Chapter 28
Fiona had been nervous for her date with Porter, but this next client made her want to call in sick and hide at home.
It was Porter’s aunt’s birthday, and Mary and Martha had booked Savannah Glam to prepare for a fun night of drinks downtown.
His aunt Mary was charming and bubbly, and regaled her with tales of David’s love story with his wife, Kim. “Just waiting on the grandbabies now,” Mary had said, no fewer than seven times during her appointment.
But while Mary had requested a blow out, Porter’s mother Martha wanted highlights, a trim and styling. Plenty of time for Fiona to completely embarrass herself.
She sent Mary down the hall to get her makeup done by Stella, and had a few minutes to wait while Stella finished up Martha’s makeup.
Fiona had just enough time to clean up before Martha knocked on the door.
“Hi, welcome!” Fiona said, a little too brightly. It had been a very long time since she’d met a boyfriend’s mom, and the last time had gone particularly bad. Not that Porter was her boyfriend. Obviously.
“You must be Fiona,” Martha said, grinning. She was a small woman, a petite brunette who shared Porter’s kind gray eyes.
“That’s me,” Fiona said, placing a cape over Martha. “So, you just want to refresh your highlights and clean up the layers, right?”
“Exactly,” Martha said, smiling at her in the mirror. “I used to go to Lynn at Norm’s before it closed. I remember seeing you there a couple times, I think.”
Fiona smiled as she mixed the color for the highlights. “Norm’s was awesome. I was really sad to leave everyone there.”
“Seems like you’re doing well for yourself,” Martha told her. “All of this, and working at Hearth, too. I know it’s been a little overwhelming for Porter.”
Fiona nodded. She had no idea how much Martha knew about her and Porter.
“I heard about your date, by the way,” Martha said, a small, knowing smile on her face.
Fiona looked up, feeling even more nervous now.
“Did you?” Fiona asked casually. “What did Porter say?”
“Oh, he didn’t,” she said, with a little laugh. “My friend Anna was there that night and told me about the stunning woman she saw Porter getting drinks with. So I asked him, and he confirmed it was you.”
Fiona was sweating now. She tried to remember if they’d done anything too scandalous at dinner. She applied the color to Martha’s hair carefully, suddenly worrying that she’d forgotten how to do a highlight.
“It was our first official date,” Fiona said. “Porter is great. And that bouquet you made was spectacular, thank you.”
She didn’t know how much Porter would want her to say, so she opted to keep her comments as vague as possible.
While they were waiting for the highlights to process, Martha looked up at Fiona with an almost stern expression on her face.
“I’ve heard about your debacle over the rental space,” she said, and Fiona’s stomach dropped.
“It’ll be fine, I’m sure,” Fiona said. “We’re working it out.”
Martha set down the magazine she had been reading, and Fiona froze right where she stood.
“I am very proud of what Porter and David have done,” Martha said. “I owned a business myself for many, many years, and sometimes you have to do what’s best for you.”
Fiona frowned, not sure what she was getting at.
“If they wanted a lounge space so bad,” Martha said simply, “then they should have gotten a bigger place. It’s not your fault they didn’t think that through.”
She returned to her magazine, leaving Fiona to ponder that bit of knowledge. Her first impression was that Martha was indeed a little scary, and Fiona liked her very much.
Fiona finished up Martha’s hair without any major drama, and Martha only inquired about Fiona and Porter’s future plans a couple of times.
After Martha had left and Fiona could breathe, she thought about what she’d said about the rental space. Unfortunately, Laura was going to need her answer soon, and Fiona wasn’t any closer to knowing what she was going to do about it.
Three days later,Fiona finished up the final color client of a very long day, and checked her phone for the millionth time.
Stella, who must have been listening around the corner, popped her head in.
“Nothing?”
Fiona shrugged and threw up her hands. This was the second day of not hearing much from Porter. He wasn’t answering her calls, and his text responses were curt at best. At first she just thought he was busy, but now, it felt like something might be wrong.
Stella gave her a sympathetic look.
“If you can’t get a hold of him, does that mean we’re in the clear to rent the space?”
Fiona sat in her chair, exasperated.
“I don’t know. Laura’s being cryptic, he’s being evasive…I have no idea what it all means.”
“And we’re supposed to talk to Laura tomorrow,” Stella clarified.
Fiona nodded.
“I’m beyond confused. I worked one last shift and he wasn’t even there. He’s responded to a couple of my texts, but they were vague. I just…”
She trailed off, feeling incredibly defeated and confused.
“What do we now?” Stella asked.
Fiona shrugged. “All I can do is show up early tomorrow morning and try to talk to him before I call Laura. I don’t know what other option we have at this point.”
Stella rubbed her shoulder sympathetically. “Sorry, honey. I’ve had far too many experiences like this with men, and it never gets easier.”
Fiona shook her head. “I’m not ready to give up on him just yet. The date we had was…amazing. And real.”
She wasn’t sure how to feel at this point. Worried? Betrayed? Angry?
None of it would do any good. Tomorrow, they had to give Laura an answer. And she knew what hers would be, even if it meant risking what she had with Porter.