Steal You Away

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Oh for crying out loud, stop being so stubborn!" Kara huffed, her exasperation clear in her tone. Blowing her bushy bangs out of her face, she glared at Mackenzie. "You don't want to go to this party looking like a Gorgon, and the only way to keep that from happening is to let Bailey work her magic on you."

"Will you please stop calling me things I don't understand," Mackenzie snapped irritably back. Jerking her arm, she tried to wrestle her wrist away from Kara's steely grasp. She didn't have an inkling what a Gorgon was, but it probably ranked right up there with being called a horkalump, and was far from complimentary. "I can't afford a makeover and..."

"You can't afford not to," she interrupted. Yanking on Mackenzie until she had no choice but to follow or fall flat on her face, she continued to drag her relentlessly down the sidewalk. "Besides, I've already told you, Bailey said everything was on the house."

"Kara," Mackenzie whined out her name, still dragging her feet. "I don't want to be anyone's charity case." Tugging hard to stop her friend, she tried once more to plead with her. "This is just a job. I'm going to be running around all over snapping pictures, and trying to stay out of everyone's way." Especially, Chase and Trent's she added to herself. The mere thought of the handsome brothers sent a tingle racing through her, lodging soundly between her legs, and making her fidget. She could feel her face beginning to burn, and she quickly pushed the image out of her mind. "Nobody is going to care what I look like."

"Shush. Nobody thinks you're a charity case. This is what friends do, Mackenzie. They help each other out. You've been pouting in that dinky apartment since Cathy fired and rehired you." Still holding her hand, Kara pulled open the door to The Best Little Hair House, and shoved her inside. "What you need is a little help, and a confidence boost," she insisted, closing the door behind her.

Mackenzie tried to step around Kara, but she quickly blocked her and not so gently pushed her further into the salon.

"There you two are," Bailey greeted, turning towards them. "I expected you over an hour ago."

"One of us was acting like a hinkypunk," Kara muttered, crossing her arms over her chest, sending Mackenzie a scowl.

Bailey's green eyes rolled towards the ceiling. "Whatever, just have a seat over there." She indicated an empty salon chair with the scissors in her hand. "I'll be finished here in a jiffy. I swear, it's been busier than a stump tailed cow during fly season today."

"Go on, sit down," Kara said to Mackenzie, making a shooing motion at her.

Knowing there was no putting a stop to this madness, Mackenzie grudgingly walked over and plopped into the plushest styling chair to ever grace her backside. While Bailey chitchatted with her customer, and Kara flipped through a magazine keeping an eye on her in case she tried to bolt, she couldn't help but notice how bright, clean, and airy the salon was. The walls were done in various degrees of pink stripes.

Thick bright pink bands ran around the room, and were beautifully toned down with smaller, lighter stripes of erratic sizes. The chairs, countertops, other furniture, and the extravagantly carved frames around the mirrors were all done in black, accenting the pink to perfection. Even the floating shelves holding numerous haircare products were painted in the same rich black, helping to add and bring out the cheeriness of the pink. For a moment, she forgot her embarrassment as she took it all in. Across from where she sat, were a row of chairs and sinks with bright, fluffy pink towels stacked neatly next to each station, waiting at the ready. It was the only wall missing the stripes, instead, it had a huge painted mural of Marilyn Monroe blowing a saucy kiss. A smile teased Mackenzie's lips, the whole place was whimsical, yet classy, and suited Bailey's cheeky personality perfectly.