The Green Ticket

Chapter 14



“Lila Medlin, here for my facial.”

“Hello, ma’am. Have you been to Blissful before?”

“Nope. And I hear it’s awful!”

Lila and I cracked up as I checked in her on the computer system. “Gee, thanks. Keep boosting my already fragile ego, why don’t you?” I said, trying to make light of my situation.

“Still no word from Henry?”

“Nada. It’s been three days. Do you think it’s over?”

Lila drummed her fingertips on the glass counter. I noticed she needed a manicure as well and made a mental note to schedule her for one. “I don’t know, Alex. I really thought he was into you. We all did. It’s just so bizarre.”

“Bizarre. Good word.” I pushed a clipboard her way. “Fill out the form please, so Allie will have all your info when she’s ready for you.”

Lila continued to stand at the counter while she answered the questions. “Is my skin dry, oily, or a combination? Um, I don’t know. Alex, expert opinion?”

I peered at my friend’s face, thinking back to all the times I helped her with her makeup. “I would say more dry. Especially this time of year with the cold weather. She could do a moisturizing mask on you that I’m sure you’ll love.”

“Okay.” Lila continued writing. “What are the reasons for my appointment today? Can I say to support my roommate?”

“Just say that you want better skin and for some relaxation. You get an awesome shoulder, head, and foot massage.”

“Really? I don’t think I knew that. What does that have to do with a facial?”

“I didn’t tell you about the massages? My bad. They’re my favorite part. But yeah, when the masks are settling in the estheticians have to do something with their time.”

“Good point. Awesome.” After a few minutes, Lila handed her completed form back to me. “I can’t believe I spaced on Thanksgiving. Are you sure you’re not mad that you have to stay in town?”

“Nah. I just found out this morning that I couldn’t get it off anyway. We’re closed on Thursday, but I have to work Friday. Most of the employees asked for it off, and Dani does the Black Friday shopping. It sounds like I’ll be working the whole day actually.”

Lila’s meeting with Mary Strubaker was the Friday following Thanksgiving, so instead of going back to Okana to visit her family like we usually did, we would both be staying in town for the holiday. Lila and I were just going to celebrate the day together by doing nothing, being couch potatoes, and possibly ordering a pizza. Neither of us wanted to attempt a turkey.

“Oh. Sorry to hear that. I told Frank that I would work the weekend, but he only scheduled me for Saturday and Sunday. I have all of Friday off, which is good since I’m not sure how long the meeting will last.”

Allie entered the front then, her black hair set in a high bun and very little makeup on. Her permanent tan always made her look like she was glowing, so she didn’t need the help. “Hi, ladies!” she greeted us, enthusiastic as usual. I tried to make sure my smile looked as normal as possible, though I was still a tad shaky around Allie. Could she really be with Kevin on the side? There was just no way–– I hoped. “You must be Lila. I’ve heard so much about you!” Lila and Allie shook hands, then Allie swiped Lila’s intake form off the counter. “I know Alex says you have a pretty special occasion going on next week. Let’s go and get started right away then, yeah?”

“Sounds good to me. Alex just informed me that massages are included!”

“That’s right! Is this your first facial?”

“Yep. First time for any sort of spa treatment actually.” Lila waved bye and she and Allie disappeared into the salon. I shook my head, grinning at how excited my friend was. I hoped she would enjoy herself.

A few minutes after they were gone, the bell tinkled when the door was opened, and in walked a familiar looking man with two young children in tow. I couldn’t place how I knew him, but his face was familiar. “What do you say, kids? Does Mommy deserve a massage for her birthday?” he asked the two children.

“Yeah, yeah!” the kids shouted, jumping up and down. They looked adorable in poufy jackets and oversized hats. I had to smile at their enthusiasm for their mommy’s birthday.

The man approached the counter. “Hello. Do you offer gift cards?” he asked.

“We do! You can place any amount you would like on one,” I answered, smiling at him and his kids. The little girl gave me a big grin back, her mouth full of tiny baby teeth. I giggled. She giggled.

