The Billionaire and His PA novel Chapter 8

There was a chorus of excited applause as Isabel and Cassie walked into the salon where Isabel had her night shift.

Hair Glam was a quirky little salon owned by two sisters who treated all of their staff and customers like a part of a big happy family. It was a charming salon that was decorated with varying shades of grey, blue, and gold. Two wide rectangular mirrors placed parallel to each other allowed the patrons to view their hair as it was being made. The line of midnight blue swivel chairs placed in front of the mirror was half occupied with customers whose hair was being worked on by various staff. The salon’s standing hair dryers and hair washing basins were currently not in use. The flat-screen television overhead was playing reruns of a reality television show. The room was illuminated by LED ceiling lights and tulip-shaped all lamps. In the furthest corner of the room, was a section that the patrons and staff alike referred to as the vlogging center as it boasted a faux grass-covered wall, a string of glittery fairy lights, and a short inspirational quote that changed weekly. There was a teenager currently taking pictures of her freshly done blowout in that corner.

In response to the applause, Cassie bowed and Isabel rolled her eyes at the theatrics her friend displayed.

The older of the two sisters, Robin, abandoned the long hair of the woman she was dyeing a vibrant shade of purple to envelope the two friends in a bone-crushing hug. “I’m so glad that psychopath didn’t hurt you guys.” She exclaimed. Following the events of the previous day, both she and her sister had offered to give Isabel the rest of the week off so that she could recover from whatever emotional trauma she would have experienced but Isabel had very politely turned down her offer.

“What psychopath?” The woman whose hair was being dyed replied.

“How do you not know?” The younger of the two sisters Fern asked waving a hair straightener in the air as she gestured to her customer. “Have you been living under a rock since yesterday, Maria?”

Maria, the woman whose hair was currently half covered in hair dye, shrugged. “I’ve been busy with work.”

“Well, yesterday these two.” Robin started as she pointed at Cassie and Isabel. “Were held hostage by two psychopaths that robbed a bank.”

Maria gasped dramatically, nearly falling off her chair in shock. “You don’t say!” She exclaimed as she watched Isabel tie an apron to her waist.

“I do say.” Robin declared firmly. The eyes of everyone in the salon were on her as she began to narrate the events of the previous day. “So apparently, these two guys had just finished robbing a nearby bank and the cops are on their ass so they decide to take cover and the nearest building and while they’re there, they also take hostages because, why not? Predictably, with the whole hostage situation, the cops have their hands tied so things weren’t looking good for Cassie and Isabel at the moment. But the two bank robbers were apparently idiots and thank God too as they completely forgot to search their hostages for phones. So Cassie calls the cops on them.”

“You guys are so lucky to be alive,” Maria admitted as she sank back into her chair. There was a murmur of agreement from everyone else in the salon. “What happened next?”

Isabel shrugged. “Nothing much. The cops came and saved us. Then some lady interviewed us for the news.”

“You guys were on the news?!” Maria shrieked causing everyone in the salon to wince at her shrill tone. “I’m so jealous.”

“Don’t be.” Cassie countered. “I mean being on the news is great and all but it would have been so much better if it was under a completely different circumstance. It was a blonde lady from Channel six news that did the interview, I think. They aired it last night but you can probably find a recorded version of the interview somewhere on the internet.”

Maria wasted no time in searching for the interview on the internet and then pleading with Robin, who still wasn’t done with dyeing her hair, to play it on the flat screen.

The short fifteen-second theme song of Channel six new filled the room. An immaculately dressed blonde woman flashed on the television screen. She was dressed in a modest red dress and had her freshly done nails curled around a microphone. “I’m Sarah Grant and this is Channel Six news. I’m standing here at the scene of the arrest of Robert Smith, who is a part of the armed duo who killed two security guards while robbing a bank earlier today.” The camera panned out from Sarah Grant’s face and zoomed into a very angry Robert at the back of a police car.

He was shouting obscenities and making so many rude finger gestures toward the camera that most of his words and actions had to be cut out. “In an effort to escape the law, Robert and his partner Tobias Knight took Isabel Gomez and Cassie Peters as hostages from a nearby strip club. Luckily, the two ladies are unharmed and are currently with me. Do you two have anything to say about your encounter?” The view of the camera expanded to accommodate Cassie and Isabel who had been standing close to each other.