The Summer Proposal
“Okay.”
• • •
“You guys work really late,” I said to Kara, the stylist. After my amazing massage, I took a shower in the locker room and was shown into the salon, which was now completely empty except for the two of us.
“We actually closed about twenty minutes ago.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that. Cynthia just brought me in after we were done.” I started to get up, but Kara put her hand on my shoulder.
“Your boyfriend made special arrangements for me to stay late.” She smiled at me in the mirror. “Don’t give it any thought. He made it very worth my while. Plus, I think we close too early. People don’t even go out until eleven in the city. If we were open later, we might get a younger crowd like you. We tend to get an older clientele.”
“Well, thank you for staying.”
She played with my hair as she stood behind me in the chair. “So, how red are we going?”
“Red? I thought I was just here for a blowout.”
The woman’s brows furrowed. “I’m a colorist. You were booked for color and a blowout. The notes said you wanted to go red. Did they get that wrong?”
“No.” I shook my head. “No, they didn’t. That sounds like something Max would do.”
“Did you not want to get color?”
“I do want to try red. I just didn’t realize it was going to be today. I mentioned that I’ve always wanted to go red to the person who made the appointment.”
She tossed my hair around some more. “I think you’d look great with red. What were you thinking? Like a Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Kidman, or like an Amy Adams with some golden-blond hues?”
“I actually have a picture on my phone. Let me see if I can find it.” It took me a few minutes to locate the photo because it was so old. I looked at the date at the top before holding the phone up to her. “God, I took this photo more than three years ago. I guess I’ve been meaning to do it for longer than I thought.”
“Sometimes it takes a while to pull the trigger on a big change like this.” She pointed to the phone. “But this is exactly the color I would have recommended for you with your skin tone. A deep auburn. It’ll look gorgeous with your green eyes—very natural.”
Kara looked at me. She must’ve read the nerves on my face.
“I’ll tell you what. Why don’t we do a semi-permanent color? I won’t use any ammonia, so the color won’t penetrate your hair shaft. It’ll give you a chance to see if you like it without having to go through the pain of trying to recreate your natural color if you don’t. It’ll wash out within four to six weeks. If you really hate it, I can give you the names of some heavy-duty shampoos that can get it out quicker with extra washes over the next few days.”
I nodded. “That sounds absolutely perfect.”
“Okay.” She smiled. “I’m just going to dry you quick, and then I’ll go whip up some potion, and we can get started.”
“Thank you.”
She handed me back my phone, and I realized this had been the first time I’d had it in my hand since Max picked me up this morning. He’d managed to accomplish four things on my list in one day—start my staycation, go red, see the Statue of Liberty, and unplug more. My natural inclination was to start scrolling, but I somehow resisted the temptation and only perused my missed calls to make sure neither Maggie nor my director of operations had called. Then I tossed it back into my bag.
After the stylist began applying the color, I felt my excitement building as I watched.
“So, your boyfriend seems like a great guy,” Kara said. “He surprised you with a massage and also color you’d only mentioned that you wanted.”
“He is.”
“How long have you guys been together?”
“It’s new. We only met three or four weeks ago.”
“Are you serious? Does he have a brother? I think the nicest thing a guy I just met has ever done for me is bring me chocolate. And I get hives from chocolate.”
I smiled. “Yeah, Max is a great guy.”
Forty minutes later, my color was done, and Kara started to blow out my hair. I loved it already and couldn’t wait to see it fully dry. Max came in just as she was finishing up. He stood a few feet away, off to the side, but I still saw him in the mirror.
Kara caught my eye in the reflection and pointed over her shoulder. “I take it this is Max?”
I nodded. She turned to him. “I’ll be done in five minutes.”
“Take your time.”
After the stylist finished drying, she grabbed a curling wand and threw in a few loose waves, then swiveled my chair to face Max. “Well, what do you think?”