Chapter Text
It was 9:14, just sixteen minutes shy of closing when the salon's doorbell rang. Shelby, being the only one in the building, went to check out who was courageous enough to come for an appointment so late. Her feeling of annoyance quickly faded when she saw Martha walking in. Only, she was with someone else, who didn't seem too thrilled to be there.
"Can't we just go home? I don't understand why you felt like getting a hairstyle at such a preppy salon would be a way to cheer me up."
"Don't be like that! You know this is where I always go to get my hair cut and you always say it looks amazing."
"Yeah, well, who says I wasn't lying?"
"Where you?"
"...No."
Shelby caught a portion of their conversation before her presence was noticed by Martha.
"Shelby!" Martha said, seemingly excited to see the hairstylist. "So sorry to bother you this close to the end of the day." She said with such kind and apologetic eyes Shelby couldn't find it in herself to feel inconvenienced. So, instead of running them off, Shelby smiled, shook her head, and waved them inside.
Once in the lounge room, Shelby pushed her hand out to the two visitors while raising an eyebrow as if to ask what they came for. Martha being ever so used to this spoke for them both.
"We're here, or rather she's here," Martha said pointing at the woman next to her " to get a new hairstyle that will hopefully lighten up her mood." she finished with a tinge of desperation.
"I am not in a bad mood and a fucking hairstyle wouldn't get close to making me feel better or whatever." the lady responded, somewhat rudely. It was at that moment that Shelby finally gave her a good look. She was brunette, had light dark skin, and brown eyes that seemed to go on forever, though not as gorgeous as Martha's. The woman was also currently sporting a sleeveless shirt with a basketball print in the middle and grey camo shorts.
'She sure is beautiful, Shelby thought.
"What are you looking at?" Said a rather angry voice, causing Shelby to snap back into reality. A reality in which she was just caught blatantly staring at the brunette.
What is she? A rookie?
"Toni quit it. She was just figuring out what hairstyle would fit you best, like some pro-level imagination. Right Shelby?" Martha reasoned, bright smile and all. What could Shelby do but nod and agree?
Shelby then got up to retrieve a piece of paper. On the paper were questions asking about hobbies, daily routine, occupations, and some details such as age and if one's hair is virgin or not. At the bottom is a section in which it is highly requested that the customer writes a paragraph about themselves. This helps out in more ways than one would expect. Despite what others may say, hair can say a lot about a person. Getting a style that matches who you are not only builds confidence but attracts others.
Walking back, she handed it to the brunette now known as Toni. Toni took it, confusion spread all over her face as she looked up at Shelby.
"What is this?" She asked. A question to which she didn't get an answer from Shelby but Martha instead.
"It's a form, Toni. You need to fill it out so that Shelby can get a better look at you. This is how the salon works. Dream Hairstyle isn't the name for no reason!" Martha finished happily. She radiates so much kindness all the time that Shelby can't help but feel happy herself. Having someone speak so enthusiastically about her salon makes her feel proud.
Toni only seemed to get more agitated with that answer. "Why would anyone need to complete a form for a haircut? Can't I just tell her what I want and leave?" She reasoned, which in all honesty, isn't that bad of a question. Common customer service is to speak with the client and communicate to get the desired result. So, yes she could tell her but where's the fun in that? Shelby likes to get to know her clients, especially since most end up being regulars, and that extra knowledge only helps her skills.
"Well yes, I suppose so." Comes Martha's hesitant response. "But everyone handles their business differently and this only spices things up." She finishes with, once again back to her cheerful attitude. Martha looks at Shelby and then throws a beaming smile at Toni, almost begging for her to play nice. This seems to soften Toni up, at least enough for her to relent and start on that form.
After about 10 minutes, Toni was finished answering the questions and handed the form back to Shelby who was listening intently to a story Martha was telling. Shelby grabbed the form and walked back to a counter near the end of the shop which a girl was behind. Toni just now noticed her. While the blonde girl was away Toni questioned why it seemed as if Martha was the only one talking. Not once in the whole time of being inside the salon has she heard Shelby even utter a word.
