The following weeks have been exhausting! I’m working all day at the shop, eat dinner with Vidal & Anne Marie, discussing cuts & styling ideas, & back to the shop to to design haircuts on both men & women. Vidal recruited students from the local hairdressing schools, ran ads in the local paper for models, & Anne Marie placed a sign in the shop window for more models.

Vidal hired a photographer for the ‘before’ & ‘after shots, plus we recorded all of the procedures that went into the transformation. It was very exciting & people on the street suddenly knew my name. I felt like a star! Plus I was making more money than I could imagine. My clientele has almost doubled, plus Vidal was paying me $300.00 a week.

Vidal left for London. We stopped the classes for two weeks, which I was glad for. The break gave me the opportunity to see my son, & give my mom money for taking care of him. I took a few days off to go to the beach, relax in the sun, rest my tired bones. I hadn’t gone out with the girls in weeks, so we got together & partied. Vidal & I worked as late as 11pm, six nights a week. I needed this time off.

Summer was going by quickly. My days & nights were one constant stream of haircuts, blow drys, & coloring. Almost all of the cuts had our technique of dimensional color tones. Silver & Blue hair was on it’s way out. Natural hair, clean wind blown hair was making a debut. There were still wash & sets, but women under forty, especially the wives that were returning to work, returning to college, wanted, needed, & asked for a simpler, softer way of managing their hair. That’s what Vidal was doing for them. That’s what I was doing with him. It was an exciting time in the world. Women making a stand. Making changes in the family structure. Women’s Liberation was growing strong. I was part of this ‘New Era of Women’s Rights’!

We arrived at the ‘Restaurant in the Sky’, shortly before 9pm. Vidal escorted us into the restaurant with an air of pride & control. The maitradie greeted Vidal warmly as they shook hands & I glimpsed at money passing between them.

“Your table will be ready in just a moment, sir,” he said to Vidal.

“Thank you, Simon,” Vidal answered, “Why don’t we go over to the lounge until they come for us?” As he guided us over to a small table.”We can have a cocktail before dinner.”

The dinner was magnificent, beautifully served. The decor was elegant. I had never been in a restaurant of this magnitude before, & I was in awe. Vidal ordered a bottle of wine with dinner, conversation flowed easily between the three of us, & I learned that Vidal had a terrific sense of humor.

We were having our after dinner coffee, served with a sniff of Cognac on the side, when Vidal said,”Ladies, first allow me to thank the both of you for gracing my dinner with your beauty.” as he held the Cognac up for a toast. “Now, I cannot hold back my excitement any longer & I’m anxious to share with you my delightful good fortune.

During dinner chatter, I had wondered what this evening was about, & here it comes. Anne Marie’s eyes were sparkling. Was it the excitement of the evening, or too much wine?

“I found the most fabulous store on Fifth Ave. & Fifty-first street. Ground floor with big beautiful windows.” His arms straighted out to describe the windows, his smile just glowing from excitement

“Darling,” exclaimed Anne Marie, “Why, that’s so great. How wonderful for you!”

I nodded my head in agreement, with a huge smile, also excited for his good fortune.

“Now ladies,” holding up his hands to stop our chatter, “this is what I’m proposing to each of you!”

Vidal was silent for a moment as he looked directly into my eyes, & then to Anne Marie.

“The salon won’t be ready to open until September or possibly October. You know with construction, design changes, on & on. Well, I’m going to need a place that I could work, design cuts & color, develop techniques, improved perm ideas, getting this whole ‘free & casual’ styling performance off the ground.”

Anne Marie was nodding her head in agreement to every word Vidal spoke. I just starred at this man, my heart beating faster by the second!

“Anne Marie, my good friend,” he looked directly into her eyes with that ‘little bad boy’ grin. “This is where I need your assistance. I very much would like to use your beauty shop to bring models in, so that we can do cuts, color, everything on them first. I want to try out various cutting techniques, color enhancements, everything that would be new & exciting for my new stylists & potential clientele.”

“How can we do that, Vidal?’ Anne Marie looked bewildered. I was confused.

” This is my thoughts, tell me if you have a simpler way. I’m thinking of you, CeCe, assisting me with the new cutting techniques & color shading. You & I would do all of the styling, & then we both would teach these techniques to the new stylists that I hire. No more wash & sets, teasing & tons of spray. My desire is to take hairdressing into a whole new world of beauty.”

My stomach just made a leap to my throat. Anne Marie glanced across the table to me, the sparkle left her eyes.

” Well, that’s great Vidal, but what can I do?”

“Anne Marie,” he placed his hand over hers, “I want to use your shop, of course after business hours, for Cece & I to work. I intend to pay you rent, cost of supplies that we use, & anything else. I will advertise for my models, so of course the name of your shop goes into the advertisement. “

“CeCe, your days will become quite long, & I will pay you for the time that we are working.” He gave a wink & a smile. The blood was now rushing to my head!

