She thought about stopping him but what was the point? Hadn’t Becky said her feeling for Charles had bloomed when they slept together the first time?
He led her to the bed, pulled her onto his lap and smoothed her hair away from her face. He kissed her deeply. She tried to summon hers. But when she closed her eyes all she saw was Joe. His caresses grew increasingly more urgent. She got up off his lap and lay on the bed. All she had to do was pretend to be with Joe. No, that wasn’t right. And it was dishonest in a way.
“I want you, Renee.” He pulled off his shoes, then removed his shirt.
He was more muscular than she'd imagined. She tried to think of all the sweet things he'd done for her. As he sidled next to her on the bed, the faint smell of Polo cologne drifted to her. She breathed it in. Suddenly her clothes were too restrictive, so she pulled her shirt over her head and slid off her pants.
Cleave ran his hands along her arm, her hip, her buttocks, pulling her body against his. The intensity of his desire nudged her libido back to life. He cupped her breast, tugged on her nipple, sending chills through her.
He stripped off his pants and dropped them onto the floor in the otherwise immaculate room. She pulled down the covers and slipped underneath since she wasn’t comfortable being completely naked in front of him yet. Too bad she hadn’t continued with her workouts. She took off her underwear and tossed it across the room.
“Reckless abandon,” he said. “I love that about you.” He moved underneath the sheets with her, positioning his body on top of hers. She bent her legs, pinning him against her.
His erection pressed against her thigh. “I love you, Renee.”
She couldn't say it, didn't feel it, not yet. She said nothing, but ran her nails lightly along his ready hard-on.
He gasped. “I'll explode if I don't make love to you this second.” His voice was low but urgent. He pressed his mouth to hers, taking, tasting and exploring.
She opened to him, let him settle his body between her legs. He rocked against her as he kissed her neck and shoulders. Then he grabbed a condom from the night stand and rolled it on.
When he entered her, she flinched. He thrust into her so deeply she nearly screamed in pain.
She squeezed her eyes shut and saw Joe. And it felt good, having him inside of her. She rocked against him, clutching his shoulders.
“Renee.” Cleave’s voice tore her out of her fantasy.
He was her future, not Joe, not anymore. He moaned and she watched the pleasure wash over his body as he stroked over and over. Finally, he grunted his release then collapsed on top of her.
“I’ll take care of you after I rest.” A few minutes later he was asleep.
She lay next him, but never slept. Staring at the ceiling, she memorized the pattern of the crown molding. It should have been Joe.
* * * * *
“My last manicure lasted almost two weeks. I was so pleased.” Naomi slid into the chair opposite Renee's Tuesday morning.
“Glad to hear that.” Renee yearned to bring up Joe, but didn't want to sound like she was pumping Naomi for information. “How's Wyatt?”
“He's great. Worked all weekend. So I did some time with my mom.” She wrinkled her nose.
“I feel your pain.” She worked silently for a few minutes, trying to think of an opening to discuss Joe. “I guess we won't be double dating any time soon.”
Naomi raised her brow, but said nothing.
“I'm sorry. I don't mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“No, no, you're not.” Naomi darted her gaze around the room.
“Has Wyatt heard from Joe?” She couldn’t help herself.
Naomi sighed, shifting in her seat. “A few days ago, I think.”
“Did he say anything about me?” She sat up straighter, waiting for any crumb.
“I really don't know, Renee. Can we talk about something else?”
Dead end. She slumped as she buffed her client's nails. She completed the manicure mostly in silence, occasionally making small talk.
Hours later, a woman called the shop, asking to speak to Renee.
“I'm calling in response to your ad. You're looking for a hairdresser?” she inquired.
“Yes, we are.”
“I see it's straight booth rental. How many operators are there?” the woman asked.
“We have three hairdressers plus two nail techs.”
“What's the clientele like?”
