Freya’s jaw dropped. She shouldn’t have been surprised, but she was. Hazel had been at Pacific View for a couple years longer than her and was extremely popular with both guests and locals.
“And that leaves this mess.” Miriam waved at the calendar. “The calendar is basically booked solid this month.”
Taking a closer look at the screen, Freya cringed. “Lisa’s taking Thanksgiving week and the following week off. She and her family have had that cruise planned for forever.”
“I know, and she’ll still have those weeks off. The real issue is that Hazel was the one who predominately handled the male clients. Both Lisa and Sophie have said they aren’t comfortable doing male cuts. Something about not having a lot of experience?”
“Hazel and I both completed the additional barbering program at our beauty schools. I think Lisa and Sophie just did the standard cosmetology program. I can take Hazel’s male clients, and we can divvy up everyone else between the three of us.”
“That’s good. After the shooting, we cancelled all the appointments for yesterday and today. I held off on cancelling tomorrow and the weekend because there was a possibility we’d be able to open back up earlier than anticipated.”
Her eyebrows rose in surprise. She’d seen the salon space yesterday. There was no way... “Seriously?”
Miriam nodded. “I was planning on reassigning your clients and Hazel’s to Lisa and Sophie for the rest of this week anyway.I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but we fortunately had a number of cancellations, so it shouldn’t be too crazy for them.”
Freya shook her head. “I don’t need to take a week off, Mir. If you need me, I’m more than happy to come in.”
Miriam let out a sigh that she could only describe as grateful. “I’d appreciate that.”
“It’s not a problem. When do you think we’ll reopen?”
“Tomorrow.”
Freya frowned. No way had she heard that correctly. “I’m sorry, buttomorrow?”
“Care to check out the place with me?” Miriam asked as she rose, a smile growing on her face.
They left Miriam’s office, rounded the front check-in desk, and slipped behind the paneled wall. Freya gasped. Her jaw hung open, but disbelief had her unable to do anything about it.
Three men were busy at work. One was assembling the new workstations. One was working on the lighting, while the third was trimming out the paint. Four large stylist chairs wrapped in plastic sat in the middle of the area, along with multiple boxes which, by their sizes, looked to be the new mirrors.
Stunned, she turned to Miriam. “How did everything get here so soon? We were just talking about what kind of chairs to getyesterday.”
The corner of Miriam’s lips kicked up in a smirk. “When Gabriel makes a personal call to our suppliers”—she waved her hand at the new items—“magic happens.”
“Imagine that.” Shaking her head in wonder, Freya chuckled. “Maybe I should see if Mr. Ortiz can talk to the post office for me.”
Miriam snickered. “The man’s got influence, but I don’t think that evenhecan make a difference there.”
Laughing, Freya took in the space. “It’s amazing how much they’ve accomplished.”
“Like I said, we’ll reopen tomorrow. If you’re good, all your clients are still on the books. As you know, Sophie doesn’t usually work Fridays or Saturdays, but she agreed to come in and take over Hazel’s schedule. It shouldn’t be too bad, because, as I said, we’ve had some cancellations. All Hazel’s regulars.”
Freya raised her eyebrows.
Miriam shrugged. “I can’t confirm anything, but I’m assuming Hazel called her regular clients after I spoke with her last night.”
Holy wow. Was Hazel even allowed to do that? It would be one thing if they were all renting chairs at the salon, because your clients areyourclients. But they weren’t renting space. They were employees of the resort. “Were her cancellations local regulars or resort regulars?”
“Local. So at least there’s that.” Miriam’s face scrunched as if she’d smelled something rotten. “Speaking of resort clients, I know one of Hazel’s clients tomorrow is a guy, so I’m sure Sophie would appreciate it if you took that appointment off her hands. I checked the schedule and you’re open at that time.”
“Of course,” Freya said as she followed Miriam back to her office. The spa at Pacific View prioritized the resort’s guests. However, they also offered a limited number of day passes for both spa and salon services. All the stylists had several regular clients who either lived on Hudson Island or traveled to the resort for their hair services.
Once they were seated, Miriam said, “With Hazel gone, that leaves you as our only level-one stylist. As we discussed, you’ll take over all the male clients and handle all the extension work, along with your regulars. We’ll fill in colors and cuts as your schedule allows. Of course, we’ll compensate you accordingly. Also, for the time being, new day-pass clients for the salon have been halted. All your regulars can still come, but the only new salon clients we’ll be booking are resort guests.”
Freya nodded and then frowned. “Oh, uh...” Her mind flashed to a certain tall, muscular, long-haired man. “Can I request one exception?” Miriam’s eyebrow arched, and Freya rushed on. “You recall Xander Bonetti from Hudson Security?”
Miriam snickered. “Kind of hard to forget that one.”