“Well, what do you think, Anne Marie?”

“Vidal,” did I hear a crack in her voice? “What else can I do? Don’t you need help other than using my shop?”

“Darling,” He again reached for her hand, this time cupping it between both of his, “Do you realize the magnitude of importance using your shop is? Besides giving us a place to work every night, the traffic that it will generate to your business. When word gets out that ‘new & exciting styles are being ‘created’ at your shop, your going to experience a whole new generation of clientele!”

I could see the wheels turning in Anne Marie’s head. She hadn’t thought, nor did I, about the word getting out that we were developing a whole new world for the hairdressers & salon owners. Things were changing fast in the 1960’s. With the war going on, Woman’s Liberation, the Hippie Generation! Why shouldn’t the beauty industry take to new roads? We all wanted change, in some aspect of our lives, & this was a very doable concept. Plus, I was invited to take part in it. Yes, 1964 was showing strong possibility of being a very good year for me!

Days went by swiftly. Business was good & I was developing a strong following. More & more men were coming to me for haircuts, & they were telling their friends to come to me. Their girlfriends were starting to follow suit, first to see what this hairdresser looked like, then returning & referring their friends. Easy maintenance, no or very little hairspray, wash & go styles were replacing the weekly wash & sets, teased & heavily sprayed looks. To be a blonde, natural or bottled was the new ‘Sex Appeal’.

It was about three weeks since I gave Vidal his haircut, & he hadn’t returned to the shop since. Anne Marie hadn’t mentioned him to any of us, so I was worried that I’d given him a bad haircut. Let’s face it, we can’t give everyone what they want, & I have made mistakes with cuts & colors. I still cringe when I remember the time that I turned a clients hair green, & the time I fried a clients hair doing a perm. It happens, will always happen, & we just have to try to fix the mistake the best way possible.

Today was Saturday. It was raining so heavy that the sky looked black. The extreme heat of the past few weeks was so overbearing, that most of us welcomed the cooling rain. However, we got a lot of cancellations from our weekly wash & set clients, since they feared the rain would ruin their hair-dos. I felt fortunate that a few men came in for me to do their cuts, & luckier since they insisted on waiting for me to get to them. I had the biggest male clientele so far in the shop. Plus, the men were better tippers. with a $5.00 cut & blow, I got at least a dollar tip. The women only fifty or seventy five cents.

It was about 5:45 when the door swung open & this figure came rushing into the shop. The man was dripping wet. I was cleaning up my station & looked up. It was Vidal.

“Hi everyone,” He stood at the door with a puddle forming at his feet.

“Come in,come in,” Anne Marie called to him, “Take that wet jacket off, want to remove your shirt?”

“Yes,yes,no,no,” he answered, quickly removing his jacket & tie. I handed him a towel for his face & hair, which was now dripping down to his shirt. He looked like a little boy, all wet & helpless, haven been caught jumping into rain puddles.

“Thank you CeCe.”

“What are you doing here in this weather Vidal?” Anne Marie inquired as she hung his jacket over a dryer hood & turned the heat on.

“Well,” He paused & looked from me to Anne Marie, “I came to ask you & CeCe to join me for dinner tonight. I have some very exciting news that I wish to share with the both of you, & to delight in my happiness.” That accent could make a death sentence sound sexy.

Anne Marie & I looked at each other in astonishment! I glanced around to Sofia & the others, the shock & envy was on every ones faces. Terry was washing the shampoo sinks & gave a little giggle.

” I have to go home & change.” Anne Marie answered

“Me too.” I looked down at all the little specks of hair on my clothes. I needed to shower, & had no idea what to wear. What do you wear to dinner, with a man like this??

“No problem ladies. CeCe, where do you live?”

“Three blocks from here.”

Fine, fine. I’ll go home with you, Anne Marie, & I’ll have a cocktail, while your getting ready. CeCe, you go home right now & get all dolled up. Pretty evening dress, we are going to dinner at the ‘Restaurant in the Sky,’ reservations are for 9pm. So, you girls, pardon me, You ladies, have plenty of time to make yourselves beautiful, as if your not already stunning! CeCe, you call Anne Marie when your ready. I have a car on it’s way to Anne Marie’s apartment as I speak. We will come to pick you up, then go for dinner. How does that sound? Go,go,CeCe.” he commanded of me. “Anne Marie, let’s get out of here! We are going to par-r-ty tonight!”

The 1960’s is a fast & changing time. Viet Nam is going strong & protests are popping up all over the country. The term ‘Hippie Generation’ & ‘Draft Dodgers’ have become daily household words.

