Henley clutched the cocktail napkin in her left hand and drove with her right. She found Mountain Road very easily and pulled up to a peach and white building, very much unlike the spas and salons of Bridgeport, to which she was accustomed.
She parked her Shelby and wandered past the parked cars and the fountain toward the entrance of the salon.
"Uh...hello?" she called out, but no one answered her. She saw movement through another set of glass doors and noticed a pair of bare feet and heard the hum of a machine. She walked through and found herself staring at the back of a slim woman with short, dark hair and tattoos covering her entire right arm. She was hunched over the shoulder of a muscled man who was apparently her canvas. He was only wearing a pair of shorts and seemed very relaxed for a man who was being jabbed at with a needle.
Henley hesitated while glancing around the room, taking in the deep red walls, the artwork and the various awards given to one Suki Kenzo. She didn't want to interrupt a woman with a needle full of ink.
"Alright then darling, I think you're about done", the woman said with a somewhat faint but posh-sounding British accent.
"Excuse me," Henley began. "I am here about a position in the salon?
As the woman stood up, Henley noticed that she was quite stunning. She seemed to be Asian and had full lips, a bright smile and beautifully exotic eyes.
The woman stood up smiling and Henley backed in to the room to allow the man in the chair to put his street clothes back on. She did her best to keep her eyes on the smiling woman in front of her.
"Hello there!" said the woman, holding out a manicured hand in greeting. "Suki Kenzo."
"Um, hi!" replied Henley, taken aback by both the woman's beauty as well her friendly greeting. She shook her hand warmly but then suddenly was at a loss for words. She hadn't realized just how much she had been searching for a friendly face up until that moment and the kindness in Suki's eyes was a welcome relief after her first day in Hidden Springs.
"I'm Henley Grey" she blurted out as she released Suki's hand. "I've just moved here from Bridgeport and I'm hoping to find a job in the fashion industry." Well, she thought, right to the point I guess.
"Goodbye, love!" exclaimed Suki to the muscly man as he made his way to the door. The nameless man grunted in reply.
"A man of few words, that one," laughed Suki, once he was out of earshot.
Henley giggled and was grateful to Suki for being the first person to allow her to feel a sense of normalcy.
"So you're looking for a position in fashion, are you?" Suki said. It seemed less of a question and more of a statement. The woman took in Henley's appearance, but it felt more like a curious appraisal than judgment. Suki continued, "Well my dear, your timing is spot on. Hannah has just announced that she's going on a leave of absence. Pregnant, you see."
"Hannah?" Henley asked.
"Right!" replied Suki. "Hannah is...or was, rather, our best stylist here. We have others of course but Hannah managed Luxe as well. Have you any managerial experience?"
Henley flew immediately in to her speech about all of her experience in Bridgeport and how she had built her business from the ground-up. She knew she had reached a rare point of desperation when she realized she had clasped her hands in front of her and Suki's face was poised in a concentrated frown.
She hurriedly dug in to her purse and handed Suki her portfolio as well as a list of all of her personal references and testimonials from former clients.
"Of course I have a website, right there," Henley said pointing at one of the sheets of paper she had thrust in to Suki's hands. "
Henley stopped talking immediately and waited breathlessly for Suki to speak.
"Well, it does sound as if you have a lot of experience under your belt, love, and you're the first person to enquire who seems to know what it means to start out as a grunt in this industry..." Suki trailed off as she glanced at Henley's portfolio. "Let me have a quick look at your website. Just take a seat anywhere."
But Henley couldn't sit. She positively quivered with anticipation. She knotted her fingers together, noticing that her palms were horribly sweaty. She tried to wipe them surreptitiously on the back of her leggings while hoping that she hadn't royally fucked up the interview.
She replayed it over and over again in her head as she paced the room, time seeming to tick but not tock. Henley wished that she could press reverse and redo the entire conversation. She would have remembered to breathe, and maybe act a little more casual about the whole thing, as if she didn't really need the job that badly.
Except that she did. And the longer she waited, the more it seemed that she wanted it too. The place wasn't as modern as the salons back in Bridgeport but it had a certain charm. And although she'd initially been concerned about the tattoo parlour, she felt a really good energy from Suki. Plus, the woman was the absolute definition of cool.
Suki breezed in at that moment, eyes all a-twinkle, as if to underline Henley's musings.
"A very impressive resumé and website Henley!" she exclaimed. "Much better than I was hoping for, to be honest. The thing is, darling, you'd have to realize that putting the management of the business must come before your own career."
