the underbelly of what made the city tick. It was nerve-racking and electrifying. It was the feeling of strutting around the city. Head constantly on swivel, all senses heightened, thoughts racing a mile a minute, but still singularly focused on your final destination, your reason for subjecting your senses to this onslaught of activity.
Your final destination stands out, adamantly not garishly, not ostentatiously, garishly, commanding even. The storefront is a pillar of glossy black with tinted glass simplistically displaying its purpose for being there: tattoos. Whether you want one or not, abhor the idea or not, you are compelled to stop and squint through the glass.
Standing before the shop yourself, a glance at your phone confirming you are, in fact, at the correct location, you think, I’m in the wrong place.
You don’t belong.
Exclusive.
Yet, you are here. After years of careful placement planning, scouring the internet for the perfect reference images, and making sure your mesh of ideas were meaningful, deep, and complex without coming off as complicated and pretentious — you are here.
Don’t turn back now.
Without a second thought, your hand shoots out to grasp the door handle. It isn’t until now that you take in the grandiose size of the door, the storefront. It truly is a pillar, towering far overhead.
Breathe.
Squinting inside, you are met by three pairs of curious, slightly amused eyes. There is a hint of smugness, too — but not in the way you’d have assumed. There is no judgement, not one of them is judgemental. They are excited for you, but not overly so; it’s subdued in a way that you know glean from having experienced this experience with prospective clients time and time again. And at that moment you are glad while this is your first, you are glad you’re not their first nor their last. It quells the anxiousness that arises when stepping into any new situation. It is a temporary feeling — and unfamiliar at such an early stage of a new interaction — of relief.
Welcome to the club.
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