Smiling up at her very talented friend, her eyes showed the determination that was so much a part of her character once more. “My hair.” Margaret smiled knowingly. Nodded, arched her eyebrow, and got up.
“Ab-so-lute-ly!” She enunciated each syllable. “Nothing like a new hairstyle to light a fire under someone.” And Margaret knew exactly what she was going to do. This girl needed to be reminded each time she looked in the mirror if anyone messed with her, they would be burned.
Ronnie followed Margaret to her station inside the salon prepared to let her have her way with her. She had a few ideas, but she’d leave the creative parts to the professional.
***
Margaret was just finishing up with an amazing new hairstyle for her, and it was close to seven when Ronnie heard her phone notifications indicate she had a message. Swiping at the screen to activate her phone, she saw two missed texts. One was from Nikko, and the other was from her mom. And as hard a she tried not to, she glanced at Nikko’s first wondering what the ass hat wanted. He had some nerve. Afternoon delight with Linda and now he was looking for his nightly booty call. Smirking, she tapped his name and read his message.
Nikko: We’re still on for tonight, right? What time do you want me to come get you, babe? :)
Never. Asshole!
Reading over her shoulder, Margaret just made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat and set to work cleaning up her station giving Ronnie a little privacy. She quickly tapped out her response. She had been formulating a plan, but hadn’t shared the details with Margaret.
Ronnie: Not tonight. Something came up.
She had been tempted to say she had a headache, but did not want to show any signs of sarcasm, or get his suspicious nature on alert. And the truth was she needed to be with her mom tonight. Not that she was going to avoid Nikko forever, she just needed to think of how she was going to handle that situation. And when. The man was definitely not off the hook for his actions, and he was going to get a piece of her mind.
She was going to switch over to read her mom’s message, but before she could even look, Nikko texted back.
Nikko: What’s up? :(
Your cock’s up a brunette, fucker. That’s what’s up! Asshole.
Ronnie: My mom is sick. I’ll ttyl.
Nikko: K. Sorry. Tomorrow then? <3
Tomorrow? Definitely. She wasn’t slinking away like last summer. No way. She just had to get all the pieces together.
Ronnie: Sure. Definitely. I’ll text you details later tonight. Need to take care of mom right now. She is not well at all.
Honesty. She’d give him a bit of the truth. She’d let the fireworks happen later. And not the kind of fireworks he would be expecting to get either.
Nikko: Anything I can do? I’ll miss you tonight.
Sure you will. I bet.
Ronnie: No. Thanks. Ttyl.
Nikko: Sleep tight.
Shaking her head in disgust, she didn’t bother to respond. She backed her texts up to see the one from her mom.
Lou: Hey hon. Don’t want to rush you, but would like to talk to you tonight. Have some things to talk about, and your lawyer called. Can you come home before I go to bed around eleven?
She answered her mom right away.
Ronnie: I’m on my way now actually. See you soon. Love you.
Lou: Oh good. Got some news, good and bad, but don’t rush. Nothing too serious.
Just like her mom, to worry about everyone but herself. Nothing too serious. Yeah right. At least her lawyer must have good news then, unlike what she thought earlier because she knew her mom’s wasn’t going to be. Even though her heart sank at the news her mom was about to tell her, she reminded herself she needed to be strong now. For her, and for Jay. There had to be some way to fight whatever she had. Determined to do whatever it took to help her mom, and beat this rap, she steeled herself for what was to come. She was ready to put up a good fight. Margaret returned and was curling a few pieces more of her hair, some final touch ups and a bit of hair spray to hold her new look all together.
“All done,” Margaret announced, turning her around so Ronnie could finally see her reflection in the elegant mirrors Margaret recently purchased for the shop.
Ronnie gasped at the difference this new hair style, cut and color, made. “Fantastic,” she announced, a slow smile spreading across her face. “I love it.” Gone were the dirty blond waves, and pink streak. The platinum blond shaggy cut swung around her shoulders, the tips ending with a halo of red and orange. It looked like her hair was on fire. She loved it. It was Marilyn Monroe meets Katniss Everdeen. It was exactly what she needed. Something to remind her of her inner fire. Margaret was talented.
“It looks hot! The platinum suits you, and so does the fire.”