“It's kind of diverse. We have a young hairdresser. Her clients are mostly in their twenties. Becky, my partner, does lots of middle-aged and elderly women. Wash and sets, mostly. Another hairdresser's clientele is kind of mixed.”
“Are they mostly white?”
“Why? I really don't think that has anything to do with anything.” She wouldn't tolerate bigoted behavior.
“I'm not a racist or anything. Black hair is different. I don't do straightening or braiding. Do you have much call for that?”
Although the woman had explained herself, Renee instantly disliked her, but she should give the woman a chance. “No.”
“May I come in and see it?”
“Come by any time today or tomorrow. Speak with me or Becky.” Hopefully she'd misjudged the woman.
“I'll be there shortly, Renee. My name is Susan.”
Two hours later Renee was putting topcoat on Gerta's nails. A middle-aged white woman with short blonde hair, wearing a denim jumper came in.
“I'll be right with you,” Renee called from her station.
The woman sat on the love seat, clutching a tan purse against her lap as if she was afraid someone was going to steal it.
Renee got Gerta set up at the drying table, then went to the reception area. “May I help you?”
“I'm Susan. I spoke with Renee earlier.”
“Let me show you around.” She offered her hand.
Susan shook her hand, then followed her for a tour and told her the terms.
“Any questions?” she said when she’d finished.
Susan pulled her purse strap tight against her chest. “Yes. How much walk-in business is there and who gets it?”
“We're lucky to get two or three walk-ins a day. Do you have a clientele established?”
“Yes, but I could be busier.”
What was it about this woman that made her uncomfortable? Maybe she was just imagining it.
Susan clasped her hands. “I like it. I'd like to work here if you'll have me.”
Money was money and they needed every penny they could get.
Renee introduced her to Becky, who invited her to join the crew. Susan told them she'd start the next day.
“Why are you leaving your current salon?” Becky asked her.
“Personality conflict.”
Renee exchanged a glance with Becky. “Can we call them for a reference?”
Susan shifted from foot to foot. “I'd rather you didn't. The owner and I parted ways on bad terms. But I was a top notch employee.”
Although they had hired Antoine and Zoey that way, something seemed off about Susan. But Becky had already given her the go-ahead so they’d have to go on the assumption that Susan would be an asset to Hair Affair.
Still, she couldn’t shake an uneasy feeling in her gut.
* * * * *
Wednesday morning, Susan arrived at the salon at nine-thirty to set up her station. Renee assigned her the only one left-the one between Antoine and Zoey. Susan arranged her shampoos, conditioners and styling products from smallest to largest on her shelf. Her curling iron and blow dryer wires looked as if they'd been pressed flat, instead of all coiled up like everyone else's. By ten, she was ready to work. Only she didn't have any clients scheduled until two-thirty.
At eleven, Toy came in. She and Renee headed to the pedicure room.
“So, I decided to keep the tennis bracelet Wesley gave me for pain and suffering.” Toy placed her hand on her chest. “See?”
Renee's eyes popped as she stared at the di
amond tennis bracelet around her friend's wrist. “Pain and suffering? Does that mean you’ve already broken up with him?”
“Yup. He has a wife. I'll put up with some crap if the rewards are there, but this girl won't play second fiddle. How are things going with Cleave?”
“Speaking of second fiddle? I finally let him ravish me.”
“And how was it?”
She wished she could say it had been amazing or even pretty good. “It was…nice.”
“Nice? Nice is a word to describe something in a store you're not buying or a good deed done by a boy scout. Nice should not describe sex.” She folded her arms. “Spill it, girlfriend.”
Renee shrugged. “How was it with you and Wesley?”
She laid her head back and sighed. “It was hot and steamy and playful and fun.”
“Well. Ours was…fine.” She avoided her friend's eyes.
Toy slapped her forehead. “Renee, you're killing me here. All right, I'll drop it. I take it you haven't heard from Joe.”
Renee stopped what she was doing and frowned. “Not a peep. I sent him back the emerald bracelet he gave me for Christmas.”
