1. Nova
1
nova
Present Day
“Did you hear Marvin and Sue were caught having sex in his truck in the parking lot of the grocery store?” Blanche said, loudly enough that almost everyone in the salon heard her.
“I heard they got caught at that movie theatre in Monroe,” Betty, the woman next to us, said.
I shook my head as they discussed Marvin and Sue’s sex life, while I put in another roller into Blanche's hair. Another woman chimed in as I put the last roller in her hair, giving it an obnoxious amount of hair spray, because if I didn’t she would complain, because you know, the bigger the hair the closer to Jesus.
“Alright Blanche, time for the air dryer,” I said, helping her up and grabbing her purse.
“When I come back, we can talk about that boy that works at the ranch,” Blanche said to Betty, like she had the juiciest gossip in the world.
I bit my lip from saying something because these women always had something to say about the men who worked at the Aurora Ranch. Most of the gossip was innocent, but sometimes they said things that made me want to take my clippers and buzz their hair for being so awful.
“Alright, is twenty minutes, ok?” I asked Blanche, because this woman thought she knew more about hair than I did.
I was a Master Colorist with a barber license from Denver, but working in the small town of Sterling Ridge, that was nothing to its residents and Tease Me Salon.
“I think today let’s shoot for thirty minutes,” she said, getting comfortable in the chair. “I think it was still damp when I left last time.”
“Blanche, you know as well as I do that’s a bunch of horse shit,” I said, lowering the dryer head. “Just say you don’t want to go home yet or you wanna gossip more with Betty.”
Blanche laughed, “Fine, let me soak in my time away from Tony, but can I have one of those pretty can drinks.”
“Yeah, I can get you a Poppi,” I said, turning the dryer on for thirty minutes.
The loud dryer turned on as I left to get her a drink and when I returned, she and Betty were side by side already gossiping. How they gossiped with the loud dryers was beyond me.
I cleaned my station, sanitized everything, getting ready to head to the breakroom to sit while I waited for Blanche. As I put away my shears, Michelle, the girl who worked the front desk, came up to me, looking nervous.
“No,” I said immediately.
I knew that face, which meant she wanted to squeeze someone in.
“You don’t even know what I’m gonna say,” she huffed.
“Yes, I do. I know that face,” I said, wiping down my chair.
“Theodore was wondering if you could squeeze him in,” she said quickly. “He’s here now and I know you like to make an exception for him.”
I looked up to see him. Theodore was looking at me with so much intensity that I thought he could hear what I was thinking. He was burly, tall and the gray shirt he had on did nothing to hide his wide shoulders and big arms. He was exactly what I imagined a mountain man would look like with his thick dark blonde beard and long hair that was usually pulled back in a man bun. I was exhausted and all I wanted was to sit, but she was right, I always made an exception for him.
“Come on!” I said, waving him down.
“Such a pushover for that man.” Michelle grinned.
I shrugged, not wanting to say anything that would give her and the girls here more ammo to tease me. There was a reason he was my exception, not because he was devastatingly handsome, but because he was amazing with my daughter, Sol.
“Hi,” I said, feeling shy even though I had known him for more than five years.
He nodded as he sat down in my chair.
Theodore was a man of few words, one of the many reasons I didn’t mind him in my chair.
“What are we doing today?” I always asked, even though we always did the same thing. Just a small trim, he liked his hair long.
He held up his phone to me, showing me a picture of something completely different. I raised my brows as I imagined the haircut on him. It was very short on the side with it longer on the top, enough for it to get slicked back.
“Do you want this exact haircut?”
He nodded. “I like his beard too.” His deep voice was always a shock to hear.
“Is there anything you want to change about the hair and beard?” I undid the ponytail he had his long hair in, being as gentle as possible.
“No,” he said, looking a little uncomfortable, but that wasn’t unusual.
I didn’t think Theodore was particularly fond of the salon since his visits were usually few and far between, but I also had a feeling he didn’t like being around people either.
“I’m gonna have to use the clippers, is that ok?” I pulled out my bag that had them in it along with different clipper guards.
He stared at my bag as I opened it, pursing his lips a little.
“We don’t have to use these, and we can leave the sides a little longer,” I said, getting a feeling he might not like the clippers.
“No,” he snapped. “Sorry.” He took a deep breath. “I mean I want to go short.”
“Ok, I’ll try to go as fast as I can,” I said, plugging in my clippers and putting a guard on it. “How about we listen to music while I cut your hair?”
I grabbed some earbuds and handed them to him. He stared at them for a minute, nodding slowly as he took the buds and put them in his ear as I handed my phone to him so he could choose music.
“You choose,” he said, pushing the phone towards me.
I had no idea what to play for him, looking through my playlists, getting more and more nervous.
“I’m not picky,” he said softly, his piercing blue eyes looking up at me.
