I was a warm early summer day in Manhattan. I felt exceptionally good today, went for my jog though Central Park, worked out at the gym for an hour, I felt like a new person. There were clients in the lounge waiting for Michele, Brad, & myself.
“Good Morning, everyone.” I yelled out with a wave of my hand.
“Agnes,” I walked into the employees lounge, “Would you mind getting me a cup of coffee, please?”
“Want it in here?”
“No, at my station,please,” As I slipped my smock over my dress, “And find out what my client is getting done, Shampoo her if it’s just a cut. Thank you Agnes”

As I walked out into the salon, Vidal gently reached out for my arm.
“Before you leave tonight, come to my office, CeCe!”
“Sure.” I continued to walk towards my client, who was now sitting in my chair. Her hair was being brushed by Agnes, but it wasn’t washed, so I knew that it was question & answer time. As I reached for my cup of coffee, I silently said a prayer that my Angels were there with me, as I did every morning when I arrived to work.
The day went by quickly & pretty much uneventful. All of us were busy all day, Josef & Brad did their catty bickering with each other all day, which kept clients & staff laughing constantly. Vidal spent most of his day in the office. He had cut back on the amounts of clients he would do a day, preferring to talk to business associates on the phone. He purchased a building in Queens recently, & was working with the contractors daily. Beverly was back in London, but would return to NYC, after school was out.
Michele had met a guy at Ammies about two months earlier, and she was head over heels in love. Maria, one of the manicurist got married last month, and announced that she was three months pregnant today. Of course Josef said something ‘nastily funny’ about that, which cause Maria to blush, & the whole salon to laugh out loud. I was ‘casually’ dating Sunny, which shocked everyone except Charles. Charles & I had become close friend since the incident with my shoulder. He knew that I was determined to get married now, & my reasons for this decision. He didn’t agree with me, which he stated often when we talked, but he was a good friend, & advised me when I needed him. Dating Sunny was comfortable. Not exciting, but, he was very kind & generous to me. I still never wore the bracelet, but Sunny never asked about it, which I was happy about. I assumed that he thought, at least I have it & in time, I would wear it.
All of us were cleaning up. We were planning to go across to the bar for burgers & drinks. I was starving, since I had to work though my lunch break. As I packed up my purse, Vidal stuck his head out of his office door.
“CeCe,” he called out. “Don’t forget, before you go.”
“Oh, I’ll be right in, Vidal.” I was walking to the lounge as I answered him.
“Is our CeCe in trouble?” Josef quirked around , almost like a ballerina, placing one hand on his hip.
“Possibly Josef. You never know with me.” I responded, with a twirl of my own, raising my hands above my head, imitating his motion.
“Oh, goodness,CeCe, you have no grace, it’s a good thing your pretty to look at girl!” reacting to my unbalanced twirl, & the both of us chuckled.

“What’s up Vidal?”
Vidal office was so pleasant. Very European style, but comfortable, & masculine.
“Have a seat,please,” He gestured with his hand to the sofa facing his desk. “I’ll be one second.”
I placed myself directly in the center of the sofa. This placed me directly in front of Vidal, so that when we spoke our eyes met straight on. I always disliked, when talking to a person, not to have direct eye contact. It was of my opinion, a deceitfulness in character, when engaged in conversation, the other party glances around your being, rather than talk directly to you .
Vidal closed the ledger.
“Good day today.”
“Yes,”
“CeCe, I’ve been thinking of this for awhile,” he reached for & lite a cigarette. I did the same thing & reached for the ashtray at the end of the sofa. ” discussed it with Beverly, & she agreed that I should speak with you about it.”
He was looking directly at me, those beautiful eyes, handsome face.
“What do you need?”
“I don’t need anything,” He smiled. I loved his smile. “I want to do something for you, & in return, you will be doing something for me, us, the salon.”
“For me?” I was intrigued, “What are you doing for me?”
“I want for you to go to London for the summer!”
“What?” I couldn’t believe what I heard
“Right,” His smile got bigger, “Beverly will there one more week. We want for you to go there, you will live in our flat, our servants are there all year, so you’ll have people to help you with anything you’ll need there. I’ve already spoken to associates of mine, & you will be training with some of the best stylist in London. How soon can you leave?”

