Viet Nam was still in the news daily. Government was telling us that there wasn’t a war happening, but we were hearing stories of our men coming home physically & emotionally messed up. One of my new clients, Richard, had just finished his tour over there, & the stories he told were really sad. In fact, Richard lost his right leg from a bomb that killed two of his buddies. He told us how easily the troops were given drugs to stop pain &/or just to go thru the functions of fighting. The troops had pot, cocain, heroin, just about anything to keep them going. I knew that Richard was doing drugs, especially since he always smelled of pot.
“We need more people to protest this war,” Richard was more stoned than I had ever seen him.
“How will that help?” I asked as I continued to cut his hair.
The President is lying to us. The V.A. is acting like they have nothing to do with us. We were drafted damed it, & forced to go to Viet Nam & now, the injured, handicapped, & seriously sick can’t get medical benifits that is due to us.”
The anger & fear that was in Richards voice was heart breaking. I was blow drying his hair when I saw a tear roll down his cheek.
“Maybe, I should go over there.” Josef worked in the station next to mine, & over heard Richard.
“And what will you do for the troops?” piped in Aaron, flipping his hair back with his wrist.
“Oh, I could help them fight”, Josef placed his hand on his hip, & flipped his other had in the air.
All of us started laughing. We could just imagine Josef with a rifle or gun, swishing as he walked through the fields.
“And what will you wear, Josef?” asked Vidal
“Oh, yes, those uniforms are sooo tacky,” he picked up a hair brush & started to fix his hair. I’ll just simply have to come up with something!”, he sighed.
“I know exactly what you’ll come up with,” I added. Again the whole group laughed.
“CeCe!” Josef gasped at me, ” How can you think such a thing?”
Richard was laughing really hardy now. I was glad that Josef had a way of turning almost everything into a ‘drag show’.
“CeCe, you little slut”, responed Josef, laughing himself, “Why I could simply entertain them. Are there any’Gay Viet Namies?”
“If not,” asnwered Brad, “I’m sure your willing to change that, heh, Josef?”
“Whell!” Josef but on his best ‘queen’ pose & face, “I’m not THAT easy!”
“Yes, you are!” Brad & Josef went to the clubs a lot together. Brad knew how flirty Josef was.
“Hush up now Brad. I could tell some stories about youhoo.”
Richard was placing a $100.00 bill in my hand as he waved good-bye to us, still laughing. I was grateful to Josef for making Richard laugh.
I made a mental note to watch the news more carefully tonight.

When I walked into the salon Tuesday, there was a large vase with beautiful white roses sitting on my station.

“What’s this?”, I asked, not waiting for a response. My first client was already in my chair. “Go get shampooed Leah,” I told her, as I pulled my jacket off & went into the employees lounge, dropped the jacket on a chair & made myself a cup of coffee.

“Is someone in love?” asked Charles

“Who are they from? They were delivered yesterday.” Brad informed me, as he blew dry his clients hair, tousling it with his fingers, for that full volume, slightly tossed look. It was the perfect cut for his young client.

“Don’t have the foggiest.” I lite a cigarette, pulling the card from the arrangement.It read: “Pure beauty for a pure beauty! Can I buy you a drink now?”

I let out a gasp. Josef walked away from his client & came to my side. Everyone was watching my reaction.

“What is it CeCe?” Josef pulled the card from my fingers, reading it out loud. “Who is this?”

“That’s the guy at Ammies, Saturday night. He asked to by me a drink & I declined, told Nikki to put it on my tab.”

“You got yourself a secret admirer. lucky girl!” Michele chirped in.

“I don’t want an admirer! I don’t want someone sending me anything. Heck, now he knows where I work!”

I was really upset about this. I hoped that this person would not pursue me, but my gut feeling was saying this was just the beginning. I removed the roses from my station & sat them on the receptionists desk.

The day ended quickly. I never gave the flowers another thought all day. Michele asked for a rose as we were leaving for the day.

“Take the whole thing. I don’t want them.”

With that, Josef, Agnes, & Brad each took a rose & Michele went home with the rest.

