Page 96 of For Love or Money
‘Men aren’t the best judge of hair anyway, are they? He probably won’t even notice I’ve had it done.’
‘You’re right there.’ Adam tucked the towel back into the neckline of Lesley’s gown and she bent her head obediently as he started cutting again.
‘Which branch of Vidal Sassoon were you in?’ she asked.
‘Chelsea.’
‘With my friend’s double, right … Joanna?’ Lesley screwed her face up as if not sure what he’d called Stella.
‘Joanna, yes. Well, for a while. She left long before me.’
‘It’s weird how two totally unrelated people can look so alike, isn’t it?’ she mused.
‘I wouldn’t say it’s that unusual. They say everyone has a doppelgänger.’
‘Or maybe your friend and Stella are long-lost twins!’ she said as if the idea had just occurred to her. ‘I saw a video on YouTube about two women that that had happened to – identical twins who’d been raised apart. They didn’t find each other until they were in their thirties, and then it was by pure chance.’
She thought the idea of being instrumental in reuniting two long-lost twins might make Adam more forthcoming and she could get him to tell her more about Joanna.
‘Oh, I don’t think that’s likely. Like I said, it was a long time ago. I was just mistaken.’ He stood back, whipping away the towel from around Lesley’s shoulders again. ‘What do you think? Enough?’
‘Yes, that’s perfect. Thank you.’
Adam busied himself pulling a hairdryer from a drawer, and lining up an array of combs, brushes and sprays. There was no point trying to talk over the roar of the hairdryer as he styled her hair. Anyway, she couldn’t think of any more questions she could ask without sounding suspicious.
Adam finished fluffing Lesley’s hair. ‘Well, what do we think?’
Lesley grinned at him in the mirror. ‘Brilliant! I love it.’
‘Happy now that you let me have my way with you?’ He looked very pleased with himself.
‘Very happy,’ Lesley said. ‘It was totally worth it.’
The long-losttwins angle was a good idea,’ Al said later when she joined him at a nearby café for coffee and a debrief.
‘If he’d taken the bait. Oh well, it was a long shot anyway. And the way he dismissed it so easily convinced me of one thing: this Joanna and Stella are one and the same person, and he knows it.’
‘Well, at least you’ve got more to go on now.’
‘Yeah, I know where she used to work, and have an idea of when. So it wasn’t a total waste of time.’
‘And your hair looks great. Am I allowed to say that?’
‘Well, just this once.’ Lesley smiled. She was really pleased with it and felt rather fabulous.
‘It’s very swishy.’
‘Thanks. But save the rest of your gushing for the party tonight.’
31
‘That’s a great haircut,’ Stella said as she brushed highlighter across Lesley’s cheeks. ‘It really suits the shape of your face.’
‘Thanks.’ Stella had offered to do her make-up for the party, and Lesley had jumped at the chance to have an intimate girly moment with her. ‘Pity it’s never going to look like this again after today,’ Lesley said, admiring her hair in the dressing-table mirror. It was so glossy and shiny. ‘I can never get it this smooth and silky. It’ll be straight back to its normal frizz the first time I wash it.’
‘I could do it for you,’ Stella said with a shrug. ‘I’m good at hair.’
‘You are. Yours always looks amazing.’
