Chapter 9: Blair and Chase
Tessa opened her drawer and stared. "Rosa, tell me I did not lose my mind overnight."
"What are we losing?" Rosa asked.
"My shears. My combs. Every clip. Yesterday full. Now lint and one bobby pin."
"Check under the laundry shelf," Rosa whispered. "Just a feeling."
Blair did not look up. "Or somebody is careless and wants a conspiracy."
Chase spun his chair. "Tough morning, Boyd? Charity case yesterday, vanishing tools today. Very you."
"Honey, I have my own tools," Blair said. "I do not borrow from the junior station."
"You implied steal," Chase said. "Careful. Serious word for someone on a written warning."
Tessa said nothing. She found her brush taped under the laundry shelf, and her clip case behind the towels an hour later.
At nine the booking screen changed in front of her. "Regina, my ten thirty color correction just moved."
Regina did not look up. "Reassigned. To Chase. The client requested a senior stylist."
"She booked me last week. She asked for me by name."
"Now she gets an upgrade," Chase said. "Clients outgrow people, Boyd."
"You called her," Rosa muttered.
"I confirmed appointments," Chase smiled. "Good service."
"That was three hours on my book," Tessa said. "That was my commission."
"Was," Regina said. "Now it is handled. You have a walk in at eleven."
The door opened. The woman wore a cream coat worth more than Tessa made in a month, and she was already annoyed.
"I need a blowout. Now. I have lunch at noon and your girl said maybe. I do not do maybe."
Regina was around the desk in seconds, smiling warmly. "Of course. Welcome to Velour. Tea?"
"Just the blowout," the woman said. "And not by a junior."
Her eyes landed on the girl waiting near Chair One, in a navy dress, holding a folder so tight its corner bent, hair still damp from the shampoo bowl.
"Is she next? She looks like she has time. I do not."
The girl flushed. "I was here first, but I can..."
"You were here first?" The woman looked her up and down. "Sweetheart, that color came from a box, did it not? They will see all of that before you open your mouth."
Rosa whispered, "Oh, no she did not."
The girl's eyes filled. "It is for a teaching assistant job. At three. I just wanted to look..."
"Then book somewhere you can afford to fix it," the woman said, and sat in Tessa's chair like she owned it. "Regina, someone good. Free?"
Regina laughed, light and eager. "You are in the best hands. Blair will take you herself."
Blair perked up. "Absolutely. For you, anything."
Tessa looked at the girl, trying hard not to cry in public. "Hey. Come with me."
"But your chair..."
"I do not need that chair. I need ten minutes and a quiet corner. Rosa, the gloss treatment?"
Rosa was already moving. "And a tissue. Not for crying. For allergies. We all have allergies."
In the small station by the back windows, Tessa worked fast and talked low. "What is your name?"
"Madeline. Maddie, really, but Madeline for the interview."
"Madeline, that woman does not know you. She knows coats. There is a difference."
"She is not wrong about the color," Maddie said. "My roommate helped me. It went brassy."
"We can soften it. Part it here, see? What will you say when they ask why you want the job?"
"I love kids?" Maddie gave a wet laugh. "That sounds basic."
"Say it like you mean it and it is not basic. Try this: I want the room where nobody feels invisible."
Maddie repeated it, shaky, then stronger. "I want the room where nobody feels invisible."
"There she is," Rosa said, handing over the gloss. "Head up when you say it."
By eleven twenty the brass had softened to a warm brown, and the blow dry fell clean over her shoulders.
Maddie stared into the small mirror. "That is me?"
"That was always you," Tessa said. "We just brushed off a bad morning."
"I cannot pay for the gloss," Maddie whispered.
"You waited an hour. Today the waiting was the payment. Go get that job."
At the desk the wealthy woman was leaving, her blowout gleaming. "Blair is a miracle worker. And whoever calmed that crying girl down, thank them. It was getting depressing."
Regina smiled, glossy and smooth. "That is what we do at Velour. We take care of everyone."
She did not look at Tessa once.
Chase caught Tessa's eye as Maddie slipped out, folder straight, chin up. He held up her missing shears, shook them, and set them on his station.
"Found your things, Boyd. You should thank me."
Blair laughed.
Tessa took her shears back without a word and got ready for another client.