A Day At The Salon
By Natasha Telfair
It was a brisk fall day when Julia woke up Saturday morning. She had a hard time sleeping last night due to the fight she and her fiancé, Jason, had after dinner. She had been looking forward to their wedding date which was set for the last Saturday in August the following year. Julia had asked Jason constantly to provide input on the date and he would tell her, “Julia, sweetie, this is your day, it’s our day, any day you pick will be good for us, for me.” She had grown tired of his ‘I’m okay with whatever you decide’ demeanor and wanted him to react to something, positive or negative.
Julia recalled when they had meet at a local charity event how he commented on how he liked her hair which was unusual because he preferred women with long hair but her short mane complimented her exotic facial features. She was unsure if it was a compliment or a joke but she took light of it and engaged in an interesting conversation with him. They discussed how he had lost his mother and two sisters to breast cancer and he was an advocate to raise awareness. The event was held each year in September as a kickoff for all the events that would take place in October for breast cancer awareness month. Jason led into why he didn’t care for short hair because his mother had long chestnut brown hair that she would add cinnamon and caramel colored highlights to accentuate her bronze skin tone and as she progressed with Chemotherapy her hair began to thin and started to shed. Before she died she would cry over the loss of her long locks as she knew her life is what she would lose next. Julia was entranced by the conversation and sympathized with him but was touched about how passionate he was about raising awareness and fighting to find a cure.
When Julia got up she decided to try something different to get some type of reaction out of Jason. She scanned through her closet and saw a very nice pair of cream leggings that would hug every curve to show what she was working with. She looked further and found the perfect red cashmere sweater that feel slightly off the shoulder and came right above her waist so the ampleness of her gluts would show. She paired this with a pair of tiger print Gucci Thigh boots. She looked in the mirror and pinned her hair up into a sexy bun. She had decided to let it grow after Jason kept asking her to wear a short sling bob. Once her hair grew to that length he wanted her to grow it into an elevated bob, which was short in the back but down to chin length in the front. From that he wanted a classic bob, once again she obliged to his request. She liked the longer look and had decided to stick with it for the time being.
As Julia sat back thinking about how many adjustments she had made in her life for Jason, she became irritated. He had taken advantage of so many situations and she had adjusted her life in so many ways. His nonchalant attitude toward assisting her in planning their wedding made her realize that he was taking her kindness for a weakness. He didn’t like her wearing tight or skimpy clothes so he took her shopping twice a month but he had to approve the clothing or he refused to purchase it. On one occasion she found a very form fitting indigo blue dress with a fine floral print going around the waist line, she loved it. She came out of the dressing room and he was livid that she would dare come out into public with such a raunchy dress on. She couldn’t believe his attitude. She turned back into the dressing room and received compliments from two women that she had passed on how great she looked in the dress. She took a final look in the mirror and decided she would buy the dress herself. That was a few weeks ago, and she had been buying clothes on a weekly basis since then, things that she admired.
Julia gave herself a once over in the full length mirror inside of the walk-in closet which her friends referred to a room for her clothes due to its massive size. Julia had selected a triple length pearl necklace with the longest length falling just below her breast and added different lengths of gold necklaces and gold bangles. She opted to wear a pair of rather large earrings that complemented her hair style. As she looked in the mirror again she realized she now hated her hair and decided it was time for one final change.
Just as she was walking out the door Jason had called her. She decided to give him one last try and asked him to accompany her to the food and cake tasting that was planned for the reception, their appointment was at 4:00 p.m. sharp. Once again he stated he would be fine with whatever she selected. Sarcastically she stated, “Oh really dear, you are fine with whatever I decide?” He confirmed his words and she said that sounds great let’s meet for lunch around two, he agreed to this. It was now 10:00 a.m. Julia headed over to her weekly salon appointment.
As she sat in Kinisha’s chair and told her to cut it all off, mouths dropped, people gasped for air, they could not believe she was cutting off her now close to waist length hair. She filled everyone in on how she prefers shorter, jazzier hairstyles but her soon to be husband desired the long hair. The only thing she asked of him was his assistance with planning their wedding so now he would have to say I do to who she likes to be and what she likes. Everyone was in disbelief as her long luxurious locks hit the floor as Kinisha sliced at them with her Jowell diamond encrusted shears. Once her cut was finish she had her eyelashes done and make-up professionally applied, then she was off to meet Jason.
He was stunned as she entered the restaurant every head turned as she had captured everyone’s attention with her captivating walk and the short Fantasia spiked cut she was now sporting. She had dyed the top portion of her hair blonde and as she stood in front of Jason, she said, “I’m glad you love it! After all you did say you are fine with whatever I decide sarcastically!” At that moment he realized that he was in trouble.
