Chapter Fourteen
Eliza – Friday
I had the envelope clutched tightly between my fingers as I walked into the salon with a big smile on my face.
Milo had paid me the rent for his time in Florence, and it was a crazy amount. I had added it up a few times and insisted that it was too much, even if he was overpaying the asking price by three times just to have Veil stay, but he kept telling me that it was right and that I was wrong.
It wasn’t though, and I didn’t know how to thank him for it. I wanted to find a way, the best way, but I had some red bills that desperately needed paying first. This would help me to catch up. I would finally be on top of things for the first time in forever, and there was no better feeling in the world than that.
I would always feel grateful to Milo for that: he’d practically saved my life! He’d certainly rescued my business for the time being.
I made a few phone calls, stuffed a few envelopes, and sorted out a few things online while I waited for Laynee to join me. By the time she walked through the door, I felt lighter than air. It made me realize how heavy the weight was on my shoulders, how hard I’d found the struggle with money. The idea to rent out the cabin had been the best one yet.
“Hey, how are you?” I grinned brightly, my cheeks flushing with excitement. “It’s great to see you.”
“What’s wrong with you?” she asked, looking at me suspiciously while she dropped her bag on the nearest chair. “Why are you all happy? Oh, my God!” Her expression lit up as if a realization had just hit her. “Did you get some last night? Are you and Milo finally hooking up? Thank God! How is he?” She slid into the chair and leaned on her elbows as she waited for me to tell her a sordid story.
Feeling wicked, I leaned in closer and stage whispered my reply. “You wouldn’t believe it. He’s incredible; we did it all night long. He gave me pleasure like I never knew existed; my body opened up like a flower...”
“Oh, stop it,” she hissed, hitting me on the arm, seeing right through the façade. “You did not. I wish you would, though. The sexual tension is driving me mad, and it isn’t even mine!”
I considered that for a moment, thinking about the overpowering atmosphere that Milo and I always found ourselves in. It was hard to deal with. Not that I would admit that aloud, especially not to big-mouthed Laynee! If Milo ever did come in here for a haircut, she would tell him for sure, trying to be helpful.
“No.” I forced a bland smile on my face, trying to cover up the truth of my feelings. “Nothing happened, but he did give me some rent money, so I have been able to pay some stuff off. It feels good to be back in the black with everything now; it makes me feel more positive for the year. If things keep going well, then we can start expanding like we so desperately want to.”
“Do we have many in today?”
“Nope,” I replied. “But it doesn’t matter. I’m not going to let anything get me down today. We’re just going to keep on being positive, and things will start looking up. While we wait for everyone to rush in here demanding to get their hair done, why don’t you tell me a little more about what’s happening with Marc?”
From the way that her face fell, I could tell that it wasn’t going to be great news and guilt washed over me. Why did I bring him up when I knew that it was going to end up this way soon enough? I should have just waited for her to tell me when she felt ready.
“I don’t know.” She shrugged, crestfallen. “He just doesn’t seem as into me as he once did. I can’t help wondering what I’ve done wrong.”
I grabbed her shoulders and stared deeply into her eyes. “If the guy isn’t falling at your feet, then he’s an absolute idiot. You have done nothing wrong. You’re incredible.”
“If that were true, then he would want me, wouldn’t he?” I hated this guy – what the hell was his problem? If he wasn’t careful, I would march down and have a very unpleasant word with him. “I just don’t get it.”
“I know it’s hard now – just remember how I was about Josh and I didn’t even care about him that much – but someone will come along soon enough, someone who is actually worthy of your time. There isn’t any point in worrying over someone who is so worthless.”
“Like Milo, you mean.” Oh great; we are back to that. “Are you going to give him his money’s worth now that he’s paid the rent?” She winked and shot me a wicked smile, but I only scowled back.
“Oh, come on, I can tell that you like him. like him. You turn into a schoolgirl with a crush when we talk about him. I haven’t seen you act this way for years. What is stopping you from just having some fun? Why don’t you just enjoy yourself?”
I couldn’t tell her the truth – there was no way that I could admit I was afraid I would end up falling too hard. I couldn’t bear the shame of telling Laynee that I already liked him far too much and that I didn’t want to get my heart broken by this man. It was too embarrassing.
“I just... It’s a silly idea, and he’s a paying customer. I can’t; how unprofessional would that be?” Blaming it on the cabin was much easier than anything else.
“Yeah, yeah, you will end up cracking before he goes home, I’m sure of it.”
