Page 24 of I Could Never
Nadine’s Nest was certainly unlike the glamorous salon I went to back home. There were only two chairs in the whole place, and instead of photos of hair models on the walls, there were a few posters of 70’s icons like Elvis and Cher. The owner of the salon, Nadine, ran it with her daughter Bianca. As Bianca did my foil highlights, I ended up telling her the entire story of how I’d ended up in Woodsboro.
“So you don’t have all that much time today, then,” she said as she painted some of my strands.
“I told Josh I’d be back by four.”
She paused. “Josh is the guy who’s helping you take care of your fiancé’s brother?”
“Yes.”
“What’s his last name?”
“Mathers.”
“Oh…” She smirked. “Small world around here. I know Josh Mathers.”
Of course, you do.“Why did you make that face?”
“He dated my sister in high school.” She folded a piece of foil. “They graduated the same year. We have a nickname for him.”
“What is it?”
“The dick.”
Yep.I rolled my eyes. “Not very original.”
“Well, he had a big dick and heisa big dick. So it’s fitting.”
My skin heated. “Okay. I didn’t need to know that.”
“He cheated on Nicole, actually. But that was a long time ago. I’m sure he’s changed by now.”
I’m not so sure.“So you must’ve known my fiancé, Brad Longo, too?”
“Ah, yes. He was a sweet guy. I was so sorry to hear he passed. I didn’t make the connection when you mentioned the brother with autism, but now this all makes sense. You wereBrad’sfiancée. Wow.” She stopped working for a moment to look at me. “Again, I’m really sorry for your loss.”
I hated when people said that. It always brought me back to the week Brad died and the awful state of denial I’d been in, one I probably hadn’t fully exited even now.
“Thank you.”
She examined my face in the mirror. “How are you doing?”
My chest felt heavy. “Most days I just live in denial and try to occupy myself with work or responsibilities. Of course, there’s no such thing as traditional work while I’m here. I’m taking a sabbatical from that.”
“What is it that you do?”
“I’m a makeup artist.”
Her face lit up. “Seriously?”
“Yes. I work freelance out in L.A. Mostly television and movie projects.”
“This is going to sound totally random, but any chance I could convince you to do wedding makeup on Saturdays while you’re out here? I know that’s not as exciting as television, but I could really use the help. It’s so hard to find someone reliable who knows what they’re doing.”
“Not sure. Depends on if it’s worth my time.”
“It would be five-hundred dollars for just a few hours of work in the morning. Most of the weddings are in the afternoon, so you’d for sure be done by one or two.”
It’d be nice to have a little extra spending cash. “Let me talk to Josh and see if he’d be willing to look after Scottie on Saturday mornings. I can get back to you.”