“You what? Where did I go wrong with you? Never, ever give back jewelry. Are you so loaded all of a sudden that you don't need three or four hundred bucks?”
“You think I should have sold it? I could never have done that. Remember, I'm the one who did him wrong, not vice versa.”
Toy waved away her comment. “Fault is inconsequential. In the future, please remember to always keep the jewelry.”
She smiled weakly. “I'll take that under advisement. I wrote him a note and slipped it inside the package.”
“Yeah? What did it say?”
“Something like: 'Dear Joe. I'm so sorry to have hurt you. I never meant for anyone to get hurt. Please try to understand that I care deeply about you and miss you.' Blah, blah, blah.” She didn't want to admit that she’d begged him for another chance.
“Your new boyfriend can afford to buy you some nice jewelry.”
“He's been pressuring me to move in. I've put him off so far. But he wants me to quit working to be there for him. That's so not me. I love this place. It's like a second home. Well, after the mall.” She grinned.
Toy shrugged. “So, what's wrong with being taken care of?”
“Toy, hello? What if it doesn't work out? Then I've let all my clientele go and what do I have? I've spent seven years building it. Anyway, I can't just let him support me. And I can't not have my own place. I don't want to leave myself with no way out of the relationship.”
“Mm hmm. Sounds like you’re looking for the life rafts before you set foot inside the boat. Keep your place. Tell him you want him to pay for it in order for you to feel comfortable moving in with him.”
“Why don't you move in with him, Toy?”
“If he was my guy, I would. But that's just me. I'd never tell you how to run your life.”
“Ha! Sure you wouldn't.”
Toy gestured at the door. “Who's the new lady?”
“Her name is Susan. She's a little I don't know…stiff, I guess. Today's her first day. I'm curious to see how she does with Antoine.”
“Why?”
“Something tells me she might have a problem with a someone as…flaming as him. And I'll tell you what. She'll be out on her ass if she messes with him. I love the man.”
After the pedicure, they headed to Renee's station for Toy's manicure. Antoine had a client in his chair, coloring the young man's blond hair pink. Zoey was working on Hazel, her cross-dresser. Poor Susan sat in her service chair looking shell-shocked.
When they passed Chantelle's station Toy stopped in her tracks. “Chantelle, your hair looks great. Who cut it?”
“Antoine,” Chantelle smoothed her hand over the back of her neck. “I love it. He's a genius.”
Renee thought she heard Susan cluck her tongue. When she looked over at her, the woman was staring straight ahead, as if in a trance. “Everything okay, Susan?”
“Fine.”
A man walked in for a haircut. Susan was the only free hairdresser, so she took him to her station. Renee glanced at him when he got up after Susan was through with him. From her perspective, it appeared that he'd gotten a good haircut. That was a relief. But she wondered why Susan didn't have a bigger clientele. She said she'd been cutting hair for twenty years in the area. Where were twenty years worth of clients?
Renee and Antoine were the last ones at the shop that evening. Renee lingered at Susan's station to examine her beautician's license. Everything looked in order. She wished she could get rid of the nagging feeling in her gut about this woman.
“Something wrong, Miss Renee?” Antoine sprayed his station down with disinfecting solution.
“I don't know. Did you watch Susan work at all today?”
“Mary Poppins? She only did like three cuts all day. I hope she's busier than that soon or she'll starve.”
“Me too. Did you notice she stares a lot?”
“Yeah. My sister did shit like that when she used to do Quaaludes. Sat and stared for hours.”
She shook her head. “She really doesn't seem like the druggie type.”
“No, she don't. I don't think she likes me. She kind of looks over at me and her nostrils flare. I wanted to call her Puff the Magic Dragon, but I thought she might take offense.”
She laughed. “You think?” She waited for Antoine to finish his cleaning, then they walked to the parking lot together.
“Antoine?” She used her key fob to unlock her car.
“Yes, cupcake?”
