❝ let me roll it ❞ ▷ paul mccartney.

.03

     "chloe... chloe stop it."

the licking persisted, making two well-kept brows furrow in frustration as her eyelids stayed shut. "chloe!" she grumbled, but it only made the sandpaper sensation travel to her forehead for another round, despite victoria's protests. she finally popped an eyelid open but had to squint just a moment later due to the bright light seeping in through the kitchen window.

wait, kitchen?

her head popped up, startling the puppy into scampering off toward the other end of the tabletop. she looked around frantically, her chest heaving slightly as she hoped and prayed that she didn't stay up all night writing that stupid letter. her gaze quickly found the clock and she realized that her hopes didn't hold up; it was eight o'clock in the morning, only an hour before she was supposed to be opening the doors at the salon for a busy day. "oh, god!" she hissed as she stood up from the chair a bit too quickly. sleep still resided in her body entirely, and she knew at that moment that she would be dragging for the rest of the day.

⌘

"sorry, sorry... sorry!" came spilling out of her mouth the moment she walked in through the back door of the salon with her purse hanging halfway off of her shoulder and her jacket halfway buttoned up. she was a mess.

holly glanced toward the back to get a good look. her eyes got a bit wide as she looked down at victoria's choice of shoes for the day. "um..." she spoke up.

victoria shoved her purse and peeled off her coat and shoved it in as well before she looked at holly with a tilted head. "what?" she panted, straightening out her dress just before she glanced at the clock. she made it with five minutes left to spare. thank god.

holly stopped twirling the pen in her hand and used it to point at the mismatching shoes on her boss' feet.

her eyes followed the tip of the pen all the way to her shoes and she scoffed, which caught the attention of the two other girls who were working for the day.

"oh, gosh, hon... rough night?" louise, the eldest of the employees cooed from the corner where she stood with a hand on her curvy hip. she was as sweet as she could be, but if someone spoke with even the slightest of attitudes; she could be the most bitter person anyone had ever come into contact with.

victoria looked over at her and couldn't even think of an answer to her question. she couldn't quite remember it herself, in all honesty. the last thing she could recall was being in the middle of explaining in the letter about how slim the chances were of even getting a reply from the paul mccartney. "uh..."

"rough night or a rough man?" the other one, carol, smirked playfully as she made her way over to victoria. her hand came up and grabbed a bundle of her hair before she let it go. "your hair's quite the mess, doll... who's the lucky guy, hm? it's not that creep who lives above you is it? you know, i heard he just uses his blue eyes to lure in pretty blondes like you... don't take no chances!"

"no! no... i -" she huffed, running a hand through her hair in hopes of making it at least presentable. she looked at holly with a silent plea for help in the situation, but she only got a shrug in response. what was she thinking? holly couldn't even help her on this one, but it wasn't like she could just tell them she fell asleep writing a letter to paul mccartney. they'd never believe it, and if they did, they wouldn't ever let it go.

she loved her employees, but gosh... they were all like the sisters she never wanted at times.

louise and carol glanced at each other, both smirking like they knew something no one else knew.

victoria shook her head and finally nodded, finding it easier to put the blame on some nonexistent man who she didn't sleep with the night before. the story was more believable, she figured. "you got me... it isn't the man above me, though. i met this guy last week in that little diner across town." she lied through her teeth as she looked down at the blasphemy that her shoes were.

holly whistled, catching victoria's attention as she held up a pair of her own shoes. "nobody can see my feet anyhow, and i know we're about the same size." she smiled.

"oh, gosh... you're a life saver, holly!" she slipped out of her shoes and sat them on top of her purse in the closet before she closed the door and scampered over to the front desk where holly was. she took the shoes and put them on before she turned to look at the clock. opening time.

⌘

the day went by rather quickly, but only because it was customer after customer after customer. tuesdays always seemed to be the busiest days; thursday following up closely behind.

it was closing time before any of them knew it. between cutting hair and pestering victoria about this so-called man who she slept with the night before, it was almost as if they had lost track of time.

victoria was just glad the day was over with. she had a puppy to get back to, a nice, warm, and relaxing bath to take, and dinner to eat.

before she could get to any of that, however — she had a letter to mail.

note: okay, i know it's a bit of a slow start, but sir pol mccharmly will be playing his part in this within the next couple of chapters (possibly the next one, i'm not sure). thank you for the votes & all of that jazz, guys. ❤️