“Okay then. I’m thinking a massage will be great. Maybe the ninety-minute massage. Yeah, that will be good.”

“All right. Would you like to add a gratuity on there?” I asked, pulling out a gift card from the drawer and clicking ‘gift card sale’ on the computer screen.

“What do you mean by that?”

“You can add a gratuity onto the gift card so that way the person receiving it doesn’t have to worry about leaving a tip after the appointment. It’s all taken care of for them,” I explained.

“Oh, I see. Yes, great idea. Let’s add on twenty percent.”

I went through my screens then scanned the barcode on the card. I rescanned the card just to make sure everything was loaded properly. Looked good. “Do you want me to write out the to and from for you on the gift card holder?”

“That would be great. My handwriting is terrible, and I can’t quite trust these kiddos with that duty yet,” the man said, glancing at his children.

I laughed. “I can see your reasoning. Are they twins?”

“They are. Only three minutes apart. Luke is the older one, and sure likes to let Erin know that. He’s the big bully but protective big brother all rolled in one.”

I glanced at the children again, who now sat on the floor with each other playing with a red truck that appeared out of nowhere. I assumed one of them was holding onto it when they walked in, because they surely wouldn’t have found it in the salon. They looked to be around three or four I guessed with my inexperienced eye. I took the client’s credit card and ran it through the machine, pausing when I saw the name. Marcus Baylor. Marcus Baylor? It was him! He was Mr. Suit and Tie from Saturday. I would have never guessed the woman with him that day was his wife. They had acted too, well, giddy and lovey dovey for a husband and wife. I remembered thinking they were going to get engaged that day. But they already had two kids? I was way off.

“Here’s your card back, Mr. Baylor,” I said, handing it to him. “What was your wife’s name?” I thought it had started with a T, but couldn’t be sure.

“Lisa. Lisa Baylor. If you can just say from Dad, Luke, and Erin, that would be perfect.”

I scrunched my nose as I wrote in my best calligraphy skills. I could have sworn it was a T name. Lisa rang no bells. I finished writing, slid the gift card into a Blissful envelope, and handed it to Mr. Baylor. “There you go. And here’s the receipt for you. Thanks for coming in! I hope she enjoys her gift,” I said, itching to pull up the schedule from Saturday.

“Thank you so much. Ready, kids?” He scooped up Erin in his arms and pressed Luke into his side and with the tinkling of the bell, they were off. I clicked out of the sale screen and found Saturday’s schedule. Sure enough, a twelve-thirty couple’s massage for Marcus Baylor and Tamara Schmidt.

I leaned forward on the counter, thoughts in overdrive. Clearly, Marcus had been cheating on his wife with Tamara. They were all over each other on Saturday. I couldn’t even begin to pretend it was his sister or just a friend. Scumbag. And he seemed like such a nice guy! I was a little surprised he didn’t recognize me and feel bad that I had just checked him and his mistress in for a couple’s massage three days prior. And the kids? They were so cute and unknowing their dad was a two-timer.

The icky thoughts stayed with me until Lila and Allie reached the front again. Lila had her makeup reapplied, but her face glowed with difference from the effects of the facial. “How did everything go?” I asked.

“Great! It was really good, Alex. Thanks for making me try that,” Lila said. Her words sounded sincere, but her voice seemed a little off. And why was she staring at me so weird? I smoothed down my hair, wondering if something was out of place. Was there lipstick on my teeth?

“Glad you liked it, hon. You’ll have to come back in for another one after you get signed with Mary.” Allie grinned at Lila, who smiled faintly back. Something strange was definitely going on with her.

“I sure will. And I hope so. That I get signed, I mean,” Lila tripped over her words. “Oh, let me get you some money.” She fumbled around to open her wallet, but I pushed it away.

“No, no. This is my gift to you. I’ll take care of it.”

“What? No way, Alex. I can’t have you doing that,” she protested.

“I want to. Trust me. My treat. A good luck present.”

