Mel looked at Kalyn for a moment. Her dark brown eyes searching Kalyn’s light blues. Kalyn couldn’t keep her eyes locked and looked away.
“Something happened,” Mel said.
“What do you mean,” Kalyn said.
“I can see it in your eyes, something happened.”
Kalyn looked away from her perceptive friend.
“See you’re looking away. Out with it. Does it have to do with Deborah, is that why she didn’t’ come in today? Or was it Joy,” Mel said. Her eyes narrowed as she said the woman’s name.
“No. No. Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
Kalyn stirred around her vodka soda. The small red straw collided against the ice cubes and clinked against the glass. She took a sip of the glass leaving a lipstick rim.
Mel waited for her friend to finish drinking she knew that Kalyn would spill the beans. She easily caved under a little peer pressure.
“Gary came in.”
“Whose Gary,” Mel said.
“He’s married to Joy, remember. You were the one who told me.”
“Oh right. I thought he was some tinder guy or something.”
“No.”
“But something tinderish happened? There was a spark?”
“He came over.”
“Why?”
“Well he was doing the books after we closed up last night.”
“Things did seem oddly organized,” Mel said. “I thought it was Joy.”
“No. It was him. Then we got to talking. He seemed nice.”
“Oh, but you were naughty,” Mel said with a raised eyebrow.
“It just happened,” Kalyn said shyly. Her face was turning red in embarrassment.
“What is it do you mean? Did you fist his asshole,” Mel said with a laugh. “I’d like to do some fisting with one of the Duplans.”
“No. He ate me out,” Kalyn replied. She looked down at her glass. It was beginning to empty out.
“Oh,” Mel said. She looked disappointed. “I thought something more exciting would have happened.”
“Well I sucked him off as well.”
“Did you swallow?”
“I plead the fifth.”
“Well it’s not that bad,” Mel said. “I sometimes have some Tinder twink come over and lick me out. I don’t touch his dick or anything and I don’t consider myself not a lesbian for it. I just like a little variety. Although the guy I call up he’s not really good at it. I should probably find another face to sit on.”
“I don’t know. I don’t think it was that good of an idea.”
“Well did it feel good?”
“Yeah.”
“Was his dick nice?”
“Yeah.”
“Well then it doesn’t matter,” Mel said. She took a long drink of her beer finishing it off. She went up to the bartender and ordered another round. The old man was quicker this time and Mel was back with another vodka soda for Kalyn.
“He’s married,” Kalyn said.
“So, what? Plenty of people are married. Plenty of people are divorced. Plenty of people are single. Sometimes married people don’t get laid. Sometimes divorced people don’t. Sometimes single people don’t and everyone needs to get laid. Maybe Joy doesn’t like to play on his team anymore,” Mel said.
“It just doesn’t seem right.”
“Don’t be so moral,” Mel said. “One it’s boring and two marriage is a terrible institution. How can anyone commit to someone else for that long I don’t know. I get tired of people have four dates.”
“We’re not the same Mel,” Kalyn said. “I sort of value you these things.”
“But why?”
“I don’t know. Because my parents.”
“Aren’t your parents divorced.”
“Yeah.”
“See. Marriage? It’s for suckers. Don’t worry about it too much Kalyn,” Mel said. She rubbed her friends back and squeezed her shoulders lightly. Mel leaned in close to her friend’s ear and whispered. “Just don’t get caught.”
Chapter 6
Gary pressed the pedal hard. The car accelerated. The purr of the engine turned into a roar. He’d gotten the car the sport coupe partially because of its engine, it was a six-cylinder twin turbo and had a 7-speed manual transmission. When it picked it up, it picked up fast going from zero to sixty in four seconds. Gary liked that it was fuel efficient though. It was a top-quality race and street car that was more environmentally friendly than some of his others.
His first car had been a hatchback that he’d bought from his neighbor. The little civic CRX had taken him where he needed to go but it wasn’t an item of luxury. Gary had been able to finally start getting what he wanted during the first tech boom in San Francisco. He’d been riding high since.