Christmas came & went, 1967 was three days away. Vidal has now given me full responsibility of the salon. He had casually mentioned wanting to open another salon in Queens, over the past few months, & now he has started to look for good property seriously.
I started to give Brad more responsibilities, since my clientele was so strong, especially for my hair coloring methods.
My relationship with my ‘Mom’, was still strained, but for my son, we called a truce. If we don’t talk to each other, then we can’t fight. I was allowed to take my son on shopping trips & outings again, thankfully. We always had such fun together, but, going home, the both of us would fall silent. I prayed that I would soon be in law school, with the promise of having my son live with me.
Josef & Agness were shivering from the cold, watching me try to open the salon doors. It was so cold this morning in the city, with the wind stinging your face, making your eyes tear. The lock was frozen, & the key was getting jammed.
“Give me that”, Josef said gruffly, “I’m freezing to death, & your piddling with this!”
“Good, you do it”, as I stood back from the door.
“Now, now, children, play nice. Just get us in the damn store!” Agnes’ face was so red from the wind & cold.
Finally, the key turned in the lock. We rushed into the warmth of the salon, Josef went to the back to turn the lights on, the music started playing in the back ground. Agnes put a pot of coffee on, as I went to the safe to get the register cash. I was entering information into the ledger, when a burst of cold air swept across my face. I looked up, & there was Sunny, with that sideways grin on his face.
“Good Morning Sunny,” I tried to sound respectful, but indifferent.
I could see Josef walking briskly towards the desk.
“Hey, how are you man?” Josef placed himself cleverly between Sunny & me.
“Good, good,” replied Sunny, “I just wanted to speak with CeCe a minute.”
Josef looked at me, then walked over to his station, getting it set up for the day, carefully me & Sunny though the mirror.
“Is something wrong with your hair?” It looked fine to me, but I really didn’t care.
“The cuts good, He said, brushing it with his fingers. ” Did you open the gift?”
“Oh, yes,” I got up & walked over to my station, removed the box from my drawer quickly & walked back to where Sunny was standing, holding the box out to him.
His eyes looked at the box & back to me, with a puzzled look on his face.
“What’s this?”
“Sunny, I can’t accept such a expensive gift!,” Please God, I thought to myself, let this go smoothly.
“Yes you can!” His tone was indigent, & demanding.
“Sunny”, I lite a cigarette, & took a sip of coffee that Agnes brought over to me, “The gesture is very nice, but, I can’t accept a gift of that magnitude from a client. I appreciate your generosity, but, you must take it back.”
“NO!”, His eyes were ablaze. I almost got frightened for a moment, & was relieved to see Vidal walk thru the doors.
“Good morning everyone” Vidal yelled out, as he hurried to remove his coat in the back.
“You can’t do this to me, Cece,” His tone was full of anger. “I searched high & low for this to give you. Your keeping it!”
Vidal was now sitting in my station chair holding the cup of coffee that Agnes prepared for him, just watching Sunny & me.
“No, Sunny.” I placed the box on the desk in front of Sunny. “I cannot accept it & I won’t.”
This man raised fear in me now. I was not going to be forced to do anything, by any man, that I didn’t want to do anymore. I disliked feeling fear, especially, when it concerned a man. Josef & Agnes became silent. Vidal watched closely.
“Sunny,” I took a deep breath & swallowed hard, “I’m sorry to upset you, but, I think that maybe you should go somewhere else for your haircuts from now on.”
I hoped that I sounded strong. I hoped that Vidal would support my decision.
“Right, yes, I will go somewhere else! See you around, CeCe!” He turned, pulled the door open & left the salon, leaving the box on the desk.
“Josef. Take this out to him, please.” I motioned to the box. Josef ran out the door, stopped Sunny a few doors down, retuning with the box in hand.
“Said he never takes back anything he gives or says.” With a shrug of his shoulders, Josef placed the box on my station. Our clients were starting to come thru the doors. Another day, another dollar.