‘I think that is our cue to leave these ladies to it,’ Alejandro said to Romeo.
‘Sì.’ Romeo squeezed Sammie’s hand and Alejandro gave Jasmine a swoony look before both men left.
‘Shall we get started?’ I said.‘Who’d like to go first?’
* * *
Jasmine’s nails were done and Sammie’s were almost finished.
Although Jasmine requested a French manicure like Sammie predicted, she was up for giving it a twist, so instead of a plain white tip, I’d created a seashell design and added a baby pearl in the centre of each nail.
Sammie said she was up for trying something more adventurous, so I gave her summery nails with a mixture of designs including palm trees and an orange starfish on her nude nails.
I was nervous at first, but they made me feel so at ease that it wasn’t long before I relaxed.
Happiness filled my chest.This was exactly how I’d envisaged things years ago: having my own clients and doing their nails whilst we had a chat and a giggle.I wished that I could do this all the time.
‘I can’t stop looking at my nails!’ Jasmine beamed.‘They’re stunning.And you did them so quickly!Do you have your own salon back in New York?’
‘I wish!’ I said.‘Then again, I’m not sure if I’d want my own salon.The dream would be to be freelance and work with different customers rather than in a fixed place.That’d keep my overheads low too.’
‘Great idea.Do you have an Instagram page with all of your creations?’
‘I don’t do social media,’ I winced.‘I had a bad experience and it put me off.’
‘How so?’ Jasmine said.
‘I used to date someone famous and the comments got quite bitchy.’
‘That’s awful,’ Sammie said.
‘So sorry to hear that.’ Jasmine softened her voice.‘Obviously it’s up to you, but maybe think about trying again.You can control how it’s used and I think the community would be supportive.Putting lots of photos will help you get your name out there and get more bookings.It’d be a shame for people not to see how talented you are.’
‘Thanks,’ I said.‘I’ll think about it.’
‘Why don’t you take some pictures of Jasmine’s nails now?’ said Sammie.‘We can take some of mine too when they’re dry.Then if you create a page, you’ll have some content ready.’
‘That’s really kind.’ I nodded, reaching for my phone, then tapping the camera button, before snapping away.
‘I’d better head to my meeting,’ Jasmine said.‘Halle, could you get my purse out of my bag?My nails should be dry by now, but just in case.’
‘Oh, no, this is on the house!’ I said.
‘Sorry, but I can’t allow you to do that,’ Jasmine insisted and I reluctantly took her purse then opened it.‘Take out fifty dollars, please.’
‘That’s too much!’ I shook my head.
‘My purse is on my desk, so you can take out the same amount from me too,’ Sammie said, ignoring my comment.
‘I can’t…’
Jasmine checked her nails were dry before taking both purses and carefully pulling out the bills.
‘Oops!Looks like neither of us have anything smaller, so you’ll just have to accept it.’ She handed the cash to me.
‘Thank you,’ I sighed.The money would come in handy.
‘No, thankyou!’
