Three days before Katie left New England, a brisk early January wind made the snowflakes freeze, and she had to lower her head as she walked toward the salon. Her long blond hair blew in the wind and she could feel the pinpricks of ice as they tapped against her cheeks. She wore high-heeled pumps, not boots, and her feet were already freezing. Behind her, Kevin sat in the car watching her. Though she didn’t turn, she could hear the car idling and could imagine the mouth that was set into a hard, straight line.
The crowds that had filled the strip mall during Christmas were gone. On either side of the salon was a Radio Shack and a pet store, both of them empty; no one wanted to be out on a day like today. When Katie pulled the door, it flew open in the wind and she struggled to close it. Chilled air followed her into the salon and the shoulders of her jacket were coated with a fine layer of white. She slipped off her gloves and jacket, turning around as she did so. She waved good-bye to Kevin and smiled. He liked it when she smiled at him.
Her appointment was at two with a woman named Rachel. Most of the stations were already filled and Katie was unsure where to go. It was her first time here and she was uncomfortable. None of the stylists looked older than thirty and most had wild hair with red and blue tints. A moment later, she was approached by a girl in her mid-twenties, tanned and pierced with a tattoo on her neck.
“Are you my two o’clock? Color and trim?” she asked.
Katie nodded.
“I’m Rachel. Follow me.”
Rachel glanced over her shoulder. “It’s cold out there, huh?” Rachel said. “I almost died on my way to the door. They make us park on the far side of the lot. I hate that, but what can I do, right?”
“It is cold,” Katie agreed.
Rachel led her to a station near the corner. The chair was purple vinyl and the floor was black tile. A place for younger people, Katie thought. Singles who wanted to stand out. Not married women with blond hair. Katie fidgeted as Rachel put a smock over her. She wiggled her toes, trying to warm her feet.
“Are you new in the area?” Rachel asked.
“I live in Dorchester,” she said.
“That’s kind of out of the way. Did someone give you a referral?”
Katie had passed by the salon two weeks earlier, when Kevin had taken her shopping, but she didn’t say that. Instead, she simply shook her head.
“I guess I’m lucky I answered the phone then.” Rachel smiled. “What sort of color do you want?”
Katie hated to stare at herself in the mirror but she didn’t have a choice. She had to get this right. She
“I want it to look natural, so maybe some lowlights for winter? And fix the roots, too, so they blend.”
Rachel nodded into the mirror. “Do you want it about the same color? Or darker or lighter? Not the lowlights, I mean.”
“About the same.”
“Foil okay?”
“Yes,” Katie answered.
“Easy as pie,” Rachel said. “Just give me a couple of minutes to get things ready and I’ll be back, okay?”
Katie nodded. Off to the side, she saw a woman leaning back at the sink, another stylist beside her. She could hear the water as it was turned on and the hum of conversation from the other stations. Music played faintly over the speakers.
Rachel returned with the foil and the color. Near the chair, she stirred the color, making sure the consistency was right.
“How long have you lived in Dorchester?”
“Four years.”
“Where’d you grow up?”
“Pennsylvania,” Katie said. “I lived in Atlantic City before I moved here.”
“Was that your husband who dropped you off?”
“Yes.”
“He’s got a nice car. I saw it when you were waving. What is it? A Mustang?”
Katie nodded again but didn’t answer. Rachel worked for a little while in silence, applying color and wrapping the foil.
“How long have you been married?” Rachel asked as she coated and wrapped a particularly tricky strand of hair.
“Four years.”
“That’s why you moved to Dorchester, huh?”
“Yes.”
Rachel kept up her patter. “So what do you do?”
Katie stared straight ahead, trying not to see herself. Wishing that she were someone else. She could be here for an hour and a half before Kevin came back and she prayed he wouldn’t arrive early.
“I don’t have a job,” Katie answered.
“I’d go crazy if I didn’t work. Not that it’s always easy. What did you do before you were married?”
“I was a cocktail waitress.”
“In one of the casinos?”
Katie nodded.
“Is that where you met your husband?”
“Yes,” Katie said.
“So what’s he doing now? While you’re getting your hair done?”
He’s probably at a bar, Katie thought. “I don’t know.”
“Why didn’t you drive, then? Like I said, it’s kind of out of the way.”
“I don’t drive. My husband drives me when I need to go somewhere.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without a car. I mean, it’s not much but it gets me to where I need to go. I’d hate to have to depend on someone else like that.”
Katie could smell perfume in the air. The radiator below the counter had begun to click. “I never learned to drive.”
Rachel shrugged as she worked another piece of foil into Katie’s hair. “It’s not hard. Practice a little, take the test, and you’re good to go.”
Katie stared at Rachel in the mirror. Rachel seemed to know what she was doing, but she was young and starting out and Katie still wished she were older and more experienced. Which was odd, because she was probably only a couple of years older than Rachel. Maybe less than that. But Katie felt old.
“Do you have kids?”
“No.”
Perhaps the girl sensed that she’d said something wrong, because she worked in silence for the next few minutes, the foils making Katie look like she had alien antennae, before finally leading Katie to another seat. Rachel turned on a heat lamp.
“I’ll be back to check in a few minutes, okay?”
Rachel wandered off, toward another stylist. They were talking but the chatter in the salon made it impossible to overhear them. Katie glanced at the clock. Kevin would be back in less than an hour. Time was going fast, too fast.
Rachel came back and checked on her hair. “A little while longer,” she chirped, and resumed her conversation with her colleague, gesturing with her hands. Animated. Young and carefree. Happy.
More minutes passed. Then, a dozen. Katie tried not to stare at the clock. Finally, it was time, and Rachel removed the foil before leading Katie to the sink. Katie sat and leaned back, resting her neck against the towel. Rachel turned the water on and Katie felt a splash of cool water against her cheek. Rachel massaged the shampoo in her hair and scalp and rinsed, then added conditioner and rinsed again.