I didn’t like to admit how right she was. I was practically living with this guy, we were surviving in the thick sexual atmosphere, and there was only so much that I could do. I was only human – there was only so much temptation I could resist.
Luckily, at that moment, the door clicked open and our first two customers of the day came in, saving me from talking about Milo anymore. But it didn’t stop me from thinking about him. I wasn’t sure anything was that much of a distraction...
“Hello, there, you two, you look great today.” I grinned, turning on the charm. Ms. Wilson and Mrs. Lino were two of our oldest customers, and they always had the same very boring style, but I adored them because they always kept coming back. “Now what can we do for you?”
They sat in front of me and Laynee, staring at their reflections in the mirror, gossiping about the other women in the town while we worked. I couldn’t help but smile as they talked; it was amazing what you learned working on people’s hair. It was almost as if they thought we couldn’t hear or that we had some sort of hairdresser/customer confidentiality agreement. We often found out about affairs, surprise pregnancies, and arguments before anyone else did.
It put us in a position of power, really, but we didn’t care. We knew it all, but the more that time passed, the more we realized how pointless it was. Who cared what was going on in other people’s lives? And everyone moved on quickly to the next topic soon enough, anyway.
“You two are pretty,” Mrs. Lino mused, snapping the attention of the room back to us. “But I never see you with guys. Do either of you have boyfriends?”
I wasn’t sure if she was asking to be kind or just to find out dirt on us, but after the chat I’d just had with Laynee, it was the last thing either of us wanted to be talking about.
“Erm, no...” I started, but Laynee interrupted me sharply, not letting me get a word in edgeways.
“I don’t, but Eliza does,” she teased. “But you won’t know him because he isn’t from around here.”
“Ooh.” The women both grew excited by this information. “Who is he? What is he like?”
“He’s tall, dark, and very handsome,” Laynee continued. “Super-hot, and he adores Eliza—”
“He isn’t my boyfriend,” I interjected quickly, wanting to stop the flow of rumors before they started. Not that it was likely, but if Milo heard them, I would literally die of humiliation. “He’s just... a guy.”
Unfortunately, that made it a million times worse, and the women talked over me as if I wasn’t even there. It was out there now – everyone would be talking about it. I just had to hope that something dramatic would happen soon enough to take the attention away from me. It wasn’t often that something super exciting went down, but I could hope for it all the same.
***
“Sorry about earlier,” Laynee finally said as we shut the lights off. “It was only a little joke. You aren’t mad, are you?”
“Oh, no, I’m not.” I shook my head and grinned. “It’s all just a little weird.”
“You are the one making it weird.” She chuckled. “You’re making this a much bigger deal than it is. Just take some of that rent money and buy him some food for a nice dinner. See where things go. Stop getting so worked up about stuff.”
“You think?” I asked, trembling a little. Maybe she was right – maybe I was finding problems that weren’t there, looking for an excuse to protect my heart. Just because I got along well with this guy didn’t mean I had to fall for him. Maybe we could do whatever and leave it all on good terms. Maybe it was time to have some fun...
Oh, God, I just didn’t know.
“I do think. Look, if you don’t put yourself out there, you’ll never meet anyone. You can’t let Josh ruin you, especially when you didn’t even like him really.”
“Oh, I know, you’re right about that one.”
Okay, I needed to trust her. I needed to relax just a little bit. I needed to believe that everything would be fine. I had cooked plenty of meals for Milo anyway, so one more wouldn’t be suspicious.
I left the salon and headed straight for the supermarket. If Marc was there and I got to give him a piece of my mind today, then so be it. If not, then I would just buy everything that I needed for tonight... including a nice bottle of wine.
My heart raced at the idea, and my face burst out into a grin. The thought of Milo wrapping those strong arms around me and his lips meeting mine had my whole body reacting in a buzzing, thrilling way. Being smart all the time hadn’t gotten me anywhere so far, so maybe it was actually time to try something new.
And just to think, if the damn pipes hadn’t burst in my apartment, if my landlord hadn’t been so useless, I never would have gotten to know Milo at all.
I would have given him the keys, thought he was cute, and not seen him again until he left. Sure, the money would have still been there, so the whole financial side of my life would have been a little better, but not knowing him would have been a shame.
Despite my initial impression of him, personality wise, he was an awesome person. Not the sort of person I would have even given much time to beforehand, never mind considered, which just proved that my previous way of looking for love just wasn’t working.
At least that was a lesson learned.