dos and Don'ts
Page 15
“Honey, I’m here to supervise.” He did a full spin in the chair.
“Then why don’t you try supervising Karen over there to do this girl’s nails?” Violet pointed her chin to the back room, where Karen, who was tall and thin like a giraffe’s neck, was leaning against the doorway. “And bring me another coffee from the back.”
Giancarlo heaved his considerable weight up from the chair. “Only you can bring sanity to this place,” he said to me, and walked toward the back where the break/supply room was. “Oh, Karen! You’re needed!”
I loved the way they all bantered back and forth. Jonah and I had that, but otherwise I usually stayed pretty tight-lipped for fear of saying something stupid.
“So, Mick,” Violet said to me as she expertly worked the round brush through my unruly hair. I was growing it long—it was all one length and almost halfway down my back—so there wasn’t too much I ever did with it except pull it back in a ponytail. “You excited about your big first day?” Violet had an amazing pixie cut that looked like it was threaded with strands of gold, and today she was killing it in a one-shouldered, black jersey top with skinny black jeans and gold gladiators.
“I have butterflies,” I confessed. “But the good kind. I think. I’m not nervous—I mean, I’m excited, but I hope I don’t mess anything up. I mean, it’s not like there’s much to mess up since I’m just sweeping, but…”
“You’ll be fine,” she said, stopping my rambling. Even in front of people I’d known forever, I got nervous opening my mouth. “And don’t fool yourself about just sweeping—every job counts because, honey, it takes a team to make women look as gorgeous as we do. Just make sure you sweep the stations clean before the clients arrive. Otherwise, we all look sloppy.”
Karen came up from the back. “Since it’s a special occasion and all, I’ll do your nails right here in Violet’s chair,” she said.
I felt like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz getting pampered and beautified at the palace salon in preparation for the most important moment of her life. “We need to get a move on,” Karen continued. “Salon opens in thirty. What color did you decide on?”
“Um, there’s one that’s kind of mandarin orangeish? I saw it in the box of new spring colors in the back.”
“Look at this one,” Karen said to Violet, who just smiled as she worked on another section of my hair. “‘The new spring colors.’ She’s sure not here to mess around.”
“I think it’ll look great with what I’m wearing. Right?” I asked Violet. I had carefully planned my first-day outfit: a bubblegum pink T-shirt with a black silhouette of a girl wearing a high ponytail and fluffy bangs, a black, frayed denim skirt, and silver-sequined ballet flats.
“Absolutely,” she nodded. “It’ll look fantastic.”