PARADOX

PDX18

"Dell." Mariah answered, Amina furrowed her eyebrows together. She could recalled hearing the name before, but as hard as she tried she just couldn't recollect from where. "Im not sure I know who that is." Amina spoke as she mixed the jet black hair dye with the 30 volume developer.

"Really? He spoke so highly of your work." Mariah replied, Amina shook her head no. "Im thankful for the referral though." She spoke.

Mariah lightly chuckled, "Me too, I was scrolling through your page waiting for my appointment." She spoke, causing Amina to lightly chuckle as well.

"I'm super sure you know Dell though." She added, coming off as super catty. Amina wondered what her relation was to this man for her to be so adamant that Amina knew him. She didn't, and had no reason to lie. She was more than one hundred percent sure that Mariah couldn't beat her ass. "I'm super sure I don't." Amina spoke, attempting to remain professional. She worked the dye through Mariah's head, being sure to thoroughly distribute it.

"Maybe—maybe it's a mixup." Mariah surrendered, Amina nodded her head in agreement. While Amina allowed the dye to sit in Mariah's head, a silence fell over them, which Amina appreciated. The only sound in the room was the music and the different songs as Mariah scrolled through her Instagram explore page.  After Amina deemed the dye as ready to remove, she guided Mariah to the wash bowl so she could wash it out before shampooing and conditioning her hair.

"You smell good, what fragrance is that?" Mariah questioned, "Madison Avenue by Bond Number nine." Amina answered.

"Oh I love Bond, I'll definitely have to try that scent out." Mariah replied. Following the short dialogue came silence, which Amina didn't mind. She blow dried Mariah's hair completely dry before straightening it and installing her tape ins. Once the extensions were installed, Amina began to style her hair as requested—soft curls. Once the service was done Amina got a few pictures and videos for content on her hair page. Although Mariah was more than satisfied with her hair, Amina wasn't sure if she would see her again, judging from the vibes. She didn't mention Dell again, but Amina was good on picking up energies and could tell it was still on Mariah's mind.

Amina quickly tidied up and finished off her goods she got from Dunkin as she awaited her next client.

December 1st 2022
Dallas, Texas
4:28 pm

Rashad sat his gym bag in his back seat before making his way over to the driver's side, he cracked open his water bottle he got from inside the gym and took a long swig. He usually went to the gym earlier in the day but got caught up with business for the club. Since dinner time was nearing he decided he would stop at one of his favorite cafes since they had fresh juice and pretty good food. Before pulling off, his phone sounded which caused him to grab it out the pocket of his hoodie.

Isis
Call me rn it's important.

Rashad went back and forth pondering on if it was really serious or not, communication between the two had been really sparse since Rashad came back to Dallas and he wondered if this was a tactic by her to muster up a conversation. After a few moments he pressed the camera icon to start a FaceTime call, a couple rings later a distressed Isis answered the phone. "Wassup." Rashad greeted.

"My cycle late." Isis announced, getting right to the point. After fuckin around for 10 years, pregnancy scares weren't much of a surprise. Rashad always pulled out, but he knew accidents happened. "Take a test." Rashad replied, he didn't like prolonging shit—he wanted to know now.