Free Heartbeat by Tara Ellis Page B

thought about everything we’d worked together for, now being divided in half.
    I quickly ran down the list of my clients in my head and remembered that one of my clients was a high profile divorce attorney that frequently came into the salon, bragging about how many cheating men she took to the cleaners. I also remembered doing her hair with my nose turned up, thinking how I would never end up like some of the women she represented. Broken hearted, but with pockets heavily lined with their divorce settlements. I couldn’t help but to laugh bitterly now. Here I was, ending up just like them.
    When I pulled up in front of the salon, I quickly headed inside. I was greeted by my lovely receptionist, then I headed straight to my private suite in the back of the salon. Arian, one of my hairstylist, stopped me.
    “Hey, Charlie. How you doing?” Arian looked me up and down but tried to play it off by plastering a fake smile on her face. “You look cute today.” I knew Arian couldn’t stand me and probably hated the fact that she had to pay me a percentage off each client she had, but she knew working at Trendsetters was the best look for her. There was no other salon in Dallas that had the clientele that we had.  
    “Thank you, girl.” I said. I liked to keep my conversations with Arian as short as possible. “What’s up?” I wanted to get to my office as soon as possible and sip some herbal tea to calm my nerves before my first appointment but Arian’s fake ass was holding me up.
    She put one of her hands on her large hip and said, “I got that money for you. After I finish this client I’ll bring it to you”.  
    I gave her a smile that I knew would piss her off. “Cool.” I never gave Arian a reason not to like me, she was just a hater. She was mad that since she was late on her weekly payout, she had to pay me a 20% late fee on top of what she already owed me.  
    I stopped at Taylor, the next stylist’s booth. I actually liked Taylor, she was a good stylist and had a great work ethic.
    “Hey Taylor, this is a bad ass cut, girl.” I looked closely at the haircut she was giving her client. It looked like she had dyed the girl’s hair dark violet and it was a perfect contrast against the client’s light complexion.
    Taylor smiled at the compliment then motioned her head for me to come in closer. Taylor was a big gossiper in the salon so it didn’t surprise me that she wanted to share somebody’s personal business. I usually didn’t entertain it but I leaned in closer to hear what she had to say anyway.
    “Girl, look at that fine specimen of a man over there.” She shot her head in the direction of our waiting area where several women sat pretending to read magazines, but all of them were staring at a man who was actually reading one.  
    My eyes skimmed over him but shot back up at him. Not only was he gorgeous, sitting there in a purple polo shirt that hugged his bulging biceps, he was the dreadlock wearing stranger who pulled me away from my street brawl a week ago. A huge lump formed in my throat and my mouth went dry. I was shy all of a sudden but I didn’t know why.
    “Girl, that’s her brother,” Taylor whispered nodding her head in the direction of her client sitting in her chair. “He brought his sister here to treat her to a day of pampering.” She winked when she finished her sentence then brought her voice even lower, “I’m gonna put my bid in before anybody else try to get at him. Look at all those vultures over there.”
    I laughed because he had most, if not all, of the women’s attention in the salon. “Well, do you, girl,” I said even though there was a piece of me that didn’t want her to get at him. I shook the feeling off because he wasn’t my man and I had no right to feel jealous but for some reason, I did.
    “So, is your brother single?” Taylor asked her client with a stifled laugh.  
    “Yeah, he just moved back down here from Houston. He isn’t seeing anyone