Page 108 of One Wrong Step
Chapter Thirty-Three
Vivian
It’s my last day at Cassandra’s Cut & Curl, and for some reason, Cassandra has called me into her office. At least she’s not scolding me in the hallway.
“I’m sad to see you go, Vivian,” she says, motioning for me to have a seat.
“Really? You fired me three times.”
She waves her hand like it’s all water under the bridge. “Two of those were within the same day, so they only count as one.” She walks over to her ficus plant and grabs the bottle of whiskey hiding behind it. Is that Angels Envy?
“I fucking knew it.” I laugh and shake my head.
Cassandra grabs two plastic cups and sets them on her desk. “Drink?”
“It’s barely three in the afternoon.”
She pours a splash in her cup and raises an eyebrow. “Is that a yes?”
“It’s a fuck yes.” I hold up my cup. This is the good stuff. Kentucky straight bourbon. “I thought you called me in here to yell at me.”
She sinks back into her chair with a sigh. “Did you really tell Mrs. Walsh to fuck off?”
“No. I was talking to her daughter.” I shrug. “Is it my fault she decided to join in?”
Cassandra’s laugh is unexpected, and—is she sniffling? How many of these has she already had?
Not that I blame her. Kentucky bourbon finished in a rum barrel is the best. The whiskey has a sweet and spicy palate, and it goes down smooth as hell. I could bathe in this stuff. Who knew Cassandra had such good taste? It helps settle my nerves. I’m not good with change. Even when it’s exactly the change I want.
“It’s going to be boring around here without you, Vivian.”
I’m not sure what to say to that. I’ve been booked solid for the last three months, ever since I announced I was leaving. Jonah thinks winning Pridefest has something to do with it, but I doubt anyone in Hopeview knows or cares about that. It’s more likely that people are curious about the stepbrothers who fell in love. Or maybe it’s the fact that another New Yorker came in and snatched another one of their golden boys.
Or maybe it’s because I’m leaving. It’s been a wonderful and stressful three months. The urge to quit as soon as Roz offered me a job was strong. But my sweet farm boy is a planner. He’s also very efficient at executing those plans. Which feeds my competency kink quite nicely.
Jonah wants things to be perfect for me. Which is sweet but unnecessary. I told him I’d take being with him over having the perfect apartment any day. But now I might have to admit he was right. After months of looking, we found the perfect little house in Mule Creek.
I take another sip of Cassandra’s excellent whiskey, excitement bubbling inside me. Tomorrow is the official start ofour new life together. Jonah has to work today, so we can’t move into our new home until tomorrow.
Having to be so far away from him all the time is the sucky part.
But now, everything is coming together. I’ve been working part-time with Roz for the last two months. While the thought of doing shows in Vegas was exciting, I was relieved to learn they wanted me to serve as a consultant to their design team. I get some say in what that looks like since they are tailoring this position to me, but a big part of my job will be consulting on the designs for their act. Everything from costumes and makeup to set design. Roz likes to be on the cutting edge. This job is perfect. It feeds into my love of performing, and we’ll get to go to some of their Vegas shows.
Roz is also a sweetheart, so that helps.
Cassandra’s phone beeps, and she downs her drink and gets to her feet. “Time to go. Your three-thirty is here.”
I shake my head. Just when we were getting along. “I already saw my last client, Cassandra. You approved me to be done early today.”
She stares at her bottle of whiskey like she’s contemplating another glass or downing the entire bottle. “We had a last-minute walk-in.”
I rise to my feet and down the rest of my drink. I’m not wasting good whiskey. “How is that my problem?”
“She asked for you.”
Seriously? I hate to go off on Cassandra on my last day. “You could have said no.”
Cassandra returns the whiskey to its hiding place, still not looking at me. “Have you ever tried saying no to Mrs. Landers? It’s not easy.”
