Wrong Way Renee (33 page)

“I see it's straight booth rental. How many operators are there?
”
the woman asked.

“We have three hairdressers plus two nail te
chs.
”

“What's the clientele like?”

“It's kind of diverse. We have a young hairdresser. Her clients are mostly in their twenties. Becky, my partner, does lots of middle-aged and elderly women. Wash and sets, mostly. Another hairdresser'
s clientele is kind of mixed.”

“Are they mostly white?”

“Why?
I really don't think that has anything to do with
anything.” She wouldn't tolerate bigoted behavior.

“I'm not a racist or anything. Black hair is different. I don't do straightening or braiding. D
o you have much call for that?”

Although the woman had explained herself, Rene
e instantly disliked her, but she should give the woman a chance.
“No.”

“May I come in and see it?”

“
Come by any time today or tomorrow. Speak with
me or Becky
.
”
Hopefully
she'd misjudged the woman.

“I'll be there sho
rtly, Renee. My name is Susan.”

Two hours later Renee was putting topcoat on Gerta's nails. A middle-aged
white
woman with short blonde hair, wearing a denim jumper came in.

“I'll be right with you,” Renee called from her station.

The woman sat on the love seat, clutching a tan purse against her lap
as if she was afraid someone was going to steal it
.

Renee got Gerta set up at the drying table, then went to the reception area.
“May I help you?”

“I'm Su
san. I spoke with Renee earlier.
”

“
Let me show you around.” She offered her hand.

Susan shook her hand, then followed
her
for a tour
and told her the terms
.

“
Any questions?”
she said when she’d finished.

Susan pulled her purse strap tight against her chest.
“Yes. How much walk-in busi
ness is there and who gets it?”

“
We're lucky to get two or three walk-ins a day.
Do you
have a clientele established?”

“Yes, but I could be busier.
”

What was it about this woman that made her uncomfortable? Maybe she was just imagining it.

Susan clasped her hands.
“I like it. I'd like t
o work here if you'll have me.”

Money was money and they needed every penny they could get.

Renee introduced her to Becky, who invited her to join the crew. Susan told them she'd start the next day.

“Why are you leaving
your current salon
?
”
Becky asked her.

“Personality conflict.”

Renee exchanged a
glance with Becky.
“Can we call them for a reference?
”

Susan shifted from foot to foot.
“I'd rather you didn't. The owner and I parted ways on bad terms. B
ut I was a top notch employee.”

Although they had hired Antoine and Zoey that way,
something seemed off about
Susan.
But
Becky had already given her the go-ahead so they’d have to
go on the assumption that Susan would be an asset to Hair Affair.

Still, she couldn’t shake an uneasy feeling in her gut.

* * * * *

Wednesday morning, Susan arrived at the salon at nine-thirty to set up her station. Renee assigned her the only one left-the one between Antoine and Zoey. Susan arranged her shampoos, conditioners and styling products from smallest to largest on her shelf. Her curling iron and blow dryer wires looked as if they'd been pressed flat, instead of all coiled up like everyone else's. By ten, she was ready to work. Only she didn't have any clients scheduled until two-thirty
.

At eleven,
Toy
came in. She and Ren
ee headed to the pedicure room.

“So, I decided to keep the tennis bracelet
Wesley
gave me for pain and suffering.
”
Toy
placed her hand on her chest.
“See?”

Renee's eyes popped as she stared at the diamond tennis bracelet around her friend's wrist.
“
Pain and suffering? Does that mean you’ve already broken up with him?”

“Yup. H
e has a wife. I'll put up with some crap if the rewards are there, but this gir
l won't play second fiddle. H
ow are things going with
Cleave
?”

“Speaking of second fiddle?
I finally let him ravish me.
”

“And how was it?”

She wished she could say it had been amazing or even pretty good.
“It was
…
nice
.
”

“
Nice? Nice
is a word to describe something in a store you're not buying or a good deed done by a boy scout. Nice should not describe sex.
”
She folded her arms.
“Spill it, girlfriend.”

Renee shrugged.
“
How was it with you and Wesley?
”

She laid her head back
and sighed
.
“It was hot a
nd steamy and playful and fun.”

“Well. Ours was
…
fine
.
”
She avoided her friend's eyes
.

Toy
slapped her forehead.
“
Renee
, you're killing me here.
All right, I'll drop it. I take
it you haven't heard from Joe.”

Renee stopped what she was doing and frowned.
“Not a peep. I sent him back the emerald bracel
et he gave me for Christmas.”

“You what? W
here did I go wrong with you? Never, ever give back jewelry. Are you so loaded all of a sudden that you don't nee
d three or four hundred bucks?”

