Chapter Ten
Tanya yawned. It had been a long day at the beauty salon. In fact it had been a long three days.
Normally she didn’t mind the rhythm of her job, but after what had happened on Sunday, it was hard to concentrate on going to work, doing hair, and pretending like nothing had happened over the weekend. Of course, no word from Bryce in the least.
Tanya wasn't really certain what she was looking for or expecting, but it would've been nice to hear something.
Sure, she could have called him, but she’d made her move and her feelings clear. At this point, Bryce needed to man up and decide what he wanted and not make up a bunch of stupid excuses about protecting her and not taking things from her.
She just had to sit around waiting for him, like some sort of damsel in distress. Tanya glanced at herself in the mirror over one of the chairs and puffed her strip of red hair out of her face.
She was no fucking damsel in distress. In her entire life, she’d never held back. And yet there she was, waiting for him to call her, like some pathetic teenager.
Damn Bryce. Why did he have to be so aggravating?
Tanya stomped over to the front door, her sneakers squeaking against the floor.
The street light outside had already kicked on. She normally went home way earlier. She wouldn’t have stayed so late, but a bridal party that came in wanted to make sure they got every last thing taken care of before leaving.
Not that Tanya really blamed them. If it were her wedding, she'd want to make sure everything was exactly how she imagined it to be. It helped her having a big group of clients as well.
She let out a chuckle. Wedding? She couldn’t even get a relationship started. Still, the fantasy lingered.
The thought of a handsome man in a nicely fitted tux floated through her mind, along with an image of herself in a white dress beaming from ear to ear at her family and friends.
Was it silly to picture a man there beside her? To hope for the family and life she saw so many of her friends going for?
Tanya wasn’t in a hurry, but she’d done the single thing for a while now, so it wouldn’t hurt if she could speed up things a little. Even if that only meant landing a man for the moment.
She flipped the lock on the door and pulled the shades on the windows before switching off the front lights.
Tanya walked to the back room and tried not to let her mood turn so gloomy. It wasn't silly to want more in life. It wasn't silly to want it with someone. It wasn’t even silly to want it with Bryce.
Maybe it was time Bryce realized just who he was dealing with, and that fifteen years more of experience hadn’t made him any wiser.
When she reached the back room, Tanya glanced around at the area. It was a cozy little space she utilized for the daily paperwork. The back wall had an opening that led to the storage area where Tanya and her mother kept the chemicals and products needed for some hair treatments. It wasn’t a large space, but it was perfect for their needs.
Tanya sat in the chair and sighed as she quickly jotted down the daily money count. The longer she sat there, the more she was bothered by her passive role. She’d been willing to make a move before, but now she was just waiting.
After a few moments, Tanya pulled out her phone and glared at it. There were no messages waiting for her, voice or text.
“Fuck it," she said, and grunted.
Not giving herself the opportunity to chicken out, Tanya slid open the phone screen and punched Bryce’s name on the menu. Her heart beat wildly in her chest as the phone began to ring in her ear.
"Tanya," Bryce’s silky voice said over the line. "You okay?"
Something about hearing his voice made her stomach flip. Tanya cleared her throat.
"Um, yeah, I'm fine."
She could hear the audible sigh on the other end of the phone. "Is there something you need?"
Something she needed? Tanya let out a strange sort of high-pitched squeak at the loaded question. Damn Bryce.
"I know what you said," Tanya said, rushing to get out her words. "But I disagree. I think we should give it a shot. I don't see why we shouldn't."
“Tanya…"
She could hear the warning in his voice and felt her heart sink into her stomach.
A sudden crash sounded outside.
Tanya's head whipped to the side. The noise had come from the small restaurant next door. Another crash sounded. A mixture of fear and anger swallowed her disappointment.
"What the fuck?" she said quietly. The sound of more shattering glass followed. "I think someone's breaking in next door."
"Where are you?" Bryce said on the other end, his voice all action now.
"I'm at work," she said quietly.
"Shit." He grunted. He mumbled something unintelligible on the other end.
"Reece is going to call the cops," Bryce said. "We'll be there in just a few minutes."
The thuds and crashes from next door were almost constant now. How dare they destroy the place that the older couple she knew little about had so lovingly built.
The sound changed. Instead of thuds and crashes, she heard the rattle of the front door.
"I think someone's at the front door," she whispered, panic rising in her voice. Her heart pounded.
Tanya peeked around to the front and flipped off the light overhead. She didn't think having someone there would deter these people. That might even make things worse.
"Hide," Bryce said over the phone, his voice full of authority.
Tanya could hear him panting as he raced to get in the car. If they were at the security firm’s building, they could drive to the salon in less than ten minutes. But as things were, she was starting to wonder if ten minutes would be ten too long.
Tanya hurried to the chemical storage area. It wasn’t the best spot, but there weren’t a lot of places for her to go. The salon had no windows or doors aside from the one leading out the front.
She picked up a tube of bleach and held it in her hand. If she was lucky, it would blind them. Even if not, they would get a hell of a burn before killing her.
A large crash came from the front door as they kicked it in.
"Oh God, they’re inside," she whispered, shaking.
"Hide away, Tanya," Bryce said urgently in her ear. "You have to stay hidden. Just don't let them see you."
She didn’t respond, now afraid to say anything.
“Tanya?”
“They are too close,” she whispered. “I don’t think I should talk.”
“We’ll be there soon,” he said, and hung up.
Two men laughed in the front. The sound of crashing glass and ripping upholstery filled her ears. She didn’t understand why they were so destructive. Where was the money in that?
She thought about all the destruction and how her mother would react. Lord help them if her mother ever got her hands on them.
Tanya was glad her mother had decided not to come in for the evening. She couldn't even imagine her mother staying hidden while they ransacked their place. Over her dead body would they ruin her salon. Not that it would do much good.
She listened as they moved around the front area and prayed they would stay there long enough for Bryce and Reece to arrive and deliver a little justice to the bastards.
Instead, the sound of heavy boots got closer and closer to the back area. The light she had turned off earlier flipped on. Between the products on the shelf, she could make out the shadows on the wall of two men in the room.
"Mess it up," one of the men said with authority. "We gotta make this look good. This is about sending a message to this town about who badass we are."
Something about the way he spoke sent a chill down Tanya’s spine. He didn't sound like just another thug, but more like he was a dangerous man all around.
As the thugs moved to the back room, her fingers shook around the bottle of bleach. She could just see the silhouette of a man as he peered in the room. Tanya pressed herself back against the wall as far as she could, praying he would decide to leave the area untouched.
"Want me to trash this area?" the other man asked.
"Too many chemicals," the man in charge said. "Mix the wrong ones, and it's like setting off a bomb, or a fucking chemical weapon or some shit.”
He might be a thug, but at least he wasn't an idiot.
Tanya let out a silent sigh of relief as the two men returned to the office to overturn her shelves and knock things around. After a moment or two longer, she heard them walk back through the front salon, broken glass crunching under their feet.
Tanya set the bottle of bleach on the floor between her legs. Her hands shook violently as she placed them on her head. She let out the tears she had been holding back.