Fierce Salon Episode 1: A New Adult Smexy Serial (4 page)

“I got the job?” She jumps up and gives me a hug. “Thank you so much.”

Surprised, I pat her back awkwardly. “Um…you’re welcome.”

“Oh my god.”
Realizing her faux pas, she peels away from me like the contact burned her palms. “I’m so sorry. It’s just been a….rough few days.”

“Okay,
well, you might want that champagne after all.” I smile and hand the glass to her. “I’m gonna let you go tell Olivia the good news.”

“No need.” Olivia is at my side
and tugging at my arm. “Thanks, Nate. You won’t regret it.”

“
Yeah.” I squeeze her hand and back away. “Show her around and get with Jules for the paperwork.”

Chapter Seven

Amy

I got the job? I got the job. I got the fucking job! I
can’t believe it. As soon as I mentioned Ming, Nate seemed to completely change his demeanor. He went from terrifying to polite in two seconds. He’s the most intimidating man I’ve ever met.

And
the most beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man so ruggedly handsome and still…pretty. He’s tall and tan and his crystal blue eyes seem to penetrate right through me. I wanted to touch his lips just to see if they were as soft as they looked. His chiseled jaw is covered in a light dusting of dark hair that makes me want to rake my teeth over it. He’s oozing sex but his eyes never dropped to my chest once while we talked about the job.

Gay.
Of course. They always are. But this is for the best. If he was straight, I would humiliate myself by drooling over him when he’s obviously miles out of my league. This way, I can admire his beauty without seeming like I think I have a chance.

Olivia pulls my arm toward the
blonde at the front desk with boobs that are not from nature. She appears to be in her thirties and has pictures of a redheaded baby hidden behind her computer. “Oh, what a cutie! Is that your baby?”

The pretty receptionist beams at the photo then back to me. “Yes, that’s little
Parker.”

“He’s adorable.”

“Thanks.” She holds out her hand to me. “I’m Julia. Are you our new stylist?”

“I think I am.” I’m still in shock
at how fast everything is happening.

Olivia smiles brightly. “Yup, Amy is starting tomorrow as a junior stylist. Nate said you’d have paperwork for her?”

“Welcome, Amy. It’s great to have you.” She stands up and turns toward a file cabinet then pulls out a folder.

“Fill these out and bring them in tomorrow. Your commission is 40% of
services and 10% of retail. Your benefits will kick in immediately and all you need to bring are your shears and a good attitude.” She was surprisingly chipper while being professional. I liked her immediately.

“Benefits?”
I look to Olivia. “I haven’t had medical coverage since I left school.” The freedom to just go to a doctor or dentist was almost overwhelming. I can feel my throat tightening but I keep my smile and don’t let any tears fill my eyes. I’ve never been overly emotional but these past few days have been one extreme feeling after another.

“You’re
gonna love it here.” Olivia takes the folder of papers from Jules as I thank her for the overview.

“I’ll introduce you to everyone later but I want to make sure you know where the break room is and supplies and stuff before my next client gets here.”
I feel like all eyes are on me as Olivia pulls me through the center of the salon. I’m not sure anyone even heard the conversation with Jules but gossip always travels fast in any salon so I hold my head high and smile at anyone I lock eyes with.

As we turn into a back room, I notice Nate watching me.
His crystal eyes are intense like he’s looking right inside of me. He isn’t smiling but he doesn’t seem angry. He’s hard to read. I wonder if he’s already regretting his quick decision to hire me but I’ll prove my worth soon enough.

Even though
I’m newly licensed, I know my clients are always happy when they leave my chair. Just as I walk out of view, I catch the wide smile on his client’s face as she gazes up at him. That cougar is prowling up the wrong tree.

~**~

“He did not!” Frankie slaps his thigh and looks up indignantly.

“Honest to god. He hired her after like thirty seconds of conversation. She starts tomorrow.” Olivia is whispering with purpose.