"So,' Suki continued, "you would of course get a separate salary for the admin duties and then whatever client base you built up when you're not 'administrating' " she said using air quotes "is your second income flow." She paused. "Would you like the job then?"
"Ohmygodthankyousomuch!" Henley's reply came out in a jumble of gratitude strung together with more hand clasping. Sweet Jesus, I have no self control, she thought. But at that moment she didn't care.
Suki watched her wryly, hand on hip.
"Would you like to see the rest of the offices?"
Of course Henley would.
Suki showed Henley the kitchen which was curtained off "so we can go for a nosh in peace and quiet", Suki said with the utmost sincerity. Henley grinned inwardly at the use of the word nosh. She loved British slang and wondered if Suki also went to the loo but before she gave in to a random laughing fit, she shoved a cookie in her mouth and nodded sagely as Suki explained the importance of the washing up protocols.
Henley looked around in disbelief. This was her very own office! She tried to contain her childish delight by staring hard at the vintage fashion shots that lined the room.
"Obviously if you get your work done early then you have the rest of your day for clients so really, it's all about your ability to manage your time."
Henley's mind was moving in a million directions at once. Was this office soley hers or would she be sharing it? Could she re-docorate it if she wanted to? And who was the owner of Luxe? Who would she ultimately be reporting to?
She reigned in all her thoughts and focused on the most important question. "So may I ask who owns Luxe?"
Suki laughed, smacked her own forehead as she rolled her eyes. "Oops! Good question. That would be me", she said without a hint of arrogance.
Henley's momentary surprise was replaced with even more questions which she forced herself to squirrel away until a later date.
"So on to your salon suite then?" asked Suki.
Henley smiled.
Her salon was lovely. A gentle breeze blew in through one of the windows, bringing with it the sweet smell of lilacs. Late afternoon sunlight filtered in through the curtains giving the room a lovely glow and Henley also noted the lamp with a flash head reflector for her photography which was crucial for a good portfolio shot.
"Suki...erm...Ms. Kenzo --" Henley faltered. What should she call her?
Suki interrupted. "Please! You be Henley and I'll be Suki," she said firmly.
"Okay. Suki." Henley smiled. "Thank you so much. I very much appreciate this position and I'm really excited to get started. When would you like me here for my first day?"
"Take a few days and get settled and then give me a ring," Suki replied, with a knowing smile on her face. "Where are you staying?"
"Actually, I haven't even seen my place yet. Everything should be moved in shortly. It's supposedly a little converted building behind Oxford Avenue."
"Oh Brill!" exclaimed Suki. "It's possible you have the flat next to mine!"
Henley and Suki laughed and chatted for a while longer about fashion (Suki thought Mom-jeans were "naff", which Henley learned was a bad thing), tattoos (Henley loved them but was mortally afraid of a needle touching her skin) and Hidden Springs (Suki promised to fill her in on all the gossip soon enough).
Suki had to go then, since she had someone waiting for her in the chair. She kissed both Henley's cheeks and then sashayed off to meet her next client.
Henley was standing and breathing in the scent of lilacs when she felt someone behind her.
A beautiful woman with perfectly coiffed blonde tresses stood in Henley's new salon. She was dressed from head to toe in Alice + Olivia which Henley knew partly because it was her job to know and partly because she owned the exact same romper in a different colour. She was about to comment on this fact when the blonde opened her mouth.
"Who are you? And where is Hannah?" looking at Henley as if she had been expecting the answer to her question for hours.
"Hannah quit. Well, actually, she's technically on leave because she's pregnant."
The woman, whose name Henely still did not know, made a face as if her world might come crumbling down around her.
"Luckily," Henley began, "I've just been hired as a senior stylist here at Luxe so I am sure that I can help you with whatever you need. In fact, I've just arrived from Bridgeport and I have quite a lot of experi-"
Blondie cut her off.
"Ah, no." She said shaking her head at Henley, her mournful look gone in an instant. "I'm sure you think you know absolutely everything about fashion because you're from Bridgeport but I'm simply not interested. But thank you, dear." She said it with the same capricious, scathing tone used by Ms. Burberry earlier that afternoon.
What the hell is wrong with the women in this town?! she though furiously. Except for Suki, everyone had been either weird or incredibly rude towards her all day. She was having no more of it.
"I'll have you know," Henley began, "that you are free to patronize this salon but you will please refrain from patronizing me. Further, if you have no interest in my services, you're free to do business with another stylist. In fact," Henley said feeling the weight of all of her emotions explode outwardly, "please also feel free to take the Eau de Entitlement with you when you leave."
