Eye Candy (10 page)

“What do you mean, Sebastian?”

“Look, Aaron, I know you’re a smart guy but you can’t screw a woman’s brain out on Friday night and call it quits on Monday morning. It just doesn’t work. Their delicate and emotional creatures and, most importantly, they hold grudges.”

“I’m a married man and want to keep it that way. I have no intention of getting into deeper waters with her even if she is okay with it.”

“Simply sweep it under the rug and forget about it.”

“Yeah, that’s what I plan on doing.”

CHAPTER 11

“Daddy, where are you going?” asked Brandon running up to me while I had one hand on the knob of the front door.”

“Daddy has to go to work today, Brandon.”

“But it’s Saturday. You’re supposed to watch cartoons with us today.”

“Daddy has to get a lot of work done today,” I said looking down into his disappointed eyes. “But I promise to watch cartoons with you next time.”

“Okay I love you, daddy.”

“I love you too, son,” I said as I bent down and hugged my son. “Now run along to the living room and join your brother watching TV.”

He scampered off before I could get the request out of my mouth good. As I intended to make my departure this time, my wife approached me.

“Here you are honey,” she said handling me a brown paper bag.

“What is this?” I asked taking possession of the bag.

“It’s your favorite. Deli sliced turkey, ham, and salami on a wheat roll. Plus, I added all the extra trimmings you like also.”

Sound tasty, sweetheart. Thanks for the lunch.”

“I figured you would get sort of hungry working in the office this Saturday.”

“Yeah, you figured right.”

“How long do you plan on working today?” she asked.

“I figure maybe until mid-afternoon. I really have to get the next phases of these designs to Mr. Bradshaw by next week.”

“Well, the twins and I will be fine. I’m taking them to my parent’s house later. They can enjoy themselves over there while Shanna and I go to the hair salon today.”

“Oh, that’s right, it’s your weekend to visit the salon again.”

“Yes, I want to look and feel great for the twins’ birthday party next Saturday. And Shanna is taking me to a new salon in Buckhead she recently visited.”

“You already look great to me, sweetheart,” I said before giving her a kiss. “I’ll see you later on.”

“I’ll see you soon, Aaron.”

I opened the front door and soaked in the bright sunny rays. It seemed as if it was going to be another gorgeous spring day in Atlanta but I would be stuck in a stuffy office. Despite that, I knew my work was priority and it paid the bills. So I hopped in my Audi as I had done so many times before and headed to work.

By noon, Monica had managed to get the twins dressed, loaded the SUV with a few of their favorite toys, and was now pulling into her parent’s driveway. Dr. Carmichael would be extremely excited to see his grandchildren. Over the last month or so, he was busy lecturing, promoting one of his prior books, and still had time to teach at Emory. With all that going on, he barely had time to see the twins.

Before Monica had a chance to turn the ignition off, out rushes her mother from the house. She was always elated about seeing her grandchildren no matter what.

“Monica, where are my favorite grandchildren today?” she asked walking up to the driver’s side door.

“Well hello to you too, mom,” Monica responded as she turned off the SUV’s engine and exited the vehicle. “They’re in the back seat taking a nap.”

The twins had only been asleep briefly during the short drive from Monica’s home to her parent’s house. It wasn’t usual for them to fall asleep when riding in the back seat.

“Well, I’m going to have to wake them up because I just can’t help it.” She calmly opens the rear passenger door and finds both boys in their car seats with their eyes closed. “Brandon and Braylon wake up, its grandma.”

As if her sweet voice casted a magical spell over the two, they immediately awoke from their trance. They rubbed their eyes with their little hands and realized where they were.

“Grandma!” yelled the twins out loud and extended their arms.

“Hello, you two precious boys. Now, let’s get both of you out of these car seats and into the house.”

Meanwhile, Monica had made her way around to the rear of the vehicle. There she retrieved a bag with miscellaneous items including toys. After she closed the vehicle’s truck, she noticed her mother and the twins were walking towards the front door hand-in-hand. She secured the bag and quickly caught up with them.

By the time everyone reached the front door, Dr. Carmichael was standing in the doorway. He was dressed casually and still had the television remote control in one hand.