The stereo in the car was loud and the music was clear. Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” blared out of the car. Gary thought of it was a vampire love song, it was about the power of darkness and love. He’d read once that Tyler, a welsh singer, was doing a musical on Nosferatu at the same time that she composed the power ballad.
Gary wasn’t a vampire though but he didn’t really feel alive. Despite the speed of his car and the luxury of it, it didn’t offer him any more thrills. It had once. When he and Joy were just coming up everything was so exciting. Now though, there was no challenge. Nothing invigorated him. Being back in the Bay area was nice but Gary also missed the taste of late night burritos after going out to the bar too late and getting too drunk and having to work the next morning too early. Instead he would go to the Michelin restaurants by the pier.
Joy and Gary had had a silent meal at the Boxing Room. The menu attempted to balance Cajun and Creole indulgences with dishes like the spicy sweet fig and arugula salad with spiced pecans and pan seared goat cheese. There were the classics of course as well, fried alligator and gumbo, and tender roasted duck. The dining room had high ceilings and an airy dessert list including an angel food strawberry shortcake.
The silence of their meal had been broken by perfunctory statements and questions.
“What are you getting?”
“I need to use the bathroom.”
“I’ve had that here before.”
“The restaurant is too loud.”
“Do you really want to eat here.”
The type of dialogue that had become worn and routine with their marriage.
Meeting with Kalyn had been a fluke, something out of the norm. She was everything that he was not and that he used to be. She was hard working, driven, passionate about her job. She was dedicated. Gary could tell.
Kalyn was also attractive in an unsculpted way. She had a raw beauty that Gary found attractive. It had been an impulse to kiss her and even more to hook up with her but he’d been whisked away by passion. It was a fire that he hadn’t felt in a long time.
Joy and Gary rarely had sex. She rarely initiated these days. He had a lingering suspicion that she might be cheating on him but he hadn’t cared enough to inquire and or to search that hard. When he occasionally reached out for her in bed she turned away. Her body as frozen and hard as her silicone breasts. Yes, they could be pliable but they were hardened, much more firm than when he first met her.
The two had really struggled to get where they were. Joy had worked long nights as a waitress and bartender while he coded and worked on various projects during the day. They had clung together during their time of struggle. It was them against the world. Now they were on top of the world and they had grown apart. Their struggle was what kept them together. Without a struggle, there was nothing to bind them.
He hadn’t been thinking of where he was going but he found himself in front of the salon. Joy hadn’t stepped foot into the salon after the first day and it had been nearly a week. He’d had his secretary inquire about the shop. Kalyn and Mel were still there handling business, but Deborah had left.
His phone buzzed.
“Hello,” he answered.
“
Where are you,” his secretary said.
“I’m over by the salon. I was thinking about checking in,” Gary replied.
“Why? Isn’t that Joy’s project. I don’t understand why you’re so interested in that place.”
“It’s Joy’s but I don’t know if she’s handling things that well.”
“Well it’s going about as well as it did under that woman Deborah.”
“What does that mean,” Gary asked.
“The salon gets customers but isn’t capitalizing on them enough. They are having a terrible time of their books as well. I went through them a little. It’s a mess,” the secretary said.
“Maybe I should take a look,” Gary replied.
“Maybe you should go to the meeting that is scheduled for you.”
“Boring.”
“Everyone wants to see you,” the secretary said.
“They just want to take photos of me. Have me say something enlightening about their start up and give them some empty platitudes that come off as expert business advice.”
“Well you did pull yourself up by the bootstraps,” the secretary said.
“How can I give anyone advice when they don’t even know how to put on their own shoes.”
“In your next life, you can be a shoe salesman but in this one are you going to the meeting or not.”
The Porsche came up to the salon. He could see Kalyn inside. She was busy cutting a middle-aged woman’s hair. Mel was there as well, sitting in the empty salon chair waiting for customers.