Ammies was wall to wall people when we arrived. The music bounced off the walls & the floors were throbbing to the beat of bodies bouncing to the music. The DJ was playing the Rolling Stones hit ‘I Can’t Get No Satisfaction’, Michele & I looked at each other & started laughing as we walked towards the bar.

“What’ll be, ladies?” Asked the barmaid as she checked Michele & me out.

“Rum & Coke,” answered Michele

“Vodka Martini, two olives please,” I requested

“Still doing those martinis’ girl?” The voice came from behind me. I turned quickly to see Vidal standing there with his arm around his wife’s shoulder.

I glanced at him & then hugged Beverly. She was a stunning woman, beautiful blue eyes, & a smile that glowed.

“Bev, when did you arrive? Vidal, why didn’t you tell us Beverly was here?” I really liked Beverly. She was a good match with Vidal. She was calm & laid back, while being very aware of business. Vidal was very busy & rushing to finish five things at one time, needing roller skates, constantly thinking & doing.

“She surprised me with a call from the airport. I had no idea she was coming. I hope you guys don’t mine us crashing your outing?” Vidal’s eyes glowed. We all knew that the sun rose & sets on Beverly as far as Vidal was concerned. Josef & Aaron were hugging Beverly now & talking in her ear. The music drowned out most of what anyone said, unless you spoke into their ears. Vidal guided Beverly onto the dance floor as the four of us watched.

I took a sip of my drink, as I glanced around the bar. There were several people that I knew, & I waved to them or blew kisses.

“May I have this dance, CeCe?” Josef asked as he held out his hand with a flip of his wrist. So handsome & so queenie! I loved him, even though he was so bad.

“Thought you’d never ask!”

The song was, ‘Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me’ by Mel Carter. Josef is an excellent dancer, as he guided me around the floor, spinning, dipping, twirling around. It ended much too quickly for me.

“Excuse me please.” There was a man standing in front of my drink when I returned to the group.

“I’m sorry.” He responded, as he turned towards me to make room. “I’m hoping to get a drink tonight.” He was slightly taller than me, with dark brown/almost black hair, brown eyes, five o’clock shadow, with a crooked smile. Not a noticeable man, but not bad looking. He reminded me of the guys in Brooklyn. Didn’t really care if they were messy looking, but manly looking.

I only nodded my head, as I reached for my drink & turned to Aaron, who was doing one of his customer impersonations. Aaron had a way of making fun of the clients without really putting them down. He kept us laughing for a long time.

As I turned to put my now empty glass on the bar, I notice that this man was listening in on Aaron’s show & laughing along with us.

“Very funny! Who is he talking about?” he asked.

“Yes, he is,” I was still laughing, “He’s talking about our clients.” I waved at the barmaid.

“Clients? What do you do?”

“We are Stylist. We work with Vidal Sassoon. That’s Vidal there with his wife.”

The barmaid was shaking my martini & watching me & this man closely. As she poured the drink in a fresh glass, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a twenty dollar bill & held it out to her.

“CeCe?” Nikki eyes motioned over to his hand.

“Can I buy you a drink?” he asked, “My name is Sunny, I’m not married, I have a job, my sign is Pisces, I just would like to buy a beautiful woman her drink.” There was that crooked smile again.

“Thank you, but, no thank you.”

“Please put that on my tab, Nikki.” I asked.

“Okay CeCe,” and Nikki walked over to the tab book.

“Michele, lets dance,” I turned to Michele. I wanted to remove myself from this area.

Michele & I danced for at least an hour. The music was so electrifying, dancing to the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Del Shannon. We were out of breath, sweaty, & thirsty when we returned to the bar. I was relieved to see that the man was not still standing near our group.

All of us finally left for our homes at three in the morning. Michele & I shared a cab, since we lived only a few blocks from each other.

I crawled into my bed, turned out the light, remembering the evening as I fell off to sleep.

