Chapter One
Maya
“Please come out tonight. I’ll have your favourite cocktail waiting for you,” Fallon begs, as the four of us sit on the staff room floor.
Calling where we are a staff room is a bit of a stretch.
It’s basically a box room that holds all our hair supplies for the salon.
There are cupboards lining the walls filled with hair dyes and tools.
And of course, all the sugar snacks you can think of to help us survive the busy days.
It is also the place we go to escape. When we need a breather, a chance to hide away before putting on a brave face for the world again.
“I told you. I need to message Jake first. He might have already made plans,” I reply. Drained isn’t a strong enough word for how I’ve been feeling.
“Since when have you had to check in with a man to see if you’re free for girls' night? I don’t know what’s going on with you recently. You’re not acting like yourself,” she says, her bright blue eyes holding mine sceptically.
Fallon has been my best friend since high school, that one friend you know you’re stuck with for life. The best kind to have.
The thing is, I know she’s right. I’m not myself.
I haven’t been for a while. Not since I started dating Jake almost twelve months ago.
As time has gone on, I feel more and more anxious when I’m not with him.
Like whatever I do without him, I would be made to feel shitty or judged.
He has already made it clear what he thinks of my friends.
I know for a fact that if I call to tell him I’m going out, he wouldn’t be happy about it.
“Come on, Maymay. We miss you!” Blair adds, Gracie nodding her head next to her.
Blair and Gracie are my other two besties. They’re inseparable. Not only are they best friends, but sisters too. Although they look alike, with their piercing green eyes, long dark hair and similar features. They are complete opposites.
Blair keeps on top of her tan, makes sure her makeup looks perfect, and always wears the most stunning outfits.
Whereas Gracie couldn’t give a bigger shit what she looked like.
Not that she needed to, she was naturally beautiful.
The bitch could pull off wearing a bin bag, and anyone would think it looked great on her.
“Can’t you see I’m in desperate need of my best friend right now?” Fallon clutches at her chest as if in pain, ever the drama queen. “How do you expect me to survive?”
“Bloody put her out of her misery, she’s driving me insane. You know she won’t stop until you say yes.” Gracie rolls her eyes in jest. She is one of the kindest souls I have ever known. Obsessed with crystals and healing.
“Okay, fine! I have another client to do here first, then I’ll meet you all there. There better be a pornstar martini waiting for me,” I say, knowing they’ve all finished for the day already.
“Thank fuck for that. I didn’t have any more ammunition left in me to drag you out.” We all laugh at Fallon as she does a happy dance.
Fallon is right, though. Girls’ night is just what I need.
I finished my last client sooner than I expected. Mrs Fisher had opted for a simple blow dry today, rather than her usual full works. I clean up as fast as I can, lock up the shop and head out towards our favourite bar.
The weather outside is damp and miserable, standard for England in autumn.
Bar 96 is only a 5-minute walk from the salon, so luckily I didn’t have to suffer the weather for long.
The bar is owned by one of our good friends, Harry, who also happened to have the biggest crush known to man on Fallon.
Unfortunately for him, Fallon had been burned in the past, meaning that now, she was a one-night-only kind of girl.
Harry originally wanted to call it bar 69, but after much deliberation and Blair pointing out that everyone would think it was a strip club, he caved and swapped the numbers around.
Stepping through the old, wooden door, I look around for the girls.
I know exactly where they’ll be, at our usual table closest to the bar.
Making my way towards them, I spot a tray of my favourite drinks waiting for me. Thank God.
They’re huddled around the table, chatting animatedly about the usual salon gossip: who’s got a new boyfriend, who’s getting divorced, who’s fallen out with whom.
Fallon has topped up her makeup, adding black liner to make her blue eyes stand out even more, her beautiful blonde curls bouncing as she talks. Even Gracie and Blair had a chance to freshen up.
Then you have me. Still in my salon uniform and haven’t even had the chance to look in the mirror, other than when looking through it to talk to clients.
“What a day,” I complain, dropping my arse down into the empty chair. “Please tell me one of those drinks is for me?”