“Thanks for adding something to Hair Affair I never knew was missing.”
He grinned as he got in his car. “My pleasure.”
Joe had been that missing thing in her life. She wondered if she’d ever have that feeling with Cleave. She doubted she’d ever have it again with any man.
* * * * *
Two weeks later Becky announced to the shop that she had a grown son. She placed a photo of Justin on her station as she explained to the staff how she'd given him up for adoption when she was a teenager. Everyone sat in stunned silence, listening. When she finished telling them about their meeting in Daytona, there wasn't a dry eye in the place.
“Now that you all know about my past, I have an announcement about my future.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “I'm getting married.”
Zoey jumped up and down. “That's fantastic, Becky!”
Antoine started humming ‘Here Comes the Bride.’ “When's the big day? Are we all invited?”
“We're thinking May and yes, I'd be honored if you all could come.”
“Congratulations.” Susan returned to her station.
Renee just stood there, stunned.
Becky eyed her. “Well?”
“I'm so happy for you.” She studied the floor, emotions warring inside her. “That hit me from out of left field, Beck. When did you and Charles get to this point?” And why hadn’t she told Renee before the others?
Becky put her arm around her shoulder and led her to a quiet corner of the salon. “Honey, you've been dealing with lots of relationship problems lately. Was I supposed to tell you how well things were going with Charles and me while you were crying over Joe? What kind of friend would that make me?”
“Have I been that absorbed in my own problems?” She wiped away a tear.
“Frankly, yes.”
“God, I'm sorry.” She shook her head.
“I'm sorry too. Let's always try to stay more in tune with each other. It's as much my fault. Renee, I'd like you to be my maid of honor.”
“I'd love to.” They hugged for a long moment. “I'll try to be more aware of what's going on in your life, Beck. I promise.”
“It's okay.”
Her gut clenched. She should be more honest with Becky. She had to tell her how tight their finances were. But with Susan and Antoine both paying rent now, there was at least a light at the end of th
e tunnel. They each headed to their stations.
Pam had arrived while Renee was speaking to Becky. She sat at Renee’s station and drummed her fingers on the table. “Are you ready for me now?”
“Sorry about that.” She sat down and sprayed sanitizer on her client's hands. “I've been wondering how things went for you with Pablo. You're keeping me on pins and needles.”
Pam scowled. “Let's say it didn't go well.”
“Oh, no. I'm so sorry.”
“You and everyone else told me so, didn't you?” Her voice held an almost accusatory edge.
“Are you mad at me?”
She hung her head. “No. I'm angry at myself for being such a fool.”
“What did he say?”
“That he's changed his mind. That he didn't want me to have the baby. He asked me to have an abortion.”
“I’m sorry. Did he say anything else?”
“Like what?” She challenged Renee with her stare.
Her heart picked up its pace. “I-I don't know. Did he break up with you or something?”
“We had a fight about it, that's all. Do you know something about him you're not telling me?”
Her cheeks flamed. She concentrated on filing Pam's nails. “What would I know about Pablo?”
“A while ago you asked me his last name. Remember? You told me you'd met someone named Pablo? Why did you think that might be my Pablo? Where did you meet him?”
She coughed. “I don't remember. It's been too long. Maybe a party or something. He was a cop or a fireman, I really don't remember.” Could Pam hear her heart beating?
Pam dropped her shoulders. “I'm grasping at straws. Something's up with him. I'd like to know what.”
“Have you had any morning sickness?” She breathed a sigh of relief. She was off the hook, for now.
“I have all day sickness. I feel like shit most of the time. But I'm going to have this baby with or without him. I have my folks here, you know. My mom will help.”
“Have you thought about what you'll do with the baby when you're at work?”
“I have six weeks off after it's born. Then I can change my schedule at the hospital to work third shift if I need to. My parents can keep the baby at night. I mean it would be sleeping most of that time anyway, so I don't think it would be a big deal for them.”
Wrong Way Renee Page 18
