Page 13 of Full Strength

I eyed the man, but didn’t recognize him. Why had he asked for me? I met Peter’s gaze, but he didn’t give me any hints. No raised eyebrows or head tilted. Huh. Peter was just finishing up cleaning his neckline. The cut was almost finished, but he wouldn’t complain right in front of the stylist, right?

“Are you the manager?”

My stomach dropped. Of course, this day was about to get worse. Peter’s eyes met mine in the mirror above the man. I swallowed and nodded. “Yes, I’m Addison.”

His hand popped out from under the cape. “I’m Walker, nice to meet you.”

I eyed his hand for a millisecond before shaking it. “Nice to meet you, too.”

I had no idea where this conversation was going. Was I about to get yelled at?

“I’m new to the area and had a colleague recommend Reform as the best place to get a haircut. I’m here for work from LA so I had a high standard coming in.”

I nodded and kept a smile on my lips. This could literally go any direction. Did he like it? Hate it? Want to buy the salon?

“I hope we lived up to them.”

He nodded, forcing Peter to pause his work. “I’m very impressed and I wanted you to know how great Peter was. I will be recommending this salon to everyone I can.”

My smile turned genuine. He was a happy customer, what a relief.

“That’s great to hear. Peter is one of the best, and I’m glad you enjoyed your experience.”

I began to step back but he continued. “I work for a men’s style magazine, Threads, and I’d like to feature Reform as one of the top salons in the West. Would you be interested?”

Interested in national recognition?

I nodded. “Yes, of course. Thank you for even considering us.”

He smiled. “Great, I will leave my information with Peter. Call me tomorrow and we will set up a shoot.”

A shoot? “A photoshoot?”

“Of course.”

Right, obviously because that’s common for him. Happens all the time. “Sounds great. I look forward to talking about it more.”

He nodded and tilted his head down so Peter could finish. Peter and I made eye contact and I mouthed ‘wow’ before walking away.

Sarah was waiting for me in the back room and jumped off the counter when I turned the corner. “What did he want?”

I ran my hands through my hair, soaking everything in. “He works for Threads magazine and wants to feature Reform as a top salon.”

Her mouth dropped. “Are you serious? That’s a national magazine. That’s huge!”

I shushed her in case Walker could hear us. “It is huge. I just have to make sure Camille is okay with it.”

Sarah rolled her eyes. “Of course, she will be okay with it. She’ll be thrilled! This could take us from a one location salon to a chain! We could have locations in all the hot markets! LA, New York, Chicago!”

I nodded, but didn’t want to get ahead of ourselves. For all we knew he could include us in a bottom inch of a back page.

“I’ll call Camille and let you know what she says.”

Sarah bounced away, happily humming.

5

Grant