Follow Emily’s Diary and The Salon: two serialized story series filled with romance, emotion and humour, with new episodes published regularly.
That particular Thursday morning, Lara's first client had also booked appointments with Nico and Gael. It wasn't often that someone signed up with all three of them back to back. Mia had carefully worked out how much time each of them would need at minimum, then arranged the schedule so the woman would have only a few minutes between treatments.
Last week's insane work pace, the need to prove myself, and no sleep all took their toll: both my eyes got inflamed. I caught one look in the mirror, and that was enough. I promised the sorry wretch staring back at me that I'd leave her alone, not even glance her way.
Lara gently set Rosita's foot on her knee. The old woman wiggled her toes playfully, turning her heel this way and that on the thick white towel — less like a woman past seventy and more like an impatient little girl waiting eagerly to be pampered.
I went to bed Sunday night with a bad feeling in my gut. I'd worked until three in the morning, and the second I hit send, my chest tightened.
Lara prepared the foot bath, set the water to a pleasant warmth, and checked that everything they needed for the pedicure was in place. She wiped down the color palette and quickly scanned the little bottles, making sure every shade was still on the shelf.
I'd never had a recurring dream before. Definitely not the kind that leaves you waking up drenched in sweat and shaking. I knew someone who got chased through weeks of dreams by a rabbit with an evil grin and a giraffe.
Mia opened the guest-list app to see who had how many clients that day. Her coworkers leaned against the reception desk.
I realized I'd never truly had a real man. One who was a man from head to toe, twenty-four hours a day.
"God, this heat!" panted the woman with the thick, curly hair that fell all the way to her backside, as she practically collapsed through the door.
Something in me had changed. I don't even know exactly how to put it into words. It was like a door had opened onto a whole different world — new, exciting.