The Hairdresser Diaries (6 page)

“Logan!” I yelled and he finally woke up. He lifted his head slightly to look at me.

“I’m sorry did I wake you?” I said innocently. If I couldn’t sleep then he couldn’t either.

“What time is it?” he grumbled.

“It’s still early.”

He pulled me closer to him and started kissing me. Not exactly what I wanted, but I’ll take it. That lasted about five minutes before he put his head on my shoulder and fell back asleep.

I couldn’t take anymore; I got up to go sleep in one of the spare bedrooms. He didn’t even notice, he just rolled over and continued sleeping. I went to the room that used to be Tyler’s and fell down on the bed.

My phone rang way too early. It was my friend Kristi. I knew she was calling to make sure I was awake.

“Hello,” I whispered into the phone.

“Good morning sunshine. Just wanted to call to make sure you’re awake,” Kristi said.

“You are too chipper for this early in the morning.”

“Tatum, it’s twelve o’clock in the afternoon.”

I looked over at the clock on the wall. “Oh, alright give me like ten minutes and I’ll be ready.”

“Okay see ya soon,” she laughed at me and hung up the phone.

I forced myself out of bed and walked down the hall to my bedroom to check on Logan, but he was already gone. That didn’t surprise me.

I was so tired I didn’t care what I looked like. Besides we were just going to the bridal shop to pick up our dresses. I threw on a tank top, shorts, and pulled my hair into a ponytail. I picked up my favorite pair of Steve Madden sunglasses—they were big and had that brown leopard print design—and I was out the door.

When I got to Kristi’s she took one look at me and said, “Out partying late last night?” She gave me that motherly look she always does.

“Actually no, Logan stayed over last night and was snoring.”

She rolled her eyes at me, “When are you gonna give up on him.”

I didn’t say anything. None of my friends were fans of Logan and I was definitely not going to tell her we might be together now

—officially.

“Where’s Savannah?” I asked.

“We have to pick her up.” Kristi turned to look at me, “You want me to drive?” she asked. Normally I would drive, but I was too tired. So I told Kristi she could.

After we picked up Savannah, we stopped at the diner down the street to get a quick bite to eat. Savannah and Kristi were already talking wedding stuff the second we sat down at the table. This was of no interest to me. I wasn’t into the whole wedding scene thing. I just never really understood why someone would spend so much money and make a big deal for a dress you wear once.

Spend all this money on decorations, flowers, food, etc. For a reception that lasts like three hours when half the time you’re not really enjoying it because you’re worried about making sure everything is perfect. Yeah, I say no thank you.

For today though, I had to get rid of my anti-wedding spirit and put on a happy face.

Savannah and Kristi were two of my oldest friends. We grew up together. Kristi was the one getting married and Savannah and I were just two of her seven bridesmaids. They both knew I wasn’t into the wedding stuff so they didn’t bother to include me in the conversation unless they needed my opinion about something, which wasn’t often.

After we finished eating, we paid the check and headed to the bridal shop. It was about a half hour drive and since they were continuing the wedding talk in the car I decided to take a nap until we got there. It only took me about five minutes to pass out. I don’t know anyone who could have sat there listening to the different types of flowers and the meaning of them and different meanings of each color and what they represent and blah, blah, blah.

When we got to the bridal shop I felt like I was in my own personal nightmare. Bright pink, pastels, ruffles, lace, and giddy women everywhere. I looked to my right and there was a women trying on a wedding gown. Her face was just glowing with anticipation at the thought of walking down the aisle in that perfect dress. She stood there, turning back and forth twirling the skirt of her dress.

To my left I saw a bridesmaid in the most god awful dress ever created. It was pumpkin orange, floor length, and ruffles, ruffles, and more ruffles. She looked as miserable as I felt. Straight ahead was Kristi, her eyes bright and shining. Her cheeks were just the slightest shade of pink, the way they always get when she’s excited, and she had a smile from ear to ear. Looking at her happy was enough for me to put my own self-loathing aside, for a little while at least.

