“You were thirty minutes late for my appointment, so do I get thirty percent off?”
“Hell, to the nah! And why you telling my business? We discussed this well before you got here, and you were fine with it.”
Kennedy paused mid-bite of her fish and glowered at Porsha like she’d bumped her fucking head, but her stylist was suddenly too occupied to notice. The guideline was in place to dissuade her stylists from trying what Porsha had pulled because a negative review for them was equivalent to one for her salon. Even she’d abided by it and given her clients a gratis hairstyle the time she cancelled when Relic had taken her on his boat without her knowledge. As soon as Porsha was done, she’d inform her in private that it was her first strike.
“This must’ve been while I was getting waxed ‘cause I know damn well, she wasn’t that late. I don’t condone or tolerate it. Even Tammy’s unprofessional butt is on time from what I’ve seen.”
Tammy sucked her teeth. “I can breathe too hard, and you’ll say I’m unprofessional, Kennedy.”
“No, I say it because you gossiping with every person that walks in here, is. You might mess around and say the wrong thing to the right person and find that out the hard way. I’m trying to prevent you from getting your ass beat and losing your job in the same day. I’ve been in salons for a while and seen being too friendly at the lips backfire.”
Ronnie’s ass was a prime example, but she held that in and continued eating her food. Mya getting her ass beat crossed her mind next, and she wondered if the bitch was still in the area. She made a mental note to investigate her whereabouts for reasons of her own.
“And you telling me that someone is going to beat my ass is professional? The hypocrisy is crazy.” Tammy flung her pixie cut head to whip imaginary hair over a shoulder, and Kennedy snickered. “Anywho, are you going to your nephew’sperformance next weekend? I didn’t get a ticket ‘cause they went on sale a few days after the police found Aura, so they sold out fast as hell. You think he can get me in?”
Jennifer, a stylist Kennedy liked, raised her hand. “Me too! Whoever planned the event should’ve chosen a larger venue. That one is too small, which is why it sold out.”
“Exactly! Playa P could’ve sold that out himself, so to have the whole team performing, they knew it’d bring the city out. A few of my cousins are driving here from out of town to stay with me since they snagged tickets. So did I,” Porsha bragged, and Tammy rolled her eyes.
“Oh, now I’m extra pissed off. They better do another concert this summer.”
Kennedy covered her mouth with a hand and replied between chewing, “They are. This is a spur of the moment show to keep their buzz. Once they’re done with it, they’ll start promoting the real concert. Since y’all work for Relic too, I’ll holler at him about employee discounts.”
“See, and that’s why you’re the best boss ever, even though you stay riding our asses worse than somebody’s momma.” Tammy gave a cheesy smile after the slick jab, and Kennedy flicked her off.
“Speaking of riding asses,” the client with foiled hair started, crossing her legs with a pucker of her glossed lips. “Did y’all see Aura riding their fine ass boss in the studio last night?”
Kennedy choked on her fish, patting her chest as all eyes drifted to her. That information had thrown her, but she cleared her throat and kept it player.
“My damn fish had a bone in it,” she fibbed.
“Mhm,” Tammy said, her eyes narrowing skeptically before she dug for more tea. “I follow Aura, and last time I checked, she’s only posted once since being back.”
“The picture in the studio, right? That’s all I’ve seen, too,” Tammy confirmed.
“That’s means y’all didn’t make it to the close friends. I’m in there, and she stays posting him,” Porsha exposed. “I guess, she’s more comfortable posting in there since all that show boating on her page got her ass kidnapped and robbed. She said in one of the videos on close friends, they took her keys and walked right in her house and stole her shit. Most of her bags, shoes, and jewelry were gone when she got home. They even found the cash she had saved up in there. That’s some new age robbery type shit if I’ve ever seen it.”
“Sounds smart to me, but back to her posting Relic. I thought you said he wasn’t dating anyone, Kenn,” Tammy reminded her while fluffing her client’s curls. Her teasing tone didn’t go unnoticed.
“He’s not with anyone. Just because she’s posting him doesn’t mean shit.”
“Well, I thought maybe you two were dating after he came in here that one time and broke the mirror with your phone ‘cause you were ignoring him. Guess I was wrong, huh?”
“Wait, his name is Relic? Didn’t she just say that y’all work for Relic?” Foil girl stared between them like it’d just clicked.
“Yes, that’s what she said. You must live under a rock or something. He owns this, the record label, and the spot next door. A restaurant, too.”
“Oh, Aura struck gold with that nigga! If he ain’t her man, she better throw as much pussy on him as she can to lock him down. What’s his social handles? I want to get a better look at him.”
Porsha laughed. “He might be on the label’s page, but he doesn’t have a personal one. I already checked. You can tell he’s lowkey, with his fine, mysterious, shades wearing ass.”
“Well, he ain’t ‘bout to be lowkey much longer if he’s fucking with an industry bitch. You see, she already posts him anychance she gets. A CEO and his rapper hoe? They gon’ make waves real soon, trust. If she’s smart, she’ll trap his ass with a baby before the next pretty girl with a fat ass slides in and steals her spot.”
Kennedy scoffed and picked at her fish as the words punched her in the gut like they were meant for her. Relic was willing to pay her millions to give him a baby, but she had denied his request as if cheaper, faker options weren’t right at his fingertips. More so, an industry bitch who was willing to do anything to keep up a facade that had almost gotten her killed, unbeknownst to her.
It’d been a while since Kennedy had felt replaceable, but the conversation, she wished she could slip away from without being noticed, slowly injected that emotion in her veins like an IV drip. It perplexed her, their obsession with him and Aura over some pictures she doubted he’d smiled in, and phony giggles Relic would choke out of Aura if she annoyed him enough. Her eyes rose from her plate at that nerve grating sound as Porsha showed the girls the video she’d been talking about.
Kennedy realized right then; she liked it better when Relic was a ghost, and his name didn’t roll off the tongues of every thirsty, desperate whore who was looking for her next come up. Those kinds of women were worse than his opps because they carried weapons niggas never spotted until it was too late.
