Page 28 of Drop Pass

"It looks a lot darker now than it will be when I’m finished." Paul had been giving me small reassurances throughout the process, but I meant what I’d said at the beginning. I trusted him.

Addison walked up in the mirror with a shocked expression. "This is not what I was expecting."

I laughed and shrugged. "I told you I wanted a change."

"Yeah but I thought it would be a cut not a complete change of everything."

She was being dramatic. We hadn’t changed the length at all, yet."

"It was in my contract that I had to maintain a specific shade of blonde back in LA. Now that I’m free I can do whatever I want, and I want to get back to the real me."

Her eyebrows rose. "You had to be blonde? Is that legal?"

"There was a hundred blondes waiting to replace me so I had to play their game and look the way they wanted me to."

"Gross. I’m so happy you’re here now. I love this color on you. It’s so rich and really complements your features."

"Thanks." I was glad someone else liked it as much as me. "Paul’s done a great job."

Her smile grew. "I knew he would."

Paul gave me a nod and walked away leaving Addi looking at me in the mirror. “I heard something happened with Nikolay.”

I cringed and fought the urge to look in the mirror to confirm the blush sweeping over my face.

“Oh no. Elena, did something bad happen?”

The worry in her voice made me sit up. “It’s nothing like that. It was just embarrassing.”

Her eyebrows furrowed. “What happened?”

“I took dinner over to him, as a thank you for saving my life at the lake.”

She nodded.

“It was all fine until desert.” I checked her reaction but she still looked concerned. “I somehow choked on cheesecake. I’m not sure how that physically happens, but it got stuck in my throat.”

“Oh Elena! Are you okay?”

I nodded. “Thanks to Nikolay performing the Heimlich on me.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh my gosh. That’s serious. Are you sure you’re all right?”

“Yes, it was humiliating, though. I mean, I was there to thank him for saving my life and resetting the balance then he had to save me again!”

“Oh, honey. Forget about balancing things. No one is keeping score.”

“I just hate feeling indebted to someone.”

“I don’t think Nikolay is counting saving your life as you owing him.”

He might not, but I did. The guy probably thought I was a danger to myself. I shook my head. “Even so, it was the most humiliating experience of my life. I can’t imagine running into him again, and he’s my neighbor.”

I sank into the chair. “Maybe he won’t recognize me and think I moved far away.”

She chuckled. “You colored your hair, Elena. It will take more than that for him to forget you.”

“Yeah, cause he’s going to be constantly on guard around me, waiting for the next time I do something and need saving.” I close my eyes. “He must think I’m this dumb, helpless woman.”