“Is that unusual?” I ask, wondering what the big deal is.

“Girl, you don’t understand. He made me write an essay and promise my first born just to sweep up in this place. He usually requires a cut and color
and
at least three references from past employers
and
a guarantee of clients.” Frankie is shaking his head and tweaking the pinkish spikes on top of it. “Are you sure you aren’t related to him?”

“It is weird that he didn’t even ask for references.”
Olivia looks me over again. “When he hired me, he had to meet with Ming and Nancy personally to make sure their reference was genuine.”

Frankie is nodding again while putting a stack of clean towels in a cabinet. “He’s made
more than a few people run out crying during interviews.”

“Well, it was rocky there for a minute and he started to walk away from me but…I guess I convinced him otherwise.
” I walk to the fresh towels and begin to fold them. “He totally changed his attitude when I mentioned Ming. Maybe he trusts her judgment after you?” I say to Olivia.

That
makes perfect sense to her. “Yeah, maybe.” She turns to Frankie. “Well, anyway, I wanted to make sure she knew who to go to for anything.”

“Absolutely.”
Frankie gives me another hug. “Anything you need, you just ask. And if you’re bored, you’re always welcome to help me fold.”

“Thanks, and I will
.” I wave as Olivia drags me to her station.

There’s a post-it on her mirror.

Abbi cancelled. Marta will be in at 5:30.

-Paige

“Oohh.” Olivia guides me to sit in her chair. “This is perfect. I can do your hair.”

I grab
a clump of my brown strands and hold them in front of me, inspecting the ends. “What’s wrong with my hair?”

“Nothing’s
wrong
with it but we could take a few inches off and maybe add some layers.”

I glance at her through the mirror. “How many inches are we talking here?”

“Umm, three?” She smooths out a lock of hair and stops about five inches from the end. “Or four?”

My stomach clenches but I agree. “If you think it’l
l look better.”

“I do.” She spins
the chair around and drags me back to Frankie for the best shampoo of my life. His fingers are like a drug as they massage my scalp. I’d pay good money just for that treatment every day.

An hour later, I don’t even recognize myself.
The golden highlights that reached the middle of my back are gone and I’ve got a blunt shoulder length bob. I love it.

I’m admiring my new look when I feel a warm body behind me. “That’s different.”

“Um, hi, Nate.” I turn and face him. “What do you think?” One thing I can trust from a gay is the truth about how I look.

His fingers flit
through a few strands below my ear, barely brushing my lobe. A shiver passes through me at his touch. God, he’s beautiful. His face is only inches from mine and my stupid body leans into his touch before I realize it and pull back.

His colo
gne is faint enough to make me want to dive into his neck for more. It’s unlike anything I’ve smelled before. I inhale deeply then look up to see him watching me. Fuck.

“Olivia did a grea
t job.” He drops the lock of hair and walks away.

Not exactly a com
pliment but at least I know she didn’t mess it up.

~**~

Gabi is already home when I get back to her place just after six. “I brought Chinese.”

As she sorts
through some mail, I drop a bag of cardboard containers in front of her. She smiles up at me. “Well, you look much better than you did last night.”

“I got a job.” I
slip into the chair across from her and start unloading the bag. “And I get to have lots of sleepovers with my bestie.”

Laughing, Gabi
reaches for a fortune cookie and cracks it open. “Okay, I’ll eat to that.”

“Hey, you’re supposed to save those for the end.”

She tosses an unopened cookie to me. “Says who?”

“I
dunno?” I look at it and try to come up with a reason to wait. “Maybe no one?”

“That’s what I thought.” She holds hers up.
“On three.”

We count down together and
pull out the slips of paper.

Gabi has a frown on her face as she reads hers.

“What?” I ask, curious about her expression.

“It says, ‘
You will be offered the chance of a lifetime. Say yes
.’”

I nod. “That
sounds good. Mine’s a little more vague. It says,
‘Trust your intuition
.’”

