Tainted

11 - Vee: Dependecy

I danced around freely as the radio bumped through the salon speakers, nodding my head and shaking my hips to the tempo of the upbeat song. Linda shot me a wink, laughing when I began rolling my shoulder to the beat, grabbing shampoo from the shelf to refill at the sinks.

It was already six in the afternoon and I'd never felt so accomplished in my life. I did four haircuts and three stylings. To make it better, my clients were people who had me smiling and laughing nearly all day.

This was exactly the reason why I loved to work. No matter where I was put, I seemed to get along with people because I loved to talk. I was usually always polite and made jokes here and there, but socializing had always been one of my forward personality traits - I wasn't afraid to admit that it was just because I failed to keep my mouth shut at times.

"You should be off now, babes," Linda called from her place behind her customer's barber chair. "It's gonna get late. It's already nearly pitch black out there."

She combed her product-coated fingers through the woman's red hair and took out the blowdryer.

"Yeah, I know. I'll pack up my side and I'll be gone," I smiled, putting away my last hair brush.

I hauled my coat on and grabbed my bag, turning to say goodbye.

"I'll see you tomorrow, boss lady," I teased her, and she rolled her eyes, waving.

Just as I was about to cross the threshold, her voice stopped me. "Oh! Vee, you're coming next Friday, right? Tell me you're coming."

I nodded, answering the same question for the second time today. "Of course I will. You're turning thirty-two, that's a bit of a milestone. Halfway to sixty-four! Whooo!"

She glowered at me jokingly. "There's gonna be lots of alcohol and music. You can come around for the music and be a designated driver."

I laughed, giving her a thumbs up. "Great," I said, purposely using satire in my tone.

She smiled. "See you babe, drive safe."

I met Colt outside, who was sitting in his car in the parking lot. He jumped out and opened up the passenger door for me, a smile on his face.

"Hey, baby," he greeted, planting a small kiss on my cheek.

"Mister McGregor," I greeted him with jeering smile, sliding into his Range.

He chuckled, pressing his lips to my temple and closed the passenger door behind me before jogging around to his side.

Before I could get properly settled in the Range, we were speeding off down the motorway for no apparent reason. I studied his demeanor in order to figure out why he was rushing, but I failed to see what the reason was. He seemed to be in a good mood.

I cringed as my stomach flipped, feeling uneasy when he cut between traffic.

"Um, Colt?" I gulped, bracing my hand against the dashboard for leverage.

"Yeah?"

"Can you please drive at the speed limit, I think I'm going to throw up," I told him, my tone coming off a bit ruder than I intended it to.

His speed immediately faltered, and he glanced over at me with mercuriality set in his brows. "Better, your highness?"

"Yeah, very much, thank you," I answered quickly, crossing my arms over my chest.

It was times like these where I was unsure if what I was doing was right. I still wasn't told anything about the truth of what was going on in the first place, and I was still too scared to ask him. I wouldn't push him to tell me anything - not until I was desperate.