The Consequence

The salon wasn’t too busy. A couple of old women were having their perms tended to, chattering away about one dead person or another, a teenage girl sat with a magazine clutched in her hand, popping her bubble gum, her head buried in foils and a heater. The sound of the radio was clear for once, not masked by the whoosh of hair dryers and constant, empty chit chat.

Zara Cohen had seated herself on the small reception desk. She tapped away at the keyboard on the computer, hoping she had no more appointments for the rest of the day so she could sneak of to the Godsey’s for a while, before she was due home. To her dismay, one name was typed in under four PM. Lianna Juwig. Zara scoffed. Why? Why her? Why not one of the other more experienced stylists? She closed the appointment screen and tapped the desk with her false nails, eyeing the clock. Ten to four. If Lianna Juwig was five minutes late, Zara had the power to cancel her appointment. Just as her hopes were climbing, the door opened.

A girl about Zara’s age stepped towards the desk, she had shoulder length honey coloured hair and a long fringe that hung in her eyes. She pushed it aside and smiled breezily. “I’ve got an appointment with Zara, it’s Lianna Juwig.”

Zara rolled her eyes and nodded. “That’s me. Do you want me to take your jacket?”

“Please,” Lianna shrugged off her jacket and handed it to Zara, the latter headed for the cloakroom and hung it up, leading Lianna towards a chair and sitting her down.

“So, what are we doing today?” Zara asked, putting on her professional, chirpy tone.

“Wait, you’re Zara Cohen, right? Zara who’s dating Stephen Gomez?” Lianna asked.

“Yep. Mrs Juwig, you’re either with Adam or Taylor, right?”

“Taylor. I’m not into musicians.”

“Your sister is though. I saw Evie a couple of days ago, actually.”

“Oh yeah. Her and Justin are like inseparable. It’s adorable, really.”

“Hmm, I bet they are.” Zara listened to what Lianna wanted to do with her hair and whipped out her scissors, keeping her eyes on the clock. She snipped and chopped, hacking away at Lianna’s beautiful hair. She cut it much shorter than Lianna wanted, and didn’t care. She wasn’t pleased hearing about how happy Lianna was married to the wonderful Taylor, and how she thought Evie and Justin were heading down the aisle next.

“What about you and Stephen though? You two might be next, you never know,” Lianna gushed.

Zara froze, holding her scissors mid air. “I don’t know about that. We’re still young, you know. Just having fun is our main priority right now. I do love him though, a lot.” She cut through split ends, whilst Lianna carried on gushing about the perks of marriage.

At the front desk, the phone began ringing. Zara ignored it, still snipping Lianna’s precious hair away. She looked around after five rings. No one was moving to answer it. She apologised to Lianna and headed for the phone, picking up the receiver and holding it to her ear. “Hello, Snipping Scissors, Zara speaking, how can I help?”

“Zara, babe, it’s me.”

“Stephen, you know you’re not supposed to call me at work.” Zara turned away from the room, making her voice quieter.

“I know, but you weren’t answering my texts. I’ll make this quick. I’ve had to take John to hospital, he fell over and hurt his foot pretty bad, they think it’s broken or fractured or something. So I don’t know what time I’ll be back tonight. Just thought I’d let you know, in case it’s late.”

Zara’s heart melted slightly. “Aw, okay, just make sure he’s okay, and I’ll see you later, babe. Love you.”

“Love you too, bye.”

She clicked the phone off and walked back over to Lianna, picking her scissors up again and taking to her hair. “So has marriage made Taylor grow up? Or is he still as immature as before?”

Lianna frowned slightly, before shaking it off and smiling. “He has his moments, but what twenty one year old doesn’t? And I’m only twenty two and I can act like a kid at times.”

Zara nodded, pouting her lips in agreement. “Suppose so.” She finished cutting Lianna’s hair in record time and quickly pulled the straighteners through it, spraying all manner of product on and fluffing it up at the back. She grabbed her small mirror and held it up behind Lianna’s head. “Is that okay?” She looked into the full length mirror before her, watching Lianna inspect her new hair style, just as the salon door opened and Justin stepped inside.

Her eyes widened. Not a good time. Not now. Not when Justin’s girlfriend’s sister was sitting in the chair, inspecting her freshly cut hair. No, no, no, Lianna would work it all out in a heartbeat. Zara shook her head in the mirror, trying to catch Justin’s eye, but he was too busy picking up bottles from a stand and checking what each product was for. Zara composed herself and smiled at Lianna. “Okay?”

Lianna nodded. “Yep, thank you.”

Zara removed the cape from around Lianna’s shoulders and let her chopped hair fall to the laminated floor. She lead Lianna over to the reception desk, choosing to ignore Justin.

“Hey, Zara,” he grinned, coming to stand beside Lianna, he glanced at her, his eyes widening slightly. “Um, hi, Lianna, I was just, um -”

“Jay, really, I can’t give you a hair cut unless you book an appointment. I can’t stay late tonight, I’m going out with Stephen,” Zara rolled her eyes dramatically and typed a few things into the computer. “That’ll be thirty five dollars, Lianna.”

Lianna chuckled and handed her forty. “Keep the change, and Justin, seriously get a hair cut soon,” she eyed his unruly mass of curly hair, before leaving as swiftly as she arrived.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Justin rested his forehead on the reception desk. “I’m so slow.”

“Yeah you are, but I’ve had that lie in my head the second you walked through that door. Lucky I saw you come in.”

“I know, and if I knew she’d been here, I wouldn’t have.”

“I know, you’re careful.” Zara clicked at the computer, pulling up tomorrow’s appointments and making a note of when she’d have to be at work. She closed the screen and headed into the back room to grab her jacket and bag.

“So, how are, things?” Justin asked.

“Me and Stephen you mean? Okay. But that’s it. It’s just okay. I love him, but you know, it’s hardly exciting. He dragged me out on some double date with Dales and his new fancy piece, and fuck, they were boring as hell. So I got a little bitchy, I guess and they left. And then it was dull. But I can spend as long as I like with you tonight. Stephen’s taken John to the hospital, he’s hurt his foot or something.”

Justin’s eyes widened. “John hurt himself?” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and speed dialled someone, holding the phone to his ear.

“Justin, seriously? No,” Zara snatched his phone away and stabbed the ‘off’ button, ending the call. She leaned forward and kissed him gently, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Screw them.”

“But John might seriously be hurt,” Justin mumbled, as Zara chewed his bottom lip.

“John’s a big boy, and his big brother’s there to hold his hand.”

“Mmmmm, okay.”

Justin grabbed her hand and lead her out to his car. He sat down in the driver’s seat, letting Zara take the passenger seat. His phone was still clasped in her hand as they pulled out of the car park. It began to ring and buzz in her hand. Evie’s name flashed across the screen. She rejected the call and smiled across at Justin.

“Who was that?” He asked.

“Nobody, babe. Just nobody.”