Chapter Twenty
Riley
It's Friday morning at the salon and we're having a staff meeting to meet the new owner. All we know so far is it's a woman from Texas. I have no idea why she'd want to buy a salon in small-town Oklahoma, but maybe we'll find out today.
"I feel sick," April whispers to me as we wait for the meeting to start. "What if she shows up and fires everyone?"
"Then she wouldn't have anyone to do the work and the place would have to close."
"She could bring in new people. A whole new staff."
"And risk losing all our existing clients? Not gonna happen. People want their regular hairstylist. They don't want someone new."
"I could try waitressing, although I tried that once and totally sucked. I spilled an ice cream sundae on this guy's head and he completely freaked out."
I laugh. "Did you get fired?"
"Yeah, which I didn't think was fair. I'd only been there a week and I'd never waitressed before. And it's not like I spilled hot coffee on the guy. Just some ice cream, and the guy was bald. The ice cream slid right off his head."
I laugh even harder. "How have you never told me this before?"
"It's embarrassing. I don't tell many people."
My mom comes in and sits down next to Sharon, one of the stylists who's been here forever. My mom whispers something to her and Sharon shakes her head.
I hope my mom doesn't say something rude to the new owner that gets her fired. She hasn't even met the woman and already hates her because she bought the salon. I keep telling my mom that's not a reason to be rude to the woman, but she doesn't listen. She's worried about losing her job, and when she's worried, it comes out as anger directed at whoever's causing the worry.
April points to the door. "Someone's coming. I bet it's the new owner. What time is it?"
I check my phone. "Almost nine-thirty. It should be starting any minute now."
Just as I say it, the salon door opens and a woman walks in. She's tall and skinny with straight blond hair, wearing a sleeveless black dress with really high black heels. Most of her face is concealed with big sunglasses, which she leaves on as she sets her purse down on the front desk.
April leans over to me and whispers, "She's pretty. Looks rich."
I glance over at my mom, who has a scowl on her face as she whispers something to Sharon.
"Hello, everyone," the new owner says with a slight southern accent. She smiles and removes her sunglasses. "I'm Kandace Klein."
I hear my mom gasp from across the room.
"Shit," I mutter, squeezing my eyes shut.
"What's wrong?" April whispers.
"Oh hell no!" my mom yells.
I open my eyes just in time to see her running up to Kandace. She lunges at her, but Kandace moves to the side, causing my mom to fall to the ground.
"Charlene, please," Kandace scolds. "Have some dignity."
"You bitch!" my mom yells as she gets up.
Renee jumps up from her chair and grabs my mom's arm before she takes a swing at Kandace.
"Charlene, stop it!" Renee says. "She's your boss."
"She's not my fucking boss!" My mom yanks her arm from Renee, her hair flying around as she whips back to face Kandace. "No way in hell this bitch is telling me what to do! I quit!"
My mom storms through the salon. Everyone watches in stunned silence as she makes her way toward the back, then swings open the door to the break room. It slams against the wall before closing behind her.
"What the hell just happened?" April whispers to me.
"They went to school together," I whisper back. "Long story."
But to sum it up, Kandace stole my mom's boyfriend back in high school and married him the day after graduation. They moved to Dallas and had two kids, a boy and a girl. The girl fought with her mom so much that Kandace sent her here to live with her grandma for a few months. She ended up at my junior high. As soon as she found out I was Charlene's daughter, she bullied me and told everyone my mom was a slut. She even tried to beat me up one day at lunch, but I fought back and gave her a black eye. After that, she went home to Dallas. The girl was out of control and my mom says Kandace was the same way back when they went to school together.
To this day, my mom blames Kandace for why she isn't married. She says Dale, her high school boyfriend, was her one and only love and they'd be married right now if Kandace hadn't stolen him from her. Dale went on to make millions from a lawsuit he filed after he was injured at the oil refinery he worked at, so now my mom hates Kandace even more, saying it should be her living a life of luxury, not Kandace. Honestly, I doubt Dale would've married her back then. She had a kid. A kid that wasn't his. I'm surprised he even went out with her.
A few years ago, Dale and Kandace showed up for a high school reunion with their fancy clothes and expensive car. When my mom saw them, she almost lost it. Luckily, her date got her out of there and calmed her down, but she still gets riled up if she even hears Kandace's name. So having Kandace buy the salon? Pretty much my mom's worst nightmare. And mine, because now we're both out of work. Even if Kandace let me stay, my mom would kill me for working for her.
"Sorry for the disturbance," Kandace says, her southern drawl coming out more as she talks. "As some of you know, Charlene and I have had our differences in the past. I thought we could work them out now that we're older, but I see she hasn't matured enough for that to happen." She smiles. "Anyway, let's continue. I know many of you are concerned about your jobs, but I can assure you that as of now, everything will stay as is, including your employment here. There will be some changes, but they'll come later on."
"What kind of changes?" someone yells from the back.
"I'll discuss them at a later time," she says. "Just to be clear, I won't be addressing questions today. I'm only here to introduce myself and then I'll let you get on with your day."
The door swings open and I tense up, expecting to see my mom storm through, ready to punch Kandace. But it's worse than that. It's Kari, the bitch who made those few months of junior high the worst time of my life. She saunters in like she owns the place, which I guess she kind of does. She's tall, like her mom, with the same long blond hair and wearing a similar dress, except Kari's is shorter and tighter. And she has huge boobs, which are definitely fake.
"Everyone, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Kari," Kandace says. "She'll be assisting me in the redesign of the salon."
"Redesign?" Sharon says. "I thought you said things wouldn't change."
"As of now," Kandace says. "The changes will come later. The salon is in need of an update. Kari and I want to give it a more modern, fresh, hip look to attract a younger crowd. But more on that later." She smiles. "It's almost ten. I'd like all of you to get to your stations and tidy them up before our guests arrive."
Everyone looks around, not sure what she means. The place is already clean and tidy. I cleaned each station myself just this morning.