This Sounds Familiar
“Hello? Anybody here?”
Nico checked the time. Lara and Mia were both supposed to be out in the salon. He didn’t move. He still had almost an hour before his next client. He took a huge bite of his overloaded turkey melt.
For a few seconds, there was only silence from the front. Then came the sound of footsteps approaching.
“Enjoy your meal,” a raspy voice breathed hotly against his neck.
Nico screamed.
Startled, the stranger clapped his hands over his ears.
“Jesus Christ! Are customers really this unexpected around here?” he laughed.
Flustered, Nico didn’t know what to do first. He quickly wiped his mouth on his sleeve while desperately trying to swallow the mouthful of sandwich stuck in his throat. He thumped his chest as though that might help it go down faster.
“Sorry, it’s just…” he coughed, then politely but firmly ushered the young, strikingly muscular man out of the room.
By the time they stepped back into the salon, Mia and Lara had appeared too.
“Mia,” Nico said sharply, “could you please help the customer so next time he doesn’t have to hunt me down in the kitchen?”
Mia rolled her eyes dramatically, then immediately flashed a smile at the handsome stranger.
“What can I do for you?”
“I was just passing by and saw the salon. Any chance someone has time for a quick trim?” he asked, running a hand through his thick hair.
Mia stepped directly into the path of the retreating Nico. She made no effort to hide her annoyance as she looked him straight in the eye.
“Nico? What do you think? Can you fit the young man in? You’ve still got loads of time.”
“Why wouldn’t I sacrifice my lunch break?” he muttered through clenched teeth.
Then he turned to the man and nodded toward the styling chair.
“Man, thanks, you’re saving my life,” the client said enthusiastically as he dropped into the seat. “Just tidy it up a little and I’ll be out of here. I’m in a rush anyway. I have to take my daughter to physical therapy.”
“Nearby?” Nico asked with his usual politeness.
A lot of the time, he asked questions almost automatically, like a machine running inside him. Whatever a client said last always triggered something in his head: a ready-made question, a ready-made answer. This time was no different. He wasn’t really paying attention.
“Not exactly. I was just at the police station nearby because they took my statement again,” the man added reluctantly. “And it was all because of the physical therapist too… honestly, the whole thing’s pretty embarrassing.”
Nico’s attention was still elsewhere. Walk-ins—the kind who probably never came back anyway—didn’t get eighty percent of his focus. Fifteen was the maximum. And even that only activated when he heard certain words: length, shape, layers, bangs, fade. Not pointless chatter.
“Did everything go okay?” came the next automatic question.
The man grunted.
“Depends how you look at it. On one hand, yeah. We went over everything again, I told them what I knew. On the other hand, not really. The physical therapist my daughter sees is also the woman I’m trying to ask out.”
“I see… awkward.”
“More awkward was the way she knocked two teeth out of that poor bastard’s mouth.”
Nico looked up sharply. Finally, he registered what he was hearing.
Seeing his sudden interest, the client became even more talkative.
“I swear, man, I haven’t seen that much blood in my life. And I was there when my kid was born. But teeth… Jesus, teeth bleed like crazy. The woman’s blouse was soaked in blood. It got everywhere. I nearly threw up.”
“You girls hearing this?” Nico called shortly to his coworkers. “This gentleman’s daughter’s physical therapist knocked two teeth out of a guy’s mouth.”
The two women appeared beside them in a single leap.
“Wow, this sounds weirdly familiar,” Mia said in amazement. “So what exactly happened?”
Lara shot Mia an approving glance, then waited for the rest in breathless anticipation.
“Honestly, I don’t really know what happened. I just heard the crack. God, that sound was awful, believe me.” He grimaced briefly. “Then Vera, the physical therapist, started screaming bloody murder: ‘Can’t you stay upright on your own two pathetic legs, for fuck’s sake? What are they for, decoration?'”
“The taxi driver okay?” Nico blurted out without thinking.
“What taxi driver?” the client asked in confusion, his eyes drifting in the mirror toward Lara’s chest.
Lara caught the glance and immediately folded her arms higher across her cleavage.
“Yeah, Nico, what taxi driver?” Mia echoed.
She was still annoyed at him for snapping at her in front of everyone.
“I misunderstood something,” Nico stammered, his face turning crimson. “So… you’re really going to ask her out?” he added quickly, steering the conversation elsewhere.
He looked proudly from Lara to Mia. Both women stared at him in disbelief.
“What?” Lara said, astonished. “Seriously?”
The man shifted his gaze awkwardly.
“I-I…” he stammered. “Why is that so interesting?”
Lara raised a hand apologetically.
“It’s not interesting, it’s just… considering she knocked two teeth out of someone…”
The man waved it off.
“I’ll hear her version first. Maybe the guy was some disgusting creep treating her disrespectfully. Men can be unbelievable assholes these days.”
Lara slowly raised an eyebrow and instinctively folded her arms even tighter across her chest.