My heart was in my throat as I brought the phone to my ear and I held my breath as it rang.
For a moment I thought that she wouldn’t answer, that she’d given the salon a fake phone number.
Phones seemed like they were beneath her for some reason.
As the phone continued to ring, I pictured Hazel opening up a portal or something to talk to her friends. The thought gave me a flash of delight.
“Hello?” came her crackly voice from the other end.
“Hazel!” I exclaimed, relief flooding through me, “It’s Charlie from the salon yesterday, how are you doing?”
I could hear the smile in her voice. “I was wondering when you were going to call.”
Of course she was. “So you know you made a mistake with my tip, then,” I said.
“Oh no, not about that. There was no mistake there.”
My eyebrows knitted together in confusion. “You gave me two-hundred dollars.”
“I gave you exactly how much you needed,” she said, laughter lurking on the edges of her voice.
I raised my eyebrow in confusion. “But, you gave me—”
“That’s less important than what we need to discuss,” she said bluntly. “What I really want to know is if you wrote down what you want him to be like.”
I paused, sweat prickling at my temples. How was she… how was she this way?
“I did,” I admitted. “But I felt like I was asking for too much.”
The admission came pouring out of me like water.
“You didn’t ask for too much, child! You asked for exactly what you needed, I hope.”
“But I can’t imagine how someone like that could exist,” I said with doubt. “All the things I want… that can’t be in one person.”
She laughed, the sound filling the phone with the sound of tinkling bells. “Sweet child… you have no idea what’s in store for you.”
I swallowed, hard. Here she was again, messing with me. But there was a part of me — a larger part than yesterday — that believed her. So all I could say was, “When?”
“Sooner than you think. I can feel it from here, Charlie. You’ve shifted. You changed your path so that it makes a beeline straight towards him! I’m proud of you.”
I smiled, radiating happiness. That reassurance was all I really wanted to hear. But I still wanted more. “Thanks, Hazel. But… could you tell me exactly when?”
I knew I was being greedy, just like when I’d written down all of the things I wanted my heartmate to be. But if I didn’t ask for it, there was no chance she’d tell me.
“Again, when is liquid,” she said, her voice taking on a more serious tone. “We don’t get the luxury of when. However, we do get the luxury of the much more solid if. And for you, that if is a sure thing.”
I closed my eyes, trying to comfort myself. “Thank you, Hazel.”
“Your life is about to change, big time,” she promised.
I felt a sureness in my gut and knew that the words she was saying to me were true. It was as if there was some kind of vibration within me, like a tuning fork, that had reached the perfect pitch.
“That’s more like it,” she said, as if she was following my thoughts.
“More like what?” I asked her, filled with doubt. Though I knew that somehow, someway, she’d felt whatever shift was happening inside of me.
“You’re more aligned with your path now. You were going a little off of it for a while, but now you’re back on track. Now you simply must be patient,” she said.
Warmth flooded through me at her reassurances. “T-thank you,” I said, trying to find a way to express my gratitude.
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” she said with a smile. “Now, I’ll let you get back to doing your magic on people’s hair. I’ve gotta say — what you did to mine has gotten me quite a few looks from some lookers, haha!”
I smiled and said, “I’m happy to hear it.”
It always brought me so much joy when my clients loved their new hairdos. This was the one area of my life that I knew I was solid in; I’d found my passion.
“One of them is coming over right now to take me on a hot date!” She said. “And I owe it all to you. Keep on shinin’, Charlie!”
And with that, she hung up. I couldn’t help but feel a little less happy, a little less warm in the absence of her voice.
But when I left the supply closet with all of the bottles to treat the brunette’s hair, I couldn’t help but feel like a brand new person. It was like I was surrounded by a warm cocoon of happiness and confidence.
When I returned to the chair, Scott gave me another double-take.
“I swear, you’re getting more L.A. every time I see you! I’m so proud of you, my little sesame seed!”
I smiled at his compliment, then went to the waiting area to look for my client.
A woman with the darkest hair I’d ever seen was sitting on the sofa, reading a magazine.
I greeted her and she smiled brightly. When I led her over to my chair and began to fuss with her hair, I explained that going platinum might not be possible.
“You’re the best colorist in this city, I hear,” she said with determination. “If anyone can do it, it’s you.”
“That’s a lot of pressure to live up to,” I said, parting her hair with my comb. “But I’ll see what I can do. This will take a few sessions, and the result might not be what you want.”
I ran my fingers through a silky, dark brown lock. It was such a shame she wanted to bleach it — her hair was perfect as it was.
“So, any particular reason you want it to be white?” I asked her.
“Yeah, I’m an actress,” she said with the flick of her hair.
Scott rolled his eyes beside me.
The woman in my chair didn’t catch it. “And I’m auditioning for season two of The