Lila tried arguing a few more times, but I stood firm. “I insist. I have all this extra money that I can’t find time to do anything with. I might as well treat my best friend who somehow doesn’t think I’m a lunatic to a facial.”

“Why would she think you’re a lunatic?” Allie asked.

“Just because I’ve turned into a crazy workaholic that runs around the house screaming about schedules and advertising and conference calls.”

“And who I have to watch and make sure she eats, like I’m a freakin’ anorexic guidance counselor or something,” Lila chimed in.

“Hey! In my defense, it’s not like I’m trying to be anorexic. I literally just forget sometimes that I need food to survive.” I tried to stand up for myself. I hated feeling like people thought I wasn’t eating on purpose. That was truthfully not the, well, truth.

“I know, I know. And I’m happy to watch over you.” Lila patted my hand. “Well, I have to run. Meeting Joel tonight for a late dinner.”

“You are?” I had barely heard Lila speak a word about Joel. We all knew that he was furious over her impending appointment with Mary.

“Yep. I could come home tonight a single lady,” she confessed.

“Seriously? You really think you might break up?” I was shocked, at least a little bit. The other girls and I had been anticipating that it would happen, but I really wasn’t sure Lila would ever pull the trigger.

“We’ll see. He’ll probably try to keep talking me out of going to meet with Mary and just piss me off. Whatever. I can’t deal with the drama. I have bigger things to focus on. Like my own life.”

“Good for you, Lila. We need more strong women like you in the world,” Allie chimed in, earning a strange look from Lila. Almost...tepid? What had happened during that facial?

“Thanks. Alex...I’ll just see you at home, okay?”Lila was giving me some sort of look with her eyes, but I didn’t know how to interpret it.

“Um, yeah. Okay. See you at home. Good luck with Joel.” And she was gone. This was turning into a strange evening.

“Hey, Allie, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, hon.” Allie was scrolling through tomorrow’s schedule on the second computer, taking a look at her clients.

“Do you remember doing a couple’s massage for a Marcus and Tamara on Saturday? In the afternoon, with Courtney? Both were pretty dressy. Girl had Dolly Parton boobs and no waist.”

“Yeah, I remember them. Nice couple. What about them?”

“Did they ever say what they were? Boyfriend/girlfriend? Friends? Mere acquaintances? “

Allie pursed her lips together, cocking her head to one side. “I think they were just dating. She was actually his secretary or something, I think. Yeah, that was it. He’s a lawyer at a firm downtown and that’s how they met. Why do you ask?”

“No reason. Just curious.” Ah, the classic lawyer banging the secretary on the side. Scumbag, scumbag, douchebag. Poor Lisa. She gives birth to twins and her husband screws around on her.

“I’m going to go clean up my treatment room. Have you cut any of the stylists?”

“I let Katie go about an hour or so ago. Jewel and Carolyn are still on the floor. You can let one of them go if you want, as long as most of the cleaning is done.” It was nearing eight o’clock, closing time. Carolyn was finishing up a haircut so I couldn’t close down the register yet. I got out the cleaning supplies and set to work on dusting and polishing the desk, stopping only to check out the client. I quickly swept the floors, switched the Open sign to Closed, locked the front doors and counted out the drawer. I filed the receipts, checked the next day’s schedules, and closed down the computers. Walking back to the office with the cash and receipts, I waved goodnight to Carolyn as she headed out.

Allie was in the office putting her coat on when I came in. “Big plans for the rest of the night?” she asked me.

“Nope. Just some homework. I have to make sure I stay on top of my classes. I’ve let myself slip the last few weeks of the semester.”

“Well, do you think you could come out to lunch with me and Dani tomorrow? Sort of an informal meeting to talk about the Christmas schedule.”

“What time were you thinking?”

“Probably around twelve or twelve-thirty. What time is your last class out?”

“Not ‘till one. But I can just skip it. I have some ideas for the schedule that I wanted to discuss with Dani anyway.”