Toni continued to watch Shelby as she walked back to them and, without words, gestured for them to follow her. As Shelby was leading them, Toni couldn't help but ask her best friend, practically sister, the question plaguing her mind. "Hey, Marty. How come blondie over here hasn't spoken to us? Seems a little rude doesn't it?" She voiced.
Martha, to her surprise, didn't give her an annoyed look but rather a contemplating look that seemed to turn into realization. "Uh, well... now that I think about it, I haven't ever actually heard her talk." Huh. Well, that's strange. "Like we talk, or have a conversation I guess, but I'm always the one speaking and Shelby just makes gestures to let me know she's listening. I don't know, but I guess she's just a very good listener."
Martha finished, once again finding a way to turn a weird discovery into something nice and positive. Toni will never understand how she does it.
Once arriving at their station, Toni rakes her eyes over the fancy-looking setup. Obviously, there is a fancy adjustable chair that is positioned vertically from the big mirror which will allow her to view the process. On top of the marble counter are all types of hair products Toni can't wrap her head around other than they look very high quality and very expensive. Yeah, maybe she should rethink letting her hair get cut in this particular salon. Apart from the products, there was a sink in the middle of the counter. So, all in all, a pretty common setup, Toni just wasn't looking forward to that receipt.
About a minute passed by before Shelby abruptly grabbed Toni's left arm and seated her in the chair. This surprisingly didn't invoke any reaction from the brunette which relieved both Shelby and Martha, both for very different reasons. With Toni seated, Shelby took all but one minute to get the needed supplies for the hairstyle she had in mind and spun the chair around to rinse Toni's hair. Usually, clients came in with already washed hair which helped with the process but Shelby could tell by the shine that Toni had been sweating before coming here so washing her hair would be smart.
After rubbing the shampoo and conditioner into the brunette's hair, she watered it down and semi-dried it with a small towel. She was as gentle as possible but Toni still made a sound once she got to her roots. Shelby checked to make sure she was fine but all she found was a seemingly relaxed Toni, so she continued. She brushed the hair about 4 times to make sure there were no knots. With zero complications found, Shelby started working her magic.
She played with the hair a bit to get a clearer vision in her mind and then all that was heard were snips of scissors and the background music. Martha was off talking to the girl behind the counter who was responsible for the hard rock being played in the least hardcore-looking place.
This type of music helped Shelby focus more or at least gave her the motivation to do her best and to work around mistakes.
The hairstylist gave Toni a fading undercut which would help in cooling her down when working out or playing basketball. She then put a special product in her hair which would emphasize the brown curls while not making it look like she just got power washed. Shelby then separated her hair into four different sections; half down, half up, and both sides with a chunk of hair divided from the rest. She put the half-up part into a small ponytail, a style pretty popular these days, and started braiding the side parts.
Now, Shelby wasn't entirely in the know of Native American culture but her study in hair did require her to learn the hairstyles of different ethnicities, so she knew that braids played a big part. She wasn't trying to assume but from what Martha had told her about Toni before was that she enjoyed having her hair braided. See? Just some more personal information coming into use.
Once she was finished, Shelby connected the braids to the ponytail. This created a sort of crown effect, a hairstyle Shelby particularly liked, and that fit Toni very well. She also left some baby hairs free because one of the very first things that Shelby noticed was that they fit her client quite nicely.
Shelby was officially done after making sure her hair ties were strong and no hair was out of place. She looked at the mirror and admired the girl reflecting in it, she did a great job. Toni seemed to have a different idea though when she asked " Why did you put in all this effort when I'm just gonna destroy it once I go to sleep later?"
Shelby wasn't oblivious, she knew that the hairstyles she worked hard at would all be tarnished by the end of the day. That doesn't mean she likes being reminded and besides, it's not just the style. Shelby shaved and cut off some of her hair along with having created a treatment plan to keep Toni's hair curly and healthy.
