Two
WADE
Wearing all black, an apron featuring the Steele Cut Hair logo cinching her waist, and her auburn hair in a braid—she was a sight for sore eyes. With her signature, dark red lipstick in place, I was tempted to press my lips to hers. I wouldn’t though, not yet.
Our birthdays were coming up in a few days, and that was the reason I’d flown home from the place I’d been working for the last few years.
It wasn’t my home, just where I’d been living.
I was eager for my backup plan to come into effect.
The backup plan I’d put in place when I was a teenager, never thinking I would actually get to go through with it.
“Uncle Wade!” Quinn’s son, Max, yelled as he jumped up to greet me, suddenly deciding he was too cool to run into my arms like always because he was now twelve.
Instead, I put down the brownie I’d grabbed for him from the Bean and Bushell so he could give me our secret handshake.
“What are you doing here? Nan said you were still in Las Vegas.”
“I just flew in. I heard that someone is about to start school holidays in a couple of weeks and might need a mini-golf buddy.” I wasn’t sure if Max was still into mini-golf, but the indoor centre was always something we’d done together when I was in town from the time he was old enough to hold a club.
Quinn fidgeted, I could tell that she was flustered by my showing up unannounced.
When my mum told me about the plans for Quinn’s big birthday party, I had to speed up my plans to come home.
I’d slowly added new characters to the Formax world.
I’d already trained a couple of understudies for my Vegas shows, one of whom I’d started shooting new videos of.
He was going to be the new Formax, and I would happily retire and manage the brand from here in Hartwood Bay.
Quinn’s party just brought my plans forward by a few months.
Hell, I’d made enough money from Formax in the last decade to cease all Formax productions, but the character made kids happy, and who was I to stop that?
“Welcome home, Wade,” my best friend said with a smirk as she finished applying colour to her client’s hair. She washed the dye out of the bowl and brush before washing her hands and quickly drying them on her apron. Even in a black t-shirt and pants, she was stunning.
I welcomed her embrace as she hugged me, and I hesitated to remove myself entirely from her, keeping my arm around her waist as she rested her head on my shoulder. “I wasn’t expecting you home until Christmas.”
“How could I stay away from celebrating my favourite girl?” I pulled her back into me again, presenting the bouquet for her. This was where I felt most settled, with Quinn in my arms. She batted me with the back of her hand.
“You have to stop saying that,” she protested as she walked away from me to find a home for the flowers. “I’ll believe you one day, and we both know how many women throw themselves at you online.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I replied.
Sure, there were women who watched my videos online, making random comments about me becoming their next baby-daddy.
I largely ignored them now; that’s why I employed my PR and social media management team.
Quinn narrowed her eyes at me for a moment in between checking her client’s colour.
“Feel like pizza after work?” I asked as a distraction. Taking Quinn and Max for an early dinner was my intention for visiting the salon so late in the afternoon.
“YES!” Max replied on behalf of his mum.
“Max…” Quinn gave him the mum look, then she turned to me. “I’m gonna be at least another hour before I finish. Are you okay with waiting?”
I turned to Max, ready to follow him over to a vacant station to catch up or help him with his homework. It wasn’t the first time I’d hung out in this salon to spend time with Quinn; she’d worked here since she was an apprentice.
“I can finish Rae’s colour today,” Bella Steele, Quinn’s boss, stood up from the reception desk and walked over to the client with the bright pink goo on her hair.
“But I need to clean up…” Quinn objected.
“Quinn,” Bella replied, “Audrey and I are perfectly capable of cleaning up. Go.”
“Okay, okay! I’ll just grab my bag. Max, pack your things.
” Quinn took her apron off and headed into the backroom.
I helped Max put things back in his school bag while I waited.
When Quinn returned to the main part of the salon, she was grinning at me, and years of memories of that same look flooded my brain.
She was content, and I was the one who put that look on her face.
We ambled along the boardwalk, Max talking about his day, the latest games he’s obsessed with and what he wanted to eat at Bruno’s.
It warmed my heart that he filled me in on his life without any hesitation.
I knew all the people and situations he referenced, because even when I travelled, I’d always made a point of staying in contact with him as well as Quinn.
I knew his dad had moved away a few years ago, but I didn’t know how present he was in Max’s life.
Regardless of what happened with my plan, I was looking forward to spending more time with him.
The waitstaff at Bruno’s took us to a booth toward the back.
Sure, the tables on the balcony had amazing views, but these booths, with the leather seats and the red table cloths, were what my memories were filled with.
Countless times after class or eisteddfod, our families would take us to Bruno’s.
Quinn and I had shared birthday celebrations here in our teens, and I couldn’t think of a better place to catch up with her and Max.
Quinn and Max piled onto one side, and I slid onto the bench seat opposite. After the server left us with menus, Quinn levelled me with the same look she’d given Max earlier that afternoon. “So what brings you to town?”
“I hear there’s a big party this weekend.” I avoided her question.
“Wade, seriously…” Her voice faded, but it had a frustrated edge to it.
“I just felt like it was time to come home.” I looked directly into her blue eyes, trying to convey without words that she was my home, and I needed to be with her.