She shrugs. “Eh. I guess those are decent. Let’s eat.”

We each take a container and dig in. I’m halfway through my cashew chicken when Gabi starts the interrogation. “So where is this brilliant place that hired you?”

“Fierce Salon on Santa Cruz.
It’s really high end and I know a stylist there so she got me the interview.”

“Fierce? Did you meet Nate Edwards?” She puts her chopsticks down in a rare display of
food self-control.

“Yeah, he’s the one who hired me.” I shovel some fried rice in my mouth. “Know him?”

“Know him?” She barks out a short laugh. “I fucked him a few years back.”

My jaw drops and I almost choke. “What?”

“Yeah.” She has a dreamy look in her eyes as she gazes out the back window. “He’s so beyond gorgeous.”

“Isn’t he gay?” None of this is making sense unless he swings both ways.

Gabi laughs and looks at me like I’ve grown a second head. “Have you met him? He’s 100% slut but as far as I know, it’s always with women. Mostly model types. I think he was really drunk the night we hooked up.”

“When?”
I whisper, completely fascinated by this new piece of information.

“Right before I met Matt.” She looks a little embarrassed as she comes clean. “
We were at a New Year’s Eve party and both ended up in a dark room at midnight and just went for it.”

“You just met him and fucked him t
hat night?” I’m astonished I’ve never heard this story before.

“Um, more like I met him and fucked him within about fifteen minutes.”
She gets up and grabs a couple hard ciders from the fridge. “You’ve seen him. If he knocked on the door right now, I’d drop my panties and hop on with no questions asked.”

“And you call him a slut
.” I have to laugh. “I can’t believe you never mentioned this.”

“Eh.” She shrugs and takes a long pull from her bottle. “It’s like one of the fantasies that you aren’t entirely sure happened so you don’t tell people because you’re afraid they’re
gonna tell you it was just a dream or something.”

I nod, not completely sure what she means but not interested in a deeper explanation. I’m still trying to processes the fact that the beautiful Adonis that I’ll be
working next to everyday is not gay and apparently fucks strangers at parties.

Not only that,
during the few encounters I had with him today, he showed less interest in me than the confirmed gay guy. Talk about a blow to the ego. I guess this is the universe’s way of confirming I need to give up on dating for a while. I have an amazing opportunity with Fierce and I can’t blow it.

With a full belly, I finally turn my phone
back on. Six missed calls and a list of texts I don’t bother reading.

“
Did Shane call?” Gabi burps then laughs. “Excuse me.”

“Yeah.
You’re both pigs.” I kick her shin lightly under the table.

“Maybe but I’m the cute little pink kind. He’s a disgusting boar that needs to be castra
ted.”

“Whatever.” I
load the empty containers into the plastic bag and carry them to the trash. “He’s someone else’s dickless boar now.”

“Are you going to talk to him?” She grabs the leftover fried rice and takes it to the fridge.

“Nope.” I pull another cider out before she closes it and lean against the counter. “I may need to pick up some more clothes but I can wait til the weekend. He’s supposed to go to some convention thing on Saturday.”

“I’ll go with you.”
She takes my hand and drags me to the couch. “But tonight, we find some Matthew McConaughey on Netflix and figure out what you need to list in the online ad we’re gonna post for you.”

“Online ad…like for a dating site?”

“Yeah. This way I can help screen the guys that are interested to make sure you don’t get stuck with another douche.”

“
First of all, I told you I’m done with men for a while.” I flick her arm. “And second of all, I’m glad you think so highly of my judgment.”

She settles on a movie called Mud. I’ve never heard of it but I curl around a throw pillow and get comfy.

“I just want to make sure you find the perfect guy next time. You deserve it.”

I yawn and put my feet up on the
ottoman. “Thanks but no thanks. Maybe in a year or two.”

“Umm hmm.” She
looks at me with one eyebrow cocked. “We’ll see about that.”