“Tell them I’m not feeling well,” Gary replied.
“Okay. Your life, your decisions.”
“I’m the boss.”
“That you are,” the secretary said hanging up.
Gary drove around the block and wondered if he should actually go in or not. He wanted the salon to be a success. The way it was going now though it would just be a sinkhole for Joy and Gary, not that the loss of money really mattered that much. It was a drop of water in the ocean.
He parallel parked the car and got out. It was sunny out and the day was getting late. The sun would be setting soon and the salon would be closing in another hour or so. He wasn’t sure if he should say anything to Kalyn. They hadn’t talked and she hadn’t taken his card.
Walking around the block to the salon only took a few minutes. He was standing in front of the door. He took another breath and walked in.
“Hey Gary,” Mel said.
Gary looked at Mel. He hadn’t met her before but she knew who he was. Kalyn must have talked about him. He squinted his eyes at her.
“Hey Mel,” Gary replied. There was no use pretending he didn’t know her. He’d had his secretary ask for a little information on Kalyn’s coworkers as well. Gary put out his hand for Mel to shake. She took it and gave him a firm handshake. He looked over at Kalyn. She nodded her head.
“Hey Gary, how’s it going,” she said.
She was busy cutting a middle-aged woman’s hair.
“Yeah pretty good. Has Joy been around,” Gary said.
“Not really,” Mel replied. “We actually need more supplies and what not. Are you the one that we should talk to about it?”
“What do you need?”
“More shampoo, conditioners, and some other supplies,” Mel said.
Kalyn looked at Gary. She wasn’t sure what to say so she said nothing. She felt a nervous energy from him and felt ill at ease. Mel was handling things fine so Kalyn didn’t say anything. There was tension in the room though.
It didn’t help that Gary was well dressed. He was a fit guy and his clothing helped flatter the muscles of his body. His pants were snug around his ass and then comfortably dropped down. He was wearing a casual Fred Perry polo making him look smart. Kalyn appreciated that his hair was done well. He had taken the time out to comb it, something that most men didn’t do.
Gary wasn’t sure what to do himself. He’d come in almost on a whim. No, it was more than a whim it was a magnetic attraction. He couldn’t say anything to Kalyn and for the first time in a long-time Gary was tongue tied. He looked over at Kalyn. She was well dressed and her blouse helped define the beautiful curves of her body. The blouse was cut slightly low so he could spot her ample cleavage and she was wearing jeans that helped define a wide and attractive ass.
“Well. I’m going into the back to do some paperwork,” Gary said. “I assume there’s a list of suppliers and inventory back there.”
“I think so,” Mel replied. “Deborah was taking care of it all before so I’m not one hundred percent sure what is going on with it all.”
“Okay I’ll take a look,” Gary said. He walked into the backroom. The salon had a small office in the back that was to be used for paperwork and doubled as a storage room. Deborah had rarely used it, one of the reasons why the salon had been going under.
Kalyn watched him walk away through the corner of his eye.
“Woo. He a fine piece of meat,” Mel said. “I’m not really into all that muscle, but it sure does look good on him.”
Kalyn blushed.
“Is he the owner,” the woman in Kalyn’s chair said.
“He’s the owner’s husband,” Kalyn replied.
“Hmmm… Married. That’s too bad,” the woman said.
“Honey you only live once,” Mel said. “YOLO!”
The woman in the chair smiled. “I’m not sure he’s my type. Although I wouldn’t mind trying.”
“You two are terrible,” Kalyn said.
“Are we? Are we really that bad,” Mel said with a wink.
Kalyn rolled her eyes and focused at the task at hand.
Gary, meanwhile, was going through the paperwork in the back. Deborah had set up a basic accounting system and the books were structured well but just hadn’t been filled out. Since she’d left Mel and Kalyn had been doing the paperwork but hadn’t entered anything into the accounting system. He busied himself filling out the excel spreadsheets and then began ordering supplies. It felt good to have a purpose and a job. He didn’t feel so aimless and he liked the thought of helping the salon, and Kalyn.
