Better If He Goes (Always You #1) - Allie Everhart Page 0,86

almost lost it. Luckily, her date got her out of there and calmed her down, but she still gets riled up if she even hears Kandace's name. So having Kandace buy the salon? Pretty much my mom's worst nightmare. And mine, because now we're both out of work. Even if Kandace let me stay, my mom would kill me for working for her.

"Sorry for the disturbance," Kandace says, her southern drawl coming out more as she talks. "As some of you know, Charlene and I have had our differences in the past. I thought we could work them out now that we're older, but I see she hasn't matured enough for that to happen." She smiles. "Anyway, let's continue. I know many of you are concerned about your jobs, but I can assure you that as of now, everything will stay as is, including your employment here. There will be some changes, but they'll come later on."

"What kind of changes?" someone yells from the back.

"I'll discuss them at a later time," she says. "Just to be clear, I won't be addressing questions today. I'm only here to introduce myself and then I'll let you get on with your day."

The door swings open and I tense up, expecting to see my mom storm through, ready to punch Kandace. But it's worse than that. It's Kari, the bitch who made those few months of junior high the worst time of my life. She saunters in like she owns the place, which I guess she kind of does. She's tall, like her mom, with the same long blond hair and wearing a similar dress, except Kari's is shorter and tighter. And she has huge boobs, which are definitely fake.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Kari," Kandace says. "She'll be assisting me in the redesign of the salon."

"Redesign?" Sharon says. "I thought you said things wouldn't change."

"As of now," Kandace says. "The changes will come later. The salon is in need of an update. Kari and I want to give it a more modern, fresh, hip look to attract a younger crowd. But more on that later." She smiles. "It's almost ten. I'd like all of you to get to your stations and tidy them up before our guests arrive."

Everyone looks around, not sure what she means. The place is already clean and tidy. I cleaned each station myself just this morning.

"The personal photos," Kandace explains when she sees our confusion. "Knick knacks. And any other items not directly related to hair care must be removed." She claps her hands. "Everyone up! Get to work!" She winks. "And ya'll have a nice day!"

"This is gonna suck," April whispers as she gets up. "But at least we didn't lose our jobs."

"I did." I follow her to her station. "There's no way I can stay here and work for Kandace. My mom would kill me. Plus, I wouldn't want to. I can't stand her daughter."

"Why? How do you know her? And what's the deal with your mom and Kandace?"

"Kandace stole the guy my mom was in love with in high school. Now he's rich and married to Kandace and my mom's jealous."

She nods. "That makes sense. But what about the daughter?"

"She tortured me in junior high. She was only here a few months, but it was enough time for her to spread rumors about my mom and me."

"What kind of rumors?"

"That my mom's a slut and has all these STDs. And that we steal from stores and rob people. No one wanted to be friends with me after that. Until Nate showed up. He didn't know about the rumors, and after he heard them, he didn't believe them. That's how we got to be friends and why we stayed friends for so long."

"Does he know her?"

"Kari? No. She was gone when he moved here."

April glances behind me. "Shit, she's coming over here."

"Hey, Riley."

I whip around and see Kari right in front of me, her perfume so strong I feel like I'm swallowing it. I cough a little.

"Are you ill?" she asks, backing away.

"I wasn't until—"

"Allergies," April blurts out as she comes up beside me. "She has allergies. They're worse in the morning. She'll be better by afternoon."

Kari smirks. "So I hear you're our little clean-up girl."

I grit my teeth. "Salon attendant is my actual title."

"Hmm. We might have to change that."

I tense up, my hand balling into a fist. I want to punch that smirk right off her face. Now I get why my