She glanced at her watch and saw she had about fifteen minutes before her appointment. Just enough time for one quick smoke, she thought. Making a beeline for her car, she hastily opened the door and fumbled for her cigarettes. Ducking her head, she pulled on the cigarette and let the nicotine settle her. Like a fugitive, she fervently watched, making sure no one could see her. She had this down to a science. She kept a plastic container of handy wipes in her car at all times, alongside her saving grace, peppermint breath mints. Just a few more puffs to steady her nerves, she thought. Pulling down the mirror she gave herself the once over. She made sure there was no pecans from the cinnamon bun wedged between her teeth, threw out her cigarette butt and popped a peppermint into her mouth. Sliding some Coffee Kahlua lipstick over her full lips, she gave a jerk to her lopsided ponytail and smacked her lips.
“It’s show time,” she said aloud. How many times had she been through this? How many new places and faces had she been forced to deal with over the years? Her sincere love of people is what sustained her. She refused to believe man could possibly be so evil, and that is why she never gave up on people. She had a handful of good friends and all the other people she’d met throughout her life were mere acquaintances. The few she allowed to get close to her accepted all her flaws, her own private demons.
It was a good thing she was a creative person because she had to constantly be “on” when she was before the people. It was an unwritten requirement for all pastor’s wives that they always smile, forgive, and above all else, be holy. Mandy laughed to herself. And as soon as I find the secret to all those things, I will have arrived, she thought. She took a deep breath, reminded herself who she was in the Lord, and set out for one more battle, the beauty shop.
Now every woman knows about beauty salons. They are like being the new kid on the block that everyone is wary of. Until you establish a relationship with “the girls,” everything you do and say is chewed on like a piece of bubble gum, and if you’re not careful, you’re liable to get spit out.
The allure of the small town settled Mandy down. She was determined to enjoy herself today and build a new life for herself here. No one knew anything about her, so if she wanted to, she could use this opportunity to recreate herself. Be anyone or anything she wanted to be. It was all in how she presented herself to others, and that was an exciting thought.
Josey’s Dippity Do Beauty Salon was painted across the huge picture window in stenciled letters with flowers dotting the i’s and hanging on the tails of the y’s. That’s cute, Mandy thought, as she grabbed a hold of the doorknob. Taking one last deep breath, she arranged a smile on her face and opened the door. She let her eyes adjust, if that was possible. What she saw made her think she had stepped back in time, instead of into a beauty salon.
The walls were Pepto Bismo pink, the strong odor of permanents stung her eyes, and everywhere she looked there were pictures of naked babies. Suppressing a laugh, her eyes waited for some Disney character to pop out of a flower and when they landed on Josey, she was not disappointed.
Josey had a few seconds herself, to quickly survey her new customer. Long honey colored hair was held hostage by a pink scrungee, but wisps of the fine hair had escaped and framed a perfectly shaped oval face. The thickest eyelashes Josey had ever seen shielded huge amber eyes, and two dimples drew attention to a set of lush lips.
Looks like the finger of God went and stamped His approval on that face, thought Josey. The Lord may have given His approval, but once the women in town saw this one, watch out. They’d forgive you for most anything, except good looks. Somehow they just couldn’t get past that jealousy.
Stay tuned for the next episode!
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