Chapter 41
forty-one
Having to make up the time I take off is usually my least favorite thing about being my own boss. Sure, I have the freedom to make my schedule, but as great as it is to not schedule any clients on a certain day, it is equally terrible having to book myself solid on a day I usually have off to make up for it.
That’s the mindset I used to have, anyway.
In the days leading up to Christmas, I’m fully booked. Sunday ends up feeling more like a Saturday, and Monday is busier than my usual weekdays with everyone trying to get their hair done before Christmas Eve on Tuesday.
I’ve been so busy. I’ve hardly had time to think about the fact that there’s one person on my schedule I’m dreading more than usual. In fact, I don’t even realize the time until Amanda walks into my station while I’m cleaning my mixing bowl.
“No sign of her yet?”
“Who?” I ask absently before my eyes jump to the clock in the salon. How is it already 2:45? It feels like I just got here. As soon as I see the time, I register who she’s talking about. Glancing back at Amanda, I keep my voice low. “She didn’t call?”
“Nope. No cancellation, and no last-minute call, begging to bump her time up.”
Drying my bowl, I set it on the counter. “Interesting.”
When our eyes meet again, Amanda gives me a sympathetic smile. She knows everything that happened. I was in a funk yesterday. Hell, I’m still in a funk now, but even if I were my usual self, she still would have cornered me with a million questions after that party.
Turning to rest my back against the counter, I look in the direction of the front door. “Think she’ll show?”
“She better,” Amanda says with a huff. When I look at her, she adds, “The whole reason you’re not with Chase is because you need to keep her as a client, right?”
I tilt my head from side to side. “More or less.”
Glaring back at the front door, she mutters, “Yeah. So, she better fucking show.”
She’s right, of course. I want Nicolette to remain a happy customer. That’s the whole point, but as I scan the busy street and sidewalk out front, I can’t help hoping she doesn’t come. I haven’t had enough time to build up my armor again, and I feel exposed.
“Have you heard from him?” Amanda asks quietly, her voice like a gentle nudge.
I pull my phone from my back pocket and glance at the empty lock screen before tucking it away again. I didn’t think I’d have any new messages from Chase, but checking has become a habit that’s hard to break. “He texted me yesterday.”
Her eyes widen. “What did he say?”
I take a breath, desperate to make my shoulders relax. “Just that he’s sorry, and he wishes things were different.” Glancing at Amanda, I shrug. “I feel the same.” She smiles sympathetically, and it tugs at my heartstrings a little too much. Shifting my gaze back to the street outside, my eyes land on a blonde with large sunglasses and a leopard-print blouse making her way across the street. Nodding in Nicolette’s direction, I say, “Even if I phase her out, it could take months. It wouldn’t be worth it.”
“Do you really believe that?”
Pulling my eyes away from my very own Cruella De Vil, I lock eyes with Amanda. “I don’t know.”
The bell chimes as the door opens, and Amanda quickly rubs my arm and whispers, “Good luck.” She turns to address Nicolette with her best customer service smile. “Good afternoon! Candace is ready for you.”
Nicolette gives her a tight-lipped smile, but there’s something off about her. She’s rigid. This isn’t the tornado of a woman who always barges in with a big entrance. This woman makes an entirely different statement. I wonder if this is corporate Nicolette. The one she uses as a front between harassing Chase in his office. I try to remember what she was like at the party, but I was too shocked to pick up on details. Just her being there was enough to put me on edge.
But her being here now is having the same effect in an entirely different way. It’s like now that I’ve seen her in her natural element, her mask has slipped. She can’t be whoever she wants to be around me anymore, because I know exactly who she is, and she’s probably wondering how much Chase told me.
Just the thought of him sends a pang to my chest. I didn’t want to cut his hair because I didn’t want the constant reminder of him, but that’s exactly what Nicolette will be. She’s a reminder of Chase. She’s my only remaining tie to him.
“Nicolette,” I say with my best smile. “It’s great to see you.”
She doesn’t say anything at first. Instead, she reaches into her purse to pull out a hard case for her sunglasses. Once she’s slipped them off her head and carefully tucked them into the case, she snaps it shut and looks at me with a sympathetic tilt to her head. “Candace. How are you holding up?”