“Are you sure about skipping? Maybe we can push it back.”

“Nah, it’ll be fine. One of my friends is in the class too, so I’ll just get her notes.”

“If you’re sure. Or else I can let Dani know what your ideas are?” I looked at Allie’s face, always so bright and open. She wouldn’t screw me over like Kamille had, would she? Any other day I would have answered an emphatic no. But after the weird moment with her and possibly Kevin in the treatment room, plus Lila’s behavior after the facial....my instincts were telling me to hold off.

“Um, that’s okay. I need to put them all together tonight anyway so they make sense.” There went my homework idea. “But I’ll be sure to be here tomorrow for the meeting. Should I just meet you both here?”

“Yep. See you tomorrow! Drive safe, hon.”

“Thanks.” My shoulders drooped and a walloping headache came at me full force. I just wanted to sleep.

$$$

Just as I was opening the front door to Wacker, my cell phone began to ring. It was my personal cell, and I reminded myself yet again to see about merging the two. I stopped inside the doorway and dug it out, eyes widening in surprise when I saw Henry’s name on the caller ID. “Hello?” I said, trying not to sound too hopeful.

“Alex? Hi, it’s Henry.”

“Hey, Henry. What’s up?” I struggled to keep my voice casual as I started climbing the stairs.

“Not much. Just hanging out at home. What are you doing?”

“Just getting home from work. Literally. I’m just walking in the door.” Lila was on the couch with a textbook on her lap and a glass of wine in one hand. I waved and mouthed ‘Henry’ at her, pointing to the phone. She placed her wine glass on the floor and clapped her hands together quietly.

“How was work tonight?”

“It was fine. Lila came in and got her first facial.” I debated about telling the story about Marcus Baylor and his two-timing ways, but I was more curious as to why Henry was calling. I hadn’t heard from him since he left me on his couch Saturday night. Alone.

“Did she like it?”

“I think so. How was your night?”

“Good. A lot of studying. I have two big tests before Thanksgiving break. Then two more before Christmas break.”

“Ah, gotcha.” An awkward pause descended over our conversation. The point, Henry, the point! I wanted to scream.

“So. I just wanted to ask if you had plans for the weekend. Peter and Hannah are going mini-golfing at that indoor place downtown, and I thought you might like it too.”

A double date? He was asking me on another date, right? “Sure! I mean, yeah, that could be a good time. Though I can’t really see Hannah mini-golfing,” I said honestly. Lila gave me a quizzical look from her perch on the couch.

“Truthfully, I don’t see Peter that much into putt-putt either. Maybe we can be on teams. I have a feeling we would dominate.”

I laughed, feeling all the emotional stress and wondering about Henry fade away. He did still like me. We were going on a third date. “I bet we will. We’ll have to think of a good bet to place.”

We chatted for a while longer, while I tried to get out of my work clothes and into some sweats. Henry told me he would finalize the plans with Peter and make sure to work around my Blissful schedule, then we hung up. I finished pulling the T-shirt over my head and ran back into the living room.

“We’re going on a date. We’re going on a date! A third date, Lil. Third!” I squealed, hopping on the couch and jumping up and down like a kid when they find out school was canceled.

“Yay! I’m so happy for you. But what was with the three-day silent treatment? Did he mention anything about your last date?” she asked, bringing me down from the clouds.

I took a seat next to her, then hopped right back up. I was too excited to sit still. “No, not really. I’ll ask him when we’re on our date though. Maybe Hannah will even have some info on him. Maybe Peter discussed it with her. But, hello. What are you doing here? I thought you were meeting Joel for dinner? Unless...?” I trailed off, wondering if they had broken up that quickly.

“I canceled on him. I just didn’t feel like going through with it tonight. Maybe I should just wait until after my meeting. I mean, what if Mary hates me and I decide just to stay in Des Moines and become a housewife? Why risk breaking up with Joel over nothing?”

