Chapter 2 Jade #2
First, Thelma was the cutest of the detective squad if Jade said so herself – not that she’d say that to her employee.
Second, Shayna was a natural pale blond, with such fair skin that it sometimes looked translucent.
And she was never without deep red lipstick and black pencilled-in brows.
So no, she looked nothing like Thelma. ‘You mean because of your glasses and bangs? Nah. But it looks great. Nice change.’
‘Cool, thanks.’ Shayna grabbed a stack of sanitised combs from the drawer. ‘My next client is gonna be late. I’m grabbing a bubble tea. Want one?’
‘Dear God, yes. Thanks. I have some cash in my drawer.’ Jade popped a small chunk of granola in her mouth. ‘You’re the best.’
‘I know …’ Shayna laughed and floated out as quickly as she floated in.
Among the zen-like atmosphere of the salon, with its cream-coloured walls, tan and white stone accents, and more plants than the local nursery, Journey’s greatest hits thumped through the salon speakers and Jade’s mind drifted.
Lucy Sunshine Green. Hmmm. She added the activator and neutraliser to the tray, and pictured the cute, flustered woman waving her rainbow wallet in the air like some sort of lesbian fairy.
Not that she’d normally guess someone’s identity.
Especially with femmes. But Lucy’s ‘Queer AF’ T-shirt gave Jade the intel she needed.
Why had that conversation been so refreshing? Jade talked to people all day. She even enjoyed most clients. But this felt … different.
The bucket of rods clicked as she walked. She handed the coffee to Mrs Dieterman, who responded to her first sip with a sharp wince.
‘What happened to a splash of creamer? Tastes like you dumped the whole carton in there.’
Dammit. She was totally doe-eyed, distracted in the back room. ‘Oops, sorry. Must be the chemicals getting to me.’ Or maybe a random stranger with great hair and a pouty mouth? ‘I’ll make you a fresh one.’
‘Nah, this is okay.’ She took another sip. ‘So now, where did I leave off last week?’
Jade separated Mrs Dieterman’s hair and clipped strands to the side. ‘You were telling me about your grandson going off to college in the fall.’
‘Oh yes. So, he chose Iowa. Can you even believe that? He’s gonna take classes in the middle of a damn cornfield.’
‘That’s not true.’ Jade spritzed her hair with water, layered the tissue, and wrapped the rod. ‘Iowa is a thriving state. Des Moines is beautiful. Great food, culture …’
‘Pfft. Nothing like my homemade dumplings, that’s for sure.’
She sliced the next section of hair. ‘You’re gonna miss him, huh?’
Mrs Dieterman rolled her eyes, but fessed up a short while later that, of course, she was going to miss him, and even though you weren’t supposed to say it, he was one of her favourite grandkids. Jade warmed at the words, thinking briefly of her own feisty grandma back in Chicago.
Jade continued to spray, wrap, and roll as Mrs Dieterman went through the lives of each of her grandchildren since their last visit. Spray, wrap, roll … She fought hard against zoning out with the methodical motions.
Activator applied, shower cap fastened, drier set, and Jade cleaned her station. She strolled to the front and joined Amanda – receptionist extraordinaire – to review the daily client list.
Amanda peeked up from her personal laptop propped next to the salon computer, no doubt studying for some exam Jade couldn’t even fathom taking.
When Jade first hired her, Amanda spent every second of downtime dusting, rearranging products, even sweeping up for the stylists to keep herself busy during the slow times.
When Jade learned Amanda had a full online college credit load for a criminology degree, she offered salon downtime to study.
‘Fun fact.’ Amanda stopped tapping the keyboard and patted the side of her hair.
Today, she had her edges slicked into a row of swirls at the crown of her head with her hair pulled up into an Afro puff.
Amanda wasn’t a hairstylist, but she had some serious skill when it came to doing her own hair.
‘Do you know a body will decompose slower in water than the air? Slower. Who knew?’
Jade ran her hand under the till in search of a highlighter. ‘Fun fact, huh? Thank you for using your personal laptop to google this stuff. All I need is the FBI raiding my salon thinking I’m planning a murder.’
‘That would be awful if a murder happened here. Awful.’ Amanda’s lips tugged into a smile. ‘But in case it did … you know you’d have to call me, right? For educational purposes, of course.’
‘Of course.’ Jade pulled out the vendor documents from the folder and tapped them against the counter. ‘I just think every few days you should sanitise your algorithm. Search cute baby elephant videos or new vegan ice cream shops or something.’
‘Oh! Yes.’ Amanda smacked her multilayered ring hand on the desk. ‘Elephants cause how many deaths per year? I bet more than we think.’
Jade shook her head with a grin. ‘Do you really need this information for your degree?’ What she would’ve given to have the smarts and confidence Amanda had at her age.
Jade’s life probably would have looked different.
Juvenile mistakes – vanished. Heartbreak – gone.
She would have entered her marriage with an analytic mind and solid research, not with stars in her eyes and a foggy brain.
And she would have saved herself a hell of a lot of heartache.
Amanda’s marble-decorated nails – that probably took hours for her to design – clicked against the keyboard. ‘You never know. I won’t be left hanging if this is on a test.’
‘Be honest. You’re the one sitting in the front row of the class, aren’t you?’ Jade pictured herself in high school, sliding into the very back seat so she could doze off if needed without the teacher noticing.
‘Hell, yes I am. I want to hear everything the teacher has to say.’ The salon phone rang. Amanda reached to pick it up as Jade returned to the computer.
A rebooking request for one of Jade’s regulars caught her attention. She scrolled through the screen to see if he had rescheduled when Amanda tapped her arm.
‘It’s for you.’
Jade didn’t have time to chat with a client or vendor. She had to check her schedule, take a bite of yogurt, and return to Mrs Dieterman. ‘Can you take a message?’
Amanda shrugged. ‘They said it’s urgent.’
Jade clocked the time. Six minutes before rinse time. Urgent or not, Mrs Dieterman’s hair had to be neutralised, or the rods would pop off with a very undesirable chemical haircut. She tucked the phone under her chin. ‘This is Jade.’
‘Hey, it’s me.’
That voice. Jade’s heart stopped beating for so long, she was sure she’d pass out. Darkness filled her periphery.
‘Can we talk?’
‘I told you to never contact me again.’ Jade slammed down the phone, hot air shooting from her nostrils.
Amanda’s wide, dark eyes searched Jade’s. ‘Everything okay?’
Nothing about hearing that voice was okay. Jade’s stomach knotted so tight, she thought she might be sick. She exhaled a shaky breath and gave Amanda a quick nod. ‘Yeah, just a vendor who won’t take no for an answer.’ She stormed away before Amanda could call her out on the obvious lie.