All of us were doing really well at the salon. People were calling from all over to get their haircuts, colors etc. by a Vidal Sassoon stylist. We have become the ‘Best of the Best’, in the beauty industry, & all of us became famous in our own right. I loved to color hair. The challenge of combining two or three colors to emphasize the shape & movement in the haircut was exciting to me. We believed that your hair was your crowning glory, so every cut should shine. And shine they did!

I, though, was very unhappy. Mom was making it more & more difficult to see Sal. She even suggested that I mail her the checks every week, because she was too busy for me to waste her time to get Sal. We argued every time I went to the house. It was always that Sal was sick, had a cold, they were going out, I took him out too late. Something was always preventing me from seeing my son.

Plus I had almost no personal life. I had stopped dating since the last man told me he was married, after seeing him for three months.

“What are you doing tonight?” Josef asked as he was cleaning up his station.

“Nothing,” I smiled over at him. “I’ll just do some laundry, I guess. Watch some television.”

“Come out with me, Aaron, & Michele.”

“Yes, CeCe,” Michele added, “It’ll be good, & if your with us, Aaron & Josef can’t call me a ‘fag-hag’.”

“Well,” Aaron waved his hand in the air, placing one hand on his hip,”Aren’t you, girl?”

Michele had started hanging out with Josef & Aaron a lot, since she broke up with her boyfriend. She was tired of being used & then dumped on, she told us one day. I agreed with her. It seemed the ’sexual revolution’ opened the door for every married man to go on the prowl!

All of us laughed together at Aaron’s swishing. He was such a ‘queen’, & he fit into the mixture so well, we all loved him.

“Oh, I don’t know,” I was very tired from the days business, but I knew that I would have a great time with them. “Where are you going tonight?”

“To Ammies.” Josef chirped in, “Where else is there a place with sooo many gorgeous guys?”

Ammies was a gay club in downtown Manhattan. It was an old warehouse remodeled inside, beautiful lights & beautiful people. On Saturday nights, the club was open to gays & straights. The music was terrific, & they usually had a live drag show. Aaron’s boyfriend worked one of the six bars, so a lot of our drinks were free.

“Your coming tonight,” Michele ordered, “I will pick you up at 10 o’clock & that’s final!”

My world was in constant high gear! I was always booked solid with clients, (a good thing for money), dealing with the stylist, and now with two more gay stylists, it seemed to be PMS on a daily basis. Agnes adjusted well to having an assistant, teaching Judy our procedures. Charles, Michele, Micheal, the new ’straight’ stylist,clicked together immediately. Josef, Aaron, & Brad, enjoyed snickering, calling each other ‘girly‘ names & generally putting on a ‘drag’ show for everyone. I wasn’t quite sure when their catty remarks to each other weren’t meant to be funny, but, they always had us laughing. Plus the clients loved when Josef would be sarcastic to Michele. It was a good group & our days went by quickly.
I’m now taking Mondays off & it was great! After working six days a week for three years, to be able to have Sunday & Monday off, was like playing hooky from school! Plus, it gave me enough time to see my son. He was growing so rapidly & getting so smart. He is the joy of my life! I loved playing with him & taking him out to the park.It seemed like I had to buy him new clothes every month, he was growing so fast. I was happy that he got my black curly hair & his dads green eyes. Everyone said that he looked like me, which filled my heart with pride, but with his dads long black eye lashes & green piercing eyes, I could see a great deal of his father. That was fine with me. His father was a good looking man, even though he is a turd! I would make sure ‘my’ son would be a strong, dependable man! In the mean time, I wanted for him to stay a little boy for as long as possible.
I didn’t have much of a social life. Michele & I got together some wee=ends. She stopped seeing the married man right after the New Year. I was between boyfriends. The ones that were good looking were married or gay! A few of my clients have asked me to dinner, but I have a strict rule of not dating clients. Michele had dated a few in the past, and found out that when she stopped dating them, she also lost a client. She finally had to agree with me that being flirty got a steady flow of big tips.
I was still saving money for school. I lived entirely on my tips & was banking my entire check. It was adding up nicely. I estimated I’ll be able to go to Law School in two to three years. It felt so far away yet. I was thankful that I was working for Vidal. He paid me very well, I lived in a nice apartment. Josef helped me paint & purchase furniture.
I was ‘growing-up’! I was independent, pretty, financially comfortable & intelligent! I was also extremely Lonely!!!

