A Beautiful Forever - By Anderson, Lilliana Page 0,11
be ready to leave in ten minutes.”
We head off early and get to Waterloo station before most of the shop fronts have opened. It kind of reminds me of the train stations in the City Circle back home because it’s almost a mini shopping centre.
As we follow the signs to the station entrance, I’m surprised when I see a girl, who looks just like Paige, standing in front of a hairdresser, I almost stop and go to her, but I realise that I must be mistaken – this girl’s hair is sleek and straight, not that mass of curls that Paige has.
Walking away, I'm filled with disappointment, it makes me realise how much I wish I could see her again.
Paige
I’m a little on the early side this morning for my trial shift at Stylz. The roller door isn’t even up yet. So, I stand around in front of it with my jacket folded over my arms. The shop front is inside on the main level of the station so at least I’m not standing outside in the cold, freezing my arse off.
I gently run my hands over my hair to make sure everything is in place. I used plenty of product and straightened it to a glossy shine. When I do my hair this way, I feel like I should be in a Pantene ad, flicking my hair around and talking about how fabulous their conditioner is.
It’s not long before a girl comes walking towards me, fiddling with a set of keys. Her smile appears to be friendly and her curly black hair bounces as she walks. As she gets closer she extends her hand. “Hello, you must be Paige. I’m Andrea; we spoke on the phone yesterday.”
Reaching out to take her hand, I smile brightly, it’s show time. “Hi Andrea, it’s lovely to meet you,” I say as I look her over, she has a small, slim build and smooth light brown skin with dark chocolate coloured eyes. On closer inspection, I notice her hair has red highlights scattered through it. She wears little more than lip gloss for makeup and is dressed in a pair of black pants and a fitted shirt with ‘stylz’ written in poison green letters across the bust.
Unlocking the roller door, she presses a button, and we stand back to watch it rise. She gestures me through the glass door, and I follow her in, looking around as I do.
The inside is like any other salon you’d visit, with chairs and magazines in front of a reception counter. It kind of reminds me of the Just Cuts I used to go to before I started my apprenticeship.
“You called at the perfect time,” she tells me as she bustles around preparing to open. “My other stylist up and quit on me two days ago, and I have been run off my feet. The other girl, Amanda, can’t do Wednesday through Friday, so I’ve had no one! We get a lot of walk ins in this location, so I have actually been turning people away,” she looks at me pointedly; her eyebrows raised, “which is not good for business.”
“I can imagine it wouldn’t be,” I respond astutely.
She walks over to me with a t-shirt in hand, “Here, put this on. We have a fairly busy morning ahead of us. I really hope you’re good because I booked knowing I’d have you here today.”
“It’s fine,” I say. “I mean, I’ll be fine. I’ve worked in busy salons before.”
“So you’re in the UK indefinitely did you say?”
“I did say that, I have dual citizenship, so there’s no visa to force me back.”
“What made you want to leave Australia; it sounds like the ideal?”
“Time for a change,” is all I say. She tilts her head in a ‘fair enough’ gesture and starts to direct me around the salon to help her get things ready. When we flip the sign to say we are open there’s already a customer waiting.
Elliot
God I wish we had open top buses in Australia; they really are a great way to travel around. We see pretty much every landmark you have ever seen on tv before, the palace, Big Ben, parliament, and a whole bunch of other amazing places. It’s astounding to see them all in real life, even though you recognise them all, they’re now a three-dimensional object in your mind instead of the filtered image you normally associate them with.
It’s lunch time by the time we’re finished, so Naomi and I go and