I sat again, this time with more resolution. “Lila. You can’t stay with Joel out of convenience. What you just said made it sound like you were settling. Joel’s good enough for right here, right now. But I think you know that’s not what you really want.”

Lila was quiet for a moment, reaching over to pick up her wine glass and taking a gulp. “I don’t know. I’m so confused. I don’t want to make any hasty decisions without being sure. I just need some more time to think.”

I sat in silence with her for a few minutes, trying to show my support. I guessed that she did know what she wanted, she just couldn’t admit it to herself yet. I think all the girls knew it, really. But we would wait, let her come to the conclusion herself.

“Another reason though–– I canceled because I wanted to talk to you,” she continued, glancing up at me.

“Okay. What’s up?” I asked, leaning back into the cushions and closing my eyes. Ah, relaxation.

“How do you feel about Allie?”

My eyes snapped open. “What? Allie? Why?”

Lila shrugged. “I’m just curious. I know you’ve said you really like her and you think she’s a great friend and all, but....I don’t know.”

“You don’t know what? Did she say something about me?” I couldn’t believe that Allie was talking behind my back, especially to my best friend. That just didn’t add up.

“No, no. She didn’t say anything about you. Bad, anyway. She did say that she thought you were a great manager and all those other glowing things, but….I don’t know.”

“That’s the second time you’ve said that. Clearly something is on your mind. Spill. What the hell happened?” I was on the brink, ready to explode if Lila didn’t tell me what was going on. Maybe my weird feeling about Allie was about to be proven correct.

Lila’s blue eyes met mine. “I just got a weird feeling about her. Something didn’t add up.”

“By that you mean...?” I prompted. Could Lila get the feeling about her and Kevin? I always knew she had some heightened intuition, but this could be huge. I would never doubt her again.

“I just didn’t think she was being entirely truthful. She asked me if I had a boyfriend and I started to tell her a little bit about Joel. Then she talked about her fiancé and how they’re getting married next year. And I got the feeling that she isn’t excited about it. I don’t think she loves this guy.”

I frowned, thinking about what she said. “I don’t know. We’ve talked about it before too, and she said that she is marrying for love and that he would make a great father and all this stuff. She sounded pretty happy to me.” My thoughts flashed back on possibly hearing Kevin and Allie in her treatment room. I hadn’t proved it was Allie, but something was telling me it was her. I knew her laugh, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself.

“I just think that something else is going on in that relationship. My guess is that there is someone else, either on her side or his. Maybe he is cheating and she knows about it but doesn’t know what to do? I don’t know, just something was off.”

“Lila, I’m going to tell you something, but please keep it to yourself. Don’t tell the other girls. I didn’t want to tell anyone because I didn’t know what to think. And it might not even be true. So just keep quiet about it, okay?”

Lila’s eyes were wide as she looked back at me. “Promise,” she said, voice solemn.

“Okay. It happened last week when I was leaving the salon. The day I got called in.” I launched into my story about possibly hearing Kevin and Allie in the treatment room together. I explained the sounds, how I thought I heard Allie’s laugh and Kevin’s voice and the door closing. When I finished, Lila’s eyes were even bigger than when I started. I felt relieved to get that story off my chest. I didn’t realize how much it was killing me to keep it inside.

“So you think that possibly Kevin and Allie are hooking up? That is just f*cked up,” Lila bluntly stated.

“I know, right? And the sickest part–– Dani was in the salon at the time. She was right at the front desk! If something weird is going on, it’s so shitty that they’re doing it with Dani just a few feet from them. Can you imagine?” I cringed, not understanding how people could be so horrible and shady. And poor Dani! Not only her husband, but her employee and friend? I was devastated for her.

“Wow. That’s just awful. I can’t believe––”

“There’s more.”

Lila looked at me, incredulous. “More? What the hell do you mean more? What kind of more?”

I reached into my purse for my cell phone, scrolling to the pictures of Kevin and Kamille kissing. I handed Lila my phone.

“This is Kamille, right? Bitchy front desk girl?”

