Lovely Rita

Stepping into the salon, I was immediately hit by its desire to be American. The floors were pink and cream tiled, and it reminded me of those cute little marshmallow wafers I used to eat as a kid. It was a sickly pink; totally suited to the era though. The blinds were down due to the impending darkness, and they matched the ghastly pink. The walls were Magnolia, like my current room situation, and there were beautiful potted plants all around, dotted in corners and on desks. It was cute, I must admit.

I awkwardly approached the desk I assumed I was supposed to go to and pressed the round bell by the small plant. A woman approached from a door behind the counter. She was stunning. Her hair was beautifully backcombed and bouffant-ed up into a wonderful Jackie Kennedy style. It was a red shade, almost transiitioning into mousy brown. I loved the colour. She was made up with precise eyeshadow, which I could tell was inspired by Twiggy. The dark and light contrasted dramatically and gave the 'huge eye' impression. She blinked her neat false eyelashes at me and smiled, bearing perfectly straight, white teeth.

"Hi! I'm Sara, what can I do for you tonight?" The Scouse lady said. I smiled back politely.

"Hi, my name's Julie. I'm a friend of Paul's? He told me to tell you that..." I said, nervously laughing. I'd recently began doing that...

"Ah! Any friend of Paul's is a friend of mine. I'll stick it all on his tab. Come on over to the nail bar first and I'll get you started." She said, taking my hand and pulling me excitedly to a white, curved table with pink chairs. I perched opposite her and she got to work filing down my natural nails.

"So what would you like?" She said, more to my nails than my face. She was passionate, I must admit.

"Urm, I'm not really used to all of this, so what do you think?" I said quietly, glancing at the few men and women getting their hair done at this hour.

"Well, I could do you our Autumnal look, if you like? It focusses mainly on deep reds, purples, browns and creams. Such a beautiful set." She said, smiling up at me. I ummed and ahhed in my head.

"I guess that'd be really cute. I'll go for that, please." I smiled back, watching her at work on my dirty nails.

I'd ended up with a glorious set of falsies, slightly pointed at the ends and a fair bit longer than my typical nails, but not unnaturally long. I admired them and commented positively on Sara's work. She led me over to what I gathered was the 'hair section' and sat me down in yet another pink cushioned chair; a little higher this time though. She stood behind me, combing her soft, manicured hands through my tangled mane.

"I'm sorry for the mess that it's in." I said, laughing nervously again. Sara smiled at me in the mirror.

"I've seen worse sweetheart, don't worry. It's the trouble with long hair. You want to keep your colour? I'd recommend, it's such a beautiful shade of blonde!" She said, brushing it with a paddle brush now.

"Yes, please. I'd like to keep my bangs and colour, but if you could trim off some of the ends and put some long layers in, that'd be wonderful." I said, smiling in return.

"Okay lovely, not a problem." And with that, she got to work.

I closed my eyes, first feeling the warm liquid wash over my scalp as fingers gently massaged over the two slowly fading bumps. I almost let out a sigh, but realised that wouldn't be normal. I felt the cool sensation of conditioner, and smelt a wonderful vanilla scent as it was rinsed out. The water stopped and my hair was brushed in all different directions. I felt really relaxed, surprisingly. The snips soon began, and I listened intently to the strands of hair falling to the checkerboard ground. Moments later, the warmth and pressure of a hair dryer was floating over my head and I could feel a round brush pulling my scalp in a multitude of directions.

"Ta dah!" I heard Sarah exclaim jubilantly. She was proudly smiling behind me in the mirror, and then I clocked myself.

Oh my God!

My hair was layered, and each layer was perfectly rounded, as Kate Middleton's was in modern times but a bit longer and blonder. It was backcombed and huger than normal, and I looked like I had even more hair than usual. It was almost fluorescent under the lights in here, the blonde sparkling like it never had before. My eyes lit up at seeing my reflection; I looked like a less fake Pamela Anderson... It was weird for me!

I turned to Sara.

"Thankyou so much darling, this is amazing!" I said, combing my styled Brigitte bangs to the side.

"It's no problem babe. Paul's buying anyway!" She giggled. I chuckled along, hoping he'd see it as money well spent. I smiled to myself, standing up and sliding my green bag over my shoulder.

"Thankyou again Sara!" I called through the store, as I stepped out of the door and into the now dark evening. I walked confidently down the pavement towards Paul's house, feeling like an actual super star.

I couldn't help but wonder what Paul would think.