The next morning I was awake at 5am. I didn’t get to my Mothers house the night before. When everyone heard that I was going to London for the Summer, the drinks started flowing like water, & a small party commenced.

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?”