I was folding towels in the salon owner's office when he nonchalantly said "You know Mrs. X and I are separated right?"
I didn't know that, I didn't have a clue that anything like that was going on at all. I started thinking about our salon functions and how Mrs. X would go home at a reasonable hour and Mr. X would just be getting started for the night.
"No." I answered him as I kept folding towels and tried to figure out an appropriate response. I hadn't known them long enough to really care for their personal relationship but what did this mean for the salon... what did this mean for me? Will I have a job in the next year? He told me that they had been separated for months and that everything was working out great and the salon was going to be fine. Mr. X was a step father to Mrs. X son and so far they had it all worked out. They wanted to keep it cool for the sake of the salon and her son.
I left the office with my basket of folded towels and a funny pit in my gut. I put the towels away and immediately called my friend who I got the job with and asked if she knew that they were separated? She didn't know for sure but had been wondering if something was up. It was spring at the time and we had gotten hired there in January, they had to know they were planning on living in different homes by that time. I felt duped into the whole "family" atmosphere they were selling when they wanted us to bring our clientele's over to their salon. But here we were, I had lost more clients then I anticipated in the move and I dreaded moving again and losing more. We had burned the bridge with our former employer when we left, you kind of have to if you're an employee that leaves one salon for a competing salon in the same town. So, I just had to buckle up and get ready for whatever awaited us.
Over the next few week's everything was fine. Mrs. X would work in the morning and leave by late afternoon and Mr. X would come in right before she left and stay there long after we all left. Mrs. X was all business, she had a few close friends that worked at the salon and her clients. She would run our classes and teach us techniques that she learned while being a professional educator. She would do a little small talk but frankly, she was... cold. I remember being intimidated asking her questions, but hey, she was the boss and sometimes that's a great attribute to have. Especially if you're trying to wrangle a bunch of sassy hairdresser's that all have an idea of how to do it better, whatever "it" may be.
Mr. X on the other hand, was fun and light. He would get to know our boyfriend's and become instant bro's with them. He would joke around with us and if it was slow and it was the end of our shift, once in a while he'd offer you a Heineken out of the mini fridge in his office. It was a typical "good cop / bad cop" situation.
One of the stylists was planning her wedding for that fall. She was very close with both Mr. & Mrs. X and they were helping out anyway they could. There was going to be a bachelorette weekend in Vegas that was getting a lot of talk and attention that summer. You would walk by the office and see a few girls sitting on the couch talking and planning for all the things that getting married entailed, the showers, the party's, what to wear, where to go, the wedding itself. A few of the girls from the salon were in the wedding party, the esthitician was the maid of honer. I noticed as the summer went on that she would be in the office more and more. She was very close to both Mr. & Mrs.' so we didn't think much of it, but me and my friend totally noticed it. When the rest of us would be in the break room, she would be chilling on that big leather couch in the office.
The Vegas weekend came and the girls had a blast. They partied and did all the things you do when you go to Vegas with your girlfriend's for a bachelorette party. They dressed up a little extra and did their hair and make up immaculately with lots of shine and glitter, and they drank and drank and drank.... and drank some more. Somewhere in all that drinking and glitter, there was a special delivery to the esthitician.... a bottle of vodka, a huge bouquet of roses and a note.
"Have the best time in Vegas! Love, Mr. X"
Just vague enough to be kind of innocent, bold enough to detour suspicious thoughts, but why would he send it to the esthitician and not to the bride? It didn't take long for word to get back to the salon about this special delivery, and it definitely didn't take long for the nonchalant co-parenting style of running the salon to change either. The writing was on the wall. As soon as it was evident that something was going on more then friendship between Mr. X and the esthitician, Mrs. X was not about to sit and have an audience to her not even yet ex husband start up a love affair with their employee, one that she thought was her friend.
She had all the salon locks changed immediately. Literally locked him out. I have no idea what kind of lock outs she did financially but she was not about to let him continue sitting in that office that they built together and date her friend, and have to pay them both.
The esthitician did continue to work at the salon while she looked for work elsewhere. She steered clear of Mrs. X and instead of sitting in the office, she stayed in her treatment room or the break room. We were all on pins and needles. You want to know what's going on and then you wish you didn't know because you don't know how to feel or act about it. I liked Mr. X and I liked the esthitician but I also get how hurtful the situation was for Mrs. X. Even if she had no feelings for Mr. X left, that was a pretty big betrayal from the both of them. And then came the first of many meetings they had to have in a court of law. A judge declared that Mr. X was a business owner and needed to have access to the salon. They worked out a schedule and had a salon meeting to let us know that Mr. X would be coming back and that they would not be in the building at the same time.
All that happened and got situated just in time for the big wedding. The estitician found a new job as soon as possible and she didn't work at the salon anymore. Which was a relief to everyone. The bride had planned on having her whole wedding party get ready at the salon. She had it catered with snacks and lots of mimosa's, it was so ideal, except her maid of honer was not allowed in the salon anymore. This would be just the start of many things that we never imagined would be part of working as a hairdresser.
Comments