The next few months were madness. I must have interviewed dozens of stylist, all eager to work for ‘The Vidal Sassoon‘. Plus Vidal took me with him dozens of times to the chemist, discussing & working on the hair care products. He wanted a full line, from shampoo to hair spray, & he knew exactly how each type needed to perform on every different hair type & texture. As tiring as this trips were, I marveled at Vidal’s knowledge & commitment to create a product that was beneficial to our clientele.
Finally, Vidal & I agreed one three stylists to join our team, & the Vidal Sassoon Products had arrived!
“Well, we did it, CeCe“, He had a smile that lite up a room.
“Yes, you did. Thank heavens that problems solved.”
“We did it, I said,” he came back with, “I couldn’t have done all of this alone. You made it all easier on me. That’s why I pay you the big bucks!”
We looked at each other & burst out laughing together.
Vidal was a man of integrity, honesty, with a huge amount of fairness and compassion for everyone that he comes in contact with. He showed only the highest respect for his stylists, and complimented freely when a job was well done. He also gave criticism when needed, but always out of ear shot of anyone else being present. Working for this man was hard work, but he was highly admired by all of us.
It was a Sunday that Vidal & I were in the salon. We were setting up the display shelves for the products, & checking the inventory, pricing, filling the shampoo area. Again Agnes didn’t wash the coffee pot before she left Saturday.I got upset again & Vidal laughed at me.
“Why does she do this?” I held up the pot to show him
“Have you thought that maybe it’s her way of ensuring that she has a job the next day?” He sat in one of the couches & crossed his legs.
“Insuring?” Does he have a glass of wine over there? “I’ve told her dozens of times to make sure everything is clean before she leaves!”
“Yes, yes, CeCe,” He was chuckling now. I was getting upset! “You tell her at least once a week that she didn’t clean something, but, she always leaves one very simple thing for the next day.”
“So, you think it’s a job security thing to her?”
“Might be, does she know that you’ve hired another shampoo person?” He was really getting a charge out of this.
“Well, yes, of course!” I was beginning to see his thought process of Agnes.
Vidal gave me a wink, got up from the couch, quietly laughing to himself. I made a mental note to tell Agnes tomorrow that she would be the head shampoo person, that it was her position to dedicate work to the new girl & train her how we process the clients for each stylist. If Vidal was right, Agnes might feel threatened. Oh My God, an insecure shampoo girl, & three new stylists, new products to sell, And it’s not even Monday yet!

