"The personal photos," Kandace explains when she sees our confusion. "Knick knacks. And any other items not directly related to hair care must be removed." She claps her hands. "Everyone up! Get to work!" She winks. "And ya'll have a nice day!"
"This is gonna suck," April whispers as she gets up. "But at least we didn't lose our jobs."
"I did." I follow her to her station. "There's no way I can stay here and work for Kandace. My mom would kill me. Plus, I wouldn't want to. I can't stand her daughter."
"Why? How do you know her? And what's the deal with your mom and Kandace?"
"Kandace stole the guy my mom was in love with in high school. Now he's rich and married to Kandace and my mom's jealous."
She nods. "That makes sense. But what about the daughter?"
"She tortured me in junior high. She was only here a few months, but it was enough time for her to spread rumors about my mom and me."
"What kind of rumors?"
"That my mom's a slut and has all these STDs. And that we steal from stores and rob people. No one wanted to be friends with me after that. Until Nate showed up. He didn't know about the rumors, and after he heard them, he didn't believe them. That's how we got to be friends and why we stayed friends for so long."
"Does he know her?"
"Kari? No. She was gone when he moved here."
April glances behind me. "Shit, she's coming over here."
"Hey, Riley."
I whip around and see Kari right in front of me, her perfume so strong I feel like I'm swallowing it. I cough a little.
"Are you ill?" she asks, backing away.
"I wasn't until—"
"Allergies," April blurts out as she comes up beside me. "She has allergies. They're worse in the morning. She'll be better by afternoon."
Kari smirks. "So I hear you're our little clean-up girl."
I grit my teeth. "Salon attendant is my actual title."
"Hmm. We might have to change that."
I tense up, my hand balling into a fist. I want to punch that smirk right off her face. Now I get why my mom almost punched Kandace. I almost wish she had.
"So Kari, how long are you here for?" April asks.
"I haven't decided. I came here last spring with my mom to help my grandmother with some health issues. We didn't plan to stay, but then we heard the salon was up for sale. Now that we own it, we're renting a house for a few months while we work on the salon redesign. Once that's done, we'll decide if we want to stay or go back to Dallas. I personally can't imagine staying. This town is so boring and there's no good shopping."
"What about your dad?" April asks. "Is he here too?"
"My parents are separated." Kari looks directly at me. "It was my mom's decision. She's far too sophisticated for him. But she'll be getting more than her fair share in the divorce."
My mom will be happy about the divorce, but it won't change her decision about the salon. She'll never come back here. And now I have to quit. Why couldn't someone else buy the salon? Why did it have to be Kandace?
"So why did your mom want to buy this place?" I ask Kari.
"My mother always wanted a salon. And she grew up going here. My grandmother used to as well until a certain stylist made her feel unwelcome." She smirks. "But she won't have to worry about that anymore."
Is that why Kandace bought the salon? So my mom would be out of a job? I can't believe she'd spend all that money just to get rid of my mom, but if she's anything like her daughter, it's possible.
"We should get to work," April says, nudging me.
"Yes, go ahead," Kari says. "Oh, and Riley, I'd like you to start in the bathrooms. The toilets could use a good scrubbing." She laughs to herself as she walks off.
"I can't stand her," I say under my breath. "There's no way I'm working for her."
"Just ignore her," April says, keeping hold of my arm so I don't run over and punch Kari. "She only said that to make you quit. Do you really want to give her that power?"
"She already has all the power. She owns the place. She's my boss."
"Her mom is. Kari's not."
"Doesn't matter. Her mom will give her the power to do whatever she wants." I turn to April. "I'm just gonna go. There's no reason to stay here."
"Riley, you need the money. Your mom just quit and you know she won't be getting another job anytime soon."
"I still have the job at the pool."
"That's not enough. It barely pays anything."
"So I'll get another job."
"But in the meantime, you could keep working here. Just stay away from Kari and you'll be fine."
"I can't do it. I can't stay. Not with Kari and her mom running the place. I feel sick just being here with her. I'm going to text Brad and see if we could meet somewhere. He always makes me feel better."
Her eyes move behind me and she smiles. "I think he read your mind."
"What do you mean?" I turn back and see Brad walking in.
He sees me and smiles. "Needed a haircut."
All the stylists stare at him as he walks over to us. He gets that kind of attention everywhere he goes. He's big and tall and has a presence that makes people stop what they're doing and focus on him.
"Babe!" I hear Kari's high-pitched squeal and cringe. I look over and see her running over to Brad.
Wait—how does she know Brad? And why the hell was she calling him 'babe'?
"What are you doing here?" Kari grabs his arm and reaches up to kiss his cheek.
I almost vomit. If I had, I would've aimed it right at her designer heels.
"Kari." Brad backs away. "You work here?"
"No, silly." She laughs as she wraps her arm around his. "I own the place."
"You own the salon?"
"Well, technically my mother does, but we'll be running it together."
"So when you said you're moving here to start a business—"
"It was this!" She smiles. "I couldn't tell you until we announced it to the staff, but now you know! And how funny that you just happened to stop by today, right after we told everyone."
Feeling enraged as I watch her touch my boyfriend, I storm up to them. "How do you two know each other?"
Kari looks at me, annoyed. "Why are you still here? I told you to clean bathrooms."
I glare at her. "Answer the question."
"We went out," Brad says. "Like a month ago. With Nate. Remember the double dates?"
She's THAT Kari? The one who was obsessed with Brad and kept calling him, asking him out? She finally gave up, but Nate just told him she wanted to go out with him again. I can't believe he was talking about THIS Kari, the one person I hoped to never see again. And now here she is, at my salon, bossing me around. And touching my boyfriend!
"Brad, could we talk in the break room?" I say, fuming as I watch Kari rub Brad's arm.
"Yeah." He pulls away from Kari, but she keeps hold of him.