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“No problem.”
Applying the heavy pigments to the woman’s long hair, she understood why she didn’t want it to break. Her hair was thick and long – and this was going to be spectacular. She carefully layered in the deep purple highlights to frame her face and applied the rest of the coloring, swallowing at the deep shades. As she applied the colors, the two of them talked easily.
“When Jack comes home, it will be like getting to breathe again,” Mia said, smiling happily. “I hate him being gone all the time, but with my classes, I really need this time to apply myself, you know? He’s definitely distracting and…” the woman blushed. “I love his distractions.”
“That’s sweet,” Daphne said evasively, and nearly shook her head. She couldn’t imagine being in a relationship with anyone because they all seemed to leave. Being married to someone in the military who had to leave every time you turned around seemed like nightmare fuel to her, but it obviously worked for this girl. “I really like my freedom, and being tethered to this class is about the longest I’ve stayed anywhere in a few years.”
“Oh? Are you not opening a salon when you graduate?”
“Heck no,” Daphne scoffed, smiling and applying the last of the pigment. “I’m going to travel and see the world before I settle down. I’ve always wanted to see a few monuments, and I’ve been saving my pennies from work.”
“What do you want to see first?”
“Well, I thought I’d see the plains of the Midwest – you know, Kansas, the Dakotas, and such. Then I want to head west… the Badlands, Devil’s Tower, Old Faithful, things like that.”
“I bet it’s lovely up there,” Mia said, smiling and pointing to the sink. “Let’s wash your hair. I think you’ve processed long enough, and I don’t want anything to break on you either.”
“I’ve been looking at pictures online,” Daphne nodded, leaning back into the sink and offering up a small prayer. “I’ve got my truck ready to go, and since it’s just me, I can hightail it out of here just as soon as I graduate. Then, when I’m ready, I’ll go rent a little booth somewhere.”
“I think that’s a brilliant idea,” Mia began, and her next words shocked her. “I used to live out of my car, and there is such a freedom in not being tied down. It’s scary sometimes, but I think that some of us just have nomadic tendencies we have to get out of our system.”
“Exactly,” Daphne’s eyes widened as she looked at the woman. “How can I be happy if my heart is restless? I can’t imagine being tied down with kids, doing the whole ‘domestic’ thing without some sort of excitement. The idea of just settling down is terrifying, because I don’t want anything to hold me back from being me.”
“I understand,” Mia smiled tenderly. “I thought the same thing, but you might be surprised when you finally hit that mental wall – it’s not quite as bad as you might think.”
The woman wrapped a towel around her hair and smiled at her. Daphne sat there and hesitated.
“No offense, but we’re not the same… and I think that’s not going to work for me. I’m happy for you, but I’m not wife or mom material. I need the wide-open skies above me, freedom, and nothing to tie me down. No man is going to smother me or stifle who I am,” Daphne said quietly, not trying to be rude about it. “We should probably rinse your hair, too.”
“Sounds good.”
It was thirty minutes later when Daphne had blown out Mia’s hair with a round brush that people started to walk over, admiring the colors she’d used. Mia’s hair was now a dark blue with large chunks of purple highlights that seemed to just fit her. It was lovely and certainly eye-catching. Plus, with no bleach, her hair stayed soft despite all the pigment put on it.
Daphne’s hair did not quite turn out like either expected – but was nice regardless in a very normal way. The orange shades did not turn on her hair like they’d planned but rather taking on a golden-brownish hue. A few locks of bright color were there, and the blonde looked phenomenal. There was a reddish-orange cast there that she hoped got a little brighter, or she might redo her hair again when she got some downtime.
“What’s this?”
The Goat barked out behind her, causing her to jump wildly as she knocked the brush she’d been using to the floor. Mia was running her fingers through her hair in disbelief, looking in the mirror… before the brightest smile touched her face – and she turned to hug Daphne immediately.
“I freakin’ love it!” she screeched excitedly. “Jack is going to flip!”
“You colored her hair blue?” the Goat said bluntly.
“And put in purple highlights,” Daphne added, not backing down. This woman hated everyone, and she wasn’t about to back down to her. Nope. The only person that mattered right now was Mia’s happiness, and the woman had just hugged her.
Pass or fail – she was happy.
“What product did you use, and can you describe it in detail to everyone? I want to know processing time, thoughts behind it, everything…”
Oh yeah, she was about to get raked over the coals.
“The first thing I did was remove any product from her hair. I wanted a clean base to start with so the pigment would absorb evenly. When Mia told me she used conditioner, I knew this was the first step, because of waxy residue on the follicles. Then I took a mix of…”
Ten minutes later – the Goat walked off and literally harrumphed as she did so, moving to check several of the others that were finishing up as well. She didn’t cross-examine Mia like she did her, but that was fine. The woman had taken a dislike to her immediately.
Daphne stared at the grades the next morning in total shock. She had scored the top grade – bumping her to the top of her class – and was scheduled for graduation.
Her life was about to begin!
