Page 8 of Babygirl for Christmas

“What can I do for you today?”

She goes into a long story about how her granddaughter got ahold of a pair of scissors. Instead of playing pretend hair salon, she gave her a very real haircut. I try my hardest not to laugh, but I can’t hold it in. It starts as a giggle, then evolves into a full belly laugh complete with snorting. Judy joins me in my laughter, letting me know she’s amused and not offended by my less than professional reaction.

“Let’s see what we can do to fix you up.”

I shake my head as I move her hair, and there are chunks missing in random intervals, and it’s beyond uneven. I run my fingers through her hair, considering the options.

“It’s pretty terrible,” Judy says wryly.

I nod in agreement. “It’s a mess, but fixable. I can reshape it with layers, but I’m afraid you’re going to lose quite a bit of length.”

She laughs at that and tells me to do whatever I need to do. Thirty minutes later, Judy is all fixed up and on her way. I’m finishing up my other client when Jenny shouts that she needs me. I straighten the last piece of my client’s hair and announce that she’s all set. The client gushes about how much she loves the color and that the cut is exactly what she pictured. I’m filled with a sense of joy at her enthusiasm—this is why I do what I do. I walk with her up to the reception area and level a glare at Jenny when I see she’s once again not doing her job.

This time she called me up to speak with a sales rep, another thing she’s supposed to handle. I explain that we are happy with our current supplier and take the man’s card, letting him know we will keep him in mind. By the time I finish speaking with him, I’m officially behind schedule, and the rest of my afternoon is spent in a rush trying to catch up—an impossible task.

When our last client leaves, and we are cleaning up our stations, I see Jenny trying to sneak out before our talk. “Jenny, I need to see you in my office.”

I hand the push broom to Sam, and he takes over sweeping for me while I go deal with her. Confrontation isn’t my thing, and I have a feeling this isn’t going to be pretty. This moment has been bubbling up for months now.

“What do you want, Cherry? Some of us have families to get home to,” she sneers. It’s a dig at me and my lack of family. She’s made it quite clear that she thinks because I don’t have kids, I don’t understand the importance of her coming and going as she pleases.

“Do you like your job?” I ask her. I can tell I’ve thrown her off by not going straight into reprimanding her.

“Yes…” she hedges.

“Great! Then I need you to start doing your job.”

“I don’t know what you mean. I’m the best employee you’ve got,” she says indignantly.

Not only is she a crappy employee, but she’s also delusional if she thinks she’s even remotely the best person here. “I’ve given you four warnings since I took over Clipped, and I’m done. I told you what is expected of you when you’re working, and you consistently make excuses for why you don’t do your tasks.”

“This is ridiculous!” she shouts, her face turning bright red.

“No, what’s ridiculous is me continuing to put up with your disrespect. Like it or not, this shop is mine, and if you don’t want to find yourself without employment, you will buckle down and do your job.”

Wow, that felt incredible to say.

Jenny’s eyes narrow into a scowl, and her body language turns aggressive. “Fuck you, Cherry. I don’t need this shit. I quit.”

She turns on her heel and yanks the office door open, causing it to bang against the wall. I stay in my office until I hear the bells on the door jingle announcing her departure. When I head back into the salon area, everyone stops and stares at me. I’m just waiting for someone to pitch a fit about what just happened with Jenny.

“Good riddance,” Sam says.

I knew there would be no love lost there because he couldn’t stand her, but I’m shocked when everyone else agrees with his assessment. Maybe having her negativity gone will help build us up as a team. I made the choice to keep the existing staff whenever I bought Clipped, but there have been days that I seriously regret that decision. Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come. Everyone pitches in, and the clean-up is done quickly.

“Thanks, everyone. Have a good night, and I’ll see you in the morning.”

For the first time in weeks, I’m going to be able to leave at a decent time. I double-check that everything is locked up and switch on the answering machine. I’m about to leave when I see something shiny in the trashcan. Curious, I take a closer look and realize it’s a gift box wrapped in a familiar paper—the same paper that my Santa has been using. I’m instantly pissed because I have no doubt that Jenny threw it out. Just one more reason to be glad her toxic attitude is no longer going to be here.

I get a small thrill when I pull the card from the package and see that it also matches the cookies he sent—three French hens. I love how much thought was put into this. I rip open the paper, curious as to what’s inside. Even though I’m still dreading a Christmas alone—I can admit whoever this secret Santa is, they’ve taken the edge off my bah humbug mood.

I can’t hold back my smile when I start unloading the items inside: three of my favorite Christmas movies, popcorn, Junior Mints, and a box of Dots candy. All the things needed for a lazy night at home. Suddenly, I can’t wait to get home and change into my pajamas so I can totally veg out.

Maybe even treat myself to a pizza.

The opening music for How the Grinch Stole Christmas has my mind drifting to past Christmases. Grandma would be in the kitchen baking sugar cookies for us to decorate, and I’d be curled up on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and my favorite candies watching one Christmas movie after another.

I wait to be sucker-punched with grief, but it doesn’t come. Instead, I feel a warmth in my heart at the fond memories.

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