I nodded. “I caught them in the back alley the same day I heard Kevin and Allie in the treatment room.”

Lila studied the pictures some more. “Well, this is solid proof, Al. Show these to Kevin. Or Kamille. They can’t keep doing this to Dani.”

“But–– what if I get fired? It sounds terrible, but besides all this crap, I really love my job. And I’m good at it. And it’s giving me the knowledge and possibly future references to go on to bigger and better things. I don’t want to go back to being a Tastie’s girl–– no offense.”

“None taken. But, okay. So you stay quiet for now. What happens when Dani catches them? Or another staff member or a client? Or–– what if Kevin starts making moves on you?”

I stayed silent for a minute. “I don’t know,” I answered quietly. “Honestly. I don’t know. I’m so confused. And I’m sad. I really thought Allie was a good person. And even though I may have had doubts about Kevin and Kamille, I never wanted it to turn out this way.”

Lila and I talked for another hour about Blissful and the closed-door happenings. We didn’t get much farther, only to discuss how disgusted we were with cheating men and women who agree to be “the other woman.” I still didn’t know how to handle my newfound knowledge about my boss and employees. Stay quiet and keep at my job? Spill what I knew and possibly lose it?

I went to bed that night uneasy about my professional situation. Could I really keep working for philandering Kevin? Would I crack and spill the secrets to Dani? Dani was my friend. She didn’t deserve to be kept in the dark. Lila agreed that if I knew Joel was cheating on her she would want to know. I said the same thing. It would be humiliating for everyone to know your boyfriend or husband had a wandering eye. Kamille seemed like she could be a bitch, but what about Allie? My thoughts about her were completely screwed up. How could I look her in the eye tomorrow and watch her smile and chat with Dani like she wasn’t screwing her husband on the side? What had I gotten myself into?

$$$

The next day, I asked Emma to take notes for me in Music Appreciation and skipped the class so I could head out to Blissful. Dani and Allie were both at the salon and ready to go by the time I got there just after noon, and the three of us piled into Kevin’s BMW and headed towards the mall. We were having lunch at The Bowl, a restaurant attached to the mall that specialized in salads and other healthy dishes.

We were seated promptly, and got a table by a big picture window. The view of the outside was desolate: gray skies, bare trees, and people bundled up in winter gear to protect them from the chilly temps. We placed our orders for various salads and drinks and Dani started the conversation.

“I wanted to get together to talk about the holiday schedules. Thanksgiving seems to be all worked out and that wasn’t an issue, but we need to figure out Christmas.”

“What is the store schedule like for then? Are we closed Christmas Eve and Christmas?” I asked, taking a sip of my Sprite.

“Well, we need to discuss that too. Christmas Eve is still a pretty popular shopping day, and the stores stay open longer. I think we should be open on that day, at least in the morning. Maybe nine to one or something? What do you think?”

“I think it’s important to know that we can be staffed before we decide on store hours,” Allie said. “Alex, what did the leave requests look like for the desk?”

I took a folder out of my briefcase, where I had been keeping track of the requests. “Kamille has requested the twenty-third through the twenty-eighth off. Sounds like she will be out of state visiting family. Julia requested Christmas Eve and Christmas off, and Tiffany can work Christmas Eve but on a limited schedule.”

“Okay, so I’m assuming no Christmas, right? No one will be thinking massage on Christmas,” Allie said, glancing at Dani.

Dani paused for a moment before answering. “Right. We’ll be closed on Christmas. What day is Christmas?”

“Sunday.” Allie and I answered together.

“Yeah, no problem being closed then. But I still think we should have a few hours on Christmas Eve. Alex, why don’t you call around to a few other salons today, see what their hours are? Let’s try to be comparable in the area. If everyone else is opened all day, we should be too.”

“But do we have the staff? Tiffany can only work a short time and I usually take Christmas to fly out and be with my family in Seattle,” I said, my heart starting to beat faster. I was already giving up Thanksgiving. I couldn’t believe they wanted me to miss Christmas too.

