Chapter Twelve
The following day, the salon was having one of its rare slow days. Not a lot of appointments booked, and Nikki had come to see they were the days the club women took over the salon. Darlene always made sure there was plenty of staff to help pamper the ladies. She recognized several of the women. One of them was Melanie, and there were a few others. Most of them were dressed in miniskirts, and barely-there tops that pushed their breasts up. She didn’t know how the women did it, as she was freezing cold in her pants and blouse.
Darlene had asked her to change it up and occasionally wear dresses or skirts. She intended to, but with it being so cold out, she didn’t want to freeze on the way to the car.
When the club women came, she made sure to clean up after them. There was always a lot of giggling and gossip. For the most part, Nikki tuned it out.
Darlene needed some extra work, as she treated Melanie’s hair, topping up the dye so it was vibrant and full.
Nikki was learning each element, although she wasn’t studying hair at night school yet, it was on her list of many courses to take. Darlene knew she was interested in learning every aspect of the beauty industry, and it was nice to have a teacher like her, who was just as passionate about it.
“So, come on, ladies, we all know we want Trixie to spill the gossip,”
one of the women who was getting her nails done asked.
Darlene nodded at one of the solutions, and Nikki grabbed it for her.
“What gossip does Trixie have to spill?”
Darlene asked. She looked up from her work, glancing over to the blonde at the nail station.
She let out a sigh. “Seriously, you didn’t hear?”
“I spend most of my time here, and you know I don’t always hear the gossip. That’s why you come here, Lindsey, to let me know what I am missing out on,”
Darlene said.
“You shouldn’t be talking about what happens at a party.”
This came from the woman Nikki had known as Sandy.
Nikki didn’t know who Trixie was.
Then Lindsey suddenly stood and walked over to the woman who was getting a pedicure, and put her hands on her shoulders. “Go on, Trixie, tell them.”
Trixie rolled her eyes. “There’s nothing to tell, and come on, guys, you all know the drill. Spending the night with the Prez, it’s … a one-time deal, and he doesn’t allow anyone to talk about it. You all know this.”
Nikki froze in place. She couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. There was no way this could be happening.
“What?”
Darlene asked. “I thought you were all complaining not long ago that Hawk was not looking at any of you?”
“Well, last Friday night, that all changed. He grabbed Trixie, took her up to his room, and trust me, this girl struggled to walk for a few days afterward. Didn’t even entertain any of the other brothers,”
Lindsey said.
Nikki was going to be sick. Friday night. He’d told her to get a shower and that he was running late. That same night he didn’t arrive at the motel, and she didn’t check the time when he did finally arrive, and he smelled … freshly … showered. He’d been having sex with that woman. A club woman.
Nikki’s heart felt like it was shattering.
“Go in the back and check on the stock,”
Darlene said. “I’ve got it.”
Nikki didn’t thank her, didn’t say anything as she made her way out of the main room.
Hawk slept with someone else. He’d been with someone else.
Last night he’d been different as well. This morning, even more so. Was he trying to end things with her? Was that it? Was he just using her? Was she a pity fuck?
Nikki stepped into the main stockroom. Darlene liked to have the shelves done a certain way. None of the cardboard boxes were there, all the bottles of products were easy to find, and she regularly reordered.
On one of the days she had been working for Darlene, she asked why she didn’t like the cardboard boxes, and her response had been that no one liked looking at boxes as they were boring. She loved to look at the bottles of product, and to have a beautiful storeroom, just like every other part of the salon. She didn’t know how long she stood there before Darlene came to the back room.
“Are you okay?”
Darlene asked.
“He’s … with her.”
“I thought there was nothing going on with you and Hawk?”
Darlene asked.
Nikki turned and tried not to cry, but the tears, traitors that they were, kept falling.
“I guess there’s not. I mean … he didn’t want anyone to know, and now I understand why. He … I … he’s … I’m not good enough, am I?”
“Men like Hawk don’t settle down. The club is always full of willing and available women, Nikki. That is never going to change, and there are always going to be women that want him.”
Nikki nodded. “I’m an idiot.”
“No, you’re not an idiot.”
“I was falling in love with him.”
Darlene sighed. “Maybe you are a bit of an idiot.”
Nikki laughed, but it was not an entertained sound.
“He must have liked you, Nikki. He went to all that effort to get you a place here.”
She frowned. “What?”
Darlene winced. “Shit, I shouldn’t have said anything. I wasn’t hiring. That flyer, one of the guys made it up. Hawk is the main owner of this salon. He was the one who paid for me to open this place. His dad, who was alive at the time, didn’t see it working out. Hawk took a risk, and it paid off. We make a fortune off this place.”
Darleen nibbled her lip.
“I didn’t earn this place?”
The woman before her took a breath. “Technically, no. I wasn’t hiring, and I didn’t have a choice. However, you have earned your place here, so please don’t think you haven’t. You’ve done amazingly well. I am so proud of you, and I know you are going to make one hell of a beautician when you qualify.”
“But I didn’t earn it.”
“Nikki, come on…”
“Does that mean Hawk is paying for the classes?”
“He’s paying for everything.”