They were as blue as the sky, trapping me for a moment before I tore my gaze away from him. I settled on Colter Walter Radio before I second-guessed myself. He nodded, closing his eyes as I put my phone in my back pocket, grabbed the cape and draped it over him. Grabbing my comb, I sectioned out his hair, clipped the top, glancing at him to make sure he was ok. Before I shaved the sides, I had to cut his hair to make it easier on me. I turned on the clippers, and rested the back of my hand against his neck so he could get used to the vibrations.
I worked quickly, cutting his hair as I checked on him every so often. He was stoic, giving nothing away as I finished up the sides. Taking the clip off, I brushed the top part, a little sad to be cutting off so much hair. The more I cut, the more excited I became to see this transformation, and nothing was more satisfying than trimming his beard.
When we came back from the shampoo bowl, I made sure he sat away from the mirror so he could get the full effect after I styled him. He was starting to fidget as I combed his hair back and that’s when I noticed how quiet the salon had become. Guests and hairdressers were looking at us and I scowled at them, hoping they didn’t make this a big deal.
I turned his chair slowly, grinning because hot damn, Theodore was sexier like this. His eyes widened slightly as he turned his head side to side.
“Whatcha think?” I smoothed his hair back one more time.
He nodded with a small smile on his full lips. “I… I think Atlas will like it.”
“I think he will love it,” I said, softly patting his shoulders. “He won’t know what to do with himself.”
“Damn, sugar, I have a granddaughter who is single, wanna take her out?” Blanche said, standing next to the mirror.
“He’s gotta go, Blanche, leave the poor man alone, “I said, growing nervous and wondering what else was going to come out of this woman’s mouth that might make him uncomfortable.
“Well, son, you sure do clean up nice,” she said, waggling her eyebrows. “You should stop by more often and give these ladies something nice to look at while we get our hair done. I’m here every Monday just in case you were wondering.”
Theodores face turned pink when he stood.
“Ma’am, I work on the ranch,” he said matter of factly. “I don’t think I could afford to be here that often and I don’t think I would want to, either.”
I grinned at his bluntness.
“Well, honey I do a lot of stuff I don’t want to do, but we have to take one for the team eventually,” she said, and I glared at her. “Nova here is also single. Maybe you can take her out and show her a good time.”
“Blanche, go back to the dryer and when I’m ready, I’ll come get you,” I said, giving her a ‘don’t fuck with me’ look.
While I don’t usually get sassy with Blanche, if you show that woman any fear, she would pounce like a lioness and this was one time I would fight back. Not physically, of course, but these old gossiping ladies were passive aggressive like it was an Olympic sport.
“Alright, darling,” she smirked at me, and I didn’t like that look either. “I hope we see you again soon.”
I walked Theodore to the front desk, admiring him one more time.
“Thank you,” he said, pulling his wallet out.
“Of course, let me know how he likes it,” I said, with a knowing smile. “I hope you have a good visit.”
It was a damn shame Theodore had a boyfriend, but I loved that it gave him an excuse not to entertain all these pushy ladies.
“He’s back for good,” he said with a soft smile that always made my heart beat a little faster.
“That’s amazing.” I said, getting nervous. “I hope you guys have a great night.”
“He’s back this week but I…I will,” he said, handing Michelle his card. “Thank you for fitting me in. Imma… I’m sorry if I put you behind.”
“You didn’t, Blanche needed to stay under the dryer,” I said walking backwards. “Bye Theodore.”
“Bye Nova.”
I turned around, cleaned my chair quickly as a wave of emotions hit me. Atlas was coming home to them, but why did it also feel like he was coming home to me too? Since Sol was born, he had always been attentive. If I’m honest, they had all been attentive and now it felt like I couldn’t run anymore.
“You should date that hunky man,” Blanche said, as she sat down in my chair. “That baby of yours…”
“I suggest you don’t finish that sentence, Blanche, or next week you will find I will be out on Monday,” I said, taking out her curlers. “Mind your business.”
“I’m just looking out for you,” she huffed. “He’s great with Sol.
“Uh huh,” I said, taking the last curler out.
Blanche was my last client of the day before I picked up Sol from summer camp. I grabbed my things, and walked out to my car a little earlier than usual. We needed a few things from the grocery store so it was perfect timing.
I threw my bags into my beat-up car, starting it so that I could lower these damn windows, but all I heard was clicking.
Fuck no.
I turned the key again and all I heard was clicking. My heart sank as I tried one more time with the damn result.
“Fuck,” I said, leaning my head on the steering wheel.
This was the last thing I needed when I had just paid a deposit on a roof repair and Sol’s summer camp. I took a deep breath to tamper the urge to cry, but my tears slid down my cheeks. I was giving myself five minutes to break down before I figured out what to do next because I had run out of choices.