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1
LORNA
Being hired to do hair in a fancy salon in New York City had been my dream when I was a little girl. I used to style all of my dolls…to the point where my mom had to take the safety scissors away from me when I was four because I’d chopped some of their hair way too short. In hindsight, I totally blamed how blunt the edges were on those disastrous looks.
Thanks to cosmetology school, my skills had increased along with the sharpness of my scissors.
It was hard to believe I was living that dream—at least to a certain extent. The salon where I worked was great, but there were better ones in the Upper East Side that were my goal now. And I paid for my chair, which came with advantages I had no idea about when I was younger. Like the flexible schedule that had allowed me to take the next week off.
“C’mon, Lorna,” Ivy called from the living room of our cramped Soho apartment. “If we don’t hurry up, they’ll give away our table at the club.”
My roommate was another perk since we met because we started to work at the salon at the same time. Although we got along great and had a lot in common, she liked to go and do stuff more than I did. When I came home after a long day, all I wanted to do was throw on my jammies and get cozy with a book or show. It was probably good that we lived together since we tended to balance each other out. I made sure she didn’t stay out too late when Ivy had clients booked in the early morning, while she talked me into trying out new restaurants. And a club tonight since we were celebrating my twenty-first birthday.
“Almost done!” Luckily, my mascara was already applied when I rolled my eyes at her excuse for wanting to get out the door so quickly.
Ivy was excited to hit up a club she’d never been to before, especially since she just turned twenty-one a few weeks ago and had only been out for drinks with friends a couple of times since then. But she was in such a rush tonight because one of her clients had gotten us bottle service at The End Zone, which came with a guaranteed table. Since the Nighthawks had their last preseason game tonight at home, her client had warned us that the place would be packed. Apparently, the owner was friends with the quarterback, and the team liked to celebrate their wins at the club.
When a few of Ivy’s childhood friends heard where we were going, they invited themselves to my birthday party. I didn’t know Jen, Stephanie, or Darla very well, but I figured the more the merrier tonight. Especially since we’d have enough people to watch our drinks while the others hit the dance floor. If it’d just been Ivy and me, we really would’ve run the risk of losing our table when she eventually talked me into dancing.
Ivy cracked open the bathroom door and met my gaze in the mirror. “You look great. Let’s go.”
“Are you sure?” I asked as I tucked my favorite lipstick into my purse.
She rolled her eyes. “You could arrive in yoga pants and a tee and still look gorgeous.”
“Aw, thanks.” I beamed a smile at her. “And I appreciate you helping me choose an outfit. I wasn’t sure what would work best for a place like The End Zone.”
“Lucky for you, I could put my extensive barhopping experience to good use.” She winked at me before we both started to giggle at her exaggeration. “But seriously, Naomi told me that we’d be fine in just about anything we picked. It’ll run the full gamut from normal to jersey chasers wearing as little as possible in the hope that they can catch the eye of one of the football players.”
“I still can’t believe the wife of the Nighthawks quarterback comes to our salon.” My brows drew together as I shook my head. “Doesn’t she live all the way out in Long Island?”
“You know how women are when it comes to their hair. They’ll drive over state lines—or the East River, in this case—for a good cut and color if they have to.” Ivy tugged me out of the bathroom so she could nudge me out of our apartment. “And Catherine said she was the first stylist to cut Naomi’s hair back when she first moved to the city before she hooked up with the hottie, silver fox quarterback.”
I stuck my tongue out at her as we stepped into the lift. “Owner’s pet.”
“Am not,” she grumbled, not arguing too hard because she knew I was right. Catherine let Ivy get away with a lot more than any of the other stylists who rented booths in our salon. They’d just clicked since day one, which had been great for me since I sometimes benefited from the preferential treatment because I was Ivy’s friend and roommate. Like our chairs being in the best spots.
I gently bumped her with my hip. “Hey, I’m not gonna complain when her handing the quarterback’s wife off to you ended up with us getting free bottle service for my twenty-first.”
“Only because Catherine asked us if we had any big plans now that we’re both of age while I was giving Naomi a blowout.” Ivy patted her wristlet. “She’s ridiculously sweet and gave me a big tip on top of arranging for us to go to The End Zone tonight since she felt bad about not doing anything for my birthday.”
“Nice.” I grinned at my roommate as we left the elevator and headed outside to grab our rideshare.
“She even apologized for not being able to get us into the VIP section since the team had already reserved the whole thing because there was a home game tonight.” Ivy shook her head with a laugh. “Can you believe it?”
“Really? You weren’t kidding about her being the best. Maybe I should try to steal her away from you next time she comes in,” I teased.
When we arrived at the club, Ivy’s friends were already waiting for us. Jen and Stephanie were dressed similarly to Ivy and me, but Darla was dressed to impress with a micro-mini skirt that barely covered her panties, a halter bustier, and five-inch heels. Her makeup was on point too, but I would’ve done something different to her blond hair if they’d come to our apartment to get ready before going out. Maybe a fishtail braid with some red extensions woven in to go with her top.
“Thank goodness you guys are finally here.” Darla hooked her arm through Ivy’s and led her toward the bouncer. “We need to get to our table before the players arrive and are crowded by all the women who’re gonna try to get their attention.”
“Are you counting yourself as one of them?” Jen muttered as we followed them.
Stephanie laughed and nodded. “She really should.”
My brows drew together. “Ivy’s client hooked us up, but she knows we won’t be in the VIP area with the team, right?”
Jen shrugged as she handed the bouncer her ID. “Yeah, but that’s not going to stop her from doing her best to either make her way up there or draw enough attention on the dance floor so that it won’t matter.”
