Page 2 of A Layperry's Heart
Now, I’m stepping into the unknown instead of preparing for my duty of protection. It’s scary and new and exciting all at once. It feels like stretching a sore muscle, uncomfortable but knowing in the end, it’s for the best.
“If everyone is like you, I know I’ll be embraced with open arms.”
Christian snorts before turning away from me and leaning his head against the back of the chair in order to sleep. I keep staring out the window, wanting to catch the first glimpse of my temporary new home. Maybe Christian is right and I’ll meet a nice human while I’m here. Or maybe I’ll be stuck with a neighbor who’s grumpier than Christian. Either way, I find myself excited at the prospect.
No matter what happens, this will have been a worthwhile experience.
Chapter One
Aldo
“Okay,bestie,let’stalkabout what happened here.”
Brenda sticks out her bottom lip at me. “It’s not a huge deal.”
I hum, holding up the right side of her hair. “I would say it’s a bit of a big deal. Don’t get me wrong, this is your hair and you’re free to do with it as you wish. I’m just curious what the goal was.”
“I was attempting to give myself a mullet,” she finally confesses with a groan. “I saw a tutorial online and figured it couldn’t bethathard, right? But then I quickly realized it was actually that hard.”
I can’t stop myself from smiling. I love my clients to death, but sometimes they take on more than they can chew when it comes to their hair. Thankfully, Papi Aldo is here to fix them up.
“Are we still feeling good about the mullet idea? Or have you decided on something else you’d rather try instead?”
Brenda bites her bottom lip for a moment, looking at herself in the mirror. Finally, she nods her head. “Yeah. I think I wanna stick to the mullet. How much would you hate me if I went home and box dyed my hair after this?”
I look at her reflection in the mirror, making my right eye twitch. “Oh, that wouldn’t be a big dealat all,” I say, making sure to play up the dramatics before finally giving up and chuckling. “You know I don’t give a fuck about that. Go crazy! But remember, if you want that stripped, depending on the color, it’s going to be hard as fuck. Box red and box black are hell to get out.”
Brenda hums as I pick up my tools and get to work on her hair. “That’s good to know. I was thinking black, but I don’t want it to be a pain in the ass to maintain.”
“We can always shave your head when you’re tired of it,” I say with a giggle, watching as her eyes widen in horror.
“How dare you! You know I don’t have the head shape for that, Aldo!”
We share a laugh as I go back to cutting her hair. “What do you think about shaving the sides? Or do you wanna keep some length?”
“I think we should shave it. I wanna look as gay as possible.”
“You got it!”
“Speaking of being gay,” she says, wiggling her brows at me. “How’s your love life going?”
I groan as I take out my shears, giving her hair some texture where it needs it. “Listen, usually when a client comes, we talk aboutthem, not the other way around.”
“But you already know all my bullshit. I wanna hear about yours!”
“Fine,” I say with an over dramatic sigh. “I recently went on a date with a man I met on a dating app. Let’s just say, by the time it was over, I removedallof the dating apps off of my phone andnotbecause I thought he was the one.”
“Jesus,” Brenda says with a wince. “It was really that bad?”
“Imagine the worst and then double it,” I say with a pout. I pick up my razor and quickly get to work shaving the sides of Brenda’s head, being extra careful around her ears.
“Okay, I need to know everything.”
“He seemed so sweet and charming while we were texting. I suggested we get dinner. I told him I’d be wearing a blue button up and he said he’d be wearing a black sweater.”
“Right,” Brenda says slowly. “Everything sounds fine so far.”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I thought! The pictures he posted online were super cute. He was handsome and had a fabulous smile. Youknowhow weak I am for a nice smile. I got us a table and waited. And waited. And waited. Just when I was ready to leave, he showed up.”