For a moment the woman looked shocked. Or at least that's what Henley first thought. She quickly realized that the woman was simply experiencing a moment of disbelief that anyone would speak to her with anything less than reverence and worship.
She suddenly snapped back to attention and gave Henley a look that, despite her earlier bravado, made her wither with discomfort and uncertainty.
"Are you aware" she said punctuating each word slowly and crisply "that I am very good friends with the owner of this establishment?" She paused for effect.
In that moment of brief silence, Henley, who had only five minutes before been basking in the warm glow of sunlight and accomplishment, felt her stomach tighten and then drop. Suki is friends with this woman? Holy freaking shit. I've only had this job for five minutes and now I've thrown it away because of this blonde monster. And then again, Suki is good friends with her?! What did that say about her ability to read people?
Henley awkwardly scratched her head, while her mind raced, trying to find a way to fix things.
The woman stood there for another moment with a cruel look of satisfaction on her face while Henley twisted in on herself wishing she had simply smiled and ignored her. After all, she was used to the occasional client being dismissive or even outright rude. And she wasn't much of a fighter. In fact, Henley usually avoided confrontation if she could. And yet something about the blonde had suddenly triggered her hackles to go up and feel incredibly defensive.
The woman-with-no-name turned swiftly and marched out on her thin, tanned legs, blonde hair swinging perfectly in time to the beat of her walk.
Henley groaned out loud when she had gone and decided to cut and run before she spoke to Suki and she was humiliated again.
She made one stop on her way out. The office I almost had, she thought woefully. She glanced around and for the first time seriously considered if the move to Hidden Springs had been the right choice. After all, she'd had a growing business, a nice apartment and a small group of great friends.
Maybe she'd really ended up here simply because she had wanted to avoid Arch.... Arch and his new girlfriend parading around the city as if he and Henley had never existed. She'd left because she couldn't deal with it anymore. They traveled in the same circles and were constantly bumping in to one another at parties, bars and events. It got to the point that her best friend Kayleigh was constantly on Arch-watch and Henley lived in a constant state of paranoia, thinking that Arch was around every corner. It wasn't healthy.
With the support of Kayleigh and her therapist, she'd made the decision to move, but now she wondered if it hadn't just been one huge, colossal fucking mistake.
She scooted out the front door, trying to make a break for it. As soon as she walked outside, she saw Suki standing in the courtyard and she cursed under her breath. Well, might as well get it over with and call it a day.
She could tell right away that Suki looked as if something was not quite right. She sensed the tension in the air and wonder what the beastly blonde had said about her. Before she could get a word out, Suki turned towards her. They both started speaking at the same time.
"Look I don't know what that woman told you but --"
"Henley, I am so sorry about Juno, she --"
They both stopped mid sentence and laughed.
"You first" said Henley.
"Look, I know that you've just met Juno. And I am sorry about her. I've known her since I was a child and you should know that we're not really friends, we're more like 'friends'" Suki said throwing up air quotes again while rolling her eyes. "I do hope she didn't frighten you away from Luxe."
"Yes," Henley responded carefully. "I did indeed meet a somewhat terrifying blonde woman who...how can I say this without being...well, she verbally accosted me and I guess I let her have it." Henley said this last bit with her head pointed at her toes.
As she glanced up at Suki from under her lashes, worriedly twisting her hands together, she was surprised to find that incredibly, Suki looked just as upset as Henley felt.
"Look, we should really get together and grab a glass of wine some time soon, yes?" Suki asked suddenly sounding drained. "It seems like we'll be neighbours and I think a drink and a bit of a chat will help to explain a few things. And I do apologize for Juno's behaviour. I'll speak with her before you start work, I promise."
"So I still have the job then!?" Henley gasped with pleasure, clutching Suki's arms even harder this time.
Suki laughed. "Of course you do, love! You're perfect for the job.
Suki leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially in her ear, even though the two women seemed to be very much alone outside the salon.
"Hidden Springs is a lovely place to live, but you have to understand how it operates and part of that understanding includes Juno," Suki said breathily. "Come by tomorrow so that we can arm you with all the information you'll need."
For just a second, Henley wondered if she'd somehow managed to wander in to the middle of a melodramatic mystery series. Even Suki was acting a tad odd now but since she was Henley's only friend so far, she decided to just agree to Suki's offer and relish in the fact that she had a job. In a weird town to be sure, but still, it was a job in fashion.
Henley watched as Suki drove away. Shit, she thought, even her car is cool.
It was dark and Henley checked her phone and realized that her new townhouse had been ready for almost an hour. She raced to her car and started off towards her new home.
