Page 52 of Diamonds in the Mud

“You know it.” He laughed.

“Why did you make him captain?” I asked.

Randy rolled his eyes. “Because you wouldn’t take the job.”

I laughed and walked out of his office.

I was in a better mood as I headed towards Jazzed Up. The moment I stepped inside, Charlotte handed me a drink, and I laughed.

“Bad day?” she and Aria asked at the same time.

“No, not really,” I said after taking a sip of the salty delight. “I got to kick Declan’s ass.”

“We heard,” Charlotte said as I moved over to sit in Aria’s chair.

I sank into the plush salon chair, reveling in the smell of chemicals and lotions, and listening to the soothing jazz music that filled the room. Jazzed Up always felt like a sanctuary, especially when accompanied by my two favorite troublemakers.

Aria today had hot green highlights amongst her platinum blonde locks. She flashed me a mischievous grin as she mixed up whatever gunk she was going to put in my hair.

“So, are you ready for your next transformation?” she joked. “Ready for something wild? How about bright red?”

I rolled my eyes playfully. “Yeah, right. Just don’t make me look like a walking highlighter pen like you.”

Aria laughed. “Your standard caramel color is already mixed.” She showed me.

Charlotte, the queen of sass, chimed in from her chair as she sipped her drink. “Hey, if anyone can pull off red highlights, it’s you, Rayne. Someday you’ll let your wild side shine through.”

I mock-glared at her, taking a sip of the margarita that Aria had given me. “Thanks, but for now, I’ll keep my wild side saved up for kicking assholes’ butts.”

While my friend got to work adding my standard caramel highlights to my hair, I told my two friends everything that had happened to me since that morning.

“How is Evelyn doing?” Charlotte asked.

“Stable. She’s not awake yet. I called the hospital before I came over here. A broken arm and two loose teeth.”

“Tell me you busted his balls?” Charlotte said.

I laughed. “Twice. His voice was so high-pitched when they loaded him into the back of the patrol car, I doubt it’ll drop for weeks.”

Aria laughed as she worked her magic by expertly applying the foils with precision.

Over an hour later, my head looked like a huge aluminum antenna as I sat under the heater.

“All right, while we wait for this to set, how about a little pampering? Charlotte, why don’t you do Rayne’s nails and then a facial when she’s done under the heater?” Aria said as she disappeared into the back to clean her equipment.

Charlotte smirked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. “Oh, this is going to be fun. Get ready to glow, Rayne.”

I settled back in my chair, letting the stress of the week melt away as Charlotte worked her magic with my fingernails. She applied a soft pink color and even did the same on my toes.

When I was done under the heater and Aria had washed my hair and applied some other gunk that had to sit on it for a while, Charlotte started my facial.

“Ah, this is the life. Who needs therapy when you have margaritas and facials with your best friends?” I said as I closed my eyes and Charlotte yanked the wax strip off my eyebrows.

Once my face felt so clean it almost burned, Aria finished rinsing my hair out. We moved back over to her chair and she got to work trimming all those split ends I had before blow-drying and styling my hair in ways I could never mimic.

I admired the new highlights in the mirror, feeling like a brand-new woman.

“You’ve outdone yourself. I feel like a million bucks,” I told them as I swung my chair and held the mirror.