Nikki nodded. “Thank you, Darlene, for everything.”
“Nikki, come on, don’t let this stop you.”
“I … I’m sorry, but I can’t keep working here. I can’t … I’ve got to go.”
“You don’t have to quit. At least complete your course and qualify. This is what you love to do.”
Nikki had heard enough. It was what she loved to do, but that no longer mattered. What she loved didn’t matter. She had to make a clean break, and working at this salon, knowing that Hawk was with someone else, was just too much.
She handed over the keys Darlene had given her, and then went to the staff room, toward her small locker, and grabbed her bag, along with her jacket. She needed to make a clean break. Without another look at the salon, she made her way out the back. There was no way she was going to be able to step out of the front door, going past all those women, and Trixie. They must know.
The pain in her chest and the sickness in her gut felt so consuming. She had been a stupid fool. Hawk hadn’t promised her anything. She couldn’t even remember if she made him agree to stop seeing anyone else. Tears fell down her cheeks as she made her way to her car. She didn’t know what to do.
Throwing her bag into the back, she held onto the steering wheel and took in several deep breaths. Her heart broke. All she could imagine was Hawk with Trixie.
He had been gone from her all night. She thought it was club stuff, and it had been. He’d been with another woman, and she sat waiting for him. She was such a fool. Falling for a man who wanted nothing more than a secret hookup.
Turning over the ignition of her car, she pulled out of the parking lot, and at first she drove. She didn’t go back to her trailer. If he ended up looking for her, that was where he would go. She didn’t go to the motel. She drove and came to a stop at a very busy drive-thru burger place. There was a sign in one of the windows that said they were looking for staff.
Nikki didn’t allow herself to think. She now had no job and needed one. The supermarket hadn’t reopened, and she had already lost that job. Back at her own town, no one would hire her. This was the next best place.
Stepping inside, she went up to the main desk and inquired about the job. The young teenage girl at the main counter looked bored and quickly yelled for David. There was a man in his fifties who came to the front. He had greying hair at the temples, and she saw it peeking out of his hat.
Within thirty minutes she had quit her dream job and was dressed and fitted for a brand new one. They were so desperate for staff that he gave her the afternoon as a test run. It stopped her from thinking about Hawk, as she started to learn the cash register and filling orders.
The work was not hard, but it was busy. There didn’t seem to be much of a lull. The drive-thru was stationed at the right spot for people from all four surrounding towns to stop for food. There was also a gas station in the next lane, so they could eat and fill their tanks with gas. She saw so many faces, it was a blur.
The hours ticked by, and David at the end of the night told her she was hired, and she should be there at seven the next morning. As partial payment for her day of helping, she was given a large helping of burgers and fries, which she took out to her car. She had nowhere to go.
There was her trailer, which she was not going back to for fear of Hawk coming to it. She didn’t want to see him. She had already turned her cell phone off. The last time she looked at it, she had multiple missed calls and texts. There was no way she was going to Diana’s. She and her friend were not on course to resolving their differences. The only other place was her mother’s.
Nikki gripped hold of her steering wheel and took off, going in the direction of her mother’s house. She hadn’t been back there in four years.
She had seen her mother from time to time when she wanted money. The last time she wanted money, Nikki had already been robbed and didn’t have anything to give to her mother.
Pulling up outside of her mother’s house, she looked at the place and felt like she had hit rock bottom. From the moment she left this place at eighteen years old, she had vowed to never return. This was not her home. Her mother was not a good woman.
Nikki climbed out of the car, locked the door, and then walked up the main steps, then lifted her hand to open the door. It was locked. This made her frown. Her mother never locked her door. She always told her that sending men away was not a good idea.
She had no choice but to knock. Wrapping her arms around herself, with how cold and miserable it was, Nikki had a feeling that the snow everyone kept talking about was going to come. She glanced around the yard, and that was when she noticed a difference.
In the past, her mother hated work, and the yard was always a big heap of mess, but it was different now. The grass was mowed, and there was a neat border around the property. There were no weeds or filth. No used condoms or empty beer bottles.
For a second, Nikki had to wonder if she had the wrong house. Maybe her mother had moved. She was never paying the rent on time, and perhaps the landlord got tired of taking it the old-fashioned way, or he was expecting the daughter to pick up the slack. That was the main reason she had left. Her mother had told her it was time she started to pay her way, although she’d been paying rent by this point. She had her own job at the supermarket and was giving her mother most of her income.
She was about to turn away from the door, when it suddenly opened, and Nikki wasn’t expecting what she saw. Her mother. In a very … modest dress. Nothing was on display, she was also wearing tights. The dress covered her chest, and had a small V-neck. Her arms were covered, and she wore absolutely no makeup. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Gone were the signs of drinking, drugs, and her lifestyle.
“Mom?”
she asked. It was hard to believe this was her mother, her flesh and blood.
“Nikki,”
her mother said. “Oh, my, I’m so glad to see you.”
And then, her mom did something she never had before—she hugged her, tightly. In all the years she knew her mother, not once did she ever recall her hugging her. This felt so surreal, so strange, and in that moment it was exactly what she needed. She wrapped her arms around her mother and sobbed.