“Of course it is angel face.” Gracie hands me a glass and a shot I didn’t see hiding behind it. “Down the hatch, we knew you’d need it.”
Urgh, I hate shots. I’m a big wuss when it comes to them, but I throw it back in one, then take a sip of the heaven in a glass I’ve been waiting for.
“So… how did Jake take you not rushing back to be at his beck and call tonight?” Blair questions, whilst rolling her eyes.
Looking down at my glass, swishing the liquid around, I reply.
“He didn’t, because I’ve not told him.” I take another sip, trying to avoid eye contact for an extra beat.
Things between Jake have been rocky for a long time, but being completely honest with myself, I don’t think I ever felt like he would be ‘the one’.
I knew he would never be the love of my life.
It just kind of happened, like an accidental relationship.
He was so persistent at first, wining and dining me, always wanting to see me. For a little while, I could see it going somewhere. Now, not so much. Nothing I do is ever good enough, and he makes sure I know about it.
“Babe, didn’t you want to make a little effort tonight?”
“Are you sure you should be eating that?”
“Don’t you think it’s a little childish hanging out at bars at your age?”
“Who are you texting? It better not be another man.”
“Maybe if you exercised more, you’d be better in bed.”
And that’s not even the worst of it; it’s like he is forcing himself to be with me in bed now. Isn’t it every woman’s dream to be desired? I want a man who sets me on fire, not one who puts me down.
Jake is a good-looking man, with dirty blonde hair and abs for days. Any woman would fancy him, but the longer I’ve been with him, the nastier he has become.
“Yes, girl!” Gracie cheers. “It’s about time you stood up to him. There’s something about him, I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s like you’re not you anymore.”
“Really? Is it that obvious? I thought you all liked him.” From the looks they are giving me, I was clearly wrong.
“It’s not that we don’t like him…” Gracie starts, but Fallon interrupts.
“Yes, it is. I can’t lie to you, Maymay. He’s changed you. We never get to see you anymore, you’ve stopped doing the things you enjoy, and to be completely honest, you seem… sad.”
They do have a point. I had already noticed it for myself, this overbearing need to ask his permission to do anything that didn’t involve him.
The anxiety of doing something that I wanted to do was sickening.
It was wreaking havoc on my everyday life.
Even being at work with my girls around had me feeling on edge.
There have been times I have completely zoned out mid-conversation, fretting over the thought of doing something wrong or saying the wrong thing.
I didn’t have a comeback for Fallon.
Because everything she is telling me is true.
Blair reaches her hand across the table, giving mine a gentle squeeze. When I look up into her caring eyes, my own begin to water. “It’s time you choose you.”
I scrunch up my nose, begging the sting to go away. This is meant to be girls' night after all.
Fallon slams her hands down on the table unexpectedly, making us all jump and stare at her in shock.
What the fuck, I think I almost had heart failure.
“Shots!” she exclaims. “Let’s get blind drunk, dance until we can no longer feel our toes, and just live our best lives!” She waves over to Harry across the bar. “Five shots of tequila please, Hazza!”
“Anything for you, my girl,” he replies with that cheeky smile of his. God, that boy has got it bad for Fallon. Automatically knowing that the fifth shot is for him, he gets busy pouring them.
Whilst the shots are in progress, I decide now is the best time to nip to the bathroom to freshen up.
I let the girls know and head toward the back of the room.
The bar had become crowded as we had our emotional outburst, and as I manoeuvred through the crowd, I noticed a large group of people chatting and dancing.
Recognising a few faces from school, I smile and wave as I pass them.
Once I’m in the bathroom, I take in my reflection in the mirror for the first time today.
I look absolutely knackered. My makeup is barely intact after such a long day and mini meltdown with the girls.
At least my hair still looks good. It hangs just past my shoulders in light brown glossy waves.
One of the perks of being a hairdresser is being able to get your hair done whenever you need it.
I touch up my makeup the best I can with the limited supplies I have on me, check over myself once more and head back out.
As I am making my way over to the table, I see something, or should I say someone, who causes my steps to falter and my heart to begin to race.
Someone I hadn’t seen in a very long time,
Tommy.