Vidal & I were the last to leave the Salon. Josef left early, due to a terrible cold, Michele didn’t come in, because the snow was too deep, and Charles left after his last client. The snow was falling so thick, we barely were able to see the cars & buses driving past.
“Going home, CeCe?”
“Yes.”
“Want to stop for a drink first with me?” It was more of a command.
“Not really, Vidal. I’m going to have to walk home in this snow. That’s going to be rough.”
“Yes, I know.” His voice was lower than usual.
“Why?” Vidal looked concerned, “Is something wrong?”
“I would like your opinion on something, but I need your input, since you will have the biggest challenge. I thought that we can go down to the saloon, & discuss it over a drink.”
“Okay, sure. Let me finish cleaning up. Agnes forgot to wash the coffee pot again. I need to speak with her in the morning!”
Agnes was our new shampoo girl. She was great with the clients, very good with the timing of color washes, perm processing, & getting our clients ready for us, but, not very good at quiting time with the clean up. She always left something to be ‘done in the morning’, & I didn’t approve of that. I expected everything to be clean & ready to go the next day.
It seemed to take us forever, just to cross the street to the bar that we all hung out in sometimes after work. It was a nice place. Not fancy like a lot of the bars. They served burgers, chili, Tex-mex sort of menu. But everyone knew us & it was a comfortable, friendly place to drop into.
George, the bartender, waved to us as we walked in.
“Usual guys?” Vidal had turned me on to Vodka martinis. He enjoyed them also.
“Yes, thanks.” Vidal answered, as we walked to a table.
The place was unusually quite. They had a Presley tape playing in the back ground & the television was on, with no sound. Didn’t need to hear what the news caster was saying. They were showing our men in Viet Nam.
George motioned to Vidal that our drinks were ready, so Vidal excused himself to go get them.
I lite a cigarette, as my martini was placed in front of me & Vidal sat across from me.
“CeCe, I’ve seen a tremendous increase in bookings over the past few months.”
“Yes, I know,” I responded with a big smile. Business has been terrific, & all of us are getting booked up one & two weeks in advance. Between my salary, commissions & tips, I was making about $1000.00 a week. Big difference from just one year ago.
“Well, this is my thought, but you tell me if it’s going to be too difficult for you.”
I took another sip of my drink as I snubbed out my cigarette.
“I want to hire two or three more stylist. We have enough stations. That would mean hiring another shampoo girl of course. I don’t think Agnes can handle seven or eight stylist alone. Do you?”
I nodded my head in agreement.
“The other thing that I’ve been contemplating with is products.”
“Products?” My voice rose up a little higher than I intended. Most salons were beginning to retail hair products now. I didn’t care for the idea because it was a pain to inventory & market. Just too much paper work.
“Let me explain my idea.” I loved the way he always held his hand up when he was going to push his idea.” I’ve been speaking with a company that currently is making shampoos etc. They are agreeable to my having a say as to the ingredients that will go into the products. With that sort of input, I can design shampoos, conditioners, gels & sprays, that are custom formulated. Every customer will have a product formulated to their particular hair type.”
I had to admit, it was a excellent idea!
” Vidal, that’s brilliant!”
“I’d hoped you’d say that.”
Three hours later, we had a game plan. Over burgers, onion rings, & three more martinis each, we both were please with the course of action. My only silent hesitation was, when will I get time to start law school?

It was New Years Eve. 1965 was twenty four hours away. The salon was incredibly busy, music playing in the background, constant chatter between stylists & clients & staff. Vidal arranged for a caterer to set up a table in the salon, filled with all kinds of meats, seafood, breads & rolls, salads, sodas & juices for the staff & all of the clients.
After work, I went home to my new apartment in Manhattan, showered & took a nap. I had plans to meet up with Charles, Darlene (his girl), & Michele & her newest boyfriend, for dinner.
I purchased a beautiful red evening gown to wear that night, & I was eager to have a good time. We had reservations for 10pm, which gave me at least two hours rest.
Dinner was excellent as always. And as always we drank too much wine. Laughter was a constant & steady flow off conversation, mostly about how & who of our clients that day, got on our nerves. Anytime you get a bunch of hairdressers together, the gossip about their clients, makes rapid discussion & lots of laughter. We don’t really see ourselves the way others see us, & a hairdressers eye is possibly the most critical. And a hairdressers revenge is to shred you to pieces the first opportunity they get, after the client is gone.
At 11:45, the maitradie & waiters passed hats & noise makers around to all of the tables. A large television was set up over the bar area, with Dick Clark talking & the cameras scanning down on all of the people at Times Square, waiting for the ball to descend. There it was! 1965!
All of us kissed & hugged, wishing each other great things for the New Year.
“What is your New Years Resolution, CeCe?”, asked Michele
“Oh, I don’t know.” I answered, “What’s yours?”
Michele leaned close to my ear & whispered, “To find a man that doesn’t lie to you.” We both laughed together. That wasn’t likely to happen for either of us. Michele had just found out that her boyfriend was married with two kids. I broke up with a man that I had been dating, when his wife came to my apartment in October. Michele & I had many tearful nights, crying & getting drunk over these guys that took us to bed & then went home to their wives.
“You know, Michele, That’s my resolution also!” We both clicked our glasses & hugged each other again.