“You think I should have sold it? I could never have done that. Remember, I'm the one who did
him
wrong, not vice versa.”

Toy
waved
away
her
comment
.
“Fault is inconsequential. In the future, please rememb
er to always keep the jewelry.”

Sh
e
smiled weakly.
“I'll take that under advisement. I wrote him a note and
slipped it inside the package.”

“Yeah? What did it say?”

“S
omething like: 'Dear Joe. I'm so sorry to have hurt you. I never meant for anyone to get hurt. Please try to understand that I care deeply about you and miss you.' Blah, blah, blah.
”
She didn't want to
admit that
she
’d
begged him for another chance.

“Y
our new boyfriend
can afford
to buy you
some nice jewelry.”

“
He's been pressuring me to move in. I've put him off so far. But he wants me to quit working to be t
here for him. That's so not me
. I love this place. It's like a second home. Well, after the mall.
”
She grinned.

Toy
shrugged.
“So, what's wrong with being ta
ken care of?”

“
Toy
, hello? What if it doesn't work out? Then I've let all my clientele go and what do I have? I'v
e spent seven years building it
.
Anyway, I can't just let him support me. And I can't
not
have my own place. I don't want to leave myself with n
o way out of the relationship.”

“
Mm hmm. Sounds like you’re looking for the life rafts before you set foot inside the boat. K
eep your place. Tell him you want him to pay for it in order for you to feel comfortable
moving in with him.”

“Why don't
you
move in with him,
Toy
?
”

“If he was my guy, I would. But that's just me. I'd never
tell you how to run your life.”

“Ha! Sure you wouldn't.”

Toy gestured at the door. “W
ho's the new lady?
”

“Her name is Susan. She's a little I don't know
…
stiff, I guess. Today's her first day. I'm curious to
see how she does with Antoine.”

“Why?”

“Something tells me she might h
ave a problem with a someone as…
flaming as him. And I'll tell you what. She'll be out on her ass if she me
sses with him. I love the man.”

After the pedicure, they headed
to Renee's station for
Toy
's manicure. Antoine had a client in his chair, coloring the young man's
blond
hair pink. Zoey was working on Hazel, her cross-dresser. Poor Susan sat in her service chair looking shell-shocked.

When they passed
Chantelle
's station
Toy
stopped in her tracks.
“
Chantelle
, your hair looks great. Who cut it?
”

“Antoine,
”
Chantelle
smoothed her hand over the back of her neck.
“I love it. He's a genius.”

Renee thought she heard Susan cluck her tongue. When she looked over at her, the woman was staring straight ahead, as if in a trance.
“Everything okay, Susan?”

“Fine.
”

A
man walked in for a haircut. Susan was the only free hairdresser, so she took him to her station. Renee glanced at him when he got up after Susan was through with him. From her perspective, it appeared that he'd gotten a good haircut. That was a relief. But
she
wondered why
Susan
didn't have a bigger clientele. She
said
she'd been cutting hair for twenty years in the area. Where were twenty years worth of clients?

Renee and Antoine were the last ones at the shop that evening. Renee lingered at Susan's station to examine her beautician's license. Everything looked in order. She wished she could get rid of the nagging feeling in her gut about this woman.

“Something wrong, Miss Renee?
”
Antoine
sprayed his station down with disinfecting solution
.

“I don't know. Did you watch Susan work at all today?
”

“Mary Poppins? She only did like three cuts all day. I hope she's busier tha
n that soon
or she'll starve.”

“Me too. Di
d you notice she stares a lot?”

“Yeah. My sister did shit like that when she used to do Quaalu
des. Sat and stared for hours.”

She shook her head.
“She really doesn
't seem like the druggie type.”

“No, she don't. I don't think she likes me. She kind of looks over at me and her nostrils flare. I wanted to call her Puff the Magic Dragon, but I thought she might take offense.
”

Sh
e laughed.
“Y
ou
think?
”
She waited for Antoine to finish his cleaning, then they walk
ed to the parking lot together.

“Antoine?
”
She used her key fob to unlock her car.

“Yes, cupcake?”

“Thanks for adding something to Hair Af
fair I never knew was missing.”

He grinned as he got in his car.
“My pleasure
.”

Joe had been that missing thing in her life. She wondered if she’d ever
have that feeling with Cleave. She
doubted
she’d ever have it again with any man
.

* * * * *

Two weeks later Becky announced to the shop that she had a grown son. She placed a photo of Justin on her station as she explained to the staff how she'd given him up for adoption when she was a teenager. Everyone sat in stunned silence, listening. When she finished telling them about their meeting in Daytona, there wasn't a dry eye in the place.