“You need time off over Christmas?” Dani asked, looking at me with confusion. “Kevin told me you would be working it.”

“What? No! I never said that. I told Kevin when you asked me to work over Thanksgiving that I would want Christmas off then to go to Seattle. I need to go see my family at some point. I haven’t seen them since last Christmas.” I could feel tears threatening and knew it was the exhaustion settling in that was making me fragile. I couldn’t miss Christmas. Not for this place. And why was Kevin making up stories about me?

“Oh. Well, okay, that might change a few things then. Maybe I misunderstood Kevin. But I could have sworn he said you would be here. Is your family coming here by chance? Maybe that’s what he meant.”

“No, and I can’t see that happening. My brother-in-law works around the clock and my sister has five kids under the age of nine. I don’t think traveling by plane on the holiday is on their list of fun activities.” Kevin had lied about my schedule, for whatever selfish reason.

“Hmm. I’ll talk to him. We’ll be in town this year, but we’re hosting Christmas at our house. I’m not sure when we’ll be able to watch the store.”

“So maybe we should be closed Christmas Eve and Christmas then? I’m sure a lot of businesses do it. I don’t think those are particularly busy spa days,” Allie said, and I shot her a grateful smile for sticking up for me. Or was she only sticking up for me because she had a grudge against Dani and wanted Kevin all to herself? My migraine pulsed.

“I don’t know. Kevin really wants to be open Christmas Eve.” Was it my imagination, or did Dani give Allie the evil eye when she said that? “Alex, just make sure you get those calls done today to the surrounding spas. Allie, do we have stylists that can work that day?”

“Morgan can work esthetics, Shawna’s the only massage therapist, and Sophia and Lindsey can work the floor. I can probably be there a little bit on Christmas Eve, but we’re traveling to Winlap that night,” she said, naming a city about forty minutes from Des Moines.

“That might be good enough. We’ll make a final decision after Alex makes the calls.” We all nodded, and I scratched notes for myself.

We paused when our food arrived, and I eagerly tucked into my trusty chicken ceaser salad. The hunks of chicken were smothered with finely shredded cheese and creamy dressing, and I struggled to recall the last time I had eaten a full meal. I had become accustomed to granola bars and bags of chips to keep my energy up.

“I had a question about scheduling,” I said, when I had eaten about half of my salad and felt a stomachache coming on from all the food I had quickly consumed. “Do we have any kind of system in place that tracks when employees request off and who gets time off–– such as around the holidays?”

“I don’t think so. What exactly do you mean?” Allie asked, picking through her salad and finding a piece of roast beef.

“I was just thinking, maybe we should have a system to track when employees ask off around the holiday time. That can be Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years’, Fourth of July, et cetera. And then we can show who actually got the time off, so the same people don’t keep getting the holidays off. Just try to make it as fair as we can. For example, say Sophia and Jewel both ask for Christmas Eve off. We give it to Sophia. Then next year or even just the next holiday, New Years’, they both ask off again. That time we give it to Jewel. Does that make sense?”

“Actually, yeah, it does. I’m surprised we haven’t thought of that before. That’s a great idea, Alex,” Dani praised, giving me a warm smile. I smiled back, feeling better after her remarks about my wanting time off. I just needed to keep coming up with ideas to prove my worth–– and show that I deserved some time off too.

“It really is. Even though salon turnover can be high, mostly with the front desk as opposed to stylists, it will still be a handy tool. Good thought, Alex,” Allie said.

“Thanks. I’ll get working on that when we get back,” I said, biting into a warm roll.

The rest of our lunch passed smoothly, even though I was constantly on the lookout for tension between my two lunch partners. Everything seemed to be fine though, and soon we were packing up and heading back out to the car.

I flirted with the thought of straight out asking Allie if there was something going on between her and Kevin, but quickly dismissed it. She wouldn’t tell me the truth. I didn’t need Lila’s intuition to tell me that. I would just have to try to figure out Blissful’s mystery another way.