Time moves on as time does and while some things changed for the better other things undoubtedly changed for the worse. Monique had gotten the schedule and money she wanted by working at the new salon but she still hadn’t escaped having to act as manager while someone else held the title and received the pay. Neither Nikki nor Velle had a cosmetology license, which meant that they could not order professional grade products, so they had hired a girl named Tabitha who possessed a 30-day old cosmetology license to manage the shop. Since Tabitha had been there, the supplies hadn’t been ordered correctly unless Monique herself put in the order, not to mention that Tabitha was double booking clients unbeknownst to the stylist, which left Monique resolving a mountain of customer service issues. She didn’t do a stitch of hair and instead of trying to keep the clients happy while they waited she talked on the phone constantly. She dressed very provocatively, which had they not been in a work environment wouldn’t have bothered Monique. But there were days that the girl’s skirt was so short that she couldn’t bend over without exposing her behind to anyone within eyesight.
The stylists were slowly starting to lose money due to clients canceling appointments or walking out due to unreasonable wait time. The clients that stayed for service complained the entire time that the prices were too high for such poor service even if they were being styled by the best. Mark even resorted to bringing in his own products to ensure that he would have ample supplies for a full day’s work. Will even threatened to pack his supplies and start doing hair in his own home, convinced that it would be ten times better than trying to work in this type of environment. But the final straw in her manager’s incompetence came when Monique walked in on Tabitha and her boyfriend having sex in the women’s bathroom. That was more unprofessional behavior than Monique could handle, so after talking it over with the rest of the stylist, she left a message on Velle’s cell phone telling him of their manager’s misdeeds and threatening to walk out with all of his stylists unless he did something about it.
Tabitha had continued with her usual shenanigans throughout the day as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened so when Velle handed her walking papers at closing she seemed genuinely shocked. Tabitha’s termination only created a new, more serious problem for the salon and it’s employees because without her, there was no one to officially run the salon. Velle had made it clear during their first day that Nikki had gotten him to build the salon with intentions of having her operate it, but it was only after he had invested his money that she confessed that she didn’t have any idea how to actually run a salon. It also turned out that the salon was actually Velle’s way of apologizing to Nikki for introducing her to Ricardo in the first place. He decided to have a meeting with Monique after work to discuss the future of the salon and the possibility of having her operate it for him.
Before he had terminated Tabitha, Velle had asked Monique to stay behind to have a meeting with him about something very important making sure to leave out just what it was. She looked so nervous when she sat down that it made Velle feel as if he were a principal about to discipline a naughty student, which in the back of his mind was a very enticing scenario. She stared right at him with her bedroom eyes causing him to forget his initial reason for calling her into the office. Her beauty overwhelmed him almost as much as her ambitious drive. Over the past months he had noticed how she’d taken it upon herself several times to make sure supplies were ordered, payroll was complete and customers were satisfied. She had been instrumental in the shop running smoothly since his sister had proven that she really didn’t know the first thing about the salon business outside of designing and decorating it.
“What is it that you want to talk to me about, Velle?” Monique asked tired of being ogled by her a person who was supposed to be her boss. He seemed to be lost in his own little world for a second, staring seemingly into her chest.
“I need your help.” Velle said a little embarrassed that he had been caught staring, “I had to let Tabitha go after the little incident…with her um…” Velle started before having a lost of words to professionally describe just what had happened with Tabitha.
But Monique had no problem filling in the words for him saying, “…with her having sex in the bathroom with her boyfriend.”
“Yes, that.” Velle replied feeling somewhat embarrassed to have to say it out loud then he continued, “That little incident has left us without a manager for the salon and I was thinking that since you’ve really been running things behind the scenes that you may be interested in the position.”
“Me?” Monique questioned.
“Well yes,” Velle started shocked by how nervous he felt talking to her but he maintained his professional demeanor or so he thought, “Tabitha told me on several occasion that it was you who did payroll and ordered supplies while all of my mother’s friends talk nonstop about how professional and accommodating you are even with the other stylist’s clients.”
Monique was flattered by all of the compliments that Velle was showering her with and couldn’t help but blush. She could feel a smile spreading across her face as he spoke of how she’d helped around the shop. She was so used to her good deeds going unnoticed that she could hardly contain her glee but tried to maintain her composure saying, “Well, I just try to help out where I’m needed. It was easy to tell that Tabitha didn’t exactly know what she was doing and I didn’t want the salon to suffer because of her inexperience.”
“I know and that’s just the kind of person I need to run this thing. Someone who knows to take the initiative to get things done without my having to tell them what to do and keep this place running smoothly. I want you to be my new manager.” Velle said.
“Manager? Velle, I’m a hair stylist not a-. I’m not really manager material.” Monique stammered searching for the right words to tell him that she wasn’t interested in running the salon.
Velle determined not to take no for an answer viewed her stammering as a window to convince her that she wanted the job, quickly interrupting her thought saying, “But you were basically the manager at Tia’s place, at least that’s what she said.” He paused for a second to gauged her reaction to his statement, then after seeing a look of disbelief wash over her face in the form of a raised brow he continued, “I mean even here you’ve looked after payroll, customer complaints, ordering supplies and so…all of the stylist love and respect you. I see how everyone goes to you for you opinion before they ask me something.” He could tell that he was winning her over but he could also tell she was still somewhat reluctant. “What is it? What will it take to get you to be my manager? I’m not going to take no for an answer on this one, Momo.”
Monique smiled when she heard her childhood nickname but she still wasn’t about to manage the salon regardless of what he called her. She started, “Velle, I’m a stylist. I love styling hair. I love making women feel beautiful, teaching them how to keep their hair healthy. I love when they look in the mirror when I’m finish and are all like ‘Girl, you did your thing! My hair looks great!’ You know what I mean?”
“How is being manager stopping you from doing that?” Velle asked entertained by her enthusiasm for her craft. She was just becoming more attractive with every word that flowed out of her mouth.
“Well,” she started shocked by his question. She hadn’t given much thought to the matter. It wasn’t as if she had never managed the salon while servicing her clientele. She continued, “Well, Tabitha said that you told her not to do any hair and I never saw her so much as shampoo a client.”
Monique would have continued but she was interrupted by Velle’s laughter. “I’m sorry.” He managed to say between chuckles. He coughed to clear his throat and continued, “No! Oh my God. No, I didn’t want Tabitha doing anything to anyone’s head. I’m not trying to get sued. Look Momo, the thing is I want you to manage the shop, which is what you’ve kind of been doing for the past five months; the only thing is that I’d actually pay you for doing it. I need someone who knows the ins and outs of the business to make this place run smoothly and the best person for the job is you.” He could see the wheels of her mind turning again so before she could form another reason to say no he said, “You can still do hair. Please, keep doing hair. My mama would kill me if I messed up her hair appointment.” They both laughed as he continued, “Tell you what, you don’t have to give me an answer today, especially since I feel like you may say no. Think about it. Talk it over with Will and Mark, whom I’m sure are on the other side of the door listening and give me a yes on Tuesday.”
“Alright.” Monique laughed at his mentioning of Mark and Will listening outside the door because she had been thinking the same thing. “I’ll think it over the rest of the weekend and let you know.” As Monique and Velle made their way out of the office and down the hall, they ran into Mark and Will who just happened to be still packing up their stations even though the salon had been closed for more than an hour. They all shared a laugh at the guys expense before they locked up and left.