“There’s my grandpa!” shouted Brandon as he pulled away from his grandmother to greet him.

“Grandpa!” Braylon shouted also after his brother.

Dr. Carmichael bent down and hugged his two grandchildren after they rushed towards him. He was still smiling after he hugged them.

“We’ve been expecting you all,” he said in his distinguished voice still standing in the doorway. “Come on inside.”

When everyone finally made it inside to the foyer of the home, there was an exchange of hugs between Monica and her parents. Then Monica placed the twins’ bag down by the front door.

“Allison, why don’t you take the twins into the kitchen for their surprise,” said Dr. Carmichael. “I want to talk with Monica for a brief moment.”

“Sure thing, William,” she exclaimed.

“Grandma, you have a surprise for us?” asked Brandon looking towards the kitchen.

“I sure do.”

“What is it, Grandma?” asked Braylon before his brother could get it out.

“I’m going to bake a home-made apple pie with vanilla ice cream.”

“I love apple pie,” announced Brandon.

“And vanilla ice cream is my favorite,” said his brother.

“Okay, let’s go into the kitchen and get started making the pie. You two can help me mix the ingredients.”

Off went the twins with their grandmother into the kitchen leaving Monica and her father to their discussion.

“Monica, let’s go into my study for a moment so we can talk.”

“Sure, dad.”

Dr. Carmichael’s study was adjacent to the foyer and no one was allowed to enter it unless he was there. The room’s longest wall had a hand-crafted bookshelf which contained voluminous rows of books from every imaginable genre. The room also contained a cherry-stained desk where he conducted all his writing and a small lamp was positioned on top of it. In front of the desk were two leather chairs facing one another. He sat in one while his daughter sat quietly in the other.

“Monica, I’ve been thinking about your future in the last recent weeks,” he said finally placing the television remote control on the desk next to his chair.

“What about my future, dad?” she asked crossing her legs in the chair.

“I really want you to give some serious thought about leaving that high school where you teach.”

“Dad, we’ve had this discussion before. There’s nothing wrong with me teaching at North Atlanta High School.”

“But don’t you want something more challenging?”

“What’s more challenging than preparing the youth of today to be our leaders for tomorrow?”

“Monica, I guess what I’m trying to say is that I think a career at Emory University would be more rewarding. Besides, you’ll be teaching students that already have one foot in the real world.”

“Dad, just because I graduated from Emory and you’re a professor there doesn’t mean I have to teach there too.”

“But aren’t those kids at the high school level getting a little out of control?”

“No, they are not.”

“Monica, just hear me out. There is a vacancy about to come open in the College of Fine Arts at Emory this fall semester. With my influence, I’m sure I can easily get you in.”

“This might surprise you but I’m actually happy teaching high school students.”

“There’s a hefty increase in salary if you move to Emory. Plus, you’ll have the opportunity to become tenured later down the road.”

“It’s not always about the money with me, dad.”

“Okay, you’ve convinced me. I see your mind still hasn’t changed a bit from our last conversation. I guess I’m just trying too hard to please daddy’s little girl.”

“I promise to give it some more thought,” said Monica smiling. “But I’m ninety-nine percent sure I’m going to stay put.”

As the conversation ended between father and daughter, Monica’s mother slowly sticks her head into the study. She is wearing a plaid apron over her clothes and wiping her hands with a red dish cloth.

“Is everything alright in here with you two?” she asked.

“You were right, Allison,” said Dr. Carmichael turning his attention towards his wife. “She’s not going to budge from leaving her high school for Emory.”

“I told you, William, but you had to see for yourself again.”

“Listen, I love you two for everything you have done for me,” said Monica standing up from her chair. “But I really need to get going if I want to make it to the hair salon on time. Besides, I have to pick up Shanna at her condo downtown.”

Monica went over to her dad and gently kissed him on his forehead. Then she did the same to her mother on her cheek. The three departed the study and walked to the kitchen where Brandon and Braylon were busy mixing the ingredients. Monica said good-bye to her sons and headed out the door.

