Rule's Obsession (The House of Rule 1)

****

Janice looked at Angie the next morning in surprise. "You want to do what?"

Angie rolled her eyes. "I want to go back to my natural color for a while."

"Why? I thought you relished all the tips this look is bringing you."

Angie shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not going to completely give it up." Then she thought better of it. "Or I might. But I'll do it slowly. But the black hair has to go." And then she smiled. "But not the music. Definitely, not the music."

Janice quirked a smile. "You do like your alternative rock." And then she sobered and asked, "Is this about Damian?"

"Maybe." Angie knew it was. She'd had some fun with him, but somewhere along the line, the casual aspect had taken a turn and wasn't working for her anymore. She didn't care for the direction things were going. If he wanted out, he should just leave. It wouldn't kill her. His attitude was making her feel bad, screwing with her self-esteem, and she wasn't going to let that happen.

She was starting to feel taken advantage of. Sure, she'd given in pretty quickly and maybe that was her fault. There was the old adage about 'getting the milk for free', but it wasn't just that. He didn't let her see inside of himself very often, if at all; he kept his emotions in check.

She needed to know if he liked her for the person she was, or for the persona she'd developed. Because if he didn't like her, she needed to quit seeing him. And his reaction to the change she was thinking about would be a big indication of how he really felt. She wasn't going back to a conservative look so that she'd be more suitable to what he wanted in a woman. She wasn't. She would never lower herself that way. This was a simple, expedient way to figure out if her normal, everyday look, the person she really was, was enough to keep him interested in her. It was as simple as that.

"So, is it about him?" Janice questioned.

"I want to see if it's me or gothic me that he likes. Is that so terrible?"

"Nope. Not at all."

"Do you think we can fit it in today? Between customers?"

"I can make time if you can, but you might have to walk around for a few hours with it stripped."

"That's not a problem. This is a salon, after all."

The door pinged as the first customer walked in and Janice tilted her head toward the man standing at the front. "Let's get started right after him."

****

After an extremely busy morning, when they hadn't had a moment to start on her hair, the phone rang between customers and Angie picked it up to find an extremely excited Justine Rule on the other end. "We went to dinner last night," the older woman said without preamble.

Angie was flabbergasted and pleased all at once; she knew immediately who the 'we' was. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, and we're going again tonight."

"Wow, that's cool, Mrs. Rule."

"Justine. I've repeatedly asked you to call me Justine."

"Yes, ma'am. Justine," Angie agreed, knowing there wasn't a chance in hell she'd call Damian's mother by her first name, at least not for the foreseeable future.

"I need to ask you a question, darling. I have literally no friends who I feel comfortable having this discussion with. They're all married and quite conservative. I thought about asking Courtney but that would almost be as bad as asking Erin and I just can't bring myself to do it. Besides, TMI and all that, that's what you kids call it, right?" she rattled and then continued, "Do you mind?"

"No, go ahead." Angie held the phone between her ear and shoulder while she swept the floor, sure that the question would be about clothes or shoes and what was stylish or appropriate. How could his mother be so sweet when Damian could act like such a douche?

The other woman paused and then plunged into it, "Anyway . . . he's going to want to sleep with me pretty soon, isn't he? People don't wait long for sex anymore, do they?"

Angie choked and the broom handle dropped to the floor with a cacophonous clatter as she made a grab to keep the phone from doing the same. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Oh, dear. I probably shouldn't have blurted it out like that. But I have no one else to ask and I've been somewhat worried about the situation. And it's your fault because you're so easy to talk to and you don't appear to have a judgmental bone in your body."

Angie walked to the back room and shut the door where she'd have some privacy. "It's okay. Let me think for a minute. I didn't expect this, you know?"

"Yes, of course, darling, take all the time you need."