I’m usually good at hiding my reactions from her, but my eyebrows pull together before I have the chance to stop them. “Fine?” I say, not bothering to hide the question in my voice.
Nicolette sets her bag down on a nearby table, making herself at home in my salon. “Well, it’s just that I hated how you found out about Chase and me.”
“Ah.” I give an understanding nod, but I don’t want to indulge her. Even if hearing someone say his name feels both like a breath of fresh air and a suffocation attempt. Walking over to my cabinet, I ask without looking her way, “Same thing as always today? Wash and blow-dry?”
She doesn’t answer right away, and I know this is a power trip to make me look at her. It’s fine. I can put on a mask. I can look at her. I let myself close my eyes for a brief moment before glancing over my shoulder.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” she says with mock concern, her bottom lip jutting out.
“Nicolette, I’m fine, but I’m on a tight schedule today, so if you want your hair done, you need to tell me what we’re doing.” The words shoot out of me like a firecracker, and I’m tempted to clasp a hand over my mouth as soon as they’re out. I’m tempted to actually apologize, but I clamp my lips shut, refusing to let it slip.
Her eyes blaze but only for a second. By the time I blink, she’s back to her mask of mock sympathy. “And you poor thing. The way Chase handled that situation was downright awful. He and I had a long chat about it and sorted everything out.”
“That’s great,” I say as I turn my attention back to my cabinet and reach for a fresh cape. I try not to let the thought of her having a long chat with Chase get to me. I wonder what his version of this story is.
Maybe I’ll never know .
Staying busy, I fasten the cape around her and hope she’ll stop talking. Of course, she doesn’t.
“I just wish you would have told me. This whole mess could have been avoided if you had been honest with me.”
My hand tightly grips the shampoo bottle, but I don’t look at her. I stay focused on her hair, lathering the shampoo longer than I need to. “If I had known, I would have told you.”
She scoffs. “Chase really never told you about me?”
This time, I do meet her piercing gaze. “No. He didn’t.”
Our eyes meet, and a beat of silence passes between us like she’s trying to decide if I’m lying. She waits until I’ve resumed working to let out a huff and mutter, “Well, I find that surprising.”
I’m sure she does. I’m sure she can hardly fathom a world in which Chase doesn’t go around telling everyone about his sexy boss he’s dying to sleep with. Instead of dignifying her comment with a response, I try to block all thoughts of Chase and Nicolette from my mind and just focus on the task at hand. Rinsing out the shampoo, I reach for the bottle of conditioner on the shelf above her head.
Even as I massage the product over her silky strands, I can feel her eyes on me. It doesn’t matter that I keep my head down and work, she’s watching me with the intensity of someone trying to achieve telepathy.
Eventually, her silence breaks. “You know, once Chase gets promoted, there’s nothing to keep us from being together.”
“That’s great,” I answer absently as I try to fight every ounce of tension in my body. This woman has lost her mind.
“And you’re sure that won’t be an issue? Considering your recent . . . history with him. I mean, I know it meant nothing. But still, I feel I should ask. The last thing I’d want is for you to sour our professional relationship.”
I pause, her words taking an extra second to process. She’d hate for me to ruin our working relationship? Is she serious? Heat flares down my spine, making me rigid. I can’t do this. I can’t listen to this toxic woman open her mouth every Tuesday for the rest of the foreseeable future.
Finally, I dare to meet her gaze, and my hands slowly go back to work, rinsing the conditioner. With a slight shake of my head, I let out a breath that might be mistaken as a laugh. Nicolette’s eyes blaze, but I don’t care.
“Nicolette, stop,” I say as I wipe my hands on my apron. She opens her mouth to say something, but before she gets the chance, I turn off the water and wring out the extra moisture in her hair. With my best smile, I say, “I don’t think anything will happen between you and Chase.” She opens her mouth again, and I lift a single finger to stop her. “But if I’m wrong, I would never let it affect our professional relationship. I would never be that petty.”
She blinks, and the dumbstruck look on her face is more satisfying than anything she could have said.
I may have to keep her as a client, but I’m done letting this woman walk all over me.