Kristi’s dress was beautiful. It was like a Cinderella gown and it sparkled every time the light touched it. Kristi let us pick the bridesmaid dresses, so luckily we weren’t stuck with something horrendous like the poor girl I saw earlier.

Our dresses were a deep red color and hit just above our knees. They were satin and strapless and very form fitting. I planned on not eating much the week before the wedding.

The girls talked about more wedding stuff with the consultant while we paid for the dresses. After we were all taken care we left the shop and headed home.

I got back to my house around 4:30. Perfect, enough time for me to take a real nap. Before I lay down I text Logan to see if he was coming out tonight. He didn’t answer so I just figured he was busy. Then I sent Peyton a text to see how she was feeling. She offered to drive tonight letting me know she was definitely feeling the repercussions from last night. Fine by me, that meant I could actually drink tonight. When I was done talking to Peyton, I turned on the TV and lay down for my nap.

I woke up in enough time to eat, shower, and get ready. I decided to wear my new dress I just bought and my hair up. It was even hotter and more humid than last night so I was not about to fight with my hair. Throwing it up in a messy bun was just easier and less time consuming.

After my shower I checked my phone to see if Logan had text me. Nothing. I let it go and finished getting ready. I was almost done when Peyton text me to let me know she was outside waiting. I quickly finished up and headed out the door. Peyton hates waiting, she’s very impatient.

When I got in the car I noticed right away we did not dress alike tonight—for once.

I could tell she was not in the mood to look all glamorous. She was still feeling crappy from last night. She was just wearing shorts and a cute tank top. She did put a little effort into doing her hair and makeup though.

“Where you wanna go tonight?” she asked.

“Let’s just go to the peg spot until we figure out where we want to go.”

“Sounds good to me.”

The peg spot was our favorite little hole in the wall corner bar. That’s not it’s real name. We just call it that because one night when we were deciding where to go, Peyton text me saying the ‘peg’ spot when she meant to say the ‘reg’, as in regular spot. Like everything else it stuck and that was our name for it now.

When we got to the bar there were maybe about five people inside. It wasn’t a big bar, there were a few tables in the back and a small rectangular bar in the center. They also had another small bar outside.

We headed down the stairs to the outside bar where the bartender we knew was working tonight. There were a few more people outside. We found some open seats by the bar, sat down, and got comfy. It never did get too crowded here and that’s another reason we liked it. It was a good place to come with friends if you wanted to be out and just chill.

Once we got settled in our seats we ordered our drinks. I ordered my normal beer, and Peyton ordered a soda. She was afraid to even attempt to drink any kind of alcohol. I asked her if she remembered anything from last night.

“It’s kinda of a blur. What I do remember I’m trying to forget,” she said.

“Eh, you weren’t that bad, I’ve seen worse,” I said trying not to laugh.

“Thanks, I guess?” she said wearily.

The bartender, Kyle, came over and started talking to Peyton. I got my phone out to check my messages. There was only one from Landon asking where I was at. I told him and he said he was going to the club tonight and to meet him over there. I let him know that that was probably what we’d end up doing.

After my second beer I mustered up some courage to tell Peyton about Logan. I could tell Peyton anything. She didn’t judge for the fact that she knew her own relationships weren’t any better. I took a deep breath and told her everything that happened last night, from Logan suggesting about us being together, to not being able to stop thinking about Cole.

“Wait, so let me get this straight. You and Logan are together now, openly?” she asked looking at me like I had something foreign growing out of my head.

“Well kind of, I think, I don’t know.” I really didn’t know. I mean, we never finished talking about it. He was too busy taking off my clothes. Logan wasn’t very bright and he couldn’t do more than one thing at a time.

“What do you mean you don’t know? Did you talk to him today?”

I checked my phone again. I knew I had no messages, I would have heard my phone beep if I did, but I didn’t want to look at Peyton when I told her that no, I didn’t talk to him today. I didn’t even have to tell her, she already knew.

