Sweet Encounter

Faye

The door to the salon swung open with a ding of the bell. I shuffled inside and placed my coffee on the receptionist’s desk. She was nowhere to be found as usual. I wondered why Evander, my brother, hired her but then I saw her and how beautiful she was and immediately it clicked into place. Obviously, it never mattered whether you could actually do the job, being beautiful takes you places.

“How many times have I told you not to wear your hair up or tuck your shirt into your pants?” my mother’s voice dripped with condescension and disdain.

I glanced down at myself and shivered.

When I left the house a few minutes ago, I glanced in the mirror and thought I might actually be happy with how I looked today.

I was wearing high-waisted flowing pants with a t-shirt to match tucked into them. My hair was in an elaborate French braid that took three tries to perfect - it’s never easy braiding your own hair! But I’d forgotten the fundamental rules of trying to hide the fact that I was plus-sized. Rule number 1 - never wear your hair up or away from your face - it leaves too much exposed. Rule number 2 - never tuck your shirt into your pants - it only accentuates everything you have that you should be hiding. No matter which way you looked at me, there is no hiding my size. I just don’t understand why everything is centered around me and my size.

I glance up to notice that my mother is still staring at me. Her gaze makes me feel so uncomfortable and lacking that I make my way to the back and hastily don my apron. I loosen the braid I worked so hard on and allow my hair to cascade around my face. Feeling satisfactorily like I was adhering to the rules and that my size was somehow more concealed than before, I entered the front of the salon to find the receptionist laughing merrily with my mother.

I glanced in the mirror as I walked passed and any light that was in my eyes when I dressed up this morning had disappeared. Now I looked more like myself.

“Your next client is here,” Evander sneered. Before I could wonder what put him into such a bad mood, I glanced up to see Mason sauntering his way towards me.

I smiled at him and he grinned at me. Mason’s smiles were few and far between but over the past few months we had bonded whenever I did his hair. His smile never failed to warm me from the inside out. On most days I felt frozen in a life that was melting away like ice cream on a hot summer’s day. Soon, everything would fade away but I would be stuck here.

“My favorite girl,” he winked at me as he swung himself into the chair.

“What can I do for you today?” I asked as I placed the apron over his shoulders.

“You know my usual,” he rolled his eyes.

I leaned closer to tie the strings on the back of the apron and caught a whiff of his perfume. Sometimes I wished he would pull me into his arms and hold onto me for a little while. But then I always remembered if he did that I would break down and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to put myself back together after that. It wasn’t easy to live a life where you aren’t even sure what love is. But I imagined if Mason hugged me and called me his favorite girl, it would mean he loved me.

From what I know of love, him turning up here month after month and trusting me with his hair and gifting me his rare smiles like they’re so easily given makes me pretty sure I love him. He’s like the brother I wish I had.

He glances at me through the mirror and I avoid his gaze. You can count on a military man to have precision in reading the room and faces and I know if he looks too closely he’ll see the effect my mother’s words had on me a few minutes ago. That’s something I never want anyone to see. I don’t want anyone to ever know just how uncomfortable I am to be me. I don’t want anyone to see that underneath this facade I have donned like armor, I don’t even know what remains. I’m just a hollow shell.

“Longer on the top and a fade, right?” I confirm.

He raises his eyebrow at me and I smile. He trusts me to do whatever I want with his hair and I always give him the same look because I remember the spark in his eyes when I first revealed it. He loved it and I always want him to love his hair when I’ve worked on it.

“How’s the hunt going?” he whispers.

I comb the length of a few strands of his hair preparing to snip them to meet the length of the other strands I’ve already cut and his question takes me by surprise.

We don’t usually talk about this around my family. It’s top secret. Besides the two of us, the only other person that knows is my best friend, Skye.

“Not too good,” I smile sadly. Before I can grasp the abandoned strands of hair and comb them out again, my phone starts ringing from the receptionist’s desk. Usually, I would allow her to take my calls but something tells me that this is a call I should be taking myself. I drop the scissors with a clatter onto the countertop in front of Mason, mutter an apology and sprint to my phone. The caller ID reveals an unknown number and I answer immediately hoping for a miracle.

“Hi, is this Faye?” a sweet voice asks.

“Yes,” I mutter breathily. The sprint from the hairdressing chair to the receptionist’s desk has me winded.

“I’m calling from Happily Ever After, I’d just like to inform you that we were impressed with the portfolio you submitted as part of your application. We’d like to progress your application to the next stage. We will send over your contract over email, you can review it at your leisure and get back to us on whether you would like to accept the position or not. I have to stress the importance that should you accept, you are expected to relocate within two weeks. The timeframe is quite short but we are severely understaffed and urgently require your services. We have multiple weddings booked over the next month that require hair and makeup to be done for a number of people. I will give you some time to think over the contract and if you could please express your intent by the end of the week, that would be appreciated.”

Something bubbled inside me. It felt like there was popping candy infused into my veins. It was a strange feeling and I struggled to identify it for a few seconds, until it finally registered. Hope.

“Thank you,” I managed to mutter before the line went dead.

I walked woodenly over to Mason. I wasn’t sure how I would do this. I don’t think I can. I’d never even left the confines of Blossom much over the course of my life. How would I relocate so far away?

“I take it that was news,” Mason whispered once again.

I gave him a slight nod and proceeded to finish his haircut. In my peripheral view, I noticed him grinning. What would I do without him in my life?

My mother and Evander appeared at my shoulder as I untied Mason’s apron.

“You should let Evander do your hair sometimes,” she ordered Mason.

He glanced at me and smiled. “No, thank you. I am exceptionally pleased with my current hairdresser. I don’t see any reason to fix something that’s not broken,” he shrugged and stood up from the chair.

The look he gave me when saying he doesn’t see the need to fix something that’s not broken filled me with warmth for a second. It made me hope that maybe not everyone views me as defective.

“See you next month,” Mason murmured and winked at me when he made sure no one else was looking. I knew I’d see him before then because for some reason he wanted to know everything about the call I just had. And to be honest, I couldn’t wait to tell him. I knew he’d be genuinely happy for me. I knew he would make it his mission to make sure everything that had to be sorted before I left, would be. And I loved him for that.

My phone dinged with a text message as soon as he left the salon. It was from the group chat I had with Mason and Skye. ‘Dinner at Eloise’s tonight?’

I knew he wouldn’t wait too long to find out what happened but him suggesting Eloise’s gave me the perfect opportunity to tease him. Everyone knew him and Kate would make a good couple, except them.

‘Eloise’s 😉?’

I texted back almost immediately.

He didn’t take the bait but I knew that my response probably drew a rare smile out of him.

‘Dinner it is.’

Skye texted back ruining any chance of me taking the teasing any further.