Chapter 7
The day passed quickly. Kalyn had a full card of clients and Mel was busy with her scissors as well. She totally forgot that Gary was even in the back after a while. She was too busy dying, shampooing, straightening and styling.
Cutting hair wasn’t just about aesthetics either it was about making people happy and that could be a hard job especially with some people.
Her last client of the day was a white woman from Walnut Creek. It was her first time in the shop and Kelly had recommended her to the shop. She wanted her hair bleached blonde and then trimmed but her hair was thin and damaged. Dying it again would leave her hair too thin and damaged for it to look good.
“I know what I want,” the woman, whose name was Grace, said. “I’m sure it will be fine. I’ve had it done before.” The woman sat down heavily into her chair.
“If you do this you can’t go back. Right now, you have split ends and your hair is brittle and dry,” Kalyn said to her. “If we dye it, it won’t look very full and will damage your hair even more. I’m really not sure it’s a good idea.”
“I said I know what I want.”
Kalyn took a deep breath. If the hair hadn’t already been bleached Kalyn would have used a high lift dye. Usually the technique worked well with light brown hair. An ash tone high lift dye would neutralize all the orange and yellow pigments that appear as the hair lightens. The dye was expensive and a proper salon style. The first step Kalyn took was bleaching out the pigment. Grace’s hair had begun to darken at the roots. Kalyn also needed to appraise the situation.
“Did you wash your hair last night,” Kalyn asked.
“Of course.”
“That’s not good. You don’t want to irritate the scalp by washing your hair. I wanted to do a deep treatment with you as well. It might be better to do that then bleach out your hair,” Kalyn said.
“I wa
nt it done now.”
“These things take time. Nothing is instantaneous and your previous bleaching affects the processing time and the procedure. Are you on any medication? That can affect the process as well.
“I’m not on anything besides a bad mood.”
“Why,” Kalyn asked.
Mel was rolling her eyes at the older woman. She made eye contact with Kalyn and shrugged with sympathy. This would not be an easy job for Kalyn. She was also on a time constraint. The woman had made the appointment for an hour but a coloring job would take close to four or five. If not longer.
“I’m hungry,” Grace said.
“Well we can order something for you to eat. This is really going to take a while.”
“No one told me that,” Grace said.
“You also didn’t tell us what you were coming in for.”
“I thought you would be able to accommodate me,” Grace said. She turned around in the chair to stare at Kalyn. The woman gave Kalyn a harsh look. Her eyes narrowed.
Kalyn took another deep breath. She would have to use all her patience dealing with this woman.
“Listen a full platinum blonde job isn’t just something you can walk into, even if you have had your hair done before. These things take time. Doing a double process could take up to nine hours. I can give you a treatment right now to strengthen your hair and we can schedule a coloring job for later this week,” Kalyn said.
She knew that she would have to be firm with the woman. Grace wasn’t going to take no for an answer but that’s what Kalyn had to give her.
“Fine. Do whatever. It doesn’t even matter,” Grace said.
“First things first,” Kalyn said aloud. “We’ll wash your hair.”
Kalyn took Grace over to the shower chair. Kalyn brushed the hair first to loosen dirt and the dead cells from Grace’s scalp. Grace kept her eyes close which was good for Kalyn. Grace seemed to slowly relax as the comb went through Grace’s hair.
Kalyn then rinsed the hair thoroughly using slightly warm water. She rubbed a quarter sized dollop of shampoo between her palms and started lathering the scalp. Kalyn slowly worked her hands down. She massaged Grace’s head gently using circular motions for five minutes. She was careful not to pile the hair on top of the head as she scrubbed it to prevent the hair from tangling. She gently worked the shampoo into the ends of the hair.
Single Dad’s Plaything: A Single Dad First Time Billionaire Romance Page 67