Page 74 of Her Paramedic
“Not this coming weekend, but the next.”
“Yeah, I’ll text her and see, then let you know. Are you renting a U-Haul?”
“Two of them. So I’ll call Axel and Ace, too.”
“I take it since you’re retiring, you’re going to work at the firm full-time.”
“That’s the plan. At least after getting settled. I took my vacation time off instead of letting them pay me out of the days, so it’ll be a few months before I do.”
“And what happens if security work becomes too boring?” Slate asked. He knew his cousin well and knew that the other man liked the action, pace, and structure.
“Colorado Springs has a recruiting office, and I’ve never been opposed to joining the Naval Reserves.”
Slate got the feeling that the latter would be more up his cousin’s alley, and he figured it might only be a couple of years before he signed up if he waited that long. He spoke with Killian for a bit longer before they hung up, and Slate texted Carie before looking for a Father’s Day gift for his dad.
«-•-•-•-•-•-•-»
Talia was sitting in her office late Monday morning, placing supply orders, when she heard arguing coming from the main area of the shop. She paused in what she was doing to listen. It was only a few seconds later that the voices got louder, and then the sound of glass breaking echoed.
She rushed out of the office to find two clients, smocks still on them as they went at it. Everyone else in the shop seemed to be frozen. Only when they bumped into Whitney’s station, knocking the equipment off, did Talia and two other stylists move to break them up.
They were pulling them apart, both women still swinging and screaming about some man, when one of them elbowed Talia in the jaw hard enough to make her teeth rattle.
“Son of a bitch!” she exclaimed, letting the woman go and her hand instinctively cupping her jaw.
Everything in the salon fell quiet as they turned to look at her. One client, who she recognized as one of Nesha’s regulars, eyes widened.
“Oh my gosh, Talia! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“Get out,” Talia cut her off, pain rocketing through her jaw as she spoke.
“But, I—”
“Get. Out. And don’t come back, either of you. You’re banned, and don’t think I won’t bill you for the damage.”
“You can’t ban me,” the other woman protested.
“I just did, and if you come back around, I’ll have you trespassed.”And then you can meet me in the parking lot,Talia thought, but knew it was wise not to say aloud.
The woman huffed, storming out of the salon, smock still on. Talia didn’t care; she’d bill her for it, too. The other woman laid her smock in Whitney’s chair, looking apologetic before leaving, and Talia wondered if they’d continue their confrontation in the parking lot. She didn’t care as long as they weren’t in front of her shop.
“Are you okay?” Monique asked, approaching her.
“No. Not at all.” Talia ran her tongue along her teeth and felt one of them move, pain shooting down to her gums, and she refrained from cursing. “Will you help them clean this up?”
“Of course,” Monique responded.
Talia returned to her office and fished some pain medicine out of her purse. When she swallowed the pills, the temperature of the water sent a shock of pain through one of her teeth. This time, she cursed under her breath.
Picking up her cell phone, Talia called her dentist’s office to see if they could fit her in to look at her tooth. Luck was on her side as they had an opening for half an hour from then. She tookit, grabbed her purse, and told Monique she’d be back in time for her two o’clock appointment.
“As you can see, it’s a deep fracture. All the way to the root,” Dr. Morganson stated an hour later. “It’s better to extract it than try to fix it. It’s also a wisdom tooth, so it won’t be missed.”
Great. These past couple of weeks have been kicking my ass,Talia thought.
“How soon can we do it?” she asked. “I don’t want to deal with this pain longer than necessary.”
“I have an appointment available on Thursday at nine a.m. If that works for you, we can take care of it, then.”