“Look I know you don’t want to hear this, but, I think he’s playing you for a fool.” She didn’t say it harshly, but with a sincere look of concern in her eye.

I didn’t want to believe she was right, but deep down a part of me knew she was.

“I’m not trying to hurt your feelings I’m just trying to be honest. You need to forget about Logan and move on. That boy is nothing but bad news.”

I didn’t say anything.

Peyton, I guess, thought this would be the perfect opportunity to bring up Cole. “You know I don’t think it was a coincidence that you were thinking about Cole last night,” she said giving me a ‘you know what I mean’ look.

“Ok, here we go. What are you talking about?” I said trying not to sound too annoyed.

“It’s Fate,” she said.

“I don’t believe in fate.”

“Well you should, because yours is happening right now.”

“What?” I said looking at her like she was nuts. Peyton believed in all that lovey dovey nonsense. That certain people are destined to be too together, fate, soul mates, and fairytale endings. I, on the other hand, was realistic. I didn’t believe in any of that stuff.

Maybe it would be different if I hadn’t lost my mom at a young age and had to see my dad suffer her loss, or even actually seen one couple that lived happily ever after. To me it was all make believe and Hollywood glamor.

“Look Tay, I’m trying to say there’s life outside of Logan.”

I tried not to roll my eyes.

“Think about it. This hot guy, who you just happen to not be able to stop thinking about, likes you, and still gave you his number even after Logan acted like a dick.”

“That’s not fate. Besides he’s probably just looking to put another notch on his bed post.”

“Not all guys are like that. I have a good feeling he’s one of the good ones. And it is fate. Its fate that we happen to be there early enough last night for him to see you and come talk to you.”

“Once again not fate, we were there early because it was Nate’s birthday and they told us to meet them there around that time.”

“You’re hopeless,” she groaned.

“And you’re annoying.” She hit me in the leg and I laughed.

“Let’s change the subject, I’m done with this conversation,” I said taking a sip from my beer. She knew she hit a sore spot and left the topic alone for now.

We didn’t talk about much after that. Peyton was too busy flirting with Kyle. I ordered another drink when my phone beeped to let me know I had a text. I checked to see who it was.

“Who is it?” Peyton asked.

“Alex, she says she’s on her way to meet Kelly, Nate, and Landon at the club.”

Alex was one of the stylists we worked with at the salon. She started there about a month ago. She was very shy, so Peyton and I decided to take her under our wings. We found out once you got a few drinks in her, she’d open up, and soon she was just like us.

Alex is absolutely beautiful. She has long, straight, brown hair with a few caramel highlights—thanks to me. She was average height, slim body, and big boobs. She looked like a Barbie doll. All the boys and girls wanted to play with her. She was very down to earth and sweet which was the perfect addition to our little circle of friends. I tried hooking her and Landon up together, but he was going through his ‘I don’t want to be tied down’ phase and she couldn’t put up with his childish antics. Nothing serious ever came out of it so they were able to remain friends.

“You better finish up your drink so we can go. You know they’re going to be blowing up our phones wondering why we’re not there,” Peyton said as she dropped a five on the bar to pay for her soda that only cost two dollars. We were always good tippers.

When you worked in a business where you get tipped you know how it feels to get stiffed. We tend to over compensate sometimes though.

When I finished my beer we headed over to the club. By the time we got there, there was a line out the door to get in. We never worried about waiting in line—like I said we were regulars—they always let us right in.

We walked right up to the door and the bouncer waved us in. From the complaints I heard behind us, we had pissed some people off. I laughed at their comments and kept walking.

The bar was packed to capacity. Definitely some heavy drinking was in order to be able to handle this crowd tonight. We managed to make our way to the bar and I knew it would be hard to find our friends in this mess. Even we had to wait a little to get our drinks. When it’s this busy I don’t have much pull, even for a regular.

Finally, when we got to order our drinks, I pulled out my money to pay the bartender. When he came back he said don’t worry about it my tab was covered for the night. Confused, I asked by who and why? Peyton hit me and said, “Who cares free drinks.