It became a bit more understandable when they saw that most of the office staff was Asian.
"I understand his confusion now," Xuan giggled.
Colby introduced Xuan to the girl at the desk, who greeted her in Mandarin. They had a happy, rapid fire conversation.
"I can tell there's a rapport there already," the office manager said to Colby. "What prompted the change?"
"Twila is moving and I got her old job. We were lucky enough to find Xuan the first day."
"This is perfect. My girls already like her."
The other workers were chattering with Xuan, getting to know her. Colby spoke to the office manager and found out what they needed. He didn't mind letting Xuan talk. It developed the relationship she would need in order to do her job.
At the next office, it wasn't quite as warm a welcome, but the manager liked her and the others in the office were friendly. The third office was much the same as the second. They stopped for lunch at a Chinese restaurant which was owned by Xuan's uncle. He came out and spoke to Colby, at first thinking he was the new boyfriend. That took a little explaining, since Colby didn't speak any Mandarin. Xuan translated, but her uncle wasn't too inclined to believe her. It took having his son come out and take over, before he understood. Then he was all smiles. Their food was free and they had a new customer by the time they were done. The son saw the need for a computerized system, and an on-line ordering system—which Trevor would set up.
All smiles, they went to the hair salon. When Colby entered, all the talk stopped. Every eye in the place, customer and worker alike, was focused on him.
"Oh, you're Adele's boy!" an older woman with beautifully coiffed hair, said as she came forward. "We all recognized your face from TV." She leaned over, speaking quietly. "Did you really punch that man in the—private area?"
Colby adopted the same secretive stance. "Yes. He tried to hurt my mother."
"You precious angel!" She took his cheeks, giving him a kiss on each. Bright plum colored lips adorned his cheeks.
She introduced him to the others and all the women, including customers, had to add their own kisses. By the time they finished, he had a wide array of colors on his cheeks. One of the women brought over some tissues and makeup remover. Xuan helped him clean up while they waited for the owner to finish with her client.
"This is a pretty color. That would look good on Avery. And I think this one for Alice. Oh, this is so me!" Xuan laughed and played the entire time. "I never had to clean this much lipstick off a man, even when I worked in that drag club."
"Drag.... Um...."
"I helped the girls backstage. I was a dresser one summer. They needed someone, and I wanted to see what it was all about. Those men looked better in a dress than I did. It was somewhat humiliating, but fun just the same. I learned a lot about makeup, hair and poise from those guys."
"You're full of surprises, Xuan."
It took nearly two hours to finish at the salon, because the women insisted on giving both of them a manicure. And the owner decided Colby needed a trim. He couldn't argue with that. He usually did. With a series of four cowlicks, it didn't take much for his hair to become unruly. They all agreed that Xuan's hair was perfect at it was, but they did tell her anytime she needed anything done, to come to them.
"Do you usually get greeted like that?" Xuan asked as they were leaving.
"I never went there before. My mom has used them forever. The owner is her neighbor down the street. Her son and I are good friends. But I was never allowed in the door before. It's kind of a no man zone."
"A woman needs her space when she's getting beautiful."
"Agreed. I'm glad all I have to do is shave and put on clean underwear."
Xuan tossed her long hair over her shoulder. "Men do have the grooming thing easier than women. Unless you have to wax."
Colby hopped away, hissing as he made a cross with his fingers. "A pox on waxing! I'll shave places, but no way do they wax anything south of the border."
Xuan burst out laughing, turning heads as they walked down the street to where their car was parked.
"Don't ever become a swimsuit model."
"I have no intention of doing that—ever. No one is getting that close to my—private area—who isn't my girlfriend."
"I'll be sure to pass that information on to Avery."
"Go right ahead. She's the only one with access."
Xuan giggled again. "Are you sure you meant to say that, Boss?"
"I have a very relaxed administrative style," he said as he opened her door.
©2021 Dellani Oakes
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