I separate the first section of hair and paint the color on it, then fold it up in foil. “The guy who bought me drinks thought that meant I owed him something, and he was trying to drag me back to the bar or something. Bobby grabbed him by the throat and smashed his face against the wall.”
Ondrea gives an exaggerated gasp. “Hawt.”
“Super hot,” Gina agrees.
“I know. And then I find out he’s your big tipper, so it sort of seemed meant to be.” I work the next section into foil, having long ago mastered the trick of keeping up a conversation and applying hair color.
“Sooo?” Gina drags out the “o” with a lift of her brows.
I nod my head as if I’m answering a yes or no question. “He was hot.”
“That’s it? I want details.”
“Yeah, we want details.” Ondrea spins the salon chair around in circles.
“Well, he took me to the Four Seasons, went down on me, fucked me hard, and tucked me in for the night.”
Ondrea pauses spinning to fan herself with her fingers, her tastefully long false lashes fluttering.
“Wait–so he didn’t stay?” Gina’s dissected my report already.
“No. Are you sure he’s not married?”
“Uh oh,” Ondrea says. “I don’t like that.”
“He’s not. He’s just playing sugar daddy. I’m telling you–that’s his thing. This is why you need him.” Gina taps her finger on the arm of her chair to make her point.
“I don’t know.” I shrug. I loved last night–don’t get me wrong. But it sort of felt like a relief when he left. I was feeling like I was in over my head and getting worried about what I was getting myself into. Especially when he said,I’m keeping you.I don’t even know what he meant by that, but it scared me a little.
“Don’t know what? Was he good in bed?”
Understatement. “So good.”
“Then what aren’t you sure about?” Ondrea wants to know.
“I’m not going to enter into some kind of financial arrangement for sex. I’m just not. That seems crazy.”
“The oldest profession.” Ondrea stands from her chair. “It’s not wrong to receive money just for being you. Just for being someone’s entertainment. It’s not like you hated it.”
“Yeah, I don’t know.”
“Well, how did he leave it? Is he going to call? What’s the deal?” Gina presses.
“Actually, he didn’t even ask for my number, but he said if I’m interested, I know where to find him.”
“So stew on it.”
Ondrea comes over to observe my technique closer. “Are you doing the same thing with her that you did with me?” I did her hair last week for photos for the portfolio, putting some dramatic fuchsia streaks around her face and underneath in the back.
“No, I’m going with something a little more subtle. Shades of burgundy.”
“Why do you need new portfolio pictures?” Gina asks.
“I’m applying for a training job with Stellar Hair Color. If I get it, they will fly me all over the country to teach hair stylists how to use their dyes.”
“Ooh, that sounds glamorous.”
“I know, and the pay is $120,000 a year.”