When I stood, the braids shifted against my back with a quiet swish. I checked out my reflection.
Wow.
Deja had truly created a masterpiece.
The goddess braids framed my face. Thick at the roots with clean parts and then loose spirals of curly hair wove through the structure.
Deja had threaded copper highlights through every third braid like veins of fire running through dark earth. They caught the light when I turned my head.
I tossed my hair over my shoulder and checked out the side. Those spiraling curls really changed everything about the braids as they cascaded down my back in dark, shiny streams laced with copper, some stopping at my collarbone, others brushing my waist.
My cheekbones looked sharper. My eyes looked bigger. The copper caught the light near my face and made my skin glow warm, like I'd been kissed by the last hour of sun.
I touched one of the braids near my temple. The silky texture shifted under my fingertip. “Oh this is beautiful.”
“I know right.” Deja held her hand up and tapped two fingers together. “I ate.”
“You sure did.”
And due to the copper addition, my dark brown skin looked like I'd walked out of fire and the fire asked to come with me.
“Yeah.” I did a little turn and the curls and braids moved and swayed. I shook my head and they framed my breasts, brushed my waist, and curved around my hips like they knew my body and liked it. “Girl. . .the only problem with this is that. . .you’ll be back in a few weeks doing my hair again.”
“What?” Deja blinked. “You don’t like it?”
“No. I like it, but my man is going to see this, love it, and spend these next days trying to mess it all up.”
She laughed.
“I can already tell.” I sighed. "In fact, I give it five days, before I call you."
Kaoru shook his head. "Two."
I stared at him. "Not two."
Kaoru shrugged.
Deja laughed some more. “I know dude is Japanese, but doesn’t he know he’s not supposed to put his hands on a Black woman’s head?”
“It’s not much you can tell that man.”
“Aww. That’s what’s up. A boss is a hard one to wrangle.” Deja snapped. “Call me if you need tips.”
“I will.”
Deja was already moving before the compliments finished and cleaning stuff up, capping spray bottles and gathering combs.
She rolled her neck, stretched her fingers wide, and then curled them back. "Can someone get me a broom?"
Kaoru straightened from where he'd been leaning against the wall. "You don't have to clean up. We have people who—"
"Naw." Deja stretched her hands. "I have to make sure the hair is disposed of properly. I'm not about to have people blaming me because someone put roots on them."
Kaoru's mouth parted like the wordswhat the fuck does that meanhad started forming and then got lost somewhere between his brain and his tongue.
Meanwhile Rin snapped his fingers once.
Two guards rushed out of the room.
