Sarah couldn’t believe she’d be getting to work in a place so colorful and welcoming every day.
The interior probably hadn’t been updated since the eighties but it was cozy and clean and that was all that mattered to Sarah.
A fifty-something woman with bright orange hair teased to oblivion
smiled at Sarah from behind the reception desk. “Good morning. Welcome to Peach’s,” she greeted.
“Hello,” Sarah said softly.
She cleared her throat. “Good morning,” she said a little louder.
“May I help you, sugar?”
the woman drawled.
“Yes, I’m Sarah
Hammond. I’m here for—“
“Sarah!” t
he woman squealed. “Of course it’s you! Miri sent you to us! I’m so thrilled you’re here!” She came around the desk and squished Sarah into a boisterous hug.
“Are you Peach?” Sarah asked
almost choking on a mouthful of orange hair.
The woman pulled back but didn’t let go completely.
“My, my, where
are
my manners? Yes, honey, I’m Peach. Owner and head stylist. Pun intended. I’m the head stylist and I also style heads!” She slapped her knee and her thigh bounced and jiggled beneath orange spandex pants.
Sarah couldn’t help but laugh. Peach was a whirlwind of hand gestures, quick words and peach-scented body spray. “It’s nice to meet you, Peach.”
Peach reminded Sarah of a modern day Peg Bundy with her tight clothes, big personality and even bigger hair. She wore coral lipstick and purple eye shadow all the way up to her thin eyebrows. And, boy, did Peach know how to accessorize! It looked like she had piled on every piece of jewelry in her jewelry box.
Crazy style aside, Peach
Pomatto had the kindest eyes and the warmest smile Sarah had ever seen. It was easy to look past the heavy makeup when someone looked at you with such genuine concern.
“Look at you.”
Peach held Sarah at arm’s length for a thorough inspection. “You’re such a pretty little thing, Sarah. The girls have been dying to meet you. You’re going to fit in here just fine, hon.”
A tiny
brown dog came out of nowhere and danced around their feet. A peach collar jingled from around his neck and his whole body quivered with excitement.
Sarah stepped back, afraid she’d step on t
he little creature by accident.
Peach scooped up the dog and held him in the crook of her arm. “Sarah, this is Bean.
Bean, this is Sarah.”
Bean’s
tongue swiped out of his mouth as if to air kiss her hello.
“Hi, Bean.
” Sarah laughed at the name. “It’s nice to meet you. What breed is she?”
“
He’s
a Chihuahua.”
“
Well, he’s the cutest, tiniest little thing I’ve ever seen.”
“
When he was a baby, my husband Tony kept saying how he wasn’t much bigger than a kidney bean and the name stuck. I would have preferred a more glamorous name like Gucci or Versace but, oh well, Bean it is.”
“
May I pet him?”
“Oh, sure!
Bean’s a ham for attention.” Peach cackled at her own joke.
Sarah reached up and gave Bean a gentle scratch behind the ear. His tongue darted out again and moistened her wrist.
“I bring him with me to the salon every day. He
loves
greeting the clients as much as they love seeing him when they walk in the door. He’s sort of our mascot around here.”
Tears burned Sarah’s eyes at how small and delicate
Bean was. The closest thing to a pet she’d ever had was a stray that had started hanging around Dwight’s house once. Dwight had seen Sarah petting it one day and kicked it right in the ribs. The poor thing yelped and limped away in a hurry. Sarah had run inside, crawled under the bed and bawled her eyes out after seeing what Dwight did that day. The image was so fresh in her mind it was like it happened yesterday. Sarah blinked away the memory.
Peach set Bean back on the floor and he
trotted over to the reception desk and disappeared underneath.
“He’s got a little bed under there
,” Peach explained. “It’s where he spends most of his time.” She looked back at Sarah and clapped her hands together. “Any
who
, you’re all settled in somewhere, I hope.”
Sarah nodded. “Yes. I found a place
to stay.”
“Good. I would
love to have you stay at my house but Tony’s got the guest room torn up trying to build that silly rec room of his. The only way I put up with the mess is because it’s in exchange for
this
.” Peach gestured at the makeshift plastic curtain hanging to the left of the reception area. “I bought the space next door so I can expand the salon. I already had Tony knock out the wall so I can keep an eye on his progress. Come on, I’ll show you what it’s going to look like.”
Sarah followed Peach
into the empty space next door. It wasn’t much to look at, just four blank walls speckled with spackling, a ladder and some boxes.
Peach stood in the middle of the room and closed her eyes. “Now,
Sarah, picture glossy floors and pretty new paint and all new stations and chairs. Can you see it?”
“Yes,” Sarah replied, playing along. “It’s going to be beautiful.”
Peach opened her eyes. “I’ve already picked out the paint color and they’re starting to paint today. I chose Peach Blossom over Blushing Persimmon and Summer Apricot. It was one of the toughest decisions of my life.”
Peach
showed Sarah the paint chips of three almost identical shades of orange.
“
As much as I like my wallpaper with the peaches on it, the girls keep telling me how tacky it is. So I took their advice and the new salon is going to be modern and sophisticated.”
“It
all sounds wonderful.”
“Oh, it
will
be. I’ve been saving up for this for thirty years. The stations will be here and here, a mani-pedi area over there and the reception area over here.” Peach’s acrylic nails gestured wildly as she spoke. “We’ll use the old salon space for my office, break room and supply closet.” Her hands fell to her sides and she frowned. “That is, when Tony finally finishes it all.”
As if on cue,
two men walked through the front door. The first looked haggard despite the early hour. His t-shirt and faded jeans had paint splatters on them but his black hair was carefully combed and styled.
