Page 9 of His Forever
“Hmm, I think you should schedule people however it works best for you, Mija. And I like the flyer. Do you want to go over to the store and get copies made? You can pick up the donuts and coffees for the girls on your way back. Or do you have someone coming in?”
“My first one isn’t for another two hours, plenty of time to do that and get back here. How can we let your existing customers know that we now have facials and skin care available?”
“Oh, Mija, we will tell them! And give them a flyer. I think you will be busier than you know.”
“I sure hope so. Zeus told me how much the car was going to cost and while I have plenty to work off for a time, it is going to cut into what I have.”
“All will be well, Mija, don’t you worry, si?”
She was getting used to María-Luisa ’s speech patterns, how she would intermingle English and Spanish, or sometimes, go completely over to Spanish, so she nodded her agreement before taking the flyer back and going back out to the front to get the stylists’ coffee orders.
***
Walking back into the salon, she felt the tension in the air and looked around. Chandra gave her a look and then glanced down at the woman she was working on and she raised her eyebrow as if to say “what?” because she had no clue what the look meant. Chandra, using the excuse that she needed more product, followed her back into the breakroom where she whispered, “That’s Zeus’ ex-wife! She’s back in town apparently and has spent the past thirty minutes talking about how it’ll only be a matter of time before she has him back. None of us liked how she did him before and Maria-Luisa told us how he was with you last night when she met you.That’swhat the look was for, girlie!”
“But…I mean, well, hell…he’s a nice guy and I like him, but if they have a history, I can hardly expect to stand in the way of that!”
“Honey, their history involved her never thinking he was good enough. He deserves so much more.”
“And how can you be sure that I am that?”
“Call it intuition. Mamá is taken with you and she is rarely wrong about this kind of thing.”
“Mamá?”
“María-Luisa. She insists we all call her Mamá and with how she treats us as though we are her own? It works.”
“Ah, I see. Well, thanks for giving me the heads-up on Miss Blonde Bombshell out there.”
“No problem. We want you to stay.”
“Wasn’t planning to go anywhere, that’s for sure!”
***
She was in her room going over her schedule when the woman came to the door. “Uh, excuse me? Chandra mentioned that you do facials?”
Looking at the woman, she groaned internally. She was everything that most men would want; long legs, trim waist, hair and nails done, and make-up perfectly applied. No wonder Zeus had fallen for her. Out loud, she said, “Yes, I do facials as well as massages.”
“Oh, I have a divine massage therapist already, but I’m looking for someone who can give a good facial.”
“I can help you out there. When would you like to come?”
“Do you have anything on Friday?”
She looked at her schedule and saw she had an opening. It was right before Zeus’ massage, but hopefully, because they were using two separate rooms, it wouldn’t be an issue. “Well, I have a massage at four, but could do a facial at three since it’s not in the same room,” she finally told the woman.
“That would work perfectly! I’m Suri Álvarez, by the way.”
“Oh, are you related to María-Luisa? I haven’t met all of her children yet.”
“Uh, I’m her former daughter-in-law. I was married to Zeus.”
“Oh, he’s the one working on my car. Real nice guy.”That’s the ticket, play it coolshe thought to herself.
“He is and I didn’t realize what I had but I’m hoping to change all of that real soon,” Suri confided.
“Well, I wish you the best. I’ll see you Friday at three, okay?”