Page 97 of Her Paramedic
“You’ll knock everyone else out of the water,” Alivia said, pulling her into a hug. “You’ve all got this.”
A few minutes later, their models were shown behind the curtain, and they were introduced. It was a good call on Alivia’s part to get those extra bags of hair. Talia didn’t know what style Nesha had in mind, but her model had a beautiful thick head of hair, and they would likely be needed.
Talia spent several minutes before it started consulting with her model, and telling her what she had in mind. The curtain opened, revealing them and the five other salons taking part to the audience. She took a deep breath, preparing to work her magic.
“Congrats,” Kaydence said, pulling her into a hug. After it was all said and done, Talia and her shop had won four sections. Journee soon followed suit, then Zuri, and Alivia. Once the four women stepped aside, Slate handed her the beautiful bouquet.
“You just knew I would win something, huh?” she teased after bringing the flowers to her nose.
“I did,” he responded, leaning down to kiss her.
“What do you all need help with?” Zuri asked.
“We’re just going to pack and reload everything. There’s a nail competition happening on the other side of the building, and I might stop in and check that out if it’s still going on. So, I think we’re good.”
She knew that the three of them needed to get back to work. Her sister had a wedding cake to finish that was being delivered first thing in the morning. Journee had an appointment with a client later that afternoon, and Zuri had a few more massages on her schedule.
“Are you sure?” Journee asked. “I don’t mind helping you load things up.”
“I am. I’ll put these two to work and get it done pretty quickly,” Talia responded, bumping Slate with her hip, and pointing to Alivia, who was already packing her station into one of the carrying cases.
“If you’re sure,” Kaydence said. “I’m going to head out then, but I’ll text the group and figure out a good time for us to get together to celebrate.”
The three women said their goodbyes and left. Talia went over to where Alivia almost had everything packed into the first case. Once it was packed and zipped, Slate picked it up while they packed the other one. It took them only ten minutes to get the four of them packed up, and then they were exiting the event building.
Alivia had picked Talia up and driven her, so they went to her car to load Talia’s cases in. Whitney, Maya, and Nesha opted to head back to the salon, while Talia wanted to go look at the nail competition. She, Slate, and Alivia ventured back into the building, and followed the standing signs to where it was being held. It had started half an hour after theirs, so she hoped there would still be a few people there.
She’d been thinking a lot lately about expanding her shop’s services. Currently, she didn’t have space where she was, and she was hesitant to relocate because she’d been there since she opened. The location was convenient, but she knew if she wanted to be a full-service beauty salon, she would have to bite the bullet at some point and do so because she’d need more space.
It was clear it was winding down when they entered. There were a few people still getting their nails done, and Talia walked around to look at them, as well as some books on other tables. She grabbed a few business cards from tables or scanned their QR codes to follow them. While she knew some of them likely already worked in shops, unlike with the hair show she’d taken part in, the nail technicians didn’t have to belong to a shop to participate, from what the sign outside the door said.
After several minutes of looking through the room, she headed back to the door where Slate waited. Alivia joined them a few minutes later with a bag.
“One of those tables was selling press-ons. I bought some,” her friend informed.
“You’ll have to show them to me later,” Talia replied.
They were heading towards the exit when one of the coordinators of the hair show, Angie, approached them.
“Talia, hey. I’m glad I caught you. Can I speak to you for a minute?”
“Sure,” she responded before turning to her boyfriend and friend. “Give me a few minutes.”
“Take your time,” Slate responded, while Alivia nodded.
Talia followed Angie back to where the hair show had been held.
“I wanted to see if you’d be interested in being a coordinator or a judge next year. You and your shop have been in several of our shows, and you always place well and take home prizes. I think you’d be a great addition.”
“I might be interested. Can you give me a bit more detail?”
“Of course,” Angie replied, gesturing to some seats. Talia took one, and the other woman began giving her a general rundown of what being a coordinator entailed.
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Slate watched Talia walk away with the other woman before going to one of the many seating areas in the lobby to wait even though they’d driven separately. Alivia took a seat across from him, and they were quiet for a moment before she broke it.
“I know you said that I didn’t need to apologize to you during the Fourth of July gathering, but I do,” she said, drawing his attention. “I know you probably think I dislike you or that I was purposely trying to ruin and insert myself into your relationship, but that wasn’t my intention. I only wanted to look out for my friend.”
