The Salon – Part 28

Olivine

It was a crisp, fragrant autumn morning at the salon. Mia was the first to arrive. She looked over the day’s appointments, then jotted down on little heart-shaped sticky notes what the others needed to know about their first client. She smoothed one onto the wall above the hook where Nico’s apron hung, and the other onto the top of Lara’s UV lamp. She loved that even small things like this let her show how much she cared.

A knock.

Startled, Mia’s head snapped toward the glass front door. Clients usually just walked in and said what they’d come for straight away. She glanced at the open/closed sign in case she’d forgotten to flip it. Everything looked fine. Yet the woman outside—a lush mane of red hair, a white sweater, an apple-green scarf—didn’t move.

Mia waited.

The woman just kept standing there.

Curious, Mia sidled over and opened the door. The young woman was round-faced and strikingly beautiful; her glossy, nude lips curved into a charming smile, and her blue-green eyes were positively shining.

“I couldn’t wait to finally get to a beauty salon,” she gushed.

Mia’s left eyebrow shot up.

“Well… come on in, then,” she said with a shrug.

She stepped aside and waved her toward the back.

With an odd little smile, the woman took off her scarf, folded it, and slipped it into the side pocket of her handbag. Then she took a claw clip from another pocket and twisted her hair up.

“Oh wow, look at that jewelry!” Mia marveled.

A thumb-sized teardrop pendant hung from a silver chain around the woman’s neck, and she wore nearly matching earrings almost as big. The silver settings were packed with translucent, moss-green mineral grains, their bumpy surface catching the light at odd angles.

The woman stroked the pendant tenderly.

“Olivine,” she said proudly.

“It’s beautiful,” Mia sighed, unable to take her eyes off it.

“My husband gets the credit. He picked it out.”

Mia clicked her tongue appreciatively.

“Then hats off to your husband. It’s perfect with your eyes—and your style.”

A faint blush crept over the woman’s cheeks, and she lowered her gaze shyly.

Lara and Nico arrived at the same time. Nico headed straight for the kitchen, while Lara hurried over to her station.

“Come, have a seat,” she said, pointing to the chair as she plucked the note off the UV lamp. “What color are we doing your nails?”

“Green. Like my jewelry.”

Lara leaned in.

“Wow, that’s stunning!” she breathed. She reached out instinctively, then caught herself just before touching it and pulled her hand back. “I’ve got a color like that. Maybe not exactly the same, but really close.”

Dolores, Nico’s first client, came in. The woman with the olivine glanced over her shoulder and greeted the elderly lady with a broad smile.

“Isn’t it lovely, starting your day at a beauty salon?” she asked brightly.

Dolores smiled back, though the skin around her eyes didn’t move. Only her mouth curved stiffly upward. She squinted and looked Lara’s client up and down.

“Yes, I’d much rather start my day in the stylist’s chair than in the kitchen, slaving over the stove,” she said, and went over to the shampoo basin.

Within a few minutes, a busy hush had settled over the salon. Everyone was absorbed in their work or in being pampered. Only the young woman kept fidgeting.

“Is something wrong?” Lara asked, brow furrowed with concern. “Is the chair uncomfortable? Want me to get you another one?”

The woman shook her head. Her big earrings swung lazily.

“Isn’t anyone else coming in?” she asked, turning toward the door as if she were expecting someone.

Lara tucked in her chin and leaned back, eyeing her warily.

“You mean Gael? Are you wondering if he’s in today?”

Dolores and Rosita, the salon’s two elderly regulars, both nursed a platonic crush on the tall, taciturn masseur. Lara wouldn’t have been surprised if this young woman had a thing for him too.

But the client shook her head again. Her big earrings swung once more.

“Oh, no,” she said quickly. “Everything’s fine. I just like a bit of a buzz around me.”

Lara didn’t believe her, but she let it go. She had no intention of poking a hornets’ nest. She only wanted to know as much about her client as she absolutely had to.

She went back to work, and for a while the calm returned. When Dolores was done, two more clients came in and settled onto the sofa by the door. Nico swept up, and Dolores strolled over to Lara’s table.

“Lovely work, darling,” she told Lara. “It goes perfectly with this gorgeous jewelry.” She rested a hand lightly on the woman’s shoulder. “Excellent choice. The whole look is very feminine.”

The young woman’s eyes lit up.

“My husband picked it out.”

Dolores nodded approvingly, her freshly styled, sweet-smelling hair bouncing.

“Then my compliments to any man who gives his wife jewelry like that.”

An otherworldly smile spread across the woman’s face. She drew a slow, deep breath.

“He didn’t buy it for me,” she said softly. “He was hiding it in his underwear drawer. There was a little card with it, too: Nora, darling, I’m yours forever. My name isn’t Nora. So I ripped the card off and threw the fucking thing away.” Her voice stayed soft and even. “You should’ve seen that scumbag’s face when he saw me wearing the earrings and the pendant.” She discreetly cleared her throat. “I told him that once that little slut starts stocking his drawer with clean underwear and neatly paired socks, she can keep whatever she finds in there.”

Lara, Nico, Mia, and the clients all held their breath, listening.

“Oh,” Mia breathed.

“The reason I couldn’t wait to get to a salon around here is that places like this are where gossip spreads fastest,” she went on. “See, my husband is that dickhead real estate agent whose billboards are plastered all over the neighborhood. So at least I can drum up a little publicity for him and his business. He’s a bastard, in case that wasn’t clear.”

She took the clip out of her hair and fluffed her curls. She pulled out the apple-green scarf, looped it loosely around her neck, and looked at Mia.

“Can I settle up with you?”