Page 53 of Unscripted Love
I was all too happy to oblige him with a tour and “research” for his next book. I hated when we locked the house up and left to go to separate homes, but I knew it wasn’t right to make the big move yet. Hell, I let him drive off without telling him that I loved him. I didn’t tell him about brunch at my parents’ house either. “Fuck!” I yelled loudly in the cab of my truck. I was totally going to lose my Better Than a Book Boyfriend title.
“Are we ready for this?” Josh had asked before the salon opened the next day. We were interviewing potential stylists and receptionists in addition to a full day of providing services to our clients.
“I guess so,” Mere replied.
“We need someone with a certain sass and flare. This place is too damn dull now that Savage is no longer here,” I said, referring to Josh’s foul-mouthed blue macaw who was known to proposition clients for blowjobs or squawk random cuss words. Bringing Savage back and forth between the new home and the salon just wasn’t practical, so we needed someone else to liven the place up a bit.
“We need a Josh two-point-oh,” Meredith said.
“Yeah, before he got all sappy with love,” I amended, batting my eyelashes at Josh.
“I am not sappy,” Josh scoffed.
“Yeah you are,” Mere and I said at the same time. We laughed and fist-bumped each other.
“Like the two of you aren’t walking around with stars in your eyes,” he said. “I’m seriously nervous about this though. Curl Up and Dye has felt more like family than a business. We all get along so well, and I just worry that we’ll hire someone that doesn’t mesh. I don’t want our seamless interactions to turn into awkward moments where we’re just going through the motions of our day.”
“No one said we had to hire someone today,” I told Josh. “Let’s just interview the candidates today and see where it takes us. If we don’t connect with them right away, then we’ll pass them up. The other thing you can do is try them out on a probationary basis. Give them ninety days like every other company does and go from there.”
“That’s what I was thinking about doing regardless of who we hire. It’s pretty easy to pull one over on us during an interview,” Josh said. “We won’t know their true character until they start working here.”
“Good point,” Mere replied. “What times are the interviews?”
I gave them both a rundown of the interview times and names. Josh had gone back to his cosmetology school and talked with several of his instructors to get the names of their best stylists. Curl Up and Dye already had an excellent reputation before Josh started filming health and beauty segments for Channel Eleven in Cincinnati, so the potential stylists were eager for an opportunity to work at our salon.
“Should’ve turned this into a segment for your series,” I told Josh. “Hell, probably could’ve turned it into a reality show.” I modulated my voice to sound like I was doing the voice-over for television. “Fifteen highly trained and eager stylists duke it out for two positions at the area’s most elite salon. Each candidate will prove their worth through a series of competitions to test skill, temperament, and the ability to win over the difficult client.” Mere and Josh laughed at my antics then started making suggestions of their own.
“Make them do foils with one arm tied behind their backs,” Mere suggested.
“Hair salon triathlon!” Josh exclaimed. “They have to maneuver to various stations and perform tasks.”
“What about the receptionist candidates?” Mere asked. “We can’t let them off easy. It takes a lot more than a good personality to be effective around here.”
“Survivor: Curl Up and Dye,” I said. “Yeah, we starve them and pit them against one another to see who comes out on top. That candidate can surely handle booking the appointments coming in over the phone, web, and app while smiling at the client patiently waiting to pay at the counter, direct salon traffic, and answer questions about products at the same time.”
“Let’s not forget they’ll be working for a diva salon owner,” Mere said. Then she started reciting some of Kevin Bacon’s lines from the movieBeauty Shop.She did a damn good job of impersonating his fake accent and we were laughing riotously when the bell over the door dinged to let us know our first interviewee had arrived.
“Wow, I like this place already,” the young brunette guy said. “My name is Darren; I go by Dare. I’m here to interview for the receptionist job.”
“Oh!” Josh exclaimed, sounding perky. “I remember you from O’Dell’s Furniture. You’re their in-house designer. You were a fabulous help to me when we put the design together for my new house. You’re not working there any longer?”
“No, I am,” Dare replied, “but they’ve cut my hours, and I need to have a full-time income.”
“Can I get you coffee, honey?” Mere asked.
“Shouldn’t I be askingyouthat?” Dare replied then turned to me. “You left coffee making skills out of your challenge.” Then he smiled tentatively at me like he worried he had overstepped.
“Damn good suggestion,” I said.
The interview went extremely well, and we all liked Dare a lot. In fact, I thought he’d make a great salon manager if the day came when I stepped away from Curl Up and Dye permanently. I thought it could likely become a reality soon if my upcoming book release was as successful as I hoped. As much as I loved working for Josh, I loved writing more, and I wanted to have more time with Kyle. I never felt like I had enough time for him. The bell over the door chimed, and I looked up to see the object of my affections walking through the door.
“Oh dear God!” Dare exclaimed and covered his heart when he saw Kyle, sounding like he just came in his pants. I wasn’t a happy camper. “Who is that sexy beast?”
“Mine,” I growled out a warning.
“Well, isn’t that adorable,” I heard Mere say.
“He’s been hanging around Gabe too long,” Josh retorted. “I bet his knuckles are starting to get scuffed from dragging them about all the time.”