Business was going strong. Vidal was not only a master of hairdressing, but he had the ability to promote himself. His vision was incredible, designing styles for men & women that not only was simple for them to maintain, but flattering to their face & lifestyle. The months just speed by. I was working harder than I had ever imagined, but I loved it.

It was now November. Conversations of Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas shopping were on every ones lips. The biggest topic though that year was John F. Kennedy. The first anniversary of his assassination was approaching. Once again, the nation felt the deep pain of his passing. The news papers were full of stories of the Kennedy’s, John Jr., Caroline & of course Jackie. Johnson was in office & not a lot of people liked him, not even most Democrats.

Charles & I became very close friends. His girlfriend worked as a teller in one of the near by banks, & she was determined to match me up with one of her wealthy customers or a banker. The three of us often went out together, & it seemed that we always ‘bumped’ into a friend of hers. Charles & I would laugh about it at work. Vidal would ask if I’m in love yet. Josef would tell me about this ‘fabulous’ woman he’s ‘just dying Darling’, for me to meet. Michele would roll her eyes, & assure me that I was the luckiest one, since I was the only one in the salon that wasn’t involved with anyone. “I am so sick of men!”, was her standard quote. With Josef coming back with, ” Well, dear girl,” flipping his right hand as he placed his left hand on his hip,” Maybe you should stay on your feet long enough to learn their names first!”

We would burst into laughter. Michele included. She knew it was all in good fun amongst friends. It was the ‘New Freedom Movement’. We were all discovering the new ideals. The nation & the world was changing at a frantic rate. The Beatles had ‘arrived’. The ‘Sexual Revolution’ & the new found ‘Women’s Orgasm’.

Kennedy was dead, but the country was on it’s way to living a new way.

And there I was, working with the most sought after stylist in the country, meeting the rich & famous daily, learning about a new life & ways of living. I was on the road to unknown changes. It both excited me & frightened me!

“Here I come world, & Please Lord help me!”

We Were Open! The salon was huge! Ten stations, five shampoo sinks, four manicurists stations, three client changing rooms, plus a beautiful client waiting area, with two couches, four living room chairs, glass top coffee table & chandeliers. Mirrors, glass & deep mahogany wood accented the green walls. ‘Vidal Sassoon’s Unisex Hairstylists’, beautifully painted on the huge windows. We were open at last.

Vidal hired three additional stylists. I was honored that he included me in the selection & discussions of their qualifications. The three that were chosen were very talented & eager to learn more. Josef was Vidal’s first choice. He was besides talented, very handsome & obviously gay. Josef made us laugh all of the time, finding something funny about almost everything. I loved being in his company.

Michele was beautiful, & she knew it. Men just gravitated to her. She also had the ability to laugh at herself, which also kept laughter flowing.

Charles was a little more serious than the rest of us. He reminded me of Steve McQueen, & I would find myself starring at him while he worked. That tough, rugged sex appeal. And his female clients just threw themselves at him. Of course he was a huge flirt, so every woman in his chair felt special.

Opening day was crazy. News & magazine reporters were interviewing all of us. Photographers snapping pictures constantly. The excitement was intense.

Anne Marie wasn’t at the opening. A month prior to the Grand Opening, Vidal, Anne Marie & I were having dinner, when Vidal told me that he wanted for me to work at his salon.

“CeCe,” he said placing his wine glass down, “I very much would love for you to work with me at my salon.”

It wasn’t a question, it was a statement!

“Vidal,” My mind went blank. I’d thought of the possibility, & here it sits on my lap! In the past few months I had learned so much from this man, could only imagine what more I could achieve.

“Now first, of course I will give you a raise, but, you will have additional duties to carry out for that increase. I want for you to be sort of my manager, take the daily responsibilities from my shoulders. Deal with the clientele & the hairdressers, inventory, bookings, etc.”

Anne Marie looked from Vidal to me & back to Vidal. She poured herself a glass of wine & said nothing.

“I don’t want an answer now. Sleep on it & let me know in the morning.”

Our waiter brought over our meals. Conversation changed to politics, the war, & so on.

Dinner seemed to drag on, or was I just anxious to go home tonight?