The corners of Peach’s lips tugged up into a smile.
“Speak of the devil, here are my Tony’s now. Sarah, this is my husband Tony. He’s the brawn behind the beauty. Tony, this is Sarah, our new stylist all the way from southern California.”
“Hey, Sarah.
” Tony wiped his hand on his jeans before shaking Sarah’s hand. “Nice to meet ya.”
Tony was a big guy and Sarah was immediately intimidated by his size but his warm smile and friendly disposition put her somewhat at ease.
The younger man who came in behind Tony was athletic and looked how he must have looked twenty years ago.
“And this
is my son Tony Jr.”
Tony Jr.
greeted his mother with a kiss on the cheek and smiled at Sarah. “Please, call me TJ.”
When
TJ smiled, a dimple appeared in his right cheek. Sarah guessed he probably didn’t have any trouble getting dates. He had a nice smile and everything but Sarah hoped Peach didn’t try to set her up with him. A relationship was the last thing she was ready for.
“TJ plays for hockey for the Vikings,” Peach said proudly. Her eyes sparkled when she talked about her son.
Voices drifted through the plastic curtain and Peach cocked her head to listen. “The girls must be here!” She clapped her hands together then rushed Sarah back to the old salon where two women were setting up their stations.
“Girls, this is Sarah!”
Peach announced.
The two women
whirled around as Peach came up to them with Sarah in tow.
“Sarah, this is Destiny and Kimberly.”
Destiny had beautiful olive skin and shiny black hair and Kim had layers of thick, dark chocolate brown Victoria’s Secret supermodel hair. Kim wore a wrap dress that accentuated her voluptuous curves and Destiny wore skinny jeans and sky-high stilettos. Their outfits could have come straight from the pages of a magazine and Sarah felt self-conscious of her thrift store clothes. They were dressed to the nines and all had glamorous hair to match. Sarah was grateful that Miri had worked her magic on her own hair, giving her a fresh look and cut.
Destiny looked at Sarah with friendly curiosity while Kim looked at Sarah like she was sizing her up for a coffin.
“Hello, it’s nice to meet you,” Sarah greeted with a smile.
“Isn’t
Sarah just the cutest little thing?” Peach asked the two women.
Destiny smiled
back warmly and Kimberly flinched and continued glaring at Sarah.
“
We’re so happy you’re here, Sarah!” Destiny rushed forward and engulfed Sarah in an enthusiastic hug.
“Your station is going to be over here next to Destiny’s.”
Peach pointed to the empty station in the corner. Under the huge, gaudy, gold framed mirror, there was a small cabinet and cupboard.
Sarah walked over to
her new station and lovingly ran her hand over the arm of the chair. It was well worn and there were a few cracks in the leather, but it was absolutely wonderful in Sarah’s eyes. This was
her
chair, her station. Her own space where she was free to make magic and send her clients home with smiles on their faces.
The phone at the reception desk rang
. “I’ll get that,” Peach volunteered. “Destiny, show Sarah around so she knows where to find everything, okay, hon?”
“Sure.
” Destiny said happily.
Peach hurried off to answer the phone and Destiny tur
ned to Sarah. “Well, Sarah, welcome to Peach’s.”
“Thank you
.”
“
So, did Peach show you where the new salon is going to be?”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t it great? We can’t wait for it to be finished so we can move everything over there. Although I can’t say it’s been a sacrifice watching TJ work without a shirt on.”
Sarah smiled but she was more excited about having her very own station than seeing Peach’s son shirtless.
Destiny proceeded to lead Sarah on a tour of the small salon. It was a small space, consisting of a shampoo area, the supply closet where hair color was kept and mixed and a utility room with a washer and dryer for the towels. Across the hall from the restroom were Peach’s office and the break room.
The bell on the front door jingled and Destiny cringed. “
Abigail’s here. Come on,” she urged Sarah and pulled her down the hall away from the door.
“
Wait. Why are we avoiding Abigail?” Sarah asked.
“Because she probably baked something last night.”
Sarah was perplexed but followed Destiny into a small room and she continued the tour.
Destiny waved her arm at a small table with chairs around it.
“This is the break room. We eat in here whenever we don’t go out for lunch. There’s a microwave and refrigerator. Feel free to keep your lunch or whatever in the fridge. Well, that’s pretty much everything. We don’t have an assistant, so you’re responsible for your own cleanup and shampoos and stuff. Everyone helps each other out.”
Sarah nodded and Destiny sighed.
“You see, Sarah, Abigail likes to bake. Now, I know it sounds all great and everything but it’s not.
Trust me
. Just don’t take anything she offers you and you’ll be fine. Well,” she huffed. “We can’t stay in here and avoid her forever. Let’s go.”
Sarah followed Destiny back out onto the floor to find
a brunette with a cute bob plopping her purse down on the counter. She wore a floral print blouse and a ruffled skirt. Sarah made a mental note to buy some more clothes for work. What she had just wasn’t going to cut it.
“Abigail
, hi!” Destiny exclaimed.
Destiny’s phony enthusiasm made Sarah want to giggle.
“Good morning Destiny. Everyone,” Abigail sang out. “I made
muffins
!”
Immediately, Sarah noticed
Destiny and Kim fight back the urge to grimace.
As if to distract Abigail from her baked goods, Peach jumped in and introduced Sarah.
“Abigail, this is Sarah, our new stylist.”
Abigail welcomed
Sarah with a smile and a hug and held out a plate of muffins.
“Oh, thank you,” Sarah said. “I’ll have one later.” She was too nervous to eat
, especially after Destiny’s warning.
Abigail turned to Kim and shoved the plate at her. “Kim! Have a muffin!”