Free A Gentleman's Affair by Aj Linn Page A

there
won’t be any moving on. So, being the great friend/boss that I am,
I make a call to Kacie, my hotel manager and good friend Matt’s
wife, to ask her if she knows of anyone. She gives me the name and
number of her stylist, Mauricio, explaining that he is usually
booked well in advance and may not be available on such short
notice. I thank her and hang up, quickly calling the number, hoping
for a miracle. Meanwhile Lily is still crying. Bloody hell.
    “Thank you for calling Mauricio’s. This is
Mauricio speaking.” The voice on the other end of the phone is a
lispy feminine sort of voice.
    “Hello Mauricio, my name is Donovan Hart. I
got your number from Kacie Reynolds, a client of yours. I have a
slight emergency and I wonder if you might be able to help.” I hear
loud music and talking in the background and I seem to be “on hold”
yet he never seems to fill me in on that. “Hello?” I become
impatient as a few moments pass, no response from him yet. I am now
thrumming my fingers on the desk and would have hung up by now, but
this is for Lily. So I wait.
    “Did you say Donovan Hart?” He seems excited
to hear my name. I am rather well known in the community, but I
didn’t know that included hairstylists…
    “I did. Is this a bad time?” Thankfully Lily
is now somewhat calmed down and listening in.
    “For you, Mr. Hart? No. What can I do for
you?”
    “I realize that this is a long shot, but an
employee of mine is getting married this coming Saturday, and the
stylist we had booked unfortunately broke her leg. So, as you see…”
He cuts off my sentence and shouts across the room to whom I can
only guess is the receptionist.
    “Crystal, when you’re done eating your
lunch, clear all of my appointments for Saturday…That’s what I
said…Just do it!” Now I can barely hear. The voices have become
muffled. There is shouting, and I hear something about him being
booked with clients all day. Followed by more shouting.
    “Mr. Hart, just say when and where and I’ll
be there.” I nod at Lily, and she immediately rises from her chair
and begins to do some sort of crazy happy dance. I am extremely
sorry that I had to witness that. Damn.
    “Thank you, Mauricio. You have no idea how
happy you’ve just made the bride.” And Lily uncharacteristically
shouts “Thank you!” in the background, and I motion for her to sit
down as I put my finger to my lips to shush her. “If you could be
at La Fuga around eleven, that would be great.”
    “That I can do, Mr. Hart. How many
girls?”
    “There are four,” I reply quickly.
    “Will they need make-up, sir?” he replies
eagerly.
    “Oh, yes. I forgot about that actually.”
Lily gives me a disapproving stare. I hold up my hand and mouth,
“Calm the fuck down, will you?”
    “I’ve got it covered. Tell your bride-to-be
not to worry. Mauricio is on it.”
    “Thank you again. And on top of whatever
your usual fee is, I am going to comp you a room here at the hotel
for you and a guest for the night. It’s the least that I can
do.”
    “Really? Well, thanks Mr. Hart. We’ll see
you Saturday then.” We exchange goodbyes then hang up, and I
quickly yet carefully turn my attention back to Lily.
    “See, it all worked out.
Are you going to make it?” I ask, laughing as I try to lighten up
the now-resolved near-nightmare.
    “Yes. Thanks Donovan.” After letting out a
huge sigh of relief, she gets up and practically leaps across the
desk, giving me a tight hug in thanks. “You saved my wedding. Thank
you, thank you, thank you!”
    “I just made a call, but you are very
welcome.” As she pulls away, I stand and cross the room, walking
towards the door and motioning for her to follow. “How about a
drink, Lily? I think after that, we both could use one.” Not to
mention, after last night. Fuck, don’t even think about
that…Redirect.
    “Donovan, it’s eleven o’clock in the
morning,” she smiles, winks and adds, “But it’s happy
hour