The ‘Hippie Generation’, while regarded by the adults as “lazy, drugged, disillusioned kids”, has started a tidal wave of changes in our society. The most obvious is their style of dress. Long hair on the guys is the key issue. Suddenly, boys & men from 12 to 30 years old, stopped cutting their hair. Barber shop owners are on the news almost daily, complaining that their losing business, going out of business, & how disgraceful these men are to society. Unisex salons are starting to pop up in areas, especially Manhattan, causing even more controversy. Women cutting men’s hair & men cutting women’s hair, was in the same category as ’sex before marriage’, which also was becoming popular, again, blamed on the ‘hippy influence’.

Business stayed steady at the shop. Vidal became a frequent visitor, sometimes with paperwork to get advice from AnneMarie, sometime for quick private chats with her, & sometimes I think to get away from the stress of his project.

Today Vidal walked in, looking hot & tired. It’s mid May & already we are getting Summer temperatures with humidity. I’m sitting at one of the hairdryer chairs, reading the newest copy of ‘Hairdressers How-To’ magazine.

“Hello Everyone.” His voice was tired sounding & his face a bit drawn. He walked over to my station, & slid into my chair with a low sigh.

“How are you today, CeCe?” He always seemed to talk to me a little bit more than the other girls. That pleased me a lot!

“Good Vidal, how are you?”

” Oh, good I suppose. Are you busy today?”

“My next appointment is at 2 o’clock, it’s only 12:30 now, why?”

“I was hoping you can give me a cut. I won’t be flying back to London until July, & I hate when my hair looks like this. Can you do me now?”

As I started walking towards Vidal, I could see Sofia’s eyes widen to the size of plates & in the mirror AnneMarie was staring at me. Vidal removed his suit jacket & tie, I asked Terry to please shampoo him, & then took a big swallow.

While I cut his hair, conversation flowed about London, his home town, wife & daughter (with photos) & before I knew it, I was removing the cape & brushing fly away hairs off his shirt. Vidal got out of the chair, ran his fingers through his hair saying it was perfect several times, putting on his tie & jacket. He offered me a tip, which I refused, thanking him. He tipped Terry, which she accepted, then turned to AnneMarie, telling her that he’ll call her tomorrow, had to get back to his hotel to change for a business dinner at 7pm.

The rest of the day flew by. I hoped that Vidal was pleased with the haircut. I was aware that he watched every angle that I cut on, observed my blow drying techniques, & how comfortable I was with my “client”.

Well, if he becomes popular in New York, I can say, “I gave Vidal his First American Haircut!”

Salvatore, my son, will be 2 years old next week. I can’t believe it’s two years already! I don’t see him as much as I would like, since he lives with my Mom & step-dad. My Mom believes that his life would be better living with her, since ‘unwed mothers’ don’t have a chance to “meet a man to marry you” with a baby hanging on your skirt. I don’t know how true that is, but, I’m not looking to be married yet. I have to finish law school first, so I’m letting things ride right now. I’ll call her later to find out what Sal wants for his birthday.

I see that I have Mrs. Bruno for my first client today. God help me with this witch! I don’t think that there is a soul that she likes or doesn’t talk badly about. Well, here goes the smile & ‘glad to see you’, BS.

AnneMarie is strutting around like she got lucky or something last night. She hasn’t complained about anything going on in the shop today, (did she get lucky?), but, she is running our shampoo girl Terrys‘ butt off, making sure everything is clean & in it’s place. It’s Wednesday, our slowest day of the week. Only two beauticians, Sofia & myself. Finally got ‘Ol Mrs. Bruno under the hair dryer. Forty minutes of relief before I hear the rest of her ‘poor son & that ‘terrible wife’ of his. What she doesn’t know is that her ‘poor son’, owes the neighborhood bookie around $5,000.00 in bad horse bets, & his ‘terrible wife’ may be a young widow soon!

I can’t believe the way AnneMarie perked up when this man, (very distinguished looking), walked into the shop. I think that she was actually flirting with him! They hugged each other & laughed about something as his eyes scanned around the shop. Sofia dropped rollers all over the floor, while I kept cutting my ladies hair. His eyes settled on me for just a moment & then on Sofia. AnneMarie introduced this stranger as her ‘old friend Vidal‘,then quickly scooted him into the employees lounge in the back. Sofia looked over to me with raised eye brows & a grin, I returned the grin with a shrug of my shoulders. It was already 3pm, & I was glad that we closed in less than 3 hours.

Vidal! What kind of name was that? Being in a mostly Italian area of Brooklyn, most of the men here are called Johnny, Paulie, or Joey. The women are Maria, Angie or Theresa. I got lucky with Constance Caroline, & everyone cut that down to CeCe. But Vidal, that’s really different. He also has some kind of accent, I think. I’m curious, but, I’m more interested in getting out of this shop today. Only five clients & three dollars in tips, plus a headache from Mrs. Bruno.