Cartel Chronicles

Chapter 16

"Hello, my name is Andres," he said extending his hand. Javier stood up instantly dwarfing the flamboyant stylist.

"Javier nice to meet you," they shook hands, judging by the look on his face; Andres was intimidated by the height difference.

"Have a seat," he offered doing just what he suggested. Javier followed suit. "My secretary tells me you were asking about a job?"

"Yes, your salon comes highly recommended, it would be a honor working here," Javier lied, he knew the owner's type, he picked it up immediately just by watching him, narcissist, a few embellished compliments would work well in his favor.

"Well thank you, we try to maintain high standards especially since the majority of the cliental come from all over the world, last week we had a couple all the way from Korea here," Andres gloated.

"Wow, Korea? That's fantastic, your salon is now world renowned," Javier praised. Andres patted Javier's knee, he resisted the urge to snatch him up by his neck.

"Stop it, you're too kind." Javier didn't know how to respond so he sat there and plastered a smile on his face. He didn't know what the proper etiquette was when applying for a job and the owner was sending subliminal sexual connotations. "Where did you get your certification from?"

"Tamaulipas Beauty College in Matamoras," he lied, no such school existed. "Are you familiar with it?" Andres shook his head; Javier knew he wouldn't have any idea whether it was made up or not. "Small school not many students."

"Interesting, how long have you been cutting hair for?" Andres asked.

"I got my certification six years ago, but I've cut hair as long as I could remember, I used to cut my two little sisters hair for them," he fibbed.

"What happened to the last salon you worked at?"

"It was mine actually, spent years saving for it, had it for six months, and it got destroyed." Andres face fell.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Ya, it was an unfortunate event, lots of violence; it was dangerous up there, moved back here to be with family and start over."

"Well this is a good place to live, tourism keeps our economy going, and it's fairly safe area to live, I can't imagine living up north." Andres sympathized. Javier was already annoyed and didn't want to sit here and chat about his fake life, he wanted to know if he was going to be hired or not.

"Ya, well that's what brings me here, your receptionist mentioned there might be a job opening one of your stylist is on maternity leave?" Javier redirected.

"Something like that, she's on bedrest I guess, she's only five months along. I haven't decided whether or not I was going to replace her, because I wasn't sure if the position would be permanent or not. Oh my god, this girl could ombre like it was nobody's business, better than me," he leaned in close to Javier. "But don't tell anyone I said that, I have a reputation to uphold you understand right?" Andres patted Javier's thigh again. He clenched his teeth and forced a smile.

"Totally," he slipped out, he hoped that the owner didn't detect his sarcasm, but he didn't seem bothered by the comment.

"Well, let's see what you got, I was supposed to cut Raquel's hair today, but you can," he stood up.

"Raquel honey we're ready for you," he called to the receptionist. She looked up from her paperwork.

"Now?" She asked.

"Might as well darling, we're going to see what ole' boy can do," his gaze flicked down Javier's body, and he grit his teeth in response.

"Him, but Andres are you sure that's a good idea, you know exactly how I like my hair and..." she was nervous you could tell by her tone certainly not her facial expression.

"It's alright, I know what I'm doing," Javier reassured her, his tone was calm and gentle, the same tone he used to calm his victims before he killed them.

"Use my booth," Andres encouraged. He pointed out where everything was at. Javier hated cutting women's hair the most; they were harder to please then men, the receptionist would be no exception. Based on her presentation he could tell that she was quite conscientious of her appearance, a perfectionist was putting it lightly. He looked down at his long sleeves and sighed, he was going to have to roll them up or they would become soaked. He glanced over at Andres hesitantly and pushed the fabric up enough to see the beginnings of his tattoos but not enough to see the grim reaper, the owner noticed it right away.

"Full sleeves?" He inquired. Javier nodded nonchalant. He tiled the seat back and turned on the water Raquel's eyes darted around nervously. As soon as his fingertips reached her scalp she immediately relaxed. She closed her eyes and he could almost sense the stiff muscles in her face loosening up as well. Javier was always attentive to his clients, it was important in the past for him to loosen them up and build their trust so they were unsuspecting of their fate looming over them in the future, but not anymore, Javier was determined to put all that behind him, he was turning over a new leaf. He massaged the conditioner in her hair and she let out a sigh of content, he glanced over at Andres who was studying his face.

"Are you sure you're a stylist and not a masseuse?" She asked as he was toweling drying her hair. Javier pretended to laugh it sounded forced, at least to his own ears, when was the last time he laughed?

"How do you want it cut, just a trim?" He asked.

"I want it re layered." Javier ran his fingers through her hair.

"Have you ever thought about parting it off to the side and an angular cut? You could pull it off based on your facial structure," he observed peering at Andres out of the corner of his eye. The owner nodded slowly in agreement.

"I don't know," she began.

"Oh honey he's right," Andres agreed.

"You think so?"

"Definitely babes, good eye!" Andres complimented. He patted Javier on the back, he felt his muscles stiffen up, Raquel sensed his uneasiness.

"Are you sure?" Raquel asked turning around to face Javier, he nodded she sighed.

"Fine," she relented. She pointed a finger at Andres. "If it looks like shit don't hire him." Andres laughed.

"She's joking," he informed Javier.

"I'm not!" She argued.

"Well, it won't be an issue either way," Javier concluded as he began cutting her hair, while he did that Andres began chattering away about how he ran his salon, booth rentals, and rules.

"What do you think?" Javier asked finally turning her around to see the finished product. She ran her fingers through her now significantly shorter hair. Since her expression never changed everyone waited in anticipation for her verdict.

"Oh my god I love it!" She enthused. Javier set down the sheers and took off her apron. Andres was equally as excited about his new prospect.

"Nice precision!" He cooed. Javier nodded avoiding eye contact trying to defer another awkward encounter.

"How does Wednesday thru Saturday sound?"

"I think that could be arranged," His boss reached for his arm, but instead Javier shook his hand.

"I will see you on Wednesday," Javier said.

"I can't wait," Andres admitted.