Roughly, fifteen minutes into her drive, Monica made an exit off the Fourteenth Street Bridge headed to Shanna’s residence. Shanna lived at Club Tower a once ritzy but now modest high-rise dwelling in downtown Atlanta. Continuing to drive, she noticed it was almost one o’clock and retrieved her cell phone from her purse.

“Come on, Shanna, answer your phone,” she said out loud as she placed her cell phone to her ear.

“Hello,” said the familiar voice on the other end.

“Hey girl it’s Monica.”

“Hi, Monica, I was just sitting here waiting for you. Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, it actually took me longer this time to drop the twins off at my parent’s house. My dad had to have a one-on-one chat with me again.”

“Is he still trying to convince you to leave North Atlanta High School?”

“Yes, Shanna, but I told him I was staying put. Anyway, I’m turning on West Peachtree Street right now. I should be in front of your building in a second.”

“Okay that’s fine. You can just pull in front of my building and I’ll be down shortly. I’m actually walking to the elevator now.”

“Sounds good, Shanna. I’ll see you in a bit.”

West Peachtree has four lanes all traveling in the same direction. Even on Saturday, all lanes were congested with traffic. Somehow, Monica managed to maneuver her vehicle to the far left lane and remained stationary in front of Shanna’s building. Then, as promised, Shanna walked through the building’s front entrance glass doors, entered the SUV, and the women continued their conversation.

“This traffic downtown is crazy even on the weekends,” said Monica pulling the vehicle into merging traffic. “How do you deal with it during the week?”

“It’s no big deal to me now,” Shanna replied. “I guess I’m use to it.”

“So what’s the deal with this new hair salon you’re taking me to?”

“Monica, you’re going to love it. It’s called Styles Salon and it’s right on Piedmont Road.”

“What’s the address, Shanna? I can input it into the GPS.”

Shanna quickly opened her purse which was in her lap. She found the business card from the salon and pulled it out.

“Ah, here it is,” Shanna said holding the card up for Monica to see. “The address is: 2921 Piedmont Road.”

“Okay great,” said Monica entering the address into the vehicles GPS. “I hope this salon is all the rave you’ve been speaking about.”

“It is and much more. The stylist who did my hair a few weeks ago was awesome!”

“Well, she should be because this is the first time in years I’m letting anyone touch my hair besides my regular hairstylist.”

“It will be well worth it just wait and see. And she is actually a he.”

“So who is this character, Shanna? I never had a male stylist before.”

“His name is Raphael and he’s originally from Los Angeles. He told me he has been working at Styles Salon for a few years now.”

“Well, at least I like his name. My hair has to be perfect for the twins’ birthday party next week.”

“Don’t worry, Monica, it will be.”

CHAPTER 12

By now, the two women finally arrived at Styles Salon in Buckhead. Monica was anxious to find out what all the fuss was about with Shanna’s new hair stylist. Even more than that, she hoped this Raphael character would live up to the hype she heard about so far.

After parking in the salon’s overcrowded parking lot, the two friends made their way to the front door. Shanna entered first with Monica closely behind her. Upon their entrance, the place was packed for a Saturday afternoon. The first person they saw was the salon’s receptionist who was sitting behind an all-glass desk. She was young, pretty, and most importantly smiling.

“Good afternoon, ladies,” said the cheerful receptionist as the woman approached her area. “Welcome to Styles Salon my name is Tameka. How can I assist you today?”

“Hello Tameka,” said Shanna while Monica glanced around the establishment. “We have an appointment with Raphael today at one o’clock.”

“Okay, let me just check our bookings,” Tameka said as she moved her fingers along the minicomputer on her desk. “What’s your name, ma’am?”

“I’m Shanna Danbury and this is my friend Monica Malone.”

“Yes, I’ve found you two on our system,” said Tameka turning her attention back to the woman. “Raphael is still with his client but he should be finished shortly.”

“Okay, that’s fine,” replied Shanna in an eager voice. “We’ll wait.”

“Feel free to take a seat in our lounge area just to your right,” said the friendly receptionist. “There you’ll find reading materials and a refreshment bar while you wait.”

The two women moved away from Tameka’s desk and headed for the lounge area she recommended.