The second dragged on which then turned into a full two minutes of Toni looking at her with an annoyed and questioning facial expression. Shelby looked right back at her with an eyebrow up seemingly saying 'are you serious'.
"Well? Are you gonna answer or just leave me here looking like an idiot?" Toni spoke up against the silence. Her voice was louder than usual causing Martha to hear the questions and come to the rescue.
"Hey, what's going on here? Everything alright Shelby?" She asked, surprising the blonde. Shelby was sure she would ask Toni due to her rather loud protests. Despite this, Shelby nodded her head as a yes. That brought up a scoff from the other brown-haired girl.
"No, everything is not alright," Toni said, the most aggressive tone she's used since getting here. "I asked my hairstylist over here, why she put my hair in this wanna-be anime character style!" She yelled. "It'll be ruined by midnight! Not to mention that she doesn't even have enough respect for me to answer my questions, like, what? Am I speaking another language?!" She finished, her voice cracking in between that last statement.
Well, apart from that painful reminder of the hairdo, Shelby can see how Toni could interpret her silence as disrespect. The fact is, Shelby can't do much to change that. She can't tell her that it has nothing to do with her or that she does have respect for her and that she thought she was beautiful the moment she saw her. So, Shelby does the only thing she can do and walks away to grab a piece of paper.
In hindsight, that wasn't the best move to make, especially without any signs to state that she will be back. Her "escape" as Toni called it while she was arguing with Martha, made the girl agitated. Toni, blind with rage, knocked over some products that were expensive and would be quite a hassle for Shelby to replace.
Yeah, okay, if the brunette wanted to act like some stubborn kid, Shelby wasn't going to deal with it. With the purpose to send her off or at least lowering her outburst, the hairstylist started power walking over to them. Once she got there, Shelby gave Toni one of the scariest glares that Martha has ever seen from her. She has never seen one before this but she figured it wouldn't have the same fire as it seemed to have right now.
Oh god. What did Toni start now?
Commonly, Toni sent Shelby a hard glare back but it had an edge of shock to it. Seems she didn't expect this. "You going to kick me out now blondie? What, never had to deal with though clients? Bet you just wish you could tell me off." She spoke rather harshly. If Shelby was being honest, she didn't have much of a plan when coming over here and she couldn't retaliate with any words of her own. So, wordlessly, she grabbed Toni by the arm and dragged her towards the front door. While doing this she looked at Martha and motioned her eyes to the door so that she could get there to make sure the angry brunette didn't stomp back inside
Shockingly, Shelby made it to the door with a seriously pissed-off-looking Toni. Toni was just about to start cussing the blonde out again when Martha showed up and quickly covered her mouth. "I am seriously so sorry Shelby! I'll make it up to you I promise and I'll pay for all those products." Martha said, apologizing for the rude action that she didn't play a part in. No, Shelby wasn't going to make her pay for something she didn't do, so she shook her head and plastered on a thankful smile.
"Oh, no Shelby please I insist. I won't be able to come back here with a good conscience if I knew we just caused a mess." She stated, this time plastering on an extremely sad face. Shelby relented and held up a hand to signal that she was going to go get a paper. On the paper, she wrote that they won't have to pay for anything but if she really wanted to make up for this then they could help clean the place for a week. After reading the paper Martha gave a small smile agreeing to this contract and then went off, still holding Toni with a hand over her mouth.
If you asked Shelby, the sight was quite a funny one. She was about to laugh a little bit when her eye caught the mess. "Ha! You sure got your work cut out for you Shelby." Joked Linh, the girl behind the counter, rather frustratingly. The blonde sent her a hard glare, daring her to say more, and motioned Linh to come to help her. "Okay, okay. Geez, it was just a joke, I'll help."
Yup, getting a hairstyle at closing time is a very confident act indeed.