They sat there gazing at each other. Jason could not believe Julia had cut all of her hair off just to make a point. He realized he loved her no matter what length of hair was. He usually would order for the two of them, without even consulting with her. They both reviewed the menu is silence. He didn’t know what to say or how to react so he lifted the menu to cover his face. He decided not to order for her today. As he saw the waiter approaching the table he excused himself to go to the restroom.
Jason stood there in the bathroom stall thinking back to the day he and Julia had met at the benefit. He loved her short spiked hair and realized he had been holding onto the memory of his mother more than he realized by requesting Julia to grow her hair out. His eyes started to water, his phone rang as he went to wipe his eyes.
“Hello”, said Jason.
“Jason, you have to get here quick!” said the frantic voice on the other end of the phone.
“Brandi, why are you calling me? I told you I would be at lunch with Julia, what is wrong with you?”
“I know you are busy planning your wedding and all but this is an emergency Jason, I’m bleeding everywhere, I may be miscarrying!”
Dead silence was all Jason could hear. He didn’t hear the gentleman outside the stall arguing on the phone. He didn’t hear the business call in the stall next to him. He didn’t hear the urinals flushing, not even Brandi in her frantic voice telling him she had feel down a flight of stairs the night before. It was a complete dead silence. He had been struggling with finding a way to tell Julia that he had been unfaithful. There wasn’t a good way to do it. Now what was he to do, he wasn’t ready to admit the child was his but he couldn’t be so cold hearted and not even be there for Brandi.
“JASON!” she started yelling his name repeatedly. “You better get here and I mean now!”
Jason snapped out of the trance he was in and stumbled over his words, “I-I-I’m on the way.” He sat in the stall for a moment before exiting. He forced himself to look at the man in the mirror and wished he would have cut the affair off long ago. It had been ongoing for close to eight months now. Brandi was now two and half months pregnant and he had been pressing her for an abortion but she refused to abort her child. He headed back to the table with his head down trying to figure out what to tell Brandi.
The silverware being used by all of the patrons seemed to be so loud to Jason. The clicking of wine and champagne glasses as people completed toast was annoying him, how could people be so chipper when he was dealing with a life crisis? He looked up and Julia seemed to be so far away from him. He saw a gentleman chatting with her and this caused him to speed up to her. The gentleman looked up as Jason approached the table and gave Jason a sly grin. It was Ken, Brandi’s brother. This clearly was not Jason’s day.
“Hello Ken, how are you doing today?”
“Fantabulous! I was complimenting this beautiful lady on how awesome her hair looks! I just got off of the phone with Brandi, have you spoken to her?”
Jason felt his stomach sinking into his back he couldn’t believe Ken was going to do this, right here at this moment. He clearly could see Julia’s seven carat diamond engagement ring, but he by no means knew that this was his soon to be wife. He was trying to think of a way to cut him off but his mind wasn’t in the right place.
“Hmm, Hmm”, Julia said as loud as she could. Then she started to speak in a soft settle tone, “Brandi, is she okay, how is the baby?” Jason was completely blindsided, he didn’t know what to say or do, he felt as if he was about to faint so he sat down to catch himself.
“The baby”, replied Ken. “I’m sorry did I miss something, do you know Brandi?”
“Yes!” Julia replied sarcastically. “We have the same hairstylist. We met about two months ago. I believe she is close to three months now. It was to my surprise when she announced to the entire salon that my fiancé is the proud father!” She rolled her eyes toward Jason, he looked so shameful, like a kid that just dropped his favorite cupcake with the sprinkles on top.
“Julia, sweetheart, I can explain” Jason started. “We were in the middle of a rough patch, and….”
Julia had cut him off. “Sweetheart, there is no way you can explain this one!” She looked down at her ring then looked at Ken with a sly grin. “Is Brandi and the baby ok?”
“Actually, she is having a few problems at the moment, she may be miscarrying”, said Ken.
“Tisk, tisk. I almost feel sorry for her but after all she was cheating with my man. Do me a favor let her know that we will be by to see her later!”
“Julia”, Jason said softly, “Brandi called me while I was in the bathroom and she wants me to come over, she is bleeding everywhere.”
“Then we have a problem because you can’t be in two places at one time so where will you be going and I suggest you think long and hard before you answer dear!”
Ken stood in disbelief of how calm Julia was reacting to the matter. Before Jason could answer Ken spoke up on his behalf. “Look. Julia isn’t it? This may not even be his child she has been sleeping with three different men and he is just caught up in her drama. Don’t worry about my sister and the baby, I will be there for her, like I said it may not even be his.”
“Whatever! Just let your sister now we will be there later but Jason needs to make this decision on where he will be.” She looked at Jason with fire and ice in her eyes. She could see the sweat balls on his forehead. Ken and Julia were staring Jason down as the waiter approached the table.
“Tell her I will see her later. Julia sweetheart